Introduction to energy demand challenges in Europe

This opening chapter calls for greater attention to energy demand challenges in Europe. It argues that many obstacles and opportunities in achieving the so-called energy transition are social and cultural in nature and require interdisciplinary solutions that go beyond efficiency approaches. We provide an overview of the ENERGISE project that aims to achieve greater understanding of the social and cultural influences on household energy use, and to develop appropriate responses and recommendations for policy-makers, practitioners and future academic research. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of the structure of this book, including an introductory overview of how energy demand challenges are understood, and how this relates to the types of solutions that are proposed in each of the ten European countries studied.