Energy services and human needs

Most people do not think about ‘using energy’ – we think about having a cup of tea, hoovering, using a drill, writing an email, having a shower. These are ‘energy services’.  If we could get the same services using less energy, most people wouldn’t notice or care. Some say we should have the same level of energy services, but use less energy to provide them – through energy efficiency. In political rhetoric ‘our lifestyles are not negotiable’, and we can keep the same lifestyle while using less energy. 

Others think about human needs more deeply. Not just that we need to send emails, but that we need to connect. Not just that we need to put the heating on, but that we need to stay warm. Not just that we need to have a shower, but that we need to be clean and healthy. Not that we need to drive to work, but that we need to have a livelihood.

Energy democracy could mean claiming the political space to think creatively and together about what would really enable everyone to meet our fundamental needs. It could mean building enough collective power to actively negotiate our ‘lifestyles’, and creatively make them better for us and other species.  It could mean moving away from a system where consumers are entitled to ‘demand’ unlimited amounts of energy if they have enough money, while those without money are entitled to nothing. It means thinking about where the gains from energy efficiency go – do we use it to consume more of something else, increase profits, or protect our planet?

The political nature of energy

The importance of energy access, provision and infrastructure means that some people would like it to be ‘depoliticised’: ensuring we have a well-functioning energy system should be important for any government, regardless of their political views. However there are choices in  how energy is produced, distributed, managed and accessed, and these are inherently political.

Energy supply is a strategic concern, for national security and economic growth, core government concerns. ‘Keeping the lights on’ is essential for politicians to stay in power. The price of energy and the reliability of energy supply affects the international competitiveness of the economy, with impacts on industry, jobs, fuel poverty and investment.

Modern energy is now needed to satisfy basic human needs such as warmth, cooking, light, social connection, information, leisure, entertainment and mobility, and economic activity. It is vital for health and participation in society and if access is not universal because energy is unaffordable for some people, this has knock on effects on outcomes of social inequality.

Decisions we make now about our energy systems will affect the choices available to future governments who will have to pick up the pieces of anything that goes wrong. To effectively participate in those decisions, we need to understand how the energy system works, from the physics to the infrastructure to the organisations involved and the rules that govern them. That is what this guide aims to explain.

Imagining a different future and a different past

In the past 200 years, energy provided by centralised infrastructure in a highly ‘processed’ form has gone from being a luxury to a necessity in GB. We expect to get gas piped directly to our homes, electricity at the flick of a switch, petrol at the pump. This has replaced traditional fuels such as wood, beeswax and tallow for candles and horses for transport and traction, which people could access directly from the land.

What will our energy usage be like in the future? Improvements in energy efficiency, use of renewable technology and shifts in lifestyles could lead to radically different energy use. Climate change may force dramatic changes in society. It is easy to assume that the future will be similar to the present, but big changes do happen.

The way we have used energy to provide services and ultimately meet human needs has changed hugely through the history of human evolution. Hunter gatherer societies use up to 40 times less energy per person than industrial societies. Agricultural societies use 10 times less. This difference is mainly enabled by fossil fuels, which allow us to use  many centuries of ‘buried sunshine’.

	Unit	Hunter-gatherers	Agricultural society	Industrial society
Total energy use per person	GJ/yr	10-20	40-70	150-400
Population density	/km2	0.025-0115	up to 40	up to 400
Agricultural population	%	–	more than 80%	less than 10%
Total energy use per unit area	GJ/ha/yr	up to 0.01	up to 30	up to 600
Biomass (share of energy use)	%	more than 90%	more than 95%	10-30%

Source: Adapted from Haberl et al. (2011).

LEARNING POINTS FOR ENERGY DEMOCRACY: Energy Democracy means naming the political nature of energy, and ensuring it is governed for the common good, rather than to protect the interests of the status quo. It means thinking about what energy services we really need, and opening up the political space for people to actively negotiate changes to our lifestyles that may enhance well-being while reducing energy service levels. Energy is inherently political. It is essential to basic human needs in modern GB society and to national economic and political stability. However, it tends to be governed in a technocratic way that attempts to make it ‘depoliticised’.