Description
Energy Fables: Challenging Ideas in the Energy Sector takes a fresh look at key terms and concepts around which energy research and policy are organised.
Drawing on recent research in energy and transport studies, and combining this with concepts from sociology, economics, social theory and technology studies, the chapters in this collection review and challenge different aspects of received wisdom. Brief but critical introductions to classic notions like those of ‘energy efficiency’, ‘elasticity’, ‘energy services’ and the ‘energy trilemma’, together with discussions and analyses of well-worn phrases about ‘low hanging fruit’ and ‘keeping the lights on’, articulate aspects of the energy debate that are often taken for granted. In re-working these established themes and adding twists to familiar tales, the authors develop a repertoire of new ideas about the fundamentals of energy demand and carbon reduction.
This book presents a valuable and thought-provoking resource for students, researchers and policy-makers interested in energy demand, politics and policy.
Table of Contents
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
Elizabeth Shove, Jacopo Torriti and Jenny Rinkinen
Part I. What is energy for?
2. Energy Demand
Jenny Rinkinen and Elizabeth Shove
3. Energy Services
Janine Morley
Part II. Characteristics
4. Energy Efficiency
Elizabeth Shove
5. Rebound
Greg Marsden
6. Elasticity
Jacopo Torriti
Part III. Injunctions
7. Low Hanging Fruit
Elizabeth Shove and Noel Cass
8. Keeping the Lights on
Gordon Walker
9. Promoting Smart Homes
Mike Hazas and Yolande Strengers
Part IV. Policies
10. The Energy Trilemma
Jenny Rinkinen and Elizabeth Shove
11. Flexibility
Jacopo Torriti
12. Non-Energy Policy
Sarah Royston and Jan Selby
13. Postscript: Can Energy Researchers and Policy Makers Change their Spots?
Elizabeth Shove, Jenny Rinkinen and Jacopo Torriti
Index