Positive low energy futures
We need to use less energy to save money, increase energy independence and meet our climate targets. How can we do this in ways that work for everyone?
We need to change the way that we use energy – and use less of it – in order to meet our legally-binding climate targets, improve our national energy independence, and save money at household and national level. Without substantial reductions in overall energy demand, meeting climate targets becomes extremely expensive and difficult, due to huge increases required in the size of the energy system and the installation of expensive (and as yet untested at scale) carbon dioxide removal technologies. Reducing demand can also offer earlier mitigation opportunities, bigger reductions in cumulative emissions, and greater flexibility in options for mitigation.
Government action on climate has so far focused on the supply side – on shifting where our energy comes from. From this point on, more disruptive changes to everyday practices on the demand side – how we use energy, from systemic to individual levels – will be necessary to reach national climate targets. Public discussion about the trajectories of change and the values and principles behind them are therefore essential.
This project builds on the Positive Low Energy Futures (PLEF) project, which showed that 52% reductions in UK energy demand are technically possible by 2050. Change at this scale requires advances in technology deployment, shifts in social practices, and integrated approaches to regional and national planning. We are convening a Citizens’ Panel – a randomly selected sample of the population that is broadly representative of the wider UK population – to explore the social mandate for these changes.
Periodically over two years, the Panel will meet together, online and in person, to learn more about and explore the opportunities, risks, benefits and impacts of a wide range of energy demand reduction options, including changes to the ways we work, shop, travel, eat, and heat our homes.
The deliberations and outputs from the Panel will be used to provide inputs for new runs of the PLEF model, to generate scenarios that are informed by social intelligence as well as technical feasibility. The project aims to generate insights into public views on the conditions and systemic changes needed to move rapidly to a low energy future in ways that are fair to everyone and help us save money, live more healthily, and protect the environment. It aims to better understand the social mandate for a variety of possible changes in how we use energy, the extent of change that would be supported, and the roles expected of citizens, governments, businesses and other actors in the energy transition.
For more information please contact Andy Yuille on yuillea@lancaster.ac.uk
Photo credit: Shared Futures