9
CHAPTER 2
Framing the Sustainable Energy Challenge
and Implications for Solutions
Charlotte Jensen, Inge Røpke, Gary Goggins and
Frances Fahy
Abstract Sustainable consumption policies often rely on ecological
modernisation rationality, where the focus is usually on making current consumption patterns more sustainable in such a way that status
quo (ideas about the quality of life and growth) is not challenged. As
a result, sustainable energy policies tend to black box the demandside, often resulting in abstracting efficiency strategies from the social
© The Author(s) 2019
F. Fahy et al. (eds.), Energy Demand Challenges in Europe,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20339-9_2
C. Jensen (*) · I. Røpke
Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
e-mail: cjensen@plan.aau.dk
I. Røpke
e-mail: ir@plan.aau.dk
G. Goggins · F. Fahy
School of Geography and Archaeology and Ryan Institute,
National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
e-mail: gary.goggins@nuigalway.ie
F. Fahy
e-mail: frances.fahy@nuigalway.ie