Britain is a very wasteful country - far more energy is used than is actually required to deliver well-being. Years of cheap, abundant petrochemicals have led to highly wasteful practices and attitudes. Powering down does not mean deprivation, or a return to hardships of the past. It does however entail a thorough overhaul of attitudes to energy consumption. It also draws simultaneously on sophisticated energy management technologies and on simple common-sense approaches to how energy is used.

The implementation of TEQs as a national policy framework in the global effort to tackle climate change will trigger a huge change in consumer behaviour. People will learn to reduce their dependency on carbon intensive activities and processes. This will happen through increased awareness of personal energy consumption along with the monetary incentive that arises from the option people have to make money by choosing to be more energy conscious than is required under the TEQs system. There will also be a widespread change in transport patterns and an increase in localised activities.

At industry level, businesses will be highly motivated to make emissions cuts because they have to pay to pollute. Many technologies already exist to help achieve the necessary targets. A strong emphasis on combined heat and power (CHP) will shift the rationale for the location of power stations, and the associated markets for heat. Mechanical power is likely to be delivered almost entirely from electricity.

A great deal of Britain’s emissions reduction will be in ‘upstream’ processes run by industry and government. However, this will result in a considerable shift in the range and prices of products available in all sectors. At a domestic level, houses will use ICT to maximise energy efficiency, and more visible metering to provide information on energy use.

Specifically…

• Buildings
• Transport
• Agriculture