This report, published in April 2006, argues that we will only succeed in tackling climate change and increasing energy security if we take a step back and think about the purpose of our energy system, and the role of individuals within it.

The report, published by Green Alliance in association with the think-tank Compass, puts forward a new and very different energy future: one that envisages a much more active role for individuals and communities. One in which the energy system is no longer remote and centralised, but embedded in our lives and homes. Where energy entrepreneurs are part of every community, and everyone is involved in saving or generating power.

This radical energy future is possible. Shifts in information technology, in consumer power and in the relationship between politicians and citizens all point the way forward. Countless studies have shown the environmental and social benefits of just such an approach. Yet we will not get to Grid 2.0 without looking again at the way we manage energy markets and energy systems. As this pamphlet argues, government must set a framework for energy, which rewards the innovators, and puts people first.

This project was funded by the Ashden Trust, and forms part of Green Alliance’s response to the Government’s energy review.

“The ideas and insight of this pamphlet help take us, quite literally, from steam age politics to a new politics of personal responsibility and collective obligation and potential. I can’t commend it highly enough.”

Neal Lawson, chair, Compass  

Download the report here.