Law professor on Energy Cultures Project

Waikato University law professor Barry Barton has won funding to research energy law as part of the Energy Cultures Project. The $1,050,000 project will investigate how society can adapt rapidly to achieve a low-energy, low-carbon future. In particular, it will obtain new insights into what drives household energy behaviours, which will allow us to design more effective energy-efficiency policies, interventions and incentives.

People make energy decisions based on a number of different factors. Price is a relevant factor, but so are behavioural drivers such as values, beliefs, social interaction, information, technology, policy, and regulation. Beginning in October this year, The Energy Cultures Project will combine different social science methods to understand these drivers.

Prof Barton will lead an analysis of the influence of laws, regulation and public policy on household energy use for space and water heating using comparative techniques, drawing on his extensive knowledge of international policy and institutional settings.

The project leaders are Professor Rob Lawson, Professor Gerry Carrington and Dr Janet Stephenson from the Otago Energy Research Centre at the University of Otago. The Foundation for Research Science and Technology is funding the project over three years.