Environmental Awareness and Social Sustainability: Insights from an Agent-Based Model with Social Learning and Individual Heterogeneity

Chengquan Zhang, Xifeng Wu (), Kun Qian, Sijia Zhao, Hatef Madani, Jin Chen and Yu Chen
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Chengquan Zhang: SCS Lab, Department of Human and Engineered Environment, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Xifeng Wu: SCS Lab, Department of Human and Engineered Environment, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Kun Qian: School of Economics and Management, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110136, China
Sijia Zhao: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Hatef Madani: Department of Energy Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
Jin Chen: School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Yu Chen: SCS Lab, Department of Human and Engineered Environment, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8563, Japan

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-21

Abstract: Social sustainability requires both technological innovations and societal changes within energy systems, with decentralization playing a critical role. This shift emphasizes the increasing importance of individual user decision-making, posing significant management challenges. An individual’s environmental awareness has a key influence on their energy decisions. However, the relationship between individual environmental awareness and social sustainability, particularly from a systemic perspective, remains underexplored. Our study uses agent-based modeling to examine this relationship within Japan’s electricity market, focusing on social learning and consumer heterogeneity. We find that social learning leads to the formation of consumer clusters with specific electricity preferences, affecting environmental awareness differently across high- and low-carbon groups. This process reveals the nuanced role of social learning in promoting low-carbon technology adoption, which varies according to the market share of low-carbon energy. Additionally, our results suggest that initial heterogeneity in environmental awareness among consumers has a limited and varied effect on sustainable transition pathways. However, the diversity resulting from social learning significantly shapes these trajectories. These insights highlight the complex interplay between individual behaviors, societal dynamics, and technological advancements in steering the sustainable transition, providing valuable considerations for future energy system management.

Keywords: environmental awareness; social sustainability; agent-based model; social learning; heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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