Overcoming barriers for energy efficiency in cooking : A transnational survey among key players of politics, economy and NGOs

Promote the purchase of energy-efficient appliances for example through labelling is one way to promote energy efficiency. The energy consumption is however also strongly, if not even more strongly related to the use phase: An energy efficient labelled appliance can still be used in a not energy-efficient way. Therefore this paper looks at both, the purchase and the use phase.
Cooking is for most of the people a daily activity, but just very few think about the energy used for it. The paper identifies the relevance and strengths of the barriers for the purchase of energy efficient appliances as well as for the energy efficient behaviour in the context of cooking. Further, it discusses how activities from key players (political authorities, energy producers and NGOs) can overcome these barriers. Therefore, it particularly examines the potential for change in relation to the windows of opportunities. The main idea behind this theory is that in the everyday life it is difficult for consumers to change behaviour and habits, even if they are well informed and motivated to do so. However, when certain fundamental changes in life are made, people are susceptible for changes on other aspects as well.
The empirical basis of the paper is a qualitative survey that was conducted in the context of the EU FP7 project BARENERGY (Barriers for energy changes among end consumers and households). The results presented here have been collected in interviews among stakeholder from policy, business and NGOs in Switzerland.