We hesitate with energy-efficient solutions - economist aims to discover why

Despite the potential for financial savings and environmental benefits, consumers are reluctant to embrace energy-efficient solutions. This phenomenon persists even as global energy demand is projected to surge by 47% by 2050.

This highlights the need for us to consume energy more efficiently – and thus limit greenhouse gas emissions, says Christina Gravert, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and the Center for Economic Behaviour and Inequality (CEBI).

The Carlsberg Foundation has just awarded her a Semper Ardens Accelerate grant of DKK 6 million for the project ‘Behavioural foundations of Technology Adoption: Bridging the Energy-Efficiency gap’.

‘We want to uncover the hidden factors that influence our approach to new energy-saving technology. This knowledge is crucial to accelerate the necessary energy savings and combat climate change,’ explains Christina Gravert.

Energy-efficient technology uptake is too slow

The research will concentrate on the building sector, which accounts for 31% of global CO2 emissions. "We will explore the behavioural barriers behind the so-called energy-efficiency gap and the slow renovation rates. Using innovative methods, we will uncover why the transition to energy-efficient technologies is happening so slowly that we cannot meet urgent climate needs," Gravert elaborates.

Gravert's team, including a Post-Doc and a PhD student, will employ cutting-edge techniques. They will apply machine learning to Danish administrative data on energy certificates, buildings, and smart meters, conduct nationwide surveys and field trials, and estimate the impact of non-economic factors and behavioral barriers on household energy investments.

The project will collaborate with public authorities to test interventions that can promote investments in energy-efficient technologies, bridging the gap between research and real-world implementation.

The Carlsberg Semper Ardens Accelerate grant supports newly appointed permanent associate professors in establishing independent research groups or environments over a three-to-four-year period.