IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018 - 22

sustainable energy transition, with a focus on direct energy
consumption in the home. Then we elaborate on factors that
influence the likelihood that individuals and households will
engage in sustainable energy behaviors. We next discuss different types of policies to promote sustainable energy behaviors; the acceptability of such policies will be discussed by
Perlaviciute et al. (this issue). We will conclude with how
changes in energy behaviors may affect quality of life

figure 2. The adoption of sustainable technologies: electric vehicles (Pixabay.)

a sustainable energy transition is characterized by a system
that uses less energy overall and is made up of an increasing proportion of renewable energy. This is a technological
problem, but it is also a behavioral problem since it requires
the adoption of a wide range of sustainable energy behaviors.
such behaviors include the adoption of renewable resources,
e.g., solar power (figure 1); the implementation of resourceefficiency measures in buildings, such as insulation; the use
of more sustainable technologies both large (electric vehicles,
as in figure 2) and small (energy-efficient domestic appliances or low-flow shower heads); technology maintenance,
such as changing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
(Hvac) air filters; and energy-saving behaviors, such
as reducing room and water temperatures and line-drying
laundry (figure 3) and walking, cycling, or using public transportation rather than driving (figure 4). To have maximum
impact, policies and programs could first target those behaviors with a substantial potential for reducing fossil energy use.
identifying such high potential targets requires considering
both the elasticity of the change (i.e., how much reduction in
emissions will occur if the change happens) and the plasticity of the behavior (i.e., likelihood that the targeted behavior will be adopted). as Table 1 demonstrates, sometimes
behaviors that could have large impacts if adopted may not
be the best starting points for policy because they are hard
to change. even as the low-hanging fruit of behaviors with
high plasticity and elasticity are targeted, policies and institutions can be developed that promote and facilitate further
changes in behavior required to enhance the sustainability
of energy systems.
The adoption of sustainable and resource-efficient technology typically results in higher reductions in energy use
and greenhouse gas emissions than changes in daily user
behavior, even though daily behaviors may seem easier to
change. Moves toward more efficient technology have the

figure 3. Energy-saving behavior: drying clothes outdoors
on the line. (Pixabay.)

figure 4. Energy-saving behavior: taking the train instead
of driving. (MaxPixel.)

figure 1. The adoption of renewable energy sources: solar
panels [By Pujanak (own work, in the public domain), from
Wikimedia Commons.]

Behaviors That Contribute to a
Sustainable Energy Transition

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january/february 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018