BEWARE! Sharp rocks, however, lie ahead. Wind power generation depends on specific levels of wind. There are also challenges in matching demand with available supplies. Stop gaps will be needed – and storage is not yet possible at the levels required. This was especially evident in 2021 when low levels of wind across the North Sea meant that generation was around 15% lower than in the previous year, meaning a coal plant previously on standby had to be fired up. Weather conditions are only set to become more variable. Even when the wind blows, there is a need to reduce overall levels of demand. When it comes to demand, technological efficiencies tend to be foregrounded – yet again suggesting that the ‘solution’ to climate change is technological. Though targets have been set, current UK governmental demand reduction policies are far lower than required (only a 5% reduction by 2050), a dynamic that is likely replicated at a business level. There are many ways demand reduction could take place. For example, loosening office dress codes to reduce the dependence on air conditioning and heating; tackling the travel miles associated with business practices; and challenging the role of email between co-situated colleagues, to limit internet data traffic. MANY PATHS TO TAKE There is no one route towards Net Zero. However, there will be dangers in transit if there is not a better consideration of how demand reduction might feed into lowering the carbon footprint of business and service sectors. Renewable energy, however, still has an important role to play. Much like the mermaid figureheads carved onto nautical vessels between the 16th and 20th centuries in the belief that they calmed the seas, renewable energy should be an accompaniment to business sustainability strategies on the long voyage to Net Zero. But ears must be stuffed to her singular appeal to ensure that other routes and pathways can be spotted. These suggestions are not novel. Energy research in the social sciences has long called for social – rather than technological – measures to tackle the carbon intensity of business practices. The problem is that it has done so in jargon-thick academic research papers. Our method does something different. It calls on organisational policy- and decision-makers to consider their sustainability statements with different questions in mind. Have strategies fallen victim to the call of the siren? Is renewable energy the sole focus, or the figurehead? What other paths, like demand reduction, lead to Net Zero? In short, it warns organisations that are planning the urgent actions needed by climate emergencies to beware of the allure of the mermaid. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 13 Dr Carolynne Lord is a Senior Research Associate for a pilot project that is developing tools to integrate sustainability research insights for cities in the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business. The article is based on ‘Telling tales’: Communicating UK energy research through fairy tale characters by Dr Carolynne Lord; Dr Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, of the University of Strathclyde; and Dr Torik Holmes, of the University of Manchester, published in Energy Research and Social Science. The full paper also reveals the vampiric properties of cars and/or the witch-like characteristics of plastics, as seen in the illustrations on these pages. c.lord@lancaster.ac.uk
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