News and events
DEF Researcher publishes paper in The Electricity Journal
Senior Research Fellow, Dr Larissa Nicholls, recently published 'Optimising the value of distributed energy resources' in The Electricity Journal.
The paper discusses electricity system enhancement through the integration of distributed energy resources (such as solar PV and demand response) in meaningful and dependable ways for electricity users.
Larissa emphasises that building trust in the electricity sector is critical to engagement and achieving better system outcomes.
Access the paper here
PhD Rex Martin presents on renewable-based grids
Drawing on ethnographic research, ETLab PhD Rex Martin discusses the importance of the everyday to energy flexibility in Australian households with solar PV and battery storage.
Watch his presentation here here
Rex Martin joins the Digital Energy Futures team
Rex will join us as a Research Assistant, conducting interviews with AusNet participants and supporting the group with analysis, report writing and literature reviewing.
Rex is also conducting a PhD within the Emerging Technologies Research Lab which examines how everyday people understand and use generation and storage technologies, engage in practices that result in energy consumption, and deal with the weather-dependent nature of renewable generation (e.g. solar generation depends on the sun shining).
Read Rex Martin's full bio here
Shaping the energy sector with next-gen forecasting methodology
Energy Magazine has profiled the Digital Energy Futures project.
The article explores how our social science based methodologies will inform our industry partners and produce the most comprehensive contemporary insights into the lived experiences of residential energy consumers.
Read the article in full here
Media Release: Our future homes – Visions from the energy and digital tech industries
Researchers from Monash University’s Emerging Technologies Research Lab have conducted an analysis of how the energy and tech sectors predict our everyday lives will change in the home of the future. Based on a review of key industry reports this study reveals how the home of the future is envisaged and the limitations of these industry visions.
Read the media release here
Read Dr Kari Dahlgren's Op-ed in Monash Lens, 'COVID-19, FIFO workers, and the risk facing remote mining communities'
Coal miners have polarised Australian political and social life, as they represent the Australian left’s polar tension between its labour heritage rooted in mining, and its increasing concerns over climate change and the energy transition.
Read the article here
Monash Energy Institute profiles Dr Larissa Nicholls
Partner Investigator of the DEF project, Dr Larissa Nicholls, is a social scientist at ETLab exploring the hows and whys of human life in home environments. The Monash Energy Institute interviewed Larissa about her commitment towards equity, sustainability and wellbeing.
Read more here
Pilot Fieldwork for Digital Energy Futures (DEF) begins
The Digital Energy Futures (DEF) pilot fieldwork took place last month, with ethnographic home visits in the Melbourne metro region. Pilot research participants volunteered their time to enable the DEF researcher’s to trial their social-science led conceptual approaches.
Read more here
Digital Energy Futures (DEF) Advisory Committee Announced
An Australia-wide Advisory Committee has been formed to strategically guide the innovative Digital Energy Futures (DEF) research project and take the findings into the broader energy industry.
Read more here
Yolande Strengers joined a panel discussion at the ECA Foresighting Forum (SYD)
Associate Professor Yolande Strengers, Chief Investigator of DEF, presented at a panel discussion on 'Change and Trust—the new energy compact' at the Energy Consumers Australia Foresighting Forum in Sydney.
Read more here
Dr Kari Dahlgren joins the Digital Energy Futures (DEF) project
Dr Kari Dahlgren joins us as a Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab. Kari is a social anthropologist and ethnographer interested in the social and ethical aspects of energy production and consumption in Australia.
Read more here
Winter bills are coming. Larissa Nicholls' Op-ed in The Herald Sun.
How will the pandemic affect energy bills this season?
Read the article here
Dr Jathan Sadowski joins the Digital Energy Futures team
Welcome to Dr Jathan Sadowski who has joined the Emerging Technologies Research Lab as a Research Fellow. Jathan will work across multiple projects in the Lab and has expertise in the political economy of smart technologies.
Read more here
Media Release: New Monash collaboration to shape the future of Australian energy
Monash University has embarked on a landmark research project: Digital Energy Futures. A first of its kind, this project aims to better understand how emerging technologies are shaping the way people live - and ultimately, the future energy needs of Australian households.
Read the media release here