Reducing Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: A Critical Assessment of Small-Group Interventions

Fisher, Jill; Irvine, Katherine N.

doi:10.3390/en9030172

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…Energy efficiency is characterized both by the use of more efficient energy sources, but also by a more responsible behavior of the consumer [3][4][5]. Especially in a digitalized world, where most of the activities of the consumer are done in correspondence with electronic devices [5,6], it is important to analyze the impact of this development on the energy consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society

Pelău

Acatrinei

2019

Energies

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The digital transformation era is in full motion, steadily making its way into common households, triggering changes in behavior as well as consumption patterns. While some changes can occur only within the context of the household mean income, such as the upgrade of appliances or devices, correlated with a personal preference in adopting such tools and technologies, there is one area that must keep with the pace of change, regardless of the household’s subjective criteria: energy consumption. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of digitalization on the household energy consumption, with the intent to understand trends, anticipate future changes as well as impact energy consumption efficiency. The results of the panel regressions based on the quantity of consumed energy and the popularity of several internet activities have revealed an inverse relation. The increased number of consumers doing certain internet activities such as: internet calling, reading online newspapers, activities on social media networks and uploading content online determine a lower energy consumption for that economy. There was no significant evidence for the relation between the energy consumption and internet activities such as: reading e-mails, searching for, doing internet banking and online purchases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society

Pelău

Acatrinei

2019

Energies

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“…Cutting across supply and demand side interventions informal, grassroots initiatives serve as spaces in which often radical alternatives -new technologies, business models, or lifestyles -can be experienced and experimented with 53,54 . Whether community based behavior change schemes such as EcoTeams or Carbon Rationing Action Groups, or community renewables projects [55][56][57] , community energy initiatives have grown rapidly around the world (e.g. [58][59][60][61] ) and have often come to be seen as potentially valuable policy objects.…”

Section: Relations With Agencies and Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of social relations in shaping energy demand

Hargreaves

Middlemiss

2020

Nat Energy

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Current efforts to change patterns of energy demand tend to target people as discrete and isolated individuals. In so doing, they ignore the fact that energy use occurs in places such as homes, workplaces and communities in which complex webs of social relations already exist. Here, we argue that more attention should be paid to how people's social relations influence energy demand. We review recent qualitative research to show how social relations shape how much energy people use, when and where they use it, as well as how they respond to interventions. We propose a typology that identifies three types of social relation as especially significant: those with family and friends, with agencies and communities, and those associated with social identities. We show how a focus on social relations can generate new forms of policy and intervention in efforts to build more just and sustainable energy futures. Humans are social animals: our relationships shape our experiences, decisions and actions. Energy demand is no exception: how we consume energy is shaped by relationships of conflict, consensus, collaboration, companionship, solidarity and oppression with our fellow human beings. When people talk about using energy at home, work or in their communities, they also talk about their relationships with others to explain how and why they consume in the ways they do. Stories of teenagers leaving the lights on, or colleagues being perpetually cold in the office are familiar to us all. It follows that attempts to change patterns of energy demand, to make them more flexible 1 , more just 2,3 , or to help decarbonise energy systems 4,5 depend fundamentally on social relations. Relational sociology characterises how people act as structured by the situations they are in, others involved in those situations, and their relations with those others 6. Social relations are therefore seen as shaping, and being shaped by interactions (giving these meaning and significance), reproduced by practices, and important in processes of identity building 6-8. Social relations shift over time, and the history and expected future of a relationship impact on how it is experienced in the present 6. People have patterns of social relations, which differ between societies, groups of people and individuals, and which impact on their access to resources. There is a distinction between 'micro' social relationships in daily life (those with parents, friends or teachers) and 'macro' social relationships (such as relationships of class, gender, or belief) 8 , but these intersect and overlap in people's lives. To help illustrate the multiple ways that social relations shape energy demand, Boxes 1 and 2 provide two vignettes drawn from our own research that show how social relations have

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“…It is derived from Lewin's (1952) pioneering work using citizen groups to affect fundamental change by first honestly presenting people with the situation being faced and then giving them the trust, time and support needed to craft their own responses. Programs based on Lewin's approach are being developed to promote environmental stewardship (Fisher and Irvine 2016;Matthies and Kromker 2000) including the community-based initiatives called Ecoteams (Davidson 2011;Nye and Burgess 2008;Staats and Harland 1995;Staats et al 2004). There are also larger-scale examples including eco-housing and ecovillages (Litfin 2013;Nelson 2018) and transition towns (Hopkins 2008).…”

Section: Behavioural Entrepreneurshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting Behavioural Entrepreneurs: Using the Biodiversity-Health Relationship to Help Citizens Self-Initiate Sustainability Behaviour

Young

2019

Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

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Techno-industrial societies face biophysical limits and the consequences of disrupting Earth's ecosystems. This creates a new behavioural context with an unmistakable demand: Citizens of such societies must turn from seeking new resources to crafting new living patterns that function well within finite ecosystems. This coming transition is inevitable, but our response is not preordained. Indeed, given the complex, multi-decade-long context, the required pro-environmental behaviours cannot be fully known in advance. Furthermore, the urgency to respond will necessitate that whole clusters of behaviour be adopted; incremental and serial change will not suffice. Thus, a culture of small experiments must be nurtured. The process of change will seriously tax social, emotional and attentional capacities. Thus, priority is placed on emotional stability and clear-headedness, maintaining social relationships while stressed, pro-actively managing behaviour and a willingness to reskill. These aspects of coping share a common foundation: the maintenance of attentional vitality and psychological well-being. Changes also must occur in how pro-environmental behaviours are promoted. We must move beyond interventions that are expert-driven, modest in request, serial in implementation and short-term in horizon. New interventions must create the conditions under which citizens become behavioural entrepreneurs, themselves creating, managing and sharing successful approaches to behaviour change. Keywords Behavioural entrepreneurs • Behavioural aesthetics • Biophysical limits • Behaviour change • Energy descent • Mental vitality Highlights • Biophysical limits and climate disruption have created a new behavioural context.

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Reducing Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: A Critical Assessment of Small-Group Interventions

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society

The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society

The importance of social relations in shaping energy demand

Supporting Behavioural Entrepreneurs: Using the Biodiversity-Health Relationship to Help Citizens Self-Initiate Sustainability Behaviour

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