Citizens

The following content has been tagged with the Citizens topic

Projects

Embedding EDI in Citizen Participation: Designing Inclusive Engagement framework in Energy Communities for women and low-income households focusing on Energy Literacy.

This project addresses a gap in citizen participation by embedding EDI principles in the design and...

Whole Systems Mission: Rapid Bill Reduction

The first Whole Systems Mission is now exploring how the UK Government can rapidly reduce energy...

Equity and Justice in Energy Markets

This project will investigate the interactions between retail energy markets and their...

Consumer attitudes to changes in electricity supply voltage

In the future there may be increasing strain on the distribution network delivering electricity to...

Societal Preferences, Affordability & Trust

Who pays for energy transitions? Previous Cardiff research developed a model of the core values...

Consumer bills

The prices paid for electricity by domestic customers in the UK has been a regular discussion point...

Policy Pathways to Justice in Energy Efficiency

This project will explore some of the key gaps in knowledge regarding justice in energy efficiency...

Investment by decentralised actors

Summary This topic focuses on investment decision-making by ‘decentralised actors’, by which we...

Systemic participation and decision-making

This project is led by Jason Chilvers, and also involves Helen Pallett and Tom Hargreaves at the...

Publications

Journal article

Socioeconomic Inequality in Low-carbon Technology Adoption

This paper explores socioeconomic inequality in low-carbon technology adoption and its underlying sources.

11 April 2025

Consultation response

Call for Evidence response: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on ‘Unlocking community energy at scale’

UKERC welcomes this inquiry and the UK government’s ambition to achieve clean power by 2030, including 8GW of local and community-owned energy.

12 February 2025

Journal article

Public perceptions of heat decarbonisation in Great Britain: Awareness, values and the social circle effect

This journal article explores public attitudes of three decarbonised heating technologies currently being trialled or entering the market: heat pumps, hydrogen heating, and district heating networks. It found that network modelling estimated normative social forces (ie the ‘social circle’ effect) were highly influential in shaping attitudes to decarbonised heating.

26 November 2024

Journal article

Towards a Relational Sociology of Retrofit

This journal article finds that the multiple stakeholders seeking to boost energy efficiency interventions in homes should focus less upon economic incentives for ‘rational actors’ and more upon reducing, facilitating and smoothing the ‘relational work’ needed to deliver retrofit.

21 November 2024

Working paper

The impacts of energy disruptions on society

The resilience of the energy system is changing, bringing new risks of disruptions, and our dependency on energy is higher than ever. But what happens in society when the power goes out? This Working Paper reviews the current state of knowledge.

25 January 2021

Consultation response

Ofgem RIIO-ED2 consultation response

In this response to Ofgem’s consultation on the methodology for setting the next electricity distribution price control, Keith Bell and Rob Gross highlight the challenges associated with innovation and the importance of good governance.

22 October 2020

Research report

Domestic Air Conditioning in 2050

Many households are expected to install air conditioning in response to rising temperatures. This IVUGER report, delivered as part of the Whole Systems Networking Fund, aims to provide a first estimate of the effect of domestic air conditioning uptake on the national grid in 2050.

20 October 2020

Research report

Barriers and opportunities for heat decarbonisation in Northern Ireland

As part of the Whole Systems Networking Fund the "Zero-in on NI heat project", investigated the major barriers and opportunities towards heat decarbonisation in Northern Ireland. Four thematic workshops and a final seminar, as well as a series of focus groups with NI consumers, were conducted during the project. Over 120 stakeholders from almost 100 organisations attended the project workshops.

21 July 2020

News

Article

UKERC Welcomes Four New Projects from its Whole Systems Networking Fund

Now in its third iteration, the fund broadens the people, institutions, and research areas UKERC...

24 June 2026

Article

The Talking Energy Podcast: Changing the Dynamic on Consumer Affordability with Laura Sandys

In this episode, we welcome former MP and long-term energy campaigner Laura Sandys to the podcast.

15 October 2025

Blog

Can Social and Smart Tariffs Improve Energy Affordability and Drive Economic Growth?

This blog explores the key questions, challenges and insights on improving energy affordability and...

09 April 2025

Article

UKERC Researchers Give Evidence to Select Committee Inquiry on Clean Energy Workforce Planning

Earlier this month, UKERC researchers Dr. Richard Hanna (Imperial College London) and Dr. Christian...

25 March 2025

Article

UKERC Responds to Energy Security and Net Zero Committee call for evidence on ‘Unlocking community energy at scale’

UKERC welcomes this inquiry and the UK government’s ambition to achieve clean power by 2030,...

12 February 2025

Heat as a service: evidence needs and research gaps

In this blog, Zoya Pourmirza describes the workshop they hosted on Heat as a Service (HaaS)

28 January 2021

Video

Video: Review of Energy Policy 2020

In December we launched our Review of Energy Policy 2020, which explores the impacts of COVID-19 on...

16 December 2020

The Price of Power: Electricity markets in the Energy White Paper

UKERC Director Rob Gross responds to the UK government's long-awaited Energy White Paper.

16 December 2020

Response to the CCC 6th Carbon Budget by UKERC Director Rob Gross

UKERC Director Rob Gross responds to the Committee on Climate Change 6th Carbon Budget.

09 December 2020

Time is running out – the energy sector’s Generation 2050 speak up

With COP26 less than a year away, an intergenerational climate emergency requires intergenerational...

25 November 2020

Where to find the most energy efficient homes in the UK

A recent study by NimbleFins has found that regions in the North have the most energy efficient...

18 November 2020

UKERC response to the 10 point climate plan

In this article UKERC Director Rob Gross and a number of Theme leaders, provide initial comments...

18 November 2020

Why we must decarbonise material manufacturing to decarbonise our buildings

In this blog Stephen Allen, from the UKERC Industry Theme, discusses how the manufacturing of key...

11 November 2020

Climate leadership begins at home – time is running out

With Brexit looming and the Government’s current track record, anyone interested in climate...

09 November 2020

Multiple supplier models show promise for driving the growth of local energy

Recent studies suggest that allowing consumers to ‘add on’ local energy to their current tariff...

04 November 2020

Government guidance for research organisations after the transition period

The UK Government has published guidance for the Research and Innovation (R&I) community in...

04 November 2020

Theme interview: Energy and Economy

As part of our Annual Assembly, we opted for interviews as opposed to Theme presentations. This...

28 October 2020

Interview: Mobility

As part of our Annual Assembly, we opted for interviews as opposed to Theme presentations. This...

21 October 2020

Ofgem RIIO-ED2 consultation response

In this response to Ofgem’s consultation on the methodology for setting the next electricity...

21 October 2020

Driving down emissions for low carbon public transport

In this blog, Kathryn Logan, Astley Hastings, and John D. Nelson discuss, how low emission public...

14 October 2020

Committee launch Decarbonising heat in homes inquiry

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has launched an inquiry examining the...

07 October 2020

Green Homes Grant polling: policy implications of a predicted surge in demand

In this blog, originally for The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, Analyst Jess Ralston discusses...

30 September 2020

Climate change, net zero and the many assemblies of citizens

Climate Assembly UK marks an important moment for climate change and democracy. To have real value...

23 September 2020

A just and inclusive energy transition – what can local authorities do to ensure more people are involved?

In this blog, Sioned Haf and Rosie Robinson discuss the importance of citizen involvement with the...

19 August 2020

Low carbon heating can improve living standards of financially challenged households

In this blog, Jack Flower, Graeme Hawker, Keith Bell examine the potential impact on the costs of...

12 August 2020

Lockdown lifestyle: does working from home reduce carbon emissions?

In this blog, Francisco Dominguez discusses lockdown, and the impact of working from home on...

29 July 2020

How lockdown is disrupting the usual coping strategies of the fuel poor

Households are spending an average of £32 extra a month on energy during lockdown. This blog by...

22 July 2020

Green recovery: why energy efficiency matters

In this blog Aidan Rhodes and Richard Hanna assess the UK Government’s announcement of new...

15 July 2020

The future of transport after Covid 19: Everything has changed. Nothing has changed.

In this blog, Jillian Anable argues that lower demand due to the pandemic probably won't lead to...

25 June 2020

Cooking up a storm? What will it take to decarbonise UK’s heat for low-carbon cooking

In this blog, Rihab Khalid explores how sociodemographic factors and consumer behaviour –

24 June 2020

Personal carbon trading special issue open for submission

Authors are invited to contribute to a Special Issue on PCT that includes the latest research on...

22 June 2020

A New Green Shovel? Options for the transport stimulus package

As we begin the difficult transition out of lockdown, attention is turning to what kind of stimulus...

17 June 2020

The psychology of disruptive events: finding a ‘new normal’

Most of us have never experienced a disruptive event on the same scale as COVID-19. It has...

23 April 2020

An ecology of participation

It is now widely understood that transitioning to a low carbon energy system is a social as well as...

31 October 2017