Encouraging energy efficiency in United Kingdom independent retail? The case of the butcher, fishmonger and cycle-shop

Abstract

The UK non-domestic sector accounts for 16% of energy use and major cuts are needed to meet a ' net zero' CO 2 emissions target by 2050. Policy and research to date have focused on technical potential and there are gaps in understanding social contexts, which are key to energy efficiency improvement. Furthermore, SMEs have been overlooked, despite the need for concerted action here to meet targets. In this study, mixed-method case study research is undertaken with three independent retailers (a butcher, fishmonger and cycle-shop) to explore energy management and energy efficiency adoption. Building on the 4Cs " Concern, Conditions and Capacity within a Community" (4Cs) framework developed by Janda, this study has identified the interrelationships between Cs and explored the underlying factors that appear the be more important in determining responses to energy efficiency opportunities. Reflecting on the 4Cs, improving energy efficiency within this sector is complex, so it is perhaps not surprising that energy efficiency adoption has been low to date. This study highlights the importance of the ' social' within a socio-technical context. Whilst technical conditions are invariably the most important factor in engineering calculations of energy efficiency potential, they appear to be of considerably less importance than social contexts in practice. The findings suggest that a greater focus on social context within a socio-technical frame could help make future policy interventions more effective. Whilst some of these findings may be sector-specific, several are likely to be transferable to other SMEs, retail and hospitality organisations.

A Comprehensive Model for Developing SME Net Zero Capability Incorporating Grey Literature

“…Different studies describe a variety of barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency measures by SMEs. These barriers usually vary by industry/sector, size of SME, geographies, market behaviour and amount of legislative support [51][52][53]. For example, a lack of legislative support in certain sectors typically reduces the probability of the adoption of cleaner technology in those sectors.…”

“…The literature seems to agree that the most significant barriers are the costs of transitioning to cleaner technology, access to capital, uncertainty about the business environment and usefulness of greener technologies, lack of specialist knowledge about greener technologies, scarcity of time and resource constraints, unclear energy management responsibilities, split incentives and priorities, and a lack of control over some aspects of SME operations (for example domestic and international supply chains and short-term tenancy agreements) [7,31,50,52]. These barriers generally do not incentivise SME owners to make long-term investments that could contribute to reaching net zero.…”

“…However, such policies need to be implemented coherently across different sectors and a mix of policies seems to be more effective [30,31]. Voluntary agreements by SMEs across the supply chain could induce businesses to commit to net zero [52,55]. In the same manner, voluntary GHG reporting might be relevant for SMEs, because it can be effective in monitoring how SMEs reduce their GHG emissions [60].…”

Thinking inside the box: new ways of considering energy consumption in a multi-user agency-constrained environment

“…Little research however exists on using sociotechnical approach to explore the energy use in non-domestic sector. Recent studies into sociotechnical deployments at schools (New et al, 2019) and independent retail (Kenington et al, 2020) exist highlighting that technical conditions appear to be of considerably less importance than social contexts when it comes to energy consumption reduction, and that many obvious energy reduction opportunities are often ruled out as they do not fit with business or policy priorities. However, this research does not explain how competing priorities compete for attention within non-domestic settings.…”