Lancaster University, County South, D72, 4.00pm – 6.00pm, ALL WELCOME
The force of LUKES: towards a longitudinal UK (socio-technical) energy survey
Empirical domestic energy research in the UK and internationally is dominated by two disciplinary approaches and one kind of design: studies are typically small scale (I.e. Carried out in a small number of homes, typically between 10 to 30) and are either technical/physical science focused or social science focused. This is at odds with what energy policy demands. Energy policy is nationally oriented, so data needs – at some level – to be nationally representative to understand the range of settings and configurations of homes into which policy lands. Also, energy policy needs an integrated understanding of the social and the technical because it is principally about organising technical provision to support social outcomes. So how to fill this gap in the research landscape? Enter LUKES: a longitudinal socio-technical energy panel survey. At UCL we’ve been working with DECC to look at the feasibility of undertaking social technical surveying of energy use in the home, exploring the nature of the design of such a project and whether it feasible in practice. We looked at the likely cost of such a programme. In this talk I will cover the LUKES project- describe the nature of the design we devised and explore some issues around the nature of socio-technical research – what it is and what it could be.
Dr Adam Cooper: Dept. of Science, Technology, Engineering & Public Policy (UCL STEaPP)