2 F. FAHY AND G. GoGGINS
Keywords Energy policy · Europe · Horizon 2020 · Interdisciplinary ·
ENERGISE
expLoring energy DemanD ChaLLenges in europe
Significant challenges lie ahead regarding Europe’s transition towards a
decarbonised energy system that meets the economic and social needs of
its citizens. Heretofore, scientific research and public policy in the field
of household energy use has primarily focused on promoting energy efficiency through changes in technology and individual behaviour (Labanca
and Bertoldi 2018). However, these approaches have been ineffective in
bringing about the aggregated reductions in carbon emissions that are
necessary to meet climate targets. They may even be counterintuitive
if they reinforce unsustainable routines and habits that engage energyrelated services (Shove 2018; Hargreaves et al. 2018).
The performance of more efficient technologies is often dependent
on how they are used by householders, if at all. Moreover, short-term
efficiency gains may be wiped out by increasing overall consumption in
order to reach newly perceived levels of comfort, convenience and standards. This increase in consumption manifests, for example, through social
pressure to consume in line with the latest ‘trends’ for bigger houses,
bigger cars, the latest technologies and appliances, and so forth. At the
same time, many households experience energy poverty and are unable to meet their energy needs, such as providing adequate heat for
their homes. Addressing these concerns requires multi-dimensional
approaches and highlights the crucial role of consumption in multi-scalar
decarbonisation efforts across Europe, an issue requiring much greater
attention from scientists and policy-makers than before.
This calls for a broadening of discussions around energy use to
include such fundamental and deep-rooted questions as ‘How much of
what is enough?’ of course, finding consensus on a clearly subjective
issue is never going to be easy, or indeed possible. But, by framing the
energy challenge in this way, we are compelled to be reflexive in considering how collective conventions around energy use evolve, and how
can they be better aligned with sustainable lifestyles. opening up these
increasingly pertinent discussions to wider debate also implies a greater
emphasis on citizen engagement to respond to related social and cultural
Keywords Energy policy · Europe · Horizon 2020 · Interdisciplinary ·
ENERGISE
expLoring energy DemanD ChaLLenges in europe
Significant challenges lie ahead regarding Europe’s transition towards a
decarbonised energy system that meets the economic and social needs of
its citizens. Heretofore, scientific research and public policy in the field
of household energy use has primarily focused on promoting energy efficiency through changes in technology and individual behaviour (Labanca
and Bertoldi 2018). However, these approaches have been ineffective in
bringing about the aggregated reductions in carbon emissions that are
necessary to meet climate targets. They may even be counterintuitive
if they reinforce unsustainable routines and habits that engage energyrelated services (Shove 2018; Hargreaves et al. 2018).
The performance of more efficient technologies is often dependent
on how they are used by householders, if at all. Moreover, short-term
efficiency gains may be wiped out by increasing overall consumption in
order to reach newly perceived levels of comfort, convenience and standards. This increase in consumption manifests, for example, through social
pressure to consume in line with the latest ‘trends’ for bigger houses,
bigger cars, the latest technologies and appliances, and so forth. At the
same time, many households experience energy poverty and are unable to meet their energy needs, such as providing adequate heat for
their homes. Addressing these concerns requires multi-dimensional
approaches and highlights the crucial role of consumption in multi-scalar
decarbonisation efforts across Europe, an issue requiring much greater
attention from scientists and policy-makers than before.
This calls for a broadening of discussions around energy use to
include such fundamental and deep-rooted questions as ‘How much of
what is enough?’ of course, finding consensus on a clearly subjective
issue is never going to be easy, or indeed possible. But, by framing the
energy challenge in this way, we are compelled to be reflexive in considering how collective conventions around energy use evolve, and how
can they be better aligned with sustainable lifestyles. opening up these
increasingly pertinent discussions to wider debate also implies a greater
emphasis on citizen engagement to respond to related social and cultural