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This paper explores decision-making in the context of active default choices, i.e., choices made when no alternative is presented. Using data from a UT energy study, the paper examines how active defaults influence participation in a hypothetical green renewable energy utility program. The study analyzes collective effects and considers demographic and psychographic factors. Significant impacts on default choices and framing were observed for attributes like age, political preference, years at current residence, perception of home efficiency, natural gas consumption, and importance of saving energy. The research demonstrates that specific demographic attributes are more susceptible to nudging effects when presented with a climate-change-related program, but scenarios with "opt-out" framing alone yielded the most significant results across all attributes. Consequently, the paper recommends that policymakers and utility firms proposing renewable energy programs use an "opt-out" default choice for certain demographic groups to enhance receptivity and participation. The study's average of 46% willingness to participate in a more expensive utility renewable energy program suggests a need for further investigation into the link between hypothetical willingness and actual follow-through. Ultimately, the findings underscore the potential benefits of default choices and nudging effects in addressing climate change-related issues among stakeholders seeking to mitigate environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Climate Agreement defined an ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. This has triggered research on stringent emission reduction targets and corresponding mitigation pathways across energy economy and societal systems. Driven by methodological considerations, supply side and carbon dioxide removal options feature prominently in the emerging pathway literature, while much less attention has been given to the role of demand-side approaches. This special issue addresses this gap, and aims to broaden and strengthen the knowledge base in this key research and policy area. This editorial paper synthesizes the special issue's contributions horizontally through three shared themes we identify: policy interventions, demand-side measures, and methodological approaches. The review of articles is supplemented by insights from other relevant literature. Overall, our paper underlines that stringent demand-side policy portfolios are required to drive the pace and direction of deep decarbonization pathways and keep the 1.5 °C target within reach. It confirms that insufficient attention has been paid to demand-side measures, which are found to be inextricably linked to supply-side decarbonization and able to complement supply-side measures. The paper also shows that there is an abundance of demand-side measures to limit warming to 1.5 °C, but it warns that not all of these options are "seen" or captured by current quantitative tools or progress indicators, and some remain insufficiently represented in the current policy discourse. Based on the set of papers presented in the special issue, we conclude that demand-side mitigation in line with the 1.5 °C goal is possible; however, it remains enormously challenging and dependent on both innovative technologies and policies, and behavioral change. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C requires, more than ever, a plurality of methods and integrated behavioral and technology approaches to better support policymaking and resulting policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brundtland Commission report 'Our Common Future' highlighted that residents in high-income countries lead lifestyles incompatible with planetary boundaries. Three decades later, consumption-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to increase. To achieve 'well below 2°C' and 1.5 °C goals, consumption-related emissions must be substantially reduced in the coming decades. This paper provides insights on how to pursue 1.5 °C pathways through changes in household consumption. It draws on original data gathered in the project 'HOusehold Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas Emissions in four European High Income Countries' (HOPE) to analyse policies targeting and affecting direct and indirect GHG emissions in three household consumption categories (mobility, housing and food) in four countries (France, Germany, Norway and Sweden) and four medium-sized cities. This paper demonstrates discrepancies and similarities between current governmental policy approaches in the four countries and household perceptions of consumption changes with respect to policy mechanisms, responsibilities and space for acting on mitigation. Current demand-side policy strategies rely heavily on instruments of self-governance and nudging behaviour. Whilst some of our data suggests that households broadly accept this, it also suggests that governments could more actively lead and steer demand-side mitigation via adjusting and supplementing a comprehensive list of 20 climate policy measures currently in place in one or more of the case countries. The paper concludes by suggesting areas for more effective policy change and household-level climate change mitigation to feed the next update of climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COP21 led to an agreed target of keeping the increase in global average temperature well below 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. Due to its high potential for decarbonisation, the building stock will have to contribute a reduction of at least 85-95% in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions until 2050. Policy-driven scenario analysis is, therefore, important for assisting policy makers who are called upon to develop a corresponding framework to achieve those targets. The research questions of this paper are (1) Do long-term scenarios (in particular those labelled as ambitious) of energy demand in buildings reflect the COP21 target? (2) If not: What are reasons for the gap in terms of scenario assumptions, in particular, regarding the policy framework in the corresponding scenarios? The method builds on following steps: (1) analysis of GHG-emission reduction in scenarios from the policy-driven, bottom-up model Invert/EE-Lab; (2) compare scenarios among each other and analyse if they are in line with Paris targets; (3) discuss possible explanations for any gaps and the implications on future modelling work and policy making. Results show that scenarios labelled as being "ambitious" for several EU MSs achieve GHG-emission reductions of 56-96% until 2050. However, just 27% of these ambitious scenarios achieve reductions above 85%. The reason is that policies for most of the modelled scenarios were developed together with policy makers and stakeholders, who—for different reasons—were not willing to go beyond a certain stringency in the modelled instruments. In particular, this was the case for regulatory instruments, which show to be essential for achieving ambitious climate targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All countries, including developing ones, have set climate change and energy security as clear target goals. They have developed programs and policies to reach their energy security, emission reduction, and environmental mitigation goals. Colombia has notably developed programs to promote renewable energies and efficiency. However, there is still a need to quantify the impact that these policies could have in the future. The aim of this paper is to quantify the emissions prevented by the implementation of two proposed Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), for which we built Colombia's energy system model in order to understand its effects on GHG emissions. The first NAMA replaces old refrigerators that continue using CFC compounds with efficient refrigerators that use HCFC compounds. The second NAMA seeks to secure new energy supplies through renewable sources for areas not connected to the grid. We also created a scenario that integrates both NAMAs to understand their combined effects on GHG emissions. The simulation shows that both NAMAs will allow to prevent the emission of 4.71 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2040, and that the faster they are implemented, the more GHG emissions will be avoided. The model is a framework available for further research in climate change mitigation and energy efficiency policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is a climate change mitigation measure that has gained little attention within disaster management. This paper argues that energy efficiency shares some common benefits and challenges with disaster management, and therefore, some extent of integration within public policy and programs would be beneficial to society. This descriptive study identifies co-occurrences of energy efficiency and disaster management within a sample of US national policies and programs. Content analysis of public policies, program requirements, and government agency's websites is employed to reveal how energy efficiency and disaster management have been integrated and also lend insight into future potential integration. Findings reveal that energy efficiency and disaster management have some complementary policies, actors, interest groups, regulatory systems, goals, and desired outcomes. However, these two fields have not comprehensively converged, missing opportunities for greater positive impact on society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of Danish local governments use green web applications, which are websites intended to convince users to reduce energy consumption in order to mitigate climate change. However, to date, no empirical evidence has been published that demonstrates whether green web applications have this intended effect. This paper, based on a survey of 329 Danish small and medium enterprises (SMEs), examines the perceived effects of a green web application named klimabevidst.dk (which can be translated as climateawareness.dk) and explores the motivation of SMEs to use the application. As 29-56 % of SMEs declare that the application has had a medium or large energy reduction effect on their businesses, the paper concludes that klimebevidst.dk can be a relevant component in local government climate change mitigation campaigns aimed at small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper also shows that the perceived effects of using the web application correlate strongly with the extent to which the web application is used (i.e. with the number of the application's energy reduction guides read). Moreover, the perceived effect is larger in smaller SMEs, in SMEs that prioritise climate change and the health of their employees, and in SMEs that do not prioritise economic benefits. The present study is, however, unable to quantify the reduction; further study is needed to produce a more refined picture of the role played by the web application in increasing energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from widespread disparities in water supply due to depletion in groundwater and global-warming-induced changes in weather patterns. The offset of water head from the design considerations of water pumping systems has increased energy requirements leading to worsening of the situation with respect to availability of energy and water. Consequently, highly capitalized water supply schemes, which have been designed to meet the demand, are underutilized leading to operational inefficiencies. Robust empirical equations can help detect inefficiencies in water pumping systems, and this paper discusses the equations which were developed by analysing data obtained from various water supply utilities facing water scarcity. These equations provide cost-benefit analysis for decision making in water utilities and can bring about energy efficiency in municipal pumping operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various national and international agencies have developed and reported accounting systems to track progress in energy efficiency improvements. Most of these energy efficiency accounting systems (EEAS) are based on index decomposition analysis and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) has emerged as the main decomposition method used. We discuss the fundamentals of LMDI with specific reference to energy efficiency analysis and its application to national EEAS development. The main design dimensions and elements of an EEAS are explained. The flexibility of the LMDI approach has allowed analysts and national agencies to tailor the EEAS to suit their national needs and policy purposes. We conduct a literature survey of the implemented and proposed EEAS and summarise their key features. In view of its growing importance, the extension of the EEAS to an energy-related emissions accounting system to track progress towards climate mitigation targets is introduced. Finally, the strengths and limitations of an LMDI-based EEAS for the tracking of energy efficiency trends are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 50 % of world energy consumption is due to industrial use (DOE/EIA ), with consequences in carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. Reducing energy consumption in industry is therefore an important strategy to achieve the target of energy policies in Europe, of reducing the energy consumption of 20 % by 2020. In order to identify the situation in Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SME) concerning energy efficiency, the project EFINERG involved several stakeholders and was developed and implemented in five sectors: food, agriculture and beverage; ceramics and glass; wood, furniture, and cork; metal industry; and textile and clothes. The objective was to analyze the situation mainly in SME with energy consumption between 250 and 500 toe, in order to provide SME the necessary conditions to adopt energy efficiency improvements, best practices, and technological solutions that answer the problems diagnosed. In the companies involved in the project, the barriers to energy efficiency were listed and classified according to different levels: information, organizational, training/behavioral, economic, and financial. The main barriers and the result of the discussion with the different stakeholders in order identify measures that can contribute to overcome the problem are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]