by Sharon Norris
Energy and energy consumption are hot topics in the news at the moment.
Earlier this week (28 February), a one-day conference on 'A sustainable energy policy for the UK (PDF, 1.11MB)', organised jointly by the TUC, CBI and the Carbon Trust, discussed how the UK can maintain future energy supply in the face of challenges such as rising fuel cost, dwindling supplies of North Sea gas and oil, and concerns about climate change.
Further concerns over climate change were raised the following day (1 March) after a report on Radio 4's Today programme featured leaked information from the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PDF, 1.25MB) (IPCC) due out next year. This shows the effects of global climate change are already more advanced, and the impact much more extensive, than previously thought. One major factor in global climate change is increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for domestic heating and industrial production.
The Government has been attempting to address long-term concerns about energy over the past few years, and in January launched the consultation phase of its energy policy review. This continues until 14 April.
Members of the public, industry representatives, and energy specialists are all invited to have their say on issues such as what the Government can do to reduce emissions, and what factors it needs to consider when deciding whether to build new nuclear power stations.
The energy policy review follows on from the 2003 Government White Paper, Our Energy Future: Towards a Low-Carbon Economy (PDF, 1.88MB), which identified four goals for any future UK energy policy. These were: reducing CO2 emissions; ensuring the security of energy supply; promoting competitive energy markets through innovation and energy efficiency; and reducing fuel poverty - that is, ensuring every home is adequately and efficiently heated.
However despite growing concerns about CO2 emissions, and fears about energy sustainability, recent figures show that domestic energy consumption rose by six per cent in the third quarter of 2005 from the same period the previous year. Researchers are unsure why the rise has come about, but are worried about longer-term implications, as most energy experts agree that consumption has to come down.
The effects of global climate change are already more advanced, and the impact much more extensive, than previously thought
The fact that this Tuesday's conference was organised by both the TUC and the CBI raises issues as to what employers can do to increase energy efficiency in the workplace.
Dr Heledd Jenkins from the ESRC's Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) admits that there are currently few incentives for employers to introduce energy-saving practices. However, she says: "When companies do introduce smaller measures like installing water meters or using energy-saving light bulbs, it's usually because they recognise it really does bring down costs".
Nevertheless, if some employers are enthusiastic, employees are often more sceptical. The key, says Dr Jenkins, is to involve them from the start. "It makes a difference when employers explain what they're doing. It's a lot more difficult if it's just seen as something imposed from above".
Dr Jenkins' research also shows that employers promote energy-saving more effectively when they focus initially on energy consumption in the home, then relate this to the work environment.
At the moment, anything we do to cut down our personal energy consumption is entirely voluntary; however, in the future this could all change. Professor Brenda Boardman leads the Demand Reduction theme of the ESRC's UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). Recently, her team has been researching the idea of personal carbon allowances.
She explains: "Everyone would be allocated the same carbon allowance, and would be given a plastic card. Every time you paid for petrol, gas, or electricity, or bought a plane ticket, you would have points taken off".
Professor Boardman argues that the scheme is more equitable than carbon taxation since poorer people would be able to trade the proportion of their personal allowance they did not use with richer people who fly frequently or use more fuel, and could make money from this.
However, she argues, the current debate about energy has much broader implications. "It's about deciding what sort of society we want. In future we will all have to learn to take more responsibility for our energy consumption, and for the way we choose to live".