Abstract
In this book so far there has been little if any discussion of why consumers might want to invest in energy efficiency. The most obvious, and common, reason is to save money which, after repaying the costs of investment, can then be spent on other activities, all of which use energy to some extent. Hence the rebound is never zero. But this chapter is not going to discuss the economic reasons for investment by consumers, but instead will focus on the non-economic, chiefly environmental and ethical, reasons for pursuing energy efficiency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams, W. (2004) Against Extinction: the Story of Conservation, London: Earthscan.
Alcott, B. (2008) ‘The sufficiency strategy: would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact?’, Ecological Economics, 64(4): 770–86.
Alfredsson, E. (2004) “’Green” consumption — no solution for climate change’, Energy 29(4): 513–24.
Caird, S. and R. Roy (2007) Consumer Adoption and Use of Household Renewable Energy Products, Design Innovation Group, Open University.
Douglas, M. (1966) Purity and Danger: an Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, London: Routledge.
Douglas, M. and B. Isherwood (1979) The World of Goods, New York: Basic Books.
Douglas, M., D. Gasper, S. Ney and M. Thompson (1998) ‘Human needs and wants’, in S. Rayner and E. Malone (eds), Human Choice and Climate Change, Columbus, Ohio: Battelle Press, Volume 1, pp. 95–264.
Douthwaite, R. (2000) The Ecology of Money, Totnes, Devon: Green Books.
Douthwaite, R. and E. Siochrú (2006) The Economic Challenge of Sustainability, Dublin, Ireland: Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, August. Available at www.feasta.org/money.htm
Duncan, G. (2008) ‘Why oil rulers won’t go green’, The Times, 3 March, p. 39.
Fouquet, R. and P. Pearson (2006) ‘Seven centuries of energy service: the price and use of light in the United Kingdom (1300–2000)’, Energy Journal, 27(1): 139–76.
Ghazi, P. and J. Jones (2004) Downshifting: the Bestselling Guide to Happier, Simpler Living, London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Halme, M. (2005) Sustainable Consumer Services: Business Solutions for Household Markets, London: Earthscan.
Harper, P. (2007) ‘Sustainable lifestyles of the future’, in D. Elliott (ed.), Sustainable Energy: Opportunities and Limitations, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 236–60.
Hertwich, E. (2006) ‘Accounting for sustainable consumption’, in T. Jackson (ed.), The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, London: Earthscan, pp. 88–108.
Honoré, C. (2004) In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed, London: Orion Press.
Huber, J. and J. Robertson (2000) Creating New Money: a Monetary Reform for the Information Age, London: New Economics Foundation.
Jackson, T. (2005) ‘Live better by consuming less? Is there a “double dividend” in sustainable consumption?’, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1–2): 19–36.
Jackson, T. (2007) ‘Consuming paradise? Towards a social and cultural psychology of sustainable consumption’, in T. Jackson (ed.), The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, London: Earthscan, pp. 367–95.
Patterson, W. (1990) The Energy Alternative, London: Boxtree.
Petherick, T. (2007) Sufficient: a Modern Guide to Sustainable Living, London: Pavilion Books.
Princen, T. (2005) The Logic o f Sufficiency, London: MIT Press.
Rejeski, D. (ed.) (2003) ‘E-commerce, the Internet and the environment’, Special issue of Journal of Industrial Ecology, 6(2).
Rowbotham, M. (1998) The Grip of Death: a Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery and Destructive Economics, Charlbury, Oxfordshire: Jon Carpenter Publishing.
Roy, R. (2000) ‘Sustainable product-service systems’, Futures, 32(3–4): 289–99.
Seyfang, G. (2008) Building Sustainable Communities, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shi, D. (1985) The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
Shove, E. (2004) Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: the Social Organization of Normality, Oxford: Berg.
Simms, A. and J. Smith (eds) (2008) Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth? London: Constable.
Trainer, T. (1985) Abandon Affluence, London: Zed Books.
Ward, B. and J. Lewis (2002) Plugging the Leaks: Making the Most of Every Pound that Enters your Local Economy, London: New Economics Foundation. Available at www.pluggingtheleaks.org/handbook.pdf
Wilhite, H. (2005) ‘Why energy needs anthropology’, Anthropology Today, 21(3): 1–2.
Zavestoski, S. (2001) ‘Environmental concern and anti-consumerism in the selfconcept’, in M. Cohen and J. Murphy (eds), Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences, Oxford: Pergammon, pp. 173–89.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2009 Horace Herring
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Herring, H. (2009). Sufficiency and the Rebound Effect. In: Herring, H., Sorrell, S. (eds) Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption. Energy, Climate and the Environment Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230583108_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230583108_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35753-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-58310-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)