To what extent has COVID-19 impacted hard-to-reach energy audiences?

Energy users who don’t participate in efficiency and conservation programmes despite ongoing outreach are often referred to as ‘Hard-to-Reach’ (HTR). These individuals or organisations can include, e.g., low income or vulnerable households; renters; and small businesses. More effectively engaging HTR audiences is key to ensuring everyone benefits equitably from low-carbon energy transitions and related (policy) interventions. This is even more so the case in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing implications for energy use and affordability for the most vulnerable (and newly-vulnerable) members of our society.Within this context, the main purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which HTR energy audiences have been impacted by COVID-19. Our primary method for this work was a comprehensive, critical literature review and a compilation of official statistics. We also collected survey, interview and focus group data during 2020 COVID-19 pandemic responses in the U.S., UK, NZ and Sweden. The geographical scope is determined by a 3-year project focusing on HTR energy users and implemented in partnership with the User-Centred Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme (Users TCP) by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Key findings we highlight and discuss in this paper:● Sweden has taken a different approach to manage COVID-19, yet when it comes to mobility, declines in demand (~25%) have shown relatively similar patterns to countries with stricter measures. ● In the UK, energy debt is growing due to higher domestic consumption arising from lockdown measures and the reduced income of many households. Most households (72%) have increased their energy (monthly gas and electricity bills are up £32) use. In response, 36% are turning thermostats down and 27% limiting lighting.● In the U.S., a survey of 1,000 energy customers found that more than 50% are using more energy, and monitoring their energy use less; 15% reported postponing a utility bill. ● NZ’s model COVID-19 “elimination” response has included housing, financial support, and specific energy payments to date, though unhealthy and unaffordable housing remains a major issue.Whereas the pandemic has exacerbated several elements of the HTR policy discourse (e.g. impacts on vulnerable and/or low-income households), our findings also reveal several opportunities and critical aspects for policy makers, researchers and utilities to identify and engage HTR energy users

Using Stories, Narratives, and Storytelling in Energy and Climate Change Research

Energy and climate change research has been dominated by particular methods and approaches to defining and addressing problems, accomplished by gathering and analysing the corresponding forms of evidence. This special issue starts from the broad concepts of stories, narratives, and storytelling to go beyond these analytic conventions, approaching the intersection of nature, humanity, and technology in multiple ways, using lenses from social sciences, humanities, and practitioners’ perspectives. The contributors use stories as data objects to gather, analyse, and critique; stories as an approach to research an inquiry; narrative analysis as a way of crystallising arguments and assumptions; and storytelling as a way of understanding, communicating, and influencing others. In using these forms of evidence and communication, and applying methods, analytical stances, and interpretations that these invite, something new and different results. This essay is a brief introduction to how, in our view, stories and their kin fit in energy and climate change research. We outline the diversity of data, approaches, and goals represented in the contributions to the special issue. And we reflect on some of the challenges of, and possibilities for, continuing to develop ‘stories’ as data sources, as modes of inquiry, and as creative paths toward social engagement

Coral Tissue Thickness as a Bioindicator of Mine-Related Turbidity Stress on Coral Reefs at Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea

Work described here assessed the feasibility of using variations in tissue thickness in massive Porites corals as a bioindicator for mine-related sediment stress. We examined parameters influencing coral tissue thickness, including water depth, location, season, and time period within the lunar month. Coral tissue thickness was observed to grow linearly over the lunar cycle until it dropped abruptly by about 20% after the day of the full moon. Although some relationship was observed between tissue thickness reduction and turbidity, no systematic relationship was found between turbidity zones and light levels. The aim was to develop sampling protocols that minimized the effect of natural variability and maximized the potential use of tissue thickness by mine management as a cheap, reliable, real-time indicator of coral stress response to increased turbidity on Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea. This method could prove particularly useful at remote locations or where a fast assessment of coral stress response (< 1 month) needs to be made

Prioritize energy sufficiency to decarbonize our buildings

We need human behavioural change to decarbonize our buildings. This requirement arises from our needs, lifestyle energy choices and interactions with buildings, and is an underexploited, yet essential demand-side opportunity for rapid and sustainable decarbonization. We propose a sufficiency-oriented approach that fosters equitable building decarbonization, while maintaining planetary boundaries

The urgency of energy conservation : required behaviour and social norm change for demand-side management

Governments struggle with achieving their targets (often set in legislation) towards developing low carbon regions in Europe, i.e. smart energy regions. On top of the problem of climate change, concerns for security of supply and ‘peak oil’ and other resource shortages have added to the urgency of energy conservation. However, it is still thought that we are currently wasting up to 86% of our energy (cf. [1]) and that we will not utilise 2/3 of the energy efficiency potential in our economy by 2035 (cf. [2]). Supporting research in energy efficiency is therefore contributing to the European objectives in resource efficiency (cf. [3]). Today, energy efficiency is promoted under a variety of headings, including climate change mitigation, sustainability, eco-efficiency, conservation or energy self-sufficiency. Within the IEA DSM Task 24 Subtask 1, different programmes, pilots and policies (focussed on achieving better energy conservation, energy efficiency and peak load management) have been analysed in different countries in order to find out if and what behaviour change models or frameworks were used to design, implement and evaluate them, and with what success. Programmes, pilots and policies were also characterised in terms of targeted actors, scope, domain and durability of behaviour, using the framework of [4]. Of special interest is the question if there are models or frameworks which are better suited for certain programmes and energy sectors (this Task is concentrating on building, transport, SMEs and smart metering technology) than others. First outcomes of this analysis, revealing approaches for best practice and some main challenges, will be presented in this paper.

Analysis of case studies IEA DSM task 24 : closing the loop - behaviour change in DSM: from theory to practice

This report is the analysis of Subtask I - Helicopter overview of models, theories, contexts and evaluation metrics. It summarises almost 40 case studies from more than 10 countries. The case studies were provided by our national experts of the 9 participating countries, and other experts from countries that support this Task in-kind. The case studies were based on policies, programmes and pilots, driven from both, the top-down and the bottom-up. They were explicitly or implicitly based on various models of understanding behaviour or theories of change (of behaviour). They were collected from four main domains: transport, building retrofits, SMEs and smart meters, thus encompassing a very wide range of DSM interventions. Some came from government (both national and local), some from the energy industry, some from businesses, some from the third sector and some from researchers. Some have used similar models or similar approaches, but they all encompass a wide variety of themes, contexts and outcomes. There is a lot of shared learning in this report, and there are a lot of great stories

Hard-to-reach energy users: An ex-post cross-country assessment of behavioural-oriented interventions

Hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users encompass individuals who are physically difficult to reach, underserved, or challenging to engage and motivate in demand-side energy programmes. Given a mix of societal challenges (e.g. inequity, energy poverty, decarbonisation, the COVID-19 pandemic), HTR energy users are receiving increasing attention. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the performance of interventions that target (explicitly or implicitly) HTR energy users, particularly from a behaviour change perspective. Our study addresses this knowledge gap, and aims to provide a systematic ex-post comparative cross-country assessment of nineteen case studies, implemented in eight countries. From a methodological point of view, our study explores and tests the usefulness of applying the ‘Building Blocks of Behaviour Change’ (BBBC) in assessing the extent to which interventions employ design and implementation practices that are known to drive behaviour change. Our findings reveal that interventions perform well with respect to the Audience, Behaviour, and Delivery building blocks, but show room for improvement in the Content and Evaluate blocks. Assessing the BBBC framework reveals promising results in terms of credibility, confirmability, transferability, and reliability; however, limitations and uncertainties are also present. Considering the exploratory methodological nature of our study, the results highlight numerous context-specific factors that frame our findings and the suitability of the research approach. We underscore that greater attention must be paid to both the integration of behavioural science methods into HTR interventions, and the systematic analysis of heterogeneity in future HTR-related energy research.Ethics & Philosophy of TechnologyEconomics of Technology and Innovatio