Offshore Wind IGERT Student Presentations

 "ROC-ing the Grid: the Unintended Consequences of Northern Ireland's Renewable Obligation Credit Policy"

In 2005 Northern Ireland introduced the renewable obligation certificate (ROC) policy, which was designed to increase the levels of renewable generation in the country. While the ROC was successful in encouraging the uptake of renewable generation technology, the scale at which small scale and microgeneration (SMG) was incorporated to the power system was much larger than anticipated. This increase in the level of SMG renewable generation in Northern Ireland has had an unforeseen impact on the electricity system, including operational and investment requirements. This talk discusses the impacts of the ROC policy on the amount of SMG, and how the number of SMG connections have impacted Northern Ireland's Power grid. 

 "Your Opinion on Offshore Wind May Not Be as Common as You Think: The Impacts of Misestimating the Views of Others"

The existence of pluralistic ignorance has been well documented in many research domains, for instance underage drinking, racial segregation, and climate change beliefs. This theory reasons that when people estimate the prevalence of beliefs or behaviors of others, the majority of individuals within a group privately reject a belief or behavior, but incorrectly assume that a majority of members in the group (or an overestimated minority) accept it. Importantly, several studies have demonstrated that pluralistic ignorance effects can impact behavior, for example creating a “silencing effect” regarding climate change discussion. These effects have yet to be examined in the sphere of renewable energy. I will be discussing findings from our recently conducted pilot study that examined pluralistic ignorance in terms of support for offshore wind, and future plans for a larger survey.

 

Date: 
Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 2:30pm
Location: 
E-lab 2 Kellogg Room (Room 118)
Year: 
2016
Semester: