Delivering low carbon energy service demands: A UK case study: An examination of Local Authority level energy consumption and the potential for a disaggregated approach to energy demand reduction

Alongside decarbonising energy supply and greenhouse gas removal, energy demand reduction is expected to contribute significantly towards the achievement of the UK’s long-term climate goals. Many emission scenarios include ambitious improvements in energy efficiency, however, relying largely upon energy efficiency to deliver the level of energy demand reduction required for a 1.5°C future is considered a high risk strategy for demand-side mitigation. The thesis has highlighted the role that local authorities can assume in the demand-side transition, through subsidiarity, and framed analysis around the concept of energy service demands. Using this broader framing of energy demand reduction, the current direct and embodied energy demand associated with delivering Great Britain’s household energy service demands was modelled. Four universal energy demand reduction strategies which considered consumption-based policy options for energy demand reduction were also modelled, and capacity index scores for each local authority were calculated to assess whether universal energy demand reduction strategies would be equitable, and effective at reducing Great Britain’s level of energy consumption in line with the levels required for a 1.5°C future. This project found that energy service demands vary across Great Britain, driven primarily by heating and personal transport energy service demands, with households in London having the lowest energy service demands per capita across the majority of energy service categories. The energy demand reduction strategies demonstrate that energy consumption associated with household energy service demands can be significantly reduced while maintaining service levels and therefore not compromising wellbeing, however reduced service levels, and their associated energy demand reduction, need to be considered if Great Britain’s energy consumption is to be reduced to levels which align with estimates of the energy demand reduction required for a 1.5°C future. Finally, assessing the energy service demand and energy demand reduction results in the context of the capacity index scores showed that universal approaches to energy demand reduction which do not consider local context would not lead to an equitable demand-side transition, and that subsidiarity must play a larger role in energy demand reduction going forward.