3rd Victorian Sustainable Development Conference Carbon Neutral Communities

Dr Susie MoloneyCentre for Design, RMIT University

Carbon Neutral Communities: Making the Transition

Susie Moloney Research Fellow

Project Website: www.rmit.edu.au/cnc Contact: susie.moloney@rmit.edu.au or ralph.horne@rmit.edu.au

Centre for Design, RMIT University

RMIT University Slide 3

ABOUT THE PROJECTAustralian Research Council funded project (2007-2010)

Research centres: Centre for Design & Global Cities Institute RMIT and University of South

AustraliaResearch Team: RMIT - John Fien, Ralph Horne, Susie Moloney, Annette Kroen and Anna

Strempel UniSA - John Kellett, Steve Hamnett, Cathryn Hamilton

7 Industry Partners Manningham City Council (Vic) and the City of Playford (SA) Consumers Affairs Victoria, Intern.Council for Local Env. Initiatives (ICLEI),

Moreland Energy Foundation (MEFL), Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (NAGA), Community Power (Darebin).

RMIT University Slide 4

Project Scope

Technical and social dimensions of transitioning

Local Government Area Assessments:1. Greenhouse emissions2. Renewable energy potential3. Energy efficiency potential

4. Changing behaviours: analysis of behaviour change theories and programs

5. Changing social practices: from behavioural to systemic change

1. GHG Assessment for Local Government Areas: City of Playford (SA) and Manningham (Vic)

• Three methods for estimating energy use and GHG emissions

• Test and compare results

• Develop reliable emissions profiles which reflect local conditions and can be used to reliably set targets for GHG emission reductions.

• Key issue: Lack of energy consumption data at local government level for most sectors

2. Renewable Energy Assessment for Local Government Areas:

City of Playford (SA) and Manningham (Vic)

• Solar, wind and biomass potential

• Calculated total energy demand for each LGA

• Manningham: potentially 95-110% of current total energy demand is possible with current technologies (largely from SolarPhotoVoltaics)

• Economically feasible: 43% (Manningham) and 35% (Playford)

• Key issue: Solar PV is currently not economically viable, but this is changing

3. Energy Efficiency Potential for LG Areas: City of Playford (SA)

• Potential reduction in Energy use (16.5%) and GHG emissions (39%)

• Economical feasible 4.7% and 30% respectively

• Industrial sector greatest potential

• Some potential for reductions in residential sector

• Key Issue: Any gains from energy efficiency measures are outweighed by growth projections in energy use.

RMIT University Slide 8

Going Carbon Neutral: the problem of energy demandTechnical Solutions Not Enough

• Solutions divided – technical and behavioural

• Current approach to behaviour change inadequate

• Social practices and norms emerge and are shaped by their social and systemic contexts (social, institutional, regulatory, infrastructures)

• Mix of strategies needed to generate changes in social practices

Current approaches to changing behaviour

• Dominated by the ‘rational choice model’

• Common policy responses preoccupied with use of information and pricing signals

• Technological solutions are preferred and individuals are autonomous

• Ignores emotional responses, role of habits, routines, norms and social embeddedness of decision making and systems

Common assumptions in behaviour change programs

Assumption 1: The right information will lead to appropriate behaviour

• Information is useful but not enough to motivate and sustain changes in social practices

Assumption 2: People respond rationally to the facts• People do not respond rationally but often emotionally;

habits and routine can be ‘locked in’ or constrained by social norms, infrastructures and regulations.

Assumption 3: Primacy of individual over collective BC• Ignores social and structural context shaping practices

Going Carbon Neutral: Changing behaviour

Reviewed over 100 programs across Australia broadly addressing energy use; energy efficiency; energy conservation and demand management in residential sector

Review of ProgramsBy Lead Organisation

Initiatives by Type of Lead Organisation

Local governments, 35%

State Governments, 26%

Non-government organisations, 19%

Business, 11%

Commonwealth Government, 3%

Church organisations, 3%

Universities and Schools, 2%

Community group, 1%

Review of ProgramsBy Target Audience and Program Focus

Initiative by Target Audience and Program Focus

05

101520253035404550

Target Audience

Num

ber o

f ini

tiativ

es Water Use

Transport

Lifestyle-Sustainable

Energy Use

Resource Efficiency

Review of ProgramsBy Primary Approach

Initiative by Primary Approach

Audits15%

Capacity Building6%

Commitment8%

Education16%

Equipment-appliance9%

Information17%

Energy infrastructure6%

Retrof its assistance16%

Sustainable Housing Development

3%

Training4%

Review of ProgramsBy Aim and Approach

0

10

20

30

40

50

Information Only Auditing/Info/Actions Retrofits/ Appliances/Infrastructure

Education/ Workshops/Training

Community Based Learning/Capacity Building

Resource efficiency

Lifestyle - sustainable

Energy use

Practices and their components

CNC Evaluation Framework

Shifting the focus from individual purposive agents to participants in social practices

Social Learning Shift from information to peer to peer group discussion

Collective ParticipationShift from individual agency to collective agency

Technologies and Infrastructures in the HomeShift from technologies/infrastructure outside sphere of influence to considering them as part of the practice

Systems in the Context of DoingShift from systems outside sphere of influence to considering them as part of the practice

Indicators

Going Carbon Neutral: From behaviour change to systemic change

Going Carbon Neutral Means Changing Social Practices

Carbon Neutral Communities: Making the Transition

THANKYOU

Susie Moloney Research Fellow

Project Website: www.rmit.edu.au/cnc Contact: susie.moloney@rmit.edu.au or ralph.horne@rmit.edu.au

Centre for Design, RMIT University