Turning Lights into Flights

Seminar, 17 July 2012

Dr Mona Chitnis, Dr Angela Druckman, and Dr Steve Sorrell

SLRG/CES; Sussex Energy Group, SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex

Turning Lights into Flights: Estimating rebound effects from sustainable behaviour

Improved energy efficiency and behavioural change are expected to play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the energy and GHG savings from such measures may be less than simple calculations suggest, owing to a variety of mechanisms that go under the heading of rebound effects. For example, improved insulation lowers heating costs and encourages households to heat their homes for longer and/or to higher temperatures. Alternatively, the cost savings from improved insulation may be spent on other goods and services that also require energy to provide (e.g. manufacturing clothing in China and shipping it to the UK). Such effects will offset the anticipated energy and carbon savings, but are difficult to quantify and measure and widely ignored. This seminar reported the results of three studies that estimate rebound effects for UK households.

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