is important for some energy consumers. Depending on how a district heating system is promoted and experienced, this may also be the reason why some say ‘no’ or would be able to say ‘yes’. More active users are generally more familiar with other heating systems than with district heating. They might have had different individual heating technologies in their household. This consumer type also has access to materials through the local network. Here is another example: “I know a guy on the board in the local water company; he works over there in the factory. He asked if I was interested in some wood, and I was. So, I went over there and picked up 6 trailers' worth of wood. It just cost me a bit of gasoline” (quote from a Danish energy consumer) 10 For many local communities, the energy systems in individual households remain interconnected through community relationships. They use local materials, local know-how, and may also share knowledge and even trust local know-how more than experts from ‘the outside’. Being your own stoker poses a barrier to the district heating system, as described above. However, depending on the community's social landscape, it may also serve as a driver for a local district heating system. This depends on how district heating is being narrated into the local community, their values, know-how, and local materials. Social landscape as a tool For developers and energy planners to succeed in establishing district heating in areas with primarily individual energy supplies, mobilizing the local community is crucial. There will be no district heating system if the majority of the community says ‘no’. This we know. From a social science perspective and a practice-oriented anthropological approach, this is where many developers fail. Not because they are not competent. But because energy projects, like many others, still tend to be developed in a linear silo process. Once the legal, technical, and financial aspects are in place, promoting district heating becomes only a sales pitch at the end of the project phase.
Another example of the extent of the passive consumer is the following quotes from energy users. These users are actually shareholders of a local district heating company. The question asked was what it meant to be a shareholder. Their responses support the passive approach to energy and district heating in general.
“Nothing really, I would say. It is for sure not something that I think about.”
“Nothing more than that, that is how it is to a member of the district heating company, so you automatically become a shareholder, that is how it is.” 8 Passive users are a barrier to promoting district heating. Supported by the invisibility as described above. This makes it even more difficult for consumers to be aware of their energy supply and thus make informed decisions. But it might also be a driver, at least for the consumer type, who wants it to be easy and doesn't want to be bothered by it in everyday life. Consumers who enjoy letting the experts help them. But different heat sources and systems affect the user behavior differently. Not all consumers are the same; what one consumer views as a motivation will be a barrier for another. “Be your own stoker” as a barrier Being your own stoker offers another anthropological insight that facilitates consumers' decision-making. To be your own stoker is a question of autonomy, being able to do things yourself, having the ability and know-how to handle your own energy system. For some consumers, this is key; for other consumers, it is terrifying. To be your own stoker speaks to the more active consumer, a consumer who one day fuels the wooden boiler with wood pellets and on another day fuels it with leftover grains. “We are a bit more independent (with a biomass boiler). We have more options, e.g., with the wood we produce ourselves or the grain we have left. There is, of course, a bit more work in it, but…” (quote from an energy consumer) 9
Planners and developers must map a community's social landscape while planning the project. This means they have to
Depending on what is at hand and what may be the cheapest. This power to act and use available local materials
8 Antropologisk analyse, Fremtidsstrategier for mindre fjernvarmesystemer, 2015-2017, https://www.teknologisk.dk/_/ media/70550%5FFRESMIR%20Antropologisk%20rapport.pdf
9 Appendix 2 Energi i landområder (energy in rural areas), the DREAM-project 2012-2014 10 Appendix 2 Energi i landområder (energy in rural areas), the DREAM-project 2012-2014
32 HOTCOOL SPECIAL COLLECTION edition 2, 2025
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