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Beyond Technology: Demand-Side Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation

Creutzig, F; Fernandez, B; Haberl, H; Khosla, R; Mulugetta, Y; Seto, KC; (2016) Beyond Technology: Demand-Side Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation. Annual Review of Environment and Resources , 41 (1) pp. 173-198. 10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085428. Green open access

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Abstract

The assessment literature on climate change solutions to date has emphasized technologies and options based on cost-effectiveness analysis. However, many solutions to climate change mitigation misalign with such analytical frameworks. Here, we examine demand-side solutions, a crucial class of mitigation options that go beyond technological specification and costbenefit analysis. To do so, we synthesize demand-side mitigation options in the urban, building, transport, and agricultural sectors. We also highlight the specific nature of demand-side solutions in the context of development. We then discuss key analytical considerations to integrate demand-side options into overarching assessments on mitigation. Such a framework would include infrastructure solutions that interact with endogenous preference formation. Both hard infrastructures, such as the built environment, and soft infrastructures, such as habits and norms, shape behavior and as a consequence offer significant potential for reducing overall energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that systemic infrastructural and behavioral change will likely be a necessary component of a transition to a low-carbon society.

Type: Article
Title: Beyond Technology: Demand-Side Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085428
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-0...
Language: English
Additional information: © 2016 Felix Creutzig et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third party material in this article for license information.
Keywords: Agriculture, behavior, buildings, climate change mitigation, demand-side measures, end use, greenhouse gas emissions, lifestyle, transportation, urban infrastructure, structural change
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > STEaPP
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1543073
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