1st Edition

Transitions in Energy Efficiency and Demand The Emergence, Diffusion and Impact of Low-Carbon Innovation

Edited By Kirsten E.H. Jenkins, Debbie Hopkins Copyright 2019
    300 Pages
    by Routledge

    300 Pages 36 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781351127264, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. 



    Meeting the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement and limiting global temperature increases to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels demands rapid reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing energy demand has a central role in achieving this goal, but existing policy initiatives have been largely incremental in terms of the technological and behavioural changes they encourage. Against this background, this book develops a sociotechnical approach to the challenge of reducing energy demand and illustrates this with a number of empirical case studies from the United Kingdom. In doing so, it explores the emergence, diffusion and impact of low-energy innovations, including electric vehicles and smart meters. The book has the dual aim of improving the academic understanding of sociotechnical transitions and energy demand and providing practical recommendations for public policy.



    Combining an impressive range of contributions from key thinkers in the field, this book will be of great interest to energy students, scholars and decision-makers.

    List of Figures



    List of Tables



    Preface



    List of Contributors



    1. Introduction: New directions in energy demand research



    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins, Steven Sorrell, Debbie Hopkins and Cameron Roberts



    Part 1: Analytical perspectives



    2. Of emergence, diffusion and impact: A sociotechnical perspective on researching energy demand



    Frank W. Geels, Benjamin K. Sovacool and Steven Sorrell



    3. A normative approach to transitions in energy demand: An energy justice and fuel poverty case study



    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins and Mari Martiskainen



    Part 2: The emergence and diffusion of innovations



    4. Electric vehicles and the future of personal mobility in the United Kingdom



    Noam Bergman



    5. Experimentation with vehicle automation
    Debbie Hopkins and Tim Schwanen



    6. The United Kingdom smart meter rollout through an energy justice lens



    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins, Benjamin K. Sovacool and Sabine Hielscher



    7. Overcoming the systemic challenges of retrofitting residential buildings in the United Kingdom, A herculean task?



    Donal Brown, Paula Kivimaa, Jan Rosenow and Mari Martiskainen



    Part 3: Societal impacts and co-benefits
    8. Exergy economics: New insights into energy consumption and economic growth Paul Brockway, Steve Sorrell, Tim Foxon and Jack Miller



    9. Energy saving innovations and economy wide rebound effects



    Gioele Figus, Karen Turner and Antonios Katris



    Part 4: Policy mixes and implications



    10. Political acceleration of sociotechnical transitions: Lessons from four historical case studies



    Cameron Roberts and Frank W. Geels



    11. The challenge of effective energy efficiency policy in the United Kingdom



    Janette Webb



    12. Policy mixes for sustainable energy transitions: The case of energy efficiency



    Florian Kern, Paula Kivimaa, Karoline Rogge and Jan Rosenow



    13. Managing energy and climate transitions in theory and practice: A critical systematic review of Strategic Niche Management



    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins and Benjamin K. Sovacool



    Part 5: Conclusion



    14. Conclusions: towards systematic reductions in energy demand



    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins, Debbie Hopkins and Cameron Roberts



    Index

    Biography

    Kirsten E. H. Jenkins is a Lecturer in Human Geography and Sustainable Development within the School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, UK.



    Debbie Hopkins is jointly appointed by the Transport Studies Unit and the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford (UK) as a Departmental Research Lecturer.