A New Definition of Energy Services

 

The emergence of energy-as-a-service (EaaS) has brought about new opportunities for business models in the energy sector. These include 'energy services companies', or 'ESCOs', who contract with consumers to supply services such as space heating, cooling, water heating and refrigeration on a recurring fee basis, often using low-carbon technologies. These companies can be effective in promoting adoption of low-carbon energy technologies. However, they face challenges such as high upfront technology costs, capital constraints for consumers and information barriers, which may impede widespread market penetration of EaaS. Learn more about  energy service company,   go here. 

Research and Policy Interest in Energy Services

 

It is widely accepted that 'energy services' are a key component of any comprehensive energy policy, and are viewed as critical in addressing energy poverty and providing sustainable access to energy. This is reflected in the recent World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on 'Energy Services' and the UN Secretary-General's 'High-Level Panel on Energy and Development'. Find out for further  details on enterprise energy management system  right here. 

 

Despite these broader recognitions, the precise definition of what constitutes 'energy services' has not been clearly defined in most research on the topic. This is largely because of the complexity of the definition, and its application to a range of contexts and stakeholders.

 

This paper aims to explore the concept of 'energy services' in some detail and to identify ways in which researchers have interpreted it, and the implications for this. It does so through a combination of content analysis (CA) and literature review. It proposes a new, consistent and clear definition of energy services that will be useful in helping to inform researchers' understanding of the term.

CA Searching For Definitions and Examples

 

One hundred and eighty-five articles from the journals Energy Policy and Energy Research and Social Science containing the term 'energy service*' in the title, abstract or keywords were analysed, and additional documents relevant to the concept were identified for review. Only 10% of the sources included a definition, although it was more often explained simply through reference to examples.

 

In the majority of cases, 'energy service*' was used in conjunction with a number of examples to describe various types of energy services or activities. This was particularly the case in the field of international development, where 'energy service*' is frequently used to refer to a range of services provided by Energy Service Companies or by governments. Take a look  at this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_management_system for more information. 

 

Interestingly, the work in international development and the domain of ESCOs does not necessarily engage deeply with the energy services concept, but is still important for helping to understand how this idea might be operationalised. For instance, studies in the energy modelling area which attempt to understand the role of 'energy service demands' were coded as making significant reference to this, but these documents have not been discussed further here.

 

The 'long tail' of definitions that appear only in one source is also worth considering, as it suggests that there is substantial variation in what exactly is understood to be an example of energy services and when it stops. These examples are grouped in Table 1 below, and include 'lighting', 'cooking', 'heating','space heating', 'water heating' and'refrigeration'.