In the story of how energy is made and used to keep a country functioning, you don\u2019t get a starring role. You are the passive receiver and consumer of electricity or gas in a tale dominated by governments, corporations and the media. We put the kettle on, we set the thermostat but we don\u2019t take any heat for shaping or challenging the status quo.<\/p>\n
In truth though there are distinct, if overlapping, types of energy users which together tell a different story. Most likely without realising, they play a crucial role in creating, altering and establishing new energy systems.<\/p>\n
Knowing which consumers are which gives policymakers an opportunity and a reason to get out of the rut of only providing information or raising awareness. Knowing which type you are will give you an understanding of your potential to encourage innovation and aid transition to a new sustainable energy system.<\/p>\n
Policies should assist consumers to become active users who experiment and produce new forms of energy; who develop new visions; who campaign for sustainable provision; and who make the links between production, consumption and regulation.<\/p>\n
It might sound ambitious, but there are three clear stages to creating sustainable energy production systems.<\/p>\n
Research conducted by Sussex University, University of Tartu in Estonia and by Eindhoven University of Technology, in the Netherlands, has taken a long-term perspective<\/a> spanning 80 to 100 years and describes how individual energy users can impact, change and validate society\u2019s dominant energy approach.<\/p>\n The first stage identified in this research is the start-up phase, when niche, sustainable visions of energy production spring up. It is also when user routines \u2013 we can also call them rules or norms \u2013 are challenged and new ones are experimented with. It\u2019s where most of Europe sits right now.<\/p>\n Germany, however, looks like it is moving into the acceleration phase, when the old system is weakened and hollowed out. New collective routines emerge and niches become small, yet mature, markets. Solar and wind energy in Germany<\/a> might be having a tricky time at the moment, but only because they are genuinely challenging the incumbent system and so subsidies are being removed.<\/p>\n