So far, policies and innovation strategies for deep decarbonisation have mostly focused on the supply side. A key approach is to develop new technologies and to transform socio-technical systems so that services such as power supply or transport can be provided with low-carbon technologies (e.g., solar-PV, wind or electric vehicles). However, in order to reach net-zero emission targets, it will be vital to also stimulate far-reaching changes on the demand side (Barrett et al., 2021). This project departs from the assumption that demand- and supply-side changes, together with the policies which stimulate them, need to be (better) balanced and integrated to achieve swift and sector-wide decarbonisation.
According to the CREDS low energy demand scenarios, the currently implemented policy instruments in the United Kingdom (UK) would only reduce energy demand by 5% by 2050 and without further demand reductions, the UK electricity system would grow to four times its current size to support net-zero targets (Barrett et al., 2021). Reducing energy demand can be more cost effective, timely, and less risky than the implementation of new technologies (ibid.) Also, energy demand reductions are possible across all sectors, including "difficult to decarbonise" industries such as cement, steel, shipping or aviation (Davis et al., 2018).
Difficult to decarbonise industries are those sectors for which low-carbon (supply-side) alternatives are not yet readily available, or only at very high costs. Currently identified pathways to deep decarbonisation of
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such industries include carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and hydrogen base fuels, and approaches like material substitution and recycling (Element Energy, 2020; Norman et al., 2021). Given that most supply-side approaches (e.g., CCS, hydrogen) are in very early stages of development, it remains unclear whether they can be pursued in practice and in time for meeting the 2050 targets.
In my thesis, I will study demand- and supply-side options for deep decarbonisation and the policies that stimulate them. While technical reports have identified various deep decarbonisation pathways, their feasibility and different implementation paths in practice remain to be better understood. The mixes of demand- and supply-side actions and policies required for deep decarbonisation will give rise to contestation and conflict between different actors who have different priorities, values and interests they represent in relation to deep decarbonisation paths.
My overall goal is to examine how demand- and supply-side policies can better be integrated to reach net-zero emissions in (selected) difficult to decarbonise industries. The analysis will involve four major elements, or paper projects. i) a study of policy mixes for deep decarbonisation, ii) a study of the discourse around deep decarbonisation, iii) a study of conflict and contestation in demand reduction for a specific difficult to decarbonise industry, and iv) a study on new demands and needs that might arise in the future (e.g., around space tourism) and how to develop precautionary policies to address these.