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Energy fables: Challenging ideas in the energy sector

03 April, 2023

Energy fables: Challenging ideas in the energy sector

Elizabeth Shove

Jacopo Torriti

Research paper   Flexibility

Jenny Rinkinen, Elizabeth Shove and Jacopo Torriti

Description

Energy Fables: Challenging Ideas in the Energy Sector takes a fresh look at key terms and concepts around which energy research and policy are organised.

Drawing on recent research in energy and transport studies, and combining this with concepts from sociology, economics, social theory and technology studies, the chapters in this collection review and challenge different aspects of received wisdom. Brief but critical introductions to classic notions like those of ‘energy efficiency’, ‘elasticity’, ‘energy services’ and the ‘energy trilemma’, together with discussions and analyses of well-worn phrases about ‘low hanging fruit’ and ‘keeping the lights on’, articulate aspects of the energy debate that are often taken for granted. In re-working these established themes and adding twists to familiar tales, the authors develop a repertoire of new ideas about the fundamentals of energy demand and carbon reduction.

This book presents a valuable and thought-provoking resource for students, researchers and policy-makers interested in energy demand, politics and policy.

Publication details

Rinkinen, J., Shove, E. and Torriti, J. 2019. Energy fables: Challenging ideas in the energy sectorOpens in a new tab London: Routledge. ISBN 9780367027797

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