Society's dependence on non-renewable energy sources and its
impact on the planet's climate is a threat to global biodiversity and
ultimately the quality of all life. Leading climate scientists have
pointed to this danger (Climate change is real, 2011) and called on
politicians to take action (Brown, 2011). However, the demand for
energy continues to grow (IEA, 2010), leading to the need for a
reassessment of how energy saving is addressed at a policy level
(Perrels et al., 2006).
The scientific literature is rich in research on energy, energy
consumption and energy conservation, to the point where it is
difficult to locate scientific consensus. What adds to the complexity
is that research has been conducted across a broad variety of
disciplines (Stephenson et al., 2010), with many models being used
to explain consumers’ behaviour (see Kollmuss and Agyeman
(2002) and Jackson (2005) for discussions).