‘I prefer 30°’?: Business strategies for influencing consumer laundry practices to reduce carbon emissions

This paper analyses businesses' initiatives to influence consumption carbon emissions in home laundering, principally by persuading consumers to wash clothes at lower temperatures. A number of voluntary business initiatives have sought to change consumer practices, coming from detergent manufacturers, their industry association and retailers. This paper analyses their impact at system level, by assessing the coevolutionary interactions between ‘Supply’, from consumer-facing firms, whose principle business is to sell products to consumers, both manufacturing and retailing, and ‘Demand’ from consumers, whose interactions with the businesses arise from shopping, using and receiving consumer messages from the firms. The research analyses the interactions between the business case drivers for presentation of consumer messages to reduce laundry emissions and the drivers of changes in consumer laundry practices. This enables inductive inference of the causal relationships over time between businesses’ strategies to communicate with consumers and changes in users’ laundry temperatures. The paper concludes that, in spite of considerable efforts and resources, these business initiatives have not resulted in the intended level of change in consumer practice that would deliver significant emissions reductions. Consumption emissions from households are a result of interdependent systems of provision, technologies and infrastructure, so stronger actions by business to influence consumer practices as well as further regulatory drivers are likely to be needed to deliver stricter emission reduction targets. This research contributes to the field of sustainable consumption through bringing together a coevolutionary framework with theories of business model innovation and social practices, in order to analyse whole systems of competing businesses’ strategies in context with technologies, institutions and ecosystems

Designing industrial strategy for a low carbon transformation

The recent re-emergence of industrial policy as a legitimate pursuit of governments in Europe and the US has the potential to open up a new realm of policy action for climate change mitigation. This would aim to align efforts to secure national industrial opportunities with the development of low carbon industrial systems, so as to generate both socio-economic and environmental benefits. The paper discusses the role of low carbon industrial strategy in seeking to do this, thereby accelerating transitions to a low carbon economy. It sets out the elements of a more systemic low carbon industrial strategy, including providing a mission-oriented and learning-based approach, drawing on and combining insights from neo-Schumpeterian and ecological economics perspectives

Energy and complexity: new ways forward

The purpose of this paper is to review the application of complexity science methods in understanding energy systems and system change. The challenge of moving to sustainable energy systems which provide secure, affordable and low-carbon energy services requires the application of methods which recognise the complexity of energy systems in relation to social, technological, economic and environmental aspects. Energy systems consist of many actors, interacting through networks, leading to emergent properties and adaptive and learning processes. Insights on these type of phenomena have been investigated in other contexts by complex systems theory. However, these insights are only recently beginning to be applied to understanding energy systems and systems transitions. The paper discusses the aspects of energy systems (in terms of technologies, ecosystems, users, institutions, business models) that lend themselves to the application of complexity science and its characteristics of emergence and coevolution. Complex-systems modelling differs from standard (e.g. economic) modelling and offers capabilities beyond those of conventional models, yet these methods are only beginning to realize anything like their full potential to address the most critical energy challenges. In particular there is significant potential for progress in understanding those challenges that reside at the interface of technology and behaviour. Some of the computational methods that are currently available are reviewed: agent-based and network modelling. The advantages and limitations of these modelling techniques are discussed. Finally, the paper considers the emerging themes of transport, energy behaviour and physical infrastructure systems in recent research from complex-systems energy modelling. Although complexity science is not well understood by practitioners in the energy domain (and is often difficult to communicate), models can be used to aid decision-making at multiple levels e.g. national and local, and to aid understanding and allow decision making. The techniques and tools of complexity science, therefore, offer a powerful means of understanding the complex decision-making processes that are needed to realise a low-carbon energy system. We conclude with recommendations for future areas of research and application

Socio-technical transitions in UK electricity: part 2 - technologies and sustainability

A large interdisciplinary consortium of engineers, social scientists and policy analysts has developed three low-emissions, more-electric transition pathways for the UK. The approach is based on earlier work on understanding transitions, applying a multi-level perspective with landscape, regime and niche levels to the development of sociotechnical scenarios. The pathways to 2050 focus on the power sector, including the potential for increasing the use of low-emissions electricity for heating and transport. Part 1 described studies of historical energy and infrastructure transitions that help to understand the dynamics and timing of past transitions. The role of large-scale and small-scale actors in the electricity sector and methods used to develop the pathways were also described. In part 2, associated technologies are evaluated to determine the choices that need to be made by UK energy policymakers and stakeholders. All three pathways are appraised in terms of their environmental performance using complementary life-cycle assessment and footprinting methods. Lessons can clearly be drawn for other industrialised nations attempting to reduce the emissions of their electricity generation systems, although local circumstances will determine country- and region-specific options

Socio-technical transitions in UK electricity: part 1 – history, actors and pathways

A large interdisciplinary consortium of engineers, social scientists and policy analysts has developed three low-emissions, more-electric transition pathways for the UK. The approach is based on earlier work on understanding transitions, applying a multi-level perspective with landscape, regime and niche levels to the development of sociotechnical scenarios. The pathways to 2050 focus on the power sector, including the potential for increasing the use of low-emissions electricity for heating and transport. Part 1 describes studies of historical energy and infrastructure transitions that help to understand the dynamics and timing of past transitions. The role of large-scale and small-scale actors in the electricity sector and methods used to develop the pathways are then described. In part 2, associated technologies are evaluated to determine the choices that need to be made by UK energy policymakers and stakeholders. All three pathways are appraised in terms of their environmental performance using complementary life-cycle assessment and footprinting methods. Lessons can clearly be drawn for other industrialised nations attempting to reduce the emissions from their electricity generation systems, although local circumstances will determine country- and region-specific options

Drivers and effects of digitalization on energy demand in low-carbon scenarios

The world is currently facing two socio-technical transitions: shifting to a low-carbon society, and a digital revolution. Despite some claims to the contrary, evidence suggests that spread and adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) does not automatically lead to reduction in energy demand, if this stimulates new energy-using practices or wider economic growth. Despite this policy challenge, the two transitions are often considered separately. This study examines potential drivers of reductions or increases in energy demand due to digitalization identified in recent leading global and UK net-zero transitions scenarios. We analyse the scenarios in terms of effects of digitalization on energy demand by identifying specific direct effects of ICT; indirect and rebound effects in transport and home energy use; and wider effects via economic growth. This analysis implies that the future pathways adopted for digitalization will have a significant impact on future energy demand and hence on the feasibility and acceptability of achieving net-zero goals. We find there are different assumptions and development pathways between scenarios. We also identify a need for better inclusion of behavioural effects and other social science understanding in scenarios on the one hand, and recognition that policy can affect digitalization pathways on the other. Overall, our work suggests opportunities for further research and potential for improving policy interactions between these two transitions, and stimulating greater public debate on the different framings for an ICT-driven low-carbon transition. Key policy insights Modelling and scenario development of low-carbon pathways need to pay more attention to drivers of energy demand, including direct and indirect effects of digitalization. Social science understanding of the behavioural change effects of digitalization needs to be considered in assessing energy demand changes. Different pathways of digitalization result from individual and collective choices, including technology development, business models and data protection. Policy makers should seek to promote pathways that deliver social wellbeing and local environmental benefits, not just economic gains

The Greening of Innovation Systems for Eco-innovation - Towards an Evolutionary Climate Mitigation Policy

Policies for mitigating climate change have never received as much attention worldwide as now. At the same time another upcoming policy trend is the increasing synthesis between innovation- and environmental policy, a synthesis that is captured by the “eco-innovation” concept. However, the climate and innovation policy areas are currently little aligned and have in fact been considered “opposites” until very recently. The paper seeks to identify how evolutionary economic theory, hitherto very little applied to the environmental area, may guide the development of climate policies and eco-innovation policies in important ways. The paper argues that the evolutionary economic perspective entails a new policy rationale which not only puts more emphasis on greening of markets as a means towards reaching climate goals but also shifts the representation of the economy towards a more dynamic one. The policy implications of this shift are considerable and have hitherto gained little attention. A deeper understanding of eco-innovation dynamics is strongly needed for informing both climate and innovation policies. The paper argues that the fact that environmental problems have largely been neglected by evolutionary economic research illustrates a lack of genuine systems thinking within this line of thought, despite the prominence of systems ideas. The paper proposes a strong paradigmatic explanation of eco-innovation based on a combination of innovation systems thinking and an evolutionary capabilities approach. Based on this frame the paper provides policy recommendations arguing that the innovation system concept may form a needed analytical frame for translating overall carbon reduction goals into innovation targets. The paper suggests a long run policy for creating a high innovative capacity for eco-innovation among sectoral, national and regional innovation systems

A systemic approach to transitions towards circular economy: the case of Brighton and Hove

To date, the literature on the circular economy has been dominated by closed-loop industrial practices, circular products, and business models. Lack of systemic perspective in the circularity debate limited the understanding of multi-actor and multi-pattern transitions. In this paper, we apply a co-evolutionary framework to investigate key dimensions of a socio-technical system -ecosystems, technologies, businesses, institutions, and user practices-in the city of Brighton and Hove (United Kingdom). We present the causal interaction between these systems based on the outcomes of semi-structured interviews with the local actors and documentary analysis of relevant policies and strategies. Exploring how each system evolves under own dynamics and influenced by the dynamics in the others leads us to identify the main drivers and barriers of a circular economy in the city. Our findings underline the necessity of systems-level change with a holistic vision, consideration of place-specific factors and engagement of multiple actors for a successful transition

A low carbon industrial revolution? Insights and challenges from past technological and economic transformations

Recent efforts to promote a transition to a low carbon economy have been influenced by suggestions that a low carbon transition offers challenges and might yield economic benefits comparable to those of the previous industrial revolutions. This paper examines these arguments and the challenges facing a low carbon transition, by drawing on recent thinking on the technological, economic and institutional factors that enabled and sustained the first (British) industrial revolution, and the role of ‘general purpose technologies’ in stimulating and sustaining this and subsequent industrial transformation processes that have contributed to significant macroeconomic gains. These revolutions involved profound, long drawn-out changes in economy, technology and society; and although their energy transitions led to long-run economic benefits, they took many decades to develop. To reap significant long-run economic benefits from a low carbon transition sooner rather than later would require systemic efforts and incentives for low carbon innovation and substitution of high-carbon technologies. We conclude that while achieving a low carbon transition may require societal changes on a scale comparable with those of previous industrial revolutions, this transition does not yet resemble previous industrial revolutions. A successful low carbon transition would, however, amount to a different kind of industrial revolution