Reducing Energy Demand: Who, How, Why?

1. Reducing Energy Demand: Who, How, Why? Peter Warren, Doctoral Researcher, peter.warren.10@ucl.ac.uk • 1) Introduction: • Reducing energy demand, or changing when energy is consumed, is increasingly becoming an important way to reduce carbon emissions and ensure energy security • Actions, technologies and programmes to achieve these aims are termed Demand-Side Management (DSM) • As populations rise, the number of electronics in the home increases, ageing power plants are shut down, and variable wind power grows, there is a crucial need for houses, organisations and industries to engage with DSM • Policies have historically concentrated on energy supply-side solutions and this research aims to explore best practice policies for demand-side solutions Definition of Demand-Side Management: “Demand-side management (DSM) refers to technologies, actions and programmes on the demand-side of energy meters that seek to manage or decrease energy consumption, in order to reduce total energy system expenditures or contribute to the achievement of policy objectives such as emissions reduction or balancing supply and demand.” • 2) Research: • Aim:To explore what constitutes best practice in demand-side management (DSM) programmes and policies and to determine the transferability of best practices to the UK • Methods: • Systematic Review of academic, industrial, organisational and policy publications on DSM (mixed methods) • Interviews with Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) analysis with DSM experts and key actors (mixed methods) • Case Studies: • Research Boundaries: • Electricity only • Government programmes only • Frequently cited case studies only • Only publications that pass data quality test • Outcomes: • Development of a framework for determining best practice in demand-side management programmes and policies • Development of a DSM decision-making support tool to aid policy makers and programme managers • A list of policy recommendations for the implementation of best practice DSM programmes and policies in the UK • Conclusions: • The research is currently being carried out but it is clear that DSM is beginning to gain political interest in the UK • The USA, Australia and parts of Western and Northern Europe have led the way in the development of DSM • Although many countries are rigorously pursuing energy efficiency policies, demand response policies (the response of consumers to price changes or incentive payments) remain limited globally • Bibliography: • Albadi and El-Saadany (2008) “A summary of demand response in electricity markets”, Electric Power Systems Research, 78, pp. 1989-1996 • Cheng, C-C. (2005) Electricity demand-side management for an energy efficient future in China: technology options and policy priorities, PhD Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA • Didden, M.H. and D’haeseleer, W.D. (2003) “Demand Side Management in a competitive European market: who should be responsible for its implementation?” Energy Policy, 31, pp. 1307-1314 • Eissa, M.M. (2011) “Demand side management program evaluation based on industrial and commercial field data”, Energy Policy, 39, pp. 5961-5969 • Element Energy (2012) Demand side response in the non-domestic sector, Final Report for Ofgem, in association with De Montford University, Leicester, UK • Gellings, C.W. and Chamberlin, J.H. (1993) Demand-Side Management: Concepts and Methods, 2nd Edition, The Fairmont Press, Inc., USA • Strbac, G. (2008) “Demand side management: benefits and challenges”, Energy Policy, 36, pp. 4419-4426 Acknowledgements: The PhD is being funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) at the UCL Energy Institute, which is part of the London-Loughborough Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Energy Demand. The research is being supervised by Professor Paul Ekins and Dr Mark Barrett.