Sustainable, safe and secure through demand reduction: EDRC participation in the European Council Summer Study 2024

Gerardo A Torres-Contreras, Marie Claire Brisbois and Tim Foxon

From 10 to 14 June 2024, 16 members of EDRC gathered with 300 other delegates in Center Parcs Le Lac d’Ailette for the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) Summer Study on energy efficiency. The Summer Study provides a working week combining formal and informal sessions to advance the frontiers in energy efficiency policy, research and implementation.

The Summer Study was divided into nine panels, from consumption to industrial efficiency, and 55 informal sessions, where participants could arrange conversations on specific topics.  In doing so, the conference conveyed the message that while electrification and decarbonisation are salient elements to the carbon-neutral energy transitions, a feasible and affordable transition to a renewables-based energy system will not be possible without energy demand reduction.

EDRC’s research was well-represented in the Summer Study including:

• Professor Gesche Huebner shared insights into the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on 5,000 British households by focusing on the concept of underheating and its relation to well-being.
• Professor Stefan Bouzarovski and Manon Burbidge undertook an academic and grey literature review to unpack how gender is currently addressed in energy policy and the implications for alleviating energy poverty in Europe.
• Marie Claire Brisbois and Janine Morley shed light on the theorisation of the political feasibility of energy demand reduction by reviewing existing perspectives on political feasibility and highlighting strengths and gaps.
• Malcolm Morgan presented ongoing projects to improve understanding of the use of cars in the UK, considering that personal vehicles are the primary source of transport carbon emissions and energy consumption.

Mia Ben, Research Co-I at EDRC, participated in the Thursday Plenary session on ‘What do we mean by a just and inclusive energy transition? And how do we get there?’ Her keynote elaborated on retrofitting buildings and strategies to add new technologies or features to existing buildings. She argued that four main strategies exist to bring about a fair and inclusive transition to the building sector: technical, social and economic, environmental and policy and regulatory. These should be guided by two overarching considerations: to address energy poverty with targeted initiatives and inclusive design, and the fair distribution of opportunities through equitable financing models and anti-displacement measures.

The Summer Study was a great opportunity to develop contacts and build pan European networks with energy experts focusing on topics such as home energy and building efficiency, transportation systems, and industrial processes.

Many informal sessions touched on the concept of sufficiency, understood as the implementation of less resource-intensive practices and supporting institutions to provide human well-being for all within planetary boundaries. How the UK can adopt more progressive and emancipatory sufficiency-based practices within existing material and immaterial rules and systems is a question worth asking and one that EDRC will explore in the future. Along the same lines, the imperative of economic growth was questioned during the Summer Study and connections between ideas of well-being (Doughnut Economics, Degrowth, Buen Vivir, Purpose Economy in the Netherlands, etc.) and climate modelling were drawn by delegates. Questions about how these ideas of well-being could travel and be translated into localised ideas of the good life in the UK and how they interlink with energy demand reduction strategies are worth asking.

In conclusion, ECEEE Summer Study 2024 provided an excellent opportunity for EDRC researchers to engage in the latest debates in energy efficiency with a range of academics, policy-makers and industry leaders from Europe to Call for Action on Energy Demand.