Time, Practices and Energy Demand: implications for flexibility

The timing of energy demand is increasingly important given the pressure to decarbonise energy systems, accommodate more intermittent forms of renewable energy supply and reduce peak load. In the transport sector, rush hours and periods of congestion present problems of their own also related to the synchronisation and the sequencing of social practices. This document brings together DEMAND research on the social-temporal ordering of what people do and considers the implications of this work for ‘demand management’ and for efforts to develop more flexible energy systems.