ABSTRACT
Whether they are aware of it or not, those involved in governance and policy making in sectors like welfare, health, education and employment make a difference to patterns of energy demand and to the mobility of things and people. In describing how this works we describe some of the routes through which public and private sector organisations shape and steer demand. Using examples from the transport sector, we also show how dominant policy paradigms and related methods of analysis and forecasting conceptualise demand and anticipate growth. This is not a neutral process in that judgements about present and future needs are important for planning and investment and for the forms of infrastructure that follow. Recognising that many different kinds of policy have a bearing on the range of social practices enacted in society complicates but does not confound the project of radical demand reduction. Instead, and as we explain, such an approach suggests that there are significant opportunities for reducing demand at source. The challenge is to figure out where these lie and how they can be mobilised.
