Summary of the Challenge
Over the last seventy years, most European countries have undergone one or more transitions in home heating provision. Moving first away from burning solid fuels and towards communal or individual central heating systems, we are now facing a transition from gas to low carbon electric heating systems.
Heating transitions are awash with personal, social and cultural complexity but tend to be simplified into grand narratives that tell simple stories of technological triumph. Energy policy often only considers the techno-economic dimensions of heating transitions, failing to take into account their impact on lived experience and failing to understand the reasons for public resistance.
Research conducted as part of a European research project Just Heat showed that heating systems deliver more than just warmth - they have the potential to foster comfort, joy, cultural participation and attachment, connection to nature and help us navigate difficult times such as the long winter months. The research also showed that the language of ‘efficiency’ associated with low carbon heating transitions conjures thoughts of what will be taken away, rather than how changes might enhance our lives.
It is critical that policy makers build public consent for the low carbon heating transitions that are so urgently required to meet regional net-zero commitments. Recent research conducted by SYSC’s Consuming Sustainably project highlighted that only 14% of respondents had solar panels installed, 39% didn’t have but would like solar panels but 46% of respondents did not have and did not want solar panels for their home. It is clear that more research is needed to understand the reasons (beyond techno-economic considerations) why low carbon heating transitions might be resisted within different communities in South Yorkshire.
Our Response
This research explores the social and cultural dynamics of heating transitions and their effects on societies and communities. In particular, we will focus on the experiences and perspectives of one group who were left behind during the last heating transition from solid fuels to gas - South Yorkshire’s mining communities.
Through qualitative interviews, we want to understand the perspectives of former mining communities in the region. We argue that these communities experienced a “leapfrog” effect whereby they were either one of the last to be connected to the gas network or have remained unconnected but are now expected to move rapidly to renewables which will bring cultural, emotional, and political challenges as well as practical ones. Through this project we aim to understand their needs, hopes and fears in relation to heating transitions and to understand how joy can be preserved, restored or, indeed, created.
We hope to generate insights that will support the planning of successful heating transitions that hold at their core an ambition to create a fairer, more human future for home heating. We think this will be best achieved by understanding and acknowledging the vital but forgotten considerations of pleasure, enjoyment, and emotional wellbeing to debates about heating futures.
This project will dovetail with other SYSC research areas. For example, recent research from SYSC’s Policy and Governance work package into consumption habits has revealed current attitudes to heat pumps and other low carbon heating systems. These findings help to bring the story of heating transitions in South Yorkshire up to date. Additionally, this research will help inform projects that look at retrofit development and deployment as part of our Residential Energy & Transport Systems theme.
