Building a database for energy sufficiency policies [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Sufficiency measures are potentially decisive for the decarbonisation of energy systems but rarely considered in energy policy and modelling. Just as efficiency and renewable energies, the diffusion of demand-side solutions to climate change also relies on policy-making. Our extensive literature rev...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carina Zell-Ziegler, Johannes Thema, Jonathan Barth, Frauke Wiese, Benjamin Best, Leonardo Nascimento, Stephan Breidenbach, Henry Wilke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: F1000 Research Ltd 2022-07-01
Series:F1000Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://f1000research.com/articles/11-229/v2
Description
Summary:Sufficiency measures are potentially decisive for the decarbonisation of energy systems but rarely considered in energy policy and modelling. Just as efficiency and renewable energies, the diffusion of demand-side solutions to climate change also relies on policy-making. Our extensive literature review of European and national sufficiency policies fills a gap in existing databases. We present almost 300 policy instruments clustered into relevant categories and publish them as "Energy Sufficiency Policy Database". This paper provides a description of the data clustering, the set-up of the database and an analysis of the policy instruments. A key insight is that sufficiency policy includes much more than bans of products or information tools leaving the responsibility to individuals. It is a comprehensive instrument mix of all policy types, not only enabling sufficiency action, but also reducing currently existing barriers. A policy database can serve as a good starting point for policy recommendations and modelling, further research is needed on barriers and demand-reduction potentials of sufficiency policy instruments.
ISSN:2046-1402