Future Energy Sources For Pennsylvania

Author : Stephen Mainzer
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (992 download)

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Download or read book A Community Landscape Theory of Pro-environmental Behavior written by Stephen Mainzer and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are using more energy every year. Between 2001 and 2011, Pennsylvania residential electricity sales increased by two and a half times the number of new customers, accounting for almost one third of the states total electricity consumption. Our ability to meet demand by acquiring new energy sources faces several challenges. Confusion surrounds the physical and economic accessibility of remaining fossil fuel sources. Immense land use requirements and subsequent environmental impacts challenge a total shift to renewable energy sources. The laws of thermodynamics limit the potential for new technology to efficiently convert raw energy to consumable sources. As a result, any rational strategy to meet future energy demands must involve conservation. Conservation is a pro-environmental behavior, an act intended to benefit the environment surrounding a person. I posit that a transdisciplinary model, the community landscape model of the pro-environmental behavior, unifies the conceptually analogous - yet disparate - fields of landscape, community, and behavior towards explaining residential energy conservation actions. Specifically, the study attempted to describe links between the physical environment, social environment, and conservation behaviors through a mixed-method framework. Two Pennsylvania townships Spring and East Buffalo townships were selected from an analysis of housing, electricity consumption, and land cover trends. Key informants from both townships informed the design of a survey instrument that captured the utility consumption, residential conservation actions, energy and environmental values, types and levels of community engagement, perceived barriers, and socio-demographic information from 107 randomly selected households. A mixed-method analysis produced evidence that place-based values and intention to participate in the community were significantly linked to lower utility consumption in households. People who cared deeply about their town were both more likely to attend community events and use less energy in their home. Other less significant examples of influences from the physical and social environments are presented in chapters 4 and 5.