IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v37y2009i7p2807-2813.html

Influencing households' energy behaviour--how is this done and on what premises?

Author

Listed:
  • Gyberg, Per
  • Palm, Jenny

Abstract

This article examines the discourse that the idea of efficiency is built upon according to different actors trying to influence households' energy behaviour in Sweden. The focus is on information from authorities as well as from interest organisations and energy companies. Information directed to households often contains a strong idea that the individual has to take responsibility for his/her own choices, and that it is through consumer choices the energy system will become more sustainable. The reasons given for changing one's behaviour are motivated both by lower energy costs and a reduced impact on the environment. Common advice for energy reduction is to change to a more energy-efficient apparatus. In this sense efficiency is a way of not changing lifestyle but instead changing technical equipment and user routines. Only the LA21 project questions the need for all the apparatus as well as the possibility to improve existing artifacts, pointing to a need to change our lifestyle. The strong belief in science and technology results in a definition of the problem as a lack of knowledge, where the only solution is to fill this gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Gyberg, Per & Palm, Jenny, 2009. "Influencing households' energy behaviour--how is this done and on what premises?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2807-2813, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:7:p:2807-2813
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(09)00204-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Linden, Anna-Lisa, 2007. "Energy efficiency in residences--Challenges for women and men in the North," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2163-2172, April.
    2. Henryson, Jessica & Hakansson, Teresa & Pyrko, Jurek, 2000. "Energy efficiency in buildings through information - Swedish perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 169-180, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Boudet, Hilary S. & Flora, June A. & Armel, K. Carrie, 2016. "Clustering household energy-saving behaviours by behavioural attribute," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 444-454.
    2. Risholt, Birgit & Berker, Thomas, 2013. "Success for energy efficient renovation of dwellings—Learning from private homeowners," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1022-1030.
    3. Hege Westskog & Tanja Winther & Hanne Sæle, 2015. "The Effects of In-Home Displays—Revisiting the Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-21, May.
    4. Gulshan Maqbool & Zulqarnain Haider, 2021. "The Impact of Individual Behavior on Household Energy Saving," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 39-46.
    5. Lena Borg & Lovisa Högberg, 2014. "Organization of Laundry Facility Types and Energy Use in Owner-Occupied Multi-Family Buildings in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Araujo-Vizuete, Gabriela & Robalino-López, Andrés & Mena-Nieto, Ángel, 2025. "Decoding urban energy use variability: A bottom-up approach in Ecuador," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    7. Ponce de Leon Barido, Diego & Suffian, Stephen & Kammen, Daniel M. & Callaway, Duncan, 2018. "Opportunities for behavioral energy efficiency and flexible demand in data-limited low-carbon resource constrained environments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 512-523.
    8. Erika Michela Dematteis & Jussara Barale & Marta Corno & Alessandro Sciullo & Marcello Baricco & Paola Rizzi, 2021. "Solid-State Hydrogen Storage Systems and the Relevance of a Gender Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    9. Brühl, Johanna & Smith, Grant & Visser, Martine, 2019. "Simple is good: Redesigning utility bills to reduce complexity and increase understanding," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Tjørring, Lise & Jensen, Carsten Lynge & Hansen, Lars Gårn & Andersen, Laura Mørch, 2018. "Increasing the flexibility of electricity consumption in private households: Does gender matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 9-18.
    11. Linden, Anna-Lisa & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, 2002. "Voluntary agreements--a measure for energy-efficiency in industry? Lessons from a Swedish programme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 897-905, August.
    12. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    13. Mahapatra, Krushna & Nair, Gireesh & Gustavsson, Leif, 2011. "Swedish energy advisers' perceptions regarding and suggestions for fulfilling homeowner expectations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4264-4273, July.
    14. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Linden, Anna-Lisa, 2007. "Energy efficiency in residences--Challenges for women and men in the North," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2163-2172, April.
    15. Sokołowski, Maciej M., 2019. "When black meets green: A review of the four pillars of India's energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 60-68.
    16. Nidhi Tewathia, 2014. "Determinants of the Household Electricity Consumption: A Case Study of Delhi," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 4(3), pages 337-348.
    17. Jia, Jun-Jun & Xu, Jin-Hua & Fan, Ying, 2018. "Public acceptance of household energy-saving measures in Beijing: Heterogeneous preferences and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 487-499.
    18. Ebru Ergöz Karahan & Özgür Göçer & Kenan Göçer & Didem Boyacıoğlu, 2021. "An Investigation of Occupant Energy-Saving Behavior in Vernacular Houses of Behramkale (Assos)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, December.
    19. Karunathilake, Hirushie & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2018. "Opportunities and challenges in energy demand reduction for Canadian residential sector: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2005-2016.
    20. Rustagi, Niharika & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Acheampong, Alex O., 2024. "Does gender diversity in politics improve access to electricity and electrification inequality? A global analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:7:p:2807-2813. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.