3317 - MAINSTREAMING LOW

CARBON CONSUMPTION :

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

DAILY INNOVATIONS, SOCIAL PRACTICES

AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION (SOME INSIGHTS FROM REAL LIFE)

SYLVIE DOUZOU

EDF Research & Development,

Clamart, France

DEMAND Centre, Lancaster, UK

Steering Energy and Low-carbon Consumption Dominant technical-economic scenarios and underpinning assumptions

Buildings, Energy/digital

technologies and grids become

very smart (and complex)

AND aware /educated/conscious

people become more and more

virtuous

Appliances become more

and more eco-efficient

© EDF-R&D, 2010

WHY AND HOW TO MOVE BEYOND THE ‘BALLISTIC METAPHOR’

TO MAKE POLICY AND REGULATION TOOLS MORE IMPACTFUL? CFCC - 9th July 2015

National vs local

infrastructures

and singularities

Economic and

social constraints

and resources

Relation to

‘modernity’ and

material Culture

Influence of multiple

sectoral Policies on

practices influencing

energy consumption

Social Norm of

Comfort and

representations

of Modernity

CFCC - 9th July 2015

EFFICIENT ENERGY POLICY THROUGH THE LENS OF MULTIPLE

RECEPTION, APPROPRIATION, INCORPORATION PROCESSES

AND RELATED DYNAMICS *

* Draw on convergent findings from recent empirical work carried out at EDF-R&D (and

beyond!) despite highly contrasted approaches, rationales, aims and contexts

PREDOMINANCE OF consumers-citizens models and projects of life

BEYOND HOMO ECONOMICUS AND HOMO ECOLOGICUS

CFCC , Paris, 9th July 2015

More Energy Efficiency alone is not enough to achieve sustainable consumption

The diffusion energy efficient technologies doesn't necessary mean less consumption

Material culture, artefacts and social practices remain deeply interwined

“modern” ways of life and associated Societal transformations encourage (and are supported by) the multiplication and intensive use of ICT

“Those (TV) in the living room, bedrooms and the

kitchen, even though I do not necessarily watch them,

I need to see movement, there must be the pictures at

home ...so I do not feel alone. Or there is the radio

on”. - "We are surrounded by TVs, many things,

computers ... phew! Lots of things we use, and that I

am happy to use"

Labels? Yes we check. We waited for sales to buy a

new fridge. We bought a A++, it was a good deal, you

know, a super-modern, big cone with two doors , a lot

of storage capacity , making ice and all that stuff”

“Yes, each one has a computer (we don’t want war!)

ansd a mobile phone … hum… that means /she

counts / 4 mobiles, 4 computers plus a box … also two

Tvs, one in the living room and one in our bedroom..

Also a small one in the kitchen …

CFCC , Paris, 9th July 2015

Being creative, exploring

beyond conventional information tools

‘Being aware of’… doesn't mechanically mean

changing consumption patterns and ways of

life

Increased defiance towards “formal” experts

and “official” players

Rejection of moral (moralistic?) discourses

about energy sufficiency

(in French:‘sobriété énergétique’)

Better incorporating inherited ‘good practices’

based on traditional local and traditional

knowledge

Boosting social learning, experience-based

initiatives , Civil Society/multi-players initiatives

I am talking about the Grenelle of the Environment

Forum, with our super-duper Prime Minister who

gave us demonstrations, with our President who

went to the super-duper summit in Copenhagen -

and we saw the result of that, and we saw Mr

Hulot on TF1 (TV Channel) giving demonstrations

and trying to influence us. In fact, what I'm trying

to say is that I’m not trying to disassemble ecology

as such; I am criticising the fact that it is

instrumentalised. That’s the point which bothers

me most".

"When it is very hot in the afternoon, it’s a

village habit to close the house, like our

grandparents used to”.

"I do not understand the "other" category

which amounts to 304 Euros, while the heat

rises to 301 Euros. What can it be "other"?”

"Even though I consumed too much, what

do I do? I go back to the Stone Age. Hey! «

(better) Bridging segmented/sectoral Policies and Research fields

CFCC , Paris, 9th July 2015

Mainstreaming low-carbon

consumption is not a single ‘end-of-

the pipe’ process

- Agency is distributed among

heterogonous and broad constellations of

players

- Systemic Techno scripting impact

Consumption refers to multiples

areas of daily life…what about

embedded energy?

- Systemic logic of practices and non-

energy policy impacting low-carbon

consumption

":“With standard products, you are obliged to go through

what is offered. (...) Consumers do what they can, they

are forced to buy things as they come! It is the

distributor! This is just one example, but for many years,

at Carrefour, when you purchased salted meat, it was

vacuum-packed and that was that! Now they put it in a

polystyrene tray with plastic wrapping all around! Well,

the polystyrene tray, I do not need it. But when it’s

wrapping paper, it goes into the fireplace! It’s recycled!

All that is peel string etc. It's going to garden (for

compost)!”

(...) "For meat, I prefer to go directly to the producer, same

thing for vegetables. (...) I use a producer who is 20 km away

and he sells beef; for lamb it is just a little further but he’s one

of my wife’s colleagues; for pork I can get it there, 15km, so

that’s that. (...) Even beef, I buy packages of 10-15 kg, and

the same goes for lamb! So yes, we have a big freezer

downstairs; it's true that I did not tell you that! And for fish it’s

the same, my in-laws live at the seaside, so let's say that

twice a year, we stock up twice a year and freeze it”

“Well, you can’t switch off the box because it would mean

up-loading things everyday!

CFCC , Paris, 9th July 2015

Thinking beyond the Homo economicus and

Homo ecologicus

Prevalence of People’s models and

projects of life

Thinking beyond

conventional

information campaigns

Awareness doesn't

mean mechanically

changing behaviours

and practices

Thinking beyond techno-driven innovations

More efficiency doesn't necessary mean less

consumption

SCALING UP MORE SUSTAINABLE AND LOW-CARBON MODES OF CONSUMPTION

Towards a more comprehensive frame of action?

Thinking beyond (over)

segmented / sectoral

Policies and Research

fields

Agency is distributed among

an heterogeous and broad

constellations of actors

Consumption refers to

multiples social areas and

transformations