Green energy futures (book)

Green Energy Futures: A Big Change for the Good

What will replace fossil fuel? Is there a way forward using renewable energy sources while avoiding nuclear power? This book argues that nuclear is unlikely to have much of a role in future, and shows that the nuclear debate has absorbed too much time and energy, to the detriment of a more relevant and urgent debate over what sort of renewable/efficiency mix we need. This book engages in that debate, exploring the implications of shifting to greener, cleaner energy sources. It argues there is no one green future, but a range of possible options: we need to choose amongst them. This book offers an overview of the technical, economic and environmental issues to help scholars, professionals and policy makers involved in discussing those options.

Helping communities to save energy (report)

 Smart Communities: Working together to save energy?

Smart Communities was a three and a half year 'behaviour change' community energy project. In broad terms, the Smart Communities findings support the contemporary policy focus on demand-side action, community energy and energy consumption feedback. At the same time, the project highlights the long term and challenging nature of these strategies, and the implications of this for the funding of demand-side community energy. The findings emphasis a lack of 'energy know-how' among householders as a key constraint on change, and identifies ways in which more widespread know-how might be developed. The project also emphasises the benefits of action on energy within a primary school, and the ways in which this prompts engagement with energy in the home. 

Peasant farming is more energy efficient (#journal)

The EROI of agriculture and its use by the Via Campesina

Via Campesina supports peasant and small farmer agriculture both in the South and in the North. Its basic doctrine is that of ‘food sovereignty’. Among the analytical tools used by this international peasant movement is the comparison between the energy efficiency of traditional small farm agriculture and modern industrial agriculture. This article looks at the use of the concept of EROI (energy return on energy input) by Via Campesina when it claims that ‘industrial agriculture is no longer a producer of energy but a consumer of energy’, and that ‘peasant agriculture cools down the Earth’.

Permaculturalists have a lower eco-footprint (#journal)

Relative benefits of technology and occupant behaviour in moving towards a more energy efficient, sustainable housing paradigm

Pilkington B, Roach R, Perkins J (2011)Energy Policy, v.39, nr.9, pp.4962-4970

Based on two small research projects, the authors argue that occupant behaviour is as important as technology in determining the energy used by a household. Householders who were trained in how to maximise the energy-saving benefits of their houses generally used considerably less energy than those who did not, while permaculture practitioners had an environmental footprint considerably lower than those who lived in purpose built eco-homes. Thus housing policy, which focuses solely on technology, may be missing an important factor in energy efficiency.