Funder: UKERC
Duration: 01 September 2018 to 30 April 2019
Staff Involved: Dr C Brandoni, Dr I Vorushylo, Dr Y Huang, Prof N Hewitt
The uptake of low carbon technologies, demand side management and behind the meter strategies for introducing renewable technologies in houses with elderly inhabitants could help the decarbonisation of the energy system and the electricity network to defer grid investments. Women, on average, live about 4 years longer than men, and older women are more likely to be poor, socially isolated badly housed, and spending long hours at home. Households’ energy investment decisions, therefore, are going to affect more heavily women than men in the long run. This project aims to understand the role of age, latency and gender in how to empower the next generation of elderly women for a transition to a low-carbon energy system. They will carry out four workshops, run four focus groups, produce a video, organise a science café and carry out a survey of women in Northern Ireland to explore this field. The findings will contribute towards policy documents and research outputs.