The limits of energy sufficiency: A review of the evidence for rebound effects and negative spillovers from behavioural change

By S. Sorrell, Birgitta Gatersleben, Angela Druckman. 2020

280 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract ‘Energy sufficiency’ involves reducing consumption of energy services in order to minimise the associated environmental impacts. This may either be through individual actions, such as reducing car travel, or through reducing working time, income and aggregate consumption (‘downshifting’). However, the environmental benefits of both strategies may be less than anticipated. First, people may save money that they can spend on other goods and services that require energy to provide (rebounds). Second, people may feel they have ‘done her bit’ for the environment and can spend time and money on more energy-intensive goods and activities (spillovers). Third, people may save time that they can spend on other activities that require energy to participate in (time-use rebounds). This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on rebounds and spillovers from sufficiency actions, and on time-use rebounds from downshifting. It concludes that: first, rebound effects can erode a significant proportion of the anticipated energy and emission savings from sufficiency actions; second, that such actions appear to have a very limited influence on aggregate energy use and emissions; and third, that downshifting should reduce energy use and emissions, but by proportionately less than the reduction in working hours and income.

Subfields: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b8e54d61963ab4bcdedfc2ac54ba83e967ed8fbc

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

1. Daniel Hausknost
2. Felix Creutzig
3. Dominik Wiedenhofer
4. H. Haberl
5. F. Krausmann

In Pollution

1. F. Krausmann
2. Daniel Hausknost
3. Paul E. Brockway
4. Dominik Wiedenhofer
5. H. Haberl

In Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

1. F. Krausmann
2. H. Haberl
3. Dominik Wiedenhofer
4. Andreas Mayer
5. Daniel Hausknost
6. Felix Creutzig
7. Paul E. Brockway
8. G. Kalt

Citations in the corpus

• A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights (2020, background): “A new study suggests, however, that even energy sufficiency actions may be associated with rebound effects and negative spillovers (Sorrell et al 2020).”