IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v9y2016i3p172-d65264.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: A Critical Assessment of Small-Group Interventions

Author

Listed:
  • Jill Fisher

    (Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Queens Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK)

  • Katherine Irvine

    (Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK)

Abstract

Motivating individuals to decrease the environmental impact of their lifestyles could play an important role in reducing energy use and meeting carbon reduction commitments in developed countries. Few approaches which encourage voluntary changes in behaviour result in substantial reductions in energy use, however, particularly over the longer term. An exception to this general trend is small-group interventions which use group participation and which target collections of behaviours including energy use. Through a critical examination of published data this paper considers the energy and carbon emission reductions achieved by such initiatives, the durability of those reductions, and the common elements which may contribute to their success. Participants in small-group interventions reduced their energy use and carbon emissions by approximately 20% within a year. There is also some evidence that these reductions were lasting and that participants continued to make changes to their lifestyles after the end of the intervention. The reasonable person model (RPM) is proposed as a useful framework for understanding the success of these small-group interventions. Examination of small-group interventions suggests that they provide settings which are supportive of informational needs, and that this may be important to their success in promoting substantial and durable decreases in energy use.

Suggested Citation

  • Jill Fisher & Katherine Irvine, 2016. "Reducing Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: A Critical Assessment of Small-Group Interventions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:3:p:172-:d:65264
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/3/172/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/3/172/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barr, Stewart & Gilg, Andrew W & Ford, Nicholas, 2005. "The household energy gap: examining the divide between habitual- and purchase-related conservation behaviours," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1425-1444, July.
    2. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    3. Botetzagias, Iosif & Malesios, Chrisovaladis & Poulou, Dimitra, 2014. "Electricity curtailment behaviors in Greek households: Different behaviors, different predictors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 415-424.
    4. Howell, Rachel A., 2012. "Living with a carbon allowance: The experiences of Carbon Rationing Action Groups and implications for policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 250-258.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Victor Fernández-Guzmán & Edgardo R. Bravo, 2018. "Understanding Continuance Usage of Natural Gas: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Louise Sawyer & Simon Kemp & Patrick James & Michael Harper, 2021. "Assessment of a Nurse Led Energy Behavior Change Intervention in an NHS Community Hospital Ward," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Corina Pelau & Carmen Acatrinei, 2019. "The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.

    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. Nieves García-de-Frutos & José Manuel Ortega-Egea & Javier Martínez-del-Río, 2018. "Anti-consumption for Environmental Sustainability: Conceptualization, Review, and Multilevel Research Directions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 411-435, March.
    2. Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Shanlin, 2016. "Understanding household energy consumption behavior: The contribution of energy big data analytics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 810-819.
    3. Morgane Innocent & Agnès François-Lecompte & Nolwenn Roudaut, 2020. "Comparison of human versus technological support to reduce domestic electricity consumption in France," Post-Print hal-02450849, HAL.
    4. Chun-Hsi Vivian Chen & Yu-Cheng Chen, 2021. "Assessment of Enhancing Employee Engagement in Energy-Saving Behavior at Workplace: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Wang, Chao & Zhan, Jinyan & Wang, Huihui & Yang, Zheng & Chu, Xi & Liu, Wei & Teng, Yanmin & Liu, Huizi & Wang, Yifan, 2022. "Multi-group analysis on the mechanism of residents' low-carbon behaviors in Beijing, China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    6. Imran Hossain & Maria Fekete-Farkas & Md. Nekmahmud, 2022. "Purchase Behavior of Energy-Efficient Appliances Contribute to Sustainable Energy Consumption in Developing Country: Moral Norms Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Pothitou, Mary & Hanna, Richard F. & Chalvatzis, Konstantinos J., 2016. "Environmental knowledge, pro-environmental behaviour and energy savings in households: An empirical study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1217-1229.
    8. Liying Wang & Junya Wang & Pengxia Shen & Shangqing Liu & Shuwei Zhang, 2023. "Low-Carbon Travel Behavior in Daily Residence and Tourism Destination: Based on TPB-ABC Integrated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, September.
    9. Mahardika, Harryadin & Thomas, Dominic & Ewing, Michael Thomas & Japutra, Arnold, 2020. "Comparing the temporal stability of behavioural expectation and behavioural intention in the prediction of consumers pro-environmental behaviour," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Spandagos, Constantine & Yarime, Masaru & Baark, Erik & Ng, Tze Ling, 2020. "“Triple Target” policy framework to influence household energy behavior: Satisfy, strengthen, include," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    11. Uzziah Mutumbi & Gladman Thondhlana & Sheunesu Ruwanza, 2022. "Co-Designed Interventions Yield Significant Electricity Savings among Low-Income Households in Makhanda South Africa," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Yanjie Wang & Fucheng Wang & Peidong Sang & Huanbin Song, 2021. "Analysing factors affecting developers’ behaviour towards the adoption of prefabricated buildings in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14245-14263, October.
    13. Innocent, Morgane & Francois-Lecompte, Agnes & Roudaut, Nolwenn, 2020. "Comparison of human versus technological support to reduce domestic electricity consumption in France," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    14. Saeid Karimi & Genovaitė Liobikienė & Heshmatollah Saadi & Fatemeh Sepahvand, 2021. "The Influence of Media Usage on Iranian Students’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors: An Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    15. Long, Ruyin & Wang, Jiaqi & Chen, Hong & Li, Qianwen & Wu, Meifen & Tan-Soo, Jie-Sheng, 2023. "Applying multilevel structural equation modeling to energy-saving behavior: The interaction of individual- and city-level factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Fielding, Kelly S. & van Kasteren, Yasmin & Louis, Winnifred & McKenna, Bernard & Russell, Sally & Spinks, Anneliese, 2016. "Using individual householder survey responses to predict household environmental outcomes: The cases of recycling and water conservation," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 90-97.
    17. Martinho, Graça & Pires, Ana & Portela, Gonçalo & Fonseca, Miguel, 2015. "Factors affecting consumers’ choices concerning sustainable packaging during product purchase and recycling," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 58-68.
    18. Botetzagias, Iosif & Dima, Andora-Fani & Malesios, Chrisovaladis, 2015. "Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior in the context of recycling: The role of moral norms and of demographic predictors," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 58-67.
    19. Wells, Victoria.K. & Taheri, Babak & Gregory-Smith, Diana & Manika, Danae, 2016. "The role of generativity and attitudes on employees home and workplace water and energy saving behaviours," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 63-74.
    20. Faiq Aziz & Ahmad Aizuddin Md Rami & Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh & Seyedali Ahrari, 2021. "Effects of Emotions and Ethics on Pro-Environmental Behavior of University Employees: A Model Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, June.

    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:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:3:p:172-:d:65264. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.