Energy Projects
Energy demand reduction measures for climate mitigation
Professor: Prof. Anjali Sharma
Description:
Absolute reduction in energy demand is gaining attention as a climate mitigation strategy. Although demand-side management of energy is not a new mitigation solution, it primarily focuses on the relative reduction in energy demand via efficiency improvements. One of the most influential studies on this topic, Grubler et al. (2018), projects that it is possible to continue GDP growth without breaching the climate target of 1.5 deg. C. This can be done by limiting energy demand using a mix of technological innovation, and social & institutional changes. But, the feasibility of achieving such high levels of efficiency improvements remains questionable as the study assumes historically unprecedented rates of improvements that are also prohibitively expensive (Semienuik et al., 2020).
In this context, mitigation strategies focused on reducing absolute energy demand are gaining traction. These include ‘Degrowth’, where the aim is to achieve an equitable downscaling of energy and resource use while also securing human well-being (Kallis et al., 2018). Another is ‘Energy Sufficiency’, which aims at an overall reduction in energy consumption such that “people's basic needs for energy services are met equitably and ecological limits are respected (Darby and Fawcett, 2018). These strategies highlight a shift away from the dominant climate mitigation discussions that assume a continued growth in GDP and thus energy use to the ones where the overall GDP and energy levels are limited to levels that are enough for human well-being. Literature on ‘Decent Living Standards’ (DLS) provides the most commonly used methodology used to quantify the minimum energy required for well-being (Millward-Hopkins et al., 2020).
The aim of this project is to examine if and how energy demand reduction measures can contribute to climate change mitigation. This will involve i) comparing different energy demand reduction scenarios to identify effective mitigation strategies ii) assessing the feasibility and fairness of energy demand reduction scenarios. To answer part i) above, we will create a database of degrowth, energy sufficiency, and DLS focused climate mitigation scenarios published in the last decade (i.e., from 2015-2024) to compare the projected energy service and emission levels across different sectors. For part ii), we will compare the energy service levels for different regions, and against the observed historical trends in the respective regions.
Pre-requisites:
- Candidates who have taken courses on energy and climate change are preferred. Familiarity with a programming language is a must.