Current projects

Ireland's Behavioural Energy and Travel Tracker (BETT)

The recent energy crisis brought people’s everyday energy use into focus, with many looking to find ways to save money on their energy bills. However, a lot of people don’t understand what actions save the most energy, and even for those that do, there can be a significant gap between their intentions and their actual behaviour.

In December 2022 we launched the Behavioural Energy and Travel Tracker (BETT), a nationally representative survey that gathers thorough, accurate and granular data about the everyday energy behaviours of people in Ireland. BETT allows us to better understand how people in Ireland are using energy in their everyday lives and identify where we have the greatest potential for energy saving through behaviour change. 

BETT ran monthly throughout 2023 and continues to run on a quarterly basis since 2024. We have published two reports detailing the results from the first winter (December 2022 – April 2023) and summer (May – September 2023), with topic-specific analyses planned for release in 2025.

Smart energy and demand flexibility

Electricity demand is projected to grow significantly in the coming years, largely due to increasing electrification of heat and transport. At times when demand is greatest – peak demand periods – we still rely disproportionately on fossil fuels. Thus, to meaningfully increase the share of generation from renewables, we need to reduce consumption during peak periods in particular and better align consumption with renewable generation in general. In other words, we need to be more flexible in the timing of our electricity-using activities.

We’ve used data from BETT to investigate the timing of a range of household activities across the day, as well as the myriad factors that influence the time of day when activities happen. We’ve also conducted an online experiment to find the best ways of motivating people to learn about smart energy and flexibility and engage with it. We’re now developing a comprehensive overview and classification system for behaviours that provide flexibility, and reviewing literature on the barriers and enablers to these.

Encouraging the uptake of home energy upgrades and heat pumps

To meet Ireland’s ambitious Climate Action Plan targets, many homeowners will need to invest in the energy efficiency of their home and adopt renewable energy technologies such as heat pumps. To inform the design of policies and programmes, our team has published evidence reviews mapping behavioural barriers and motivators to home retrofitting and heat pump adoption. We have also conducted primary research into consumers' ability to operate heat pumps and willigness-to-pay for heat pump installation in specific types of homes that might benefit most from the switch (homes currently heated using oil).

We are using machine learning techniques to use SEAI’s data to deepen our understanding of patterns in retrofitting behaviour and inform data-driven decision-making. We developed a predictor tool to forecast expenditure within the Better Energy Homes programme, enabling better resource allocation and strategic planning. We have also run analysis that highlights that the recent surge in Solar PV installations in Ireland is not necessarily leading to the installation of further, potentially more effective, home energy upgrade measures. We plan to develop a decision aid to guide homeowners towards the most effective energy-related investment for them given their home, their lifestyle and their budget.

Sustainable mobility

Ireland needs to halve emissions within its transport sector by 2030. Some of our past work focused on driving the adoption of electric vehicles. More recently, we have been looking at the potential of e-cargo bikes as an alternative to the private.  We have been running interviews with current e-cargo bike owners to uncover what elements are needed to make e-cargo bikes possible and attractive as a car substitute among private users in Ireland, which will be followed by a wider survey. The findings could potentially inform ambitious policies to mainstream e-cargo bikes as an alternative to car use in particular contexts across Ireland.

Energy citizens, communities and energy poverty

The energy transition requires the participation and cooperation of all segments of Irish society. Community organisations can be powerful in developing grass-roots support where a top-down governmental approach could be met with opposition. We are conducting qualitative research with members of Sustainable Energy Communities to understand what motivates and enables participation in environmental volunteerism. We also plan on conducting more research into public understanding of the energy transition, perceptions of fairness and preferences for different policy packages.

It is important that the energy transition works for everyone in Ireland, and that adequate supports are in place to protect people from energy poverty. Tracking energy poverty over time and targeting supports requires first choosing an appropriate measure. Data collected through our Behavioural Energy and Travel Tracker allows us to track multiple measures of energy poverty across the year and investigate how different measures interact and overlap. A report with the results of our analysis of energy poverty in Ireland and recommendations for targeting policy will be published in early 2025.

Publications

Learn more by reading publications in our Behavioural Insights for Policy series.