Or at least that’s how a web tool translates “Energie sparen – das Potenzial ist gross” from Swiss German into English! Charlie Wilson was interviewed by the Swiss national radio and television station, SRF, about his research on energy demand reduction as an essential climate mitigation strategy that avoids the risky bet on future negative emission technologies. You can listen […]
Do digital consumer innovations help reduce carbon emissions? The SILCI team scoured the literature for studies that quantified impacts on activity, energy, or emissions as a result of using digital consumer innovations. They focused on 33 innovations across mobility, food, homes and energy domains – ranging from shared ride-hailing apps and digital farmers’ markets to smart home technologies and ‘demand response’ (domestic appliances temporarily powering down when […]
In a recent review we find that innovations that build on home solar PV generation (e.g., electricity generation and storage, peer to peer electricity trading, vehicle to grid systems) fail to adequately challenge the incumbent model of passively using energy in the home. Their appeal is limited to a reduced set of core and non-core attributes which offer added value […]
Charlie Wilson participated in a media briefing on reaching net-zero emissions organised by the Science Media Centre in London. The aim of the briefing was to emphasise the importance of the upcoming round of international climate negotiations (CoP26) to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow this November. CoP26 marks the critical five year follow-on to the […]
Hazel Pettifor a senior researcher with the SILCI team reflects on a new government incentive aimed at boosting electric vehicle adoption within company fleets. From 2020 employees who opt for an EV through their company car scheme pay no benefit in kind (BIK) tax in 2020/21 and a reduced rate for two years following. The company car market remains a primary driver of new registrations for cars accounting for 8-9% of new vehicle registrations in 2018 (Department […]
Charlie Wilson participated in an online conference hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as part of the Clean Energy Ministerial process launched alongside the Paris Climate Agreement. Due to take place in Berlin from March 25-27, the ‘International Forum on Long-Term Energy Scenarios’ was hastily converted to a virtual format – one of many […]
A new paper published in Energy Research and Social Science by the SILCI team concludes low carbon innovations across four key consumer domains offer unique sources of added value over and above incumbent technologies. The paper draws on empirical research conducted by the team in Norwich. Sixty seven people participated in a series of structured elicitation exercises, discussing and quantifying the […]
Post written by Emilie Vrain A recent UK study by the SILCI team investigated the role of social networks and communication behaviours in the diffusion process of smart home technologies. An online survey with over 700 participants (adopters and non-adopters of smart heating, lighting and appliances) revealed potential social barriers to mass market adoption (shown in the image above). Results highlight the need to focus strategies on increasing non-adopters’ exposure to […]
Charlie Wilson co-authored a chapter in the latest UNEP report on where we are likely to be in the future compared to where we need to be in order to meet Paris Agreement targets. These authoritative assessments of what has become known as the ’emissions gap’ are an annual report card issued to the international community. This latest one […]
Post written by Emilie Vrain Image Attribution: Harbour Air seaplane image by Pixabay reproduced under the license Creative Comms CC0. When Canadian airline ‘Harbour Air’ became the first 100% carbon neutral airline in 2007 through carbon offset payments, they didn’t want to stop there. A new partnership with MagniX who create electric motors has led to the development of what will be the […]