Progress within boundaries

Energy sufficiency goes beyond energy efficiency: it’s about having enough but not using too much. It’s about doing things differently; about living well, within the limits. Read more about our project and join the conversation.

Is it enough just going passive?

What is an energy sufficient building? How far from this are the buildings we currently live and work in? How can we encourage more sufficient buildings that enable us to live better? Our report, due to be published in the next few weeks, will explore these questions and offer suggestions for the way forward.

Staying in a green and safe place

Pictures representing new concepts can help us develop a better understanding of them. As part of this project, researchers at Oxford University have developed the ‘energy sufficiency doughnut’ to help us better understand the concept.

Progressive efficiency or more radical approaches?

How can energy sufficiency be practically applied in product policy, such as ecodesign and energy labelling? A new concept paper discusses this while asking if progressive efficiency is enough or if we need to go further to limit energy use.

Managing the rebound effect

Extreme pessimists argue that energy efficiency policies are futile. If we save energy, and money, we will simply use the saved money to increase our demands for energy services and so increase our energy use. This concept paper discusses how energy sufficiency and the rebound effect interact.

Geneva national workshop

The eceee energy sufficiency project held a national workshop in Geneva in February 2018. The workshop offered a first chance for a stakeholder audience to discuss the ideas that the sufficiency project was developing.

Rome national workshop

The eceee energy sufficiency project held a national workshop in Rome in April 2018. The workshop offered an opportunity to discuss the project's early findings in the context of a Southern European climate and culture.

Stockholm national workshop

The eceee energy sufficiency project held a national workshop in Stockholm in December 2017. The workshop focused on "reversed multiple benefits", i.e., seeing energy efficiency as a multiple benefit of another investment.

The sufficiency project at eceee's Summer Studies

The energy sufficiency project was featured at eceee's 2017 Summer Study entitled Consumption, efficiency & limits!. 3–8 June we're bringing sufficiency to the 2019 Summer Study in Presqu'ïle de Giens, France.

Why energy sufficiency and not just plain efficiency?

Despite increasing energy efficiency, energy demand at a global level keeps growing. In Europe, efficiency has kept energy demand growth in check as demands for energy services have increased. But this is not enough: we need to reduce energy use significantly.

The energy sufficiency library

eceee's energy sufficiency library contains all concept papers, workshop reports and presentations from the Energy Sufficiency project. It also highlights relevant reports from other sources to help you dig deeper and better understand what sufficiency might mean for you and our society.

External Resources

This section gives you links to other organisations and initiatives that work on energy sufficiency. Read more about the Enough! network, the Swiss 2000W project and the NegaWatt Association in France.