Presented at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Annual International Conference, 27-29 August 2014. www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference/Annual+international+conference.htm

1. IDENTIFYING AND COMPARING THE
IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT ENERGY DEMAND IN BRITISH POLICY
DOCUMENTS - A CRITICAL REVIEW
Antonio Ferreira – University of Leeds
Richard Francis Hanna – University of Reading
Greg Marsden – University of Leeds
Jacopo Torriti – University of Reading
Dr Antonio Ferreira
Email: a.c.ferreira@leeds.ac.uk
Research Fellow in Governance and Transport Policies
Institute for Transport Studies
University of Leeds

2. THE PROBLEMS

3. THE PROBLEMS
(SOME OF) THE PROBLEMS:
Climate change and extreme weather events
Biodiversity collapse
Depletion of natural resources, particularly fossil fuels
Financial crisis and global competition
ALL CONSTITUTE A THREAT TO A SOCIETY AS OURS WHERE
HIGH DEMAND FOR ENERGY AND RESOURCES IS SO CENTRAL

4. THE PROBLEMS
TWO APPROACHES TO ADDRESS THEM
1. Make possible to maintain high demand for energy and
resources in adverse circumstances
2. Reducing demand for energy and resources by means of
deep changes in social practices (remit of DEMAND Centre)
How are implicit and explicit assumptions to be found in
British policy documents likely to determine what approach
is adopted more strongly?

5. METHODOLOGY

6. COMMON ASSUMPTIONS / METHODOLOGY
EMPIRICAL APPROACH
Consider substantially different policy areas
Identify policy documents of significant relevance (£)
Perform in-depth analysis of selected policy documents
Identification of themes (implicit and explicit assumptions)
Literature review
Synthesise themes into a as-small-as-possible set of meta
themes/assumptions that are common to majority of
policies

7. COMMON ASSUMPTIONS / METHODOLOGY
Policy area Policy document Authorship Last update
Transport and
mobility
The strategic case for HS2 Department for Transport and High Speed
Two (HS2) Limited 29/Oct/2013
Winter Resilience in Transport:
An Assessment of the case for
additional investment
Department for Environment, Food & Rural
Affairs and Department for Transport and
Department of Energy & Climate Change
6/Dec/2011
Cities and
towns
Helping people to buy a home
Department for Communities and Local
Government, The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP,
Minister of State for Housing, HM Treasury
and Homes and Communities Agency
8/Oct/2013
Improving high streets and town
centres (based on The Portas
Review)
Department for Communities and Local
Government, The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP,
Brandon Lewis MP and Future High Streets
Forum
29/Apr/2014
Energy and
climate
change
The future of heating: a
strategic framework for low
carbon heat
Department of Energy & Climate Change 29/Mar/2012
Increasing the use of low-carbon
technologies
Department of Energy & Climate Change,
Department for Transport and Environment
Agency
24/Jun/2014
Education and
culture
Getting more people playing
sport
Department for Culture, Media & Sport,
Department for Education, The Rt Hon Sajid
Javid MP, Minister for Sport & Equalities and
Edward Timpson MP
10/Jan/2014
Making the higher education
system more efficient and
diverse
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
and The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP 12/Dec/2012

8. COMMON ASSUMPTIONS / METHODOLOGY
IDENTIFIED META-THEMES/ASSUMPTIONS
Antagonism (explicit)
Epochalist solutionism (implicit)
High demand as a necessity (implicit and explicit)

9. COMPETITION AS ANTAGONISM
(HUNGER GAMES)

10. COMPETITION AND ANTAGONISM (HUNGER GAMES)

11. COMPETITION AND ANTAGONISM (HUNGER GAMES)

12. COMPETITION AND ANTAGONISM
“The Sainsbury’s School Games is a national programme that
aims to motivate and inspire millions of young people across
the country to take part in more competitive sport.”
Citation from Getting more people playing sport - The School
Games

13. COMPETITION AND ANTAGONISM
Is competition/antagonism an effective concept to reduce
demand for energy and resources?
Questionable
Exotic holidays and Facebook posting
Sports/high end cars and social positioning
All forms of consumption for social positioning
Corporate drive to compete / maximise profit
Weapon / war industry to secure inequalities

14. EPOCHALISM

15. EPOCHALISM
Time
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event Now
Time
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event
Now
Morozov (2013) To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism.
PubblicAffairs Books, NY

16. EPOCHALISM
“The days of a high street populated simply by independent
butchers, bakers and candlestick makers are, except in the
most exceptional circumstances, over. How we shop as a
nation has quite simply changed beyond recognition.
Forever.”
Extract from The Portas Independent Review which has
informed the Improving high streets and town centres policy

17. SOLUTIONISM

18. SOLUTIONISM
CONTEXT
Focus on
understanding
roots of
problems
Focus on how
to solve
problems
Morozov (2013) To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism.
PubblicAffairs Books, NY
Time
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event
Past
event
Now
Fascination
with
innovations
(solutions?)

19. ANTAGONIST-EPOCHALIST SOLUTIONISM
and
HIGH DEMAND AS A NECESSITY

20. ANTAGONIST EPOCHALIST SOLUTIONISM and DEMAND
ANTAGONISM: “The new north-south railway is one of the most
potentially beneficial, but also challenging infrastructure
projects on the planet. In terms of ambition it stands alongside
anything we have ever done as a nation; and is a step towards
making Britain the best-connected island in the world.”
EPOCHALIST SOLUTIONISM: “If Britain is to prosper in the
future, we must invest now [in HS2].”
NECESSITY OF HIGH DEMAND: “The evidence shows that
economic growth and demand for transport go hand in hand.
(…) The existing capacity of our transport networks is a
significant inhibitor of demand [and therefore an inhibitor of
growth]”
Extracts from The strategic case for HS2

21. CONCLUSION:
CAN WE EXPECT DEMAND TO
DECREASE WHEN:
ANTAGONISM
EPOCHALIST SOLUTIONISM
ARE META-THEMES IN POLICY
MAKING?

22. Questionable…
Antagonism and epochalist solutionism can
actually be used as devices to reduce demand
for energy and resources
(one can use a samurai sword to cut bread)
Other devices would probably do it so much
better…
E.g.: cooperation, addressing the roots of the
problems, social practices-based approaches