A multidisciplinary study combining social science, energy analysis, and risk communication, this work occupies a unique niche in the literature
Illustrates the range and relative effectiveness of interventions that support sustainable energy consumption
Based on award-winning research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
David L. Goldblatt was awarded the 2003 ETH Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Work. He is currently a science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This multidisciplinary study combines social science, energy analysis, and risk communication, using theory, research, and computer-aided interviews to illustrate the range and relative effectiveness of interventions that support sustainable energy consumption. Based on award-winning research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the book combines analytical modeling techniques with social science on sustainable consumption.
|Origin of this book In 1998 the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) initiated the 2000 Watt Society, a University-wide research program meant to help Switzerland realize a dramatic reduction in its future energy use. A project within the initiative "Sustainability in the ETH domain,” the 2000 Watt per capita Society sought to promote "the gradual introduction of a way of living and working that requires only one-third of current energy consumption but 1 2 still delivers an improved quality of life. ” Two thousand watts is roughly the current world average per capita energy consumption; it was the average level in Switzerland in the 1950s; it is some three times less than current 3 Swiss usage; and reducing to that level again (in concert with other industrialized nations) would greatly facilitate stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO )levels in the long-term, given projections about world 2 population growth and exploitable energy resources [Imboden 1999]. 1 http://www. novatlantis. ch/frames_e. html. 2 A watt is a power term equivalent to 1 joule/second. Non-engineers generally prefer to think of 2000 watts per capita in terms of energy use per unit time such as joules/second or kilowatt-hours/hour. For Switzerland, 2000 watts per capita is equivalent to a primary annual energy consumption of about 65 gigajoules (65 billion joules) per capita. Although less generally communicative, the 2000 watt name is clean and trim, and since it has stuck we will use it throughout the book.
List of Figures List of Tables List of AbbreviationsPrefaceAcknowledgments1: Sustainable Consumption And The Public´s Room To Maneuver In Energy Use 1. Introduction2. The consumer society3. Consumption trajectories in Western Europe 4. North-South disparities, Northern consumerist models, and global resource constraints5. The evolving international discourse on sustainable consumption6. Consumption or production: Which is the better focus for addressing environmental problems?7. Room to maneuver in energy use 7.1 Northern society´s discretion in energy use 7.2 Individuals´ discretion 8. Research questions and challenges in this book 2: Targets Of Intervention For Sustainable Consumption 1. Introduction2. Efficiencies, patterns, and levels of consumption 2.1 Patterns of consumption 2.2 Efficiency and dematerialization 2.3 Levels of consumption 3. An expanded multi-disciplinary analysis of consumption´s driving forces and possibilities for intervention 3.1 Consumption critiques 3.2 Psychological and behavioral treatments 3.3 Social treatments 3.4 Economic treatments 4. Conclusion: Policy syntheses and political implications 4.1 Altering consumption: top-down or bottom-up? 4.2 Political implications and alternatives3: Energy, Environment, And Society: Knowledge And Risk Communication1. Introduction2. Alternative research approaches and a frame for discussing knowledge in the context of discretionary and non-discretionary energy consumption2.1 Introduction: Two approaches and two constructs 2.2 Selected topics in the Energy-Revealing approach and actors´ discretionary energy consumption2.3 The Social-Revealing approach and less discretionary influences on energy consumption 3. Energy and risk communication 3.1 Public communication 3.2 Risk communication 4. Final comments and furtherapplications4: Field Study With Computer-Aided Interviews1. Introduction 2. Experimental hypotheses and user questions3. Software development and modeling3.1 Original version of the Personal ECO2-Calculator3.2 Interview version of the Personal ECO2-Calculator4. Interviewee recruitment5. Interview deillegalscription and guideline6. Data capture, storage, and analysis means7. Subjects´ biographical profiles8. Results 8.1 Subject groups8.2 Terms and comments 8.3 Hypotheses A and B: Freedom of Choice and Capability 8.4 Hypotheses C, D, and E: Non-discretionary accounting, Perception of less discretionary influences, and Communicating about Energy Consumption 8.5 Hypothesis H: Separation of social from technological influences 8.6 Hypothesis G: Cross-temporal and cross-cultural comparisons 8.7 Consumer-citizen involvement in affecting less-discretionary forces 8.8 Energy Communication 8.9 Subjects´ evaluation of the program and the interview session 5: Achievements, Open Questions, And Lessons Learned 1. Which questions have been answered? 1.1 Top-down or bottom-up?1.2 Metric for gauging experimental success1.3 Success in researching and applying domestic sustainable consumption 1.4 Pedagogical use and timing2. Lifestyle groups and differentiated approaches to sustainable consumption 3. Personal responsibility 4. Success in risk communication5. Suggestions for further research6. Some open questions 7. Divergence from the prevailing environmental frameworkReferences Index
Origin of this book In 1998 the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) initiated the 2000 Watt Society, a University-wide research program meant to help Switzerland realize a dramatic reduction in its future energy use. A project within the initiative "Sustainability in the ETH domain," the 2000 Watt per capita Society sought to promote "the gradual introduction of a way of living and working that requires only one-third of current energy consumption but 1 2 still delivers an improved quality of life. " Two thousand watts is roughly the current world average per capita energy consumption; it was the average level in Switzerland in the 1950s; it is some three times less than current 3 Swiss usage; and reducing to that level again (in concert with other industrialized nations) would greatly facilitate stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO )levels in the long-term, given projections about world 2 population growth and exploitable energy resources [Imboden 1999]. 1 http://www. novatlantis. ch/frames_e. html. 2 A watt is a power term equivalent to 1 joule/second. Non-engineers generally prefer to think of 2000 watts per capita in terms of energy use per unit time such as joules/second or kilowatt-hours/hour. For Switzerland, 2000 watts per capita is equivalent to a primary annual energy consumption of about 65 gigajoules (65 billion joules) per capita. Although less generally communicative, the 2000 watt name is clean and trim, and since it has stuck we will use it throughout the book.
Sustainable Consumption and the Public's Room to Maneuver in Energy Use.- Targets of Intervention for Sustainable Consumption.- Energy, Environment, and Society.- Field Study with Computer-Aided Interviews.- Achievements, Open Questions, and Lessons Learned.
Über den Autor
David L. Goldblatt was awarded the 2003 ETH Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Work. He is currently a science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1: Sustainable Consumption And The Public's Room To Maneuver In Energy Use
1. Introduction
2. The consumer society
3. Consumption trajectories in Western Europe
4. North-South disparities, Northern consumerist models, and global resource constraints
5. The evolving international discourse on sustainable consumption
6. Consumption or production: Which is the better focus for addressing environmental problems?
7. Room to maneuver in energy use
7.1 Northern society's discretion in energy use
7.2 Individuals' discretion
8. Research questions and challenges in this book
2: Targets Of Intervention For Sustainable Consumption
1. Introduction
2. Efficiencies, patterns, and levels of consumption
2.1 Patterns of consumption
2.2 Efficiency and dematerialization
2.3 Levels of consumption
3. An expanded multi-disciplinary analysis of consumption's driving forces and possibilities for intervention
3.1 Consumption critiques
3.2 Psychological and behavioral treatments
3.3 Social treatments
3.4 Economic treatments
4. Conclusion: Policy syntheses and political implications
4.1 Altering consumption: top-down or bottom-up?
4.2 Political implications and alternatives
3: Energy, Environment, And Society: Knowledge And Risk Communication
1. Introduction
2. Alternative research approaches and a frame for discussing knowledge in the context of discretionary and non-discretionary energy consumption
2.1 Introduction: Two approaches and two constructs
2.2 Selected topics in the Energy-Revealing approach and actors' discretionary energy consumption
2.3 The Social-Revealing approach and less discretionary influences on energy consumption
3. Energy and risk communication
3.1 Public communication
3.2 Risk communication
4. Final comments and furtherapplications
4: Field Study With Computer-Aided Interviews
1. Introduction
2. Experimental hypotheses and user questions
3. Software development and modeling
3.1 Original version of the Personal ECO2-Calculator
3.2 Interview version of the Personal ECO2-Calculator
4. Interviewee recruitment
5. Interview deillegalscription and guideline
6. Data capture, storage, and analysis means
7. Subjects' biographical profiles
8. Results
8.1 Subject groups
8.2 Terms and comments
8.3 Hypotheses A and B: Freedom of Choice and Capability
8.4 Hypotheses C, D, and E: Non-discretionary accounting, Perception of less discretionary influences, and Communicating about Energy Consumption
8.5 Hypothesis H: Separation of social from technological influences
8.6 Hypothesis G: Cross-temporal and cross-cultural comparisons
8.7 Consumer-citizen involvement in affecting less-discretionary forces
8.8 Energy Communication
8.9 Subjects' evaluation of the program and the interview session
5: Achievements, Open Questions, And Lessons Learned
1. Which questions have been answered?
1.1 Top-down or bottom-up?
1.2 Metric for gauging experimental success
1.3 Success in researching and applying domestic sustainable consumption
1.4 Pedagogical use and timing
2. Lifestyle groups and differentiated approaches to sustainable consumption
3. Personal responsibility
4. Success in risk communication
5. Suggestions for further research
6. Some open questions
7. Divergence from the prevailing environmental framework
References
Index
Klappentext
Origin of this book In 1998 the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) initiated the 2000 Watt Society, a University-wide research program meant to help Switzerland realize a dramatic reduction in its future energy use. A project within the initiative ¿Sustainability in the ETH domain,¿ the 2000 Watt per capita Society sought to promote ¿the gradual introduction of a way of living and working that requires only one-third of current energy consumption but 1 2 still delivers an improved quality of life. ¿ Two thousand watts is roughly the current world average per capita energy consumption; it was the average level in Switzerland in the 1950s; it is some three times less than current 3 Swiss usage; and reducing to that level again (in concert with other industrialized nations) would greatly facilitate stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO )levels in the long-term, given projections about world 2 population growth and exploitable energy resources [Imboden 1999]. 1 http://www. novatlantis. ch/frames_e. html. 2 A watt is a power term equivalent to 1 joule/second. Non-engineers generally prefer to think of 2000 watts per capita in terms of energy use per unit time such as joules/second or kilowatt-hours/hour. For Switzerland, 2000 watts per capita is equivalent to a primary annual energy consumption of about 65 gigajoules (65 billion joules) per capita. Although less generally communicative, the 2000 watt name is clean and trim, and since it has stuck we will use it throughout the book.
A multidisciplinary study combining social science, energy analysis, and risk communication, this work occupies a unique niche in the literature
Illustrates the range and relative effectiveness of interventions that support sustainable energy consumption
Based on award-winning research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
