Maria Sharmina, Oliver Broad, John Barrett, Christian Brand, Alice Garvey, Harry Kennard, Jonathan Norman, James Price, Steve Pye, Jack Snape, Emily White.
Policymakers and academics envision energy demand reductions beyond typical policies in the United Kingdom
Authors
Co-design of energy transition pathways with policymakers and the public lead to more significant demand-side reductions than current supply-side-focused policy. When policymakers work directly with academics to re-consider how and why we use energy in our everyday lives, politically feasible, significantly cheaper options with 45% less energy demand are possible.
Messages for policy
- Current, supply-side-focused, high-growth futures lead to larger, costlier systems, requiring significantly higher volumes of unproven carbon removals, jeopardizing net-zero targets.
- Policymaker-led energy transition pathways with input from academics can significantly reduce energy use, costs and enhance political viability.
- Energy policy should go beyond supply and energy efficiency to drive down energy demand through structural and societal changes encouraging lower use of transport, and less production and consumption of goods.
- Flexibly designed energy infrastructure is needed to avoid lock-in and ensure demand-side-focused energy transition pathways remain an option.
