Enoughness in energy use: Sustainable and sufficient energy consumption in Finland

Although “just transition” is a theme strongly rising in research and policy, the academic discussion has thus far remained rather abstract and in Finland, the research is rather scarce. To ensure that no one is left behind in the transition towards carbon-neutral welfare state, it is important to understand what is “enough”, or sufficient and sustainable, in energy use. The objectives of the research project are (1) to define what “enoughness” in energy consumption means in Finland, and (2) to understand risks of energy deprivation during the energy transition. By combining three key concepts – the right to energy, energy needs and limits to energy use – into a theoretical framework on enoughness and by employing a social practice approach in an ambitious empirical research on enoughness in everyday life, this project aims to provide ground-breaking research on what is socially sufficient and environmentally sustainable energy use in Finland and where the biggest risks of not achieving such enoughness lie.

The research project combines environmental social sciences with sociology of consumption and social policy, and employs a wide array of methods from ethnographical to consensual and computational approaches in studying everyday life. Enoughness is not defined by researchers, but together with experts and everyday people in different situations of life. The research project is the first to approach enoughness in energy use from the perspective of consumption and everyday life, with the aim to understand energy deprivation and other social risks related to energy use in Finland, during the biggest changes in energy consumption, distribution and production since the electrification of homes. The research project is timely and the findings are needed in policy making in different areas, while the theoretical framework to be developed and tested in the project benefits future research focusing on problematics of socially just and equitable climate change mitigation.