Industrial low energy future

Visions of a low energy future consider the energy demand within the UK. However, industrial energy demand from other countries is required to provide all the goods and services associated with UK consumption. At present, 60% of the industrial energy demand required to satisfy UK consumption occurs outside the UK. There have been detailed discussions about “on-shoring” which involves increasing production inside the UK to satisfy UK consumption and therefore being less reliant on imports. This involves two activities; first is exploring the implications of low energy demand futures on the UK’s GHG consumption emissions. Second, involves working directly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on resource efficiency strategies for the UK.  

The aim of the project is to address the following questions:  

• What is the future of the UK’s consumption-based emissions? 

• How can UK strategies that change UK consumption patterns reduce energy demand outside the UK? 

• What are the implications of growing the UK’s manufacturing base on energy demand both inside and outside the UK? 

The project employs a multi-regional input output model developed at the University of Leeds and combines this with scenario forecasting techniques.

The UK has considerable scope to reduce energy demand and GHG emissions both inside and outside the UK through a range of resource consumption strategies.

The project involves supporting DESNZ with modelling and analysis of a range of resource efficiency strategies for the UK. It also involves combining the data from the Citizen’s Panel to develop new citizen led low energy industrial futures.