Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK
Much research has focused on the so-called ‘energy trilemma’ – i.e., three leading energy policy issues: energy security, affordability, and climate change mitigation. Whilst substantial understanding exists of why people support climate-friendly energy policies, little is known about why they think...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47041/ |
| _version_ | 1848797454754906112 |
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| author | Demski, Christina Evensen, Darrick Pidgeon, Nick Spence, Alexa |
| author_facet | Demski, Christina Evensen, Darrick Pidgeon, Nick Spence, Alexa |
| author_sort | Demski, Christina |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Much research has focused on the so-called ‘energy trilemma’ – i.e., three leading energy policy issues: energy security, affordability, and climate change mitigation. Whilst substantial understanding exists of why people support climate-friendly energy policies, little is known about why they think affordability is important. Particularly, what leads members of the public to identify this policy goal as more important than other objectives? Here, we examine this question via a nationally-representative survey of 2441 UK residents and demonstrate that concerns about personal costs explain a small amount of variation in the prioritisation of affordability as an energy policy goal; a range of other factors also significantly contribute. One such factor is beliefs about who is responsible for energy transitions. These findings suggest policy actions to address affordability concerns should go beyond energy prices, and include additional considerations such as distributive justice and equality. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:04:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-47041 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:04:08Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-470412020-05-04T19:15:31Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47041/ Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK Demski, Christina Evensen, Darrick Pidgeon, Nick Spence, Alexa Much research has focused on the so-called ‘energy trilemma’ – i.e., three leading energy policy issues: energy security, affordability, and climate change mitigation. Whilst substantial understanding exists of why people support climate-friendly energy policies, little is known about why they think affordability is important. Particularly, what leads members of the public to identify this policy goal as more important than other objectives? Here, we examine this question via a nationally-representative survey of 2441 UK residents and demonstrate that concerns about personal costs explain a small amount of variation in the prioritisation of affordability as an energy policy goal; a range of other factors also significantly contribute. One such factor is beliefs about who is responsible for energy transitions. These findings suggest policy actions to address affordability concerns should go beyond energy prices, and include additional considerations such as distributive justice and equality. Elsevier 2017-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Demski, Christina, Evensen, Darrick, Pidgeon, Nick and Spence, Alexa (2017) Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK. Energy Policy, 110 . pp. 404-409. ISSN 0301-4215 Public perception ; Affordability ; Energy transitions http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517305475?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.044 doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.044 |
| spellingShingle | Public perception ; Affordability ; Energy transitions Demski, Christina Evensen, Darrick Pidgeon, Nick Spence, Alexa Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title | Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title_full | Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title_fullStr | Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title_short | Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK |
| title_sort | public prioritisation of energy affordability in the uk |
| topic | Public perception ; Affordability ; Energy transitions |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47041/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47041/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47041/ |