A Comparative Analysis of Energy Usage and Energy Efficiency Behavior in Low- and High-Income Households: The Case of Kitwe, Zambia

Abstract

Energy efficiency has been an important topic since the latter part of the last century. This is because adoption of energy efficiency measures has been acknowledged as one of the key methods of addressing the negative impact of climate change. In Zambia, however, the need to adopt energy efficiency measures has not just been driven by the imperative to mitigate the negative effects of climate change but also by a critical shortage of energy. This research looks at households' energy consumption behavior in low-and high-income areas of Kitwe. Recent studies on the relationship between household energy consumption and behavioral lifestyle have been descriptive, with limited emphasis on the relationships between various variables. In this study, descriptive and inferential statistics have been used to investigate relationships between the two income groups and various energy consumption-related variables such as knowledge about energy reduction measures,

Systematic Literature Review on Behavioral Barriers of Climate Change Mitigation in Households

“…Hackett and Lutzenhiser [60] showed that energy consumption between different households differs greatly, not only because of the different design and technology available at their homes, but also because of social and demographic differences such as household size, age, income, nationality, and race, as well as differences in values, beliefs, habits, and norms. However, other studies, like Malama et al [61], did not find a link between household income and energy-efficiency variables and argued that low-income and high-income areas use the same low energy-efficiency initiatives, and that public bodies need to adjust the way they disseminate information to customers, from the traditional advertisement approach to social distribution. The instruments for overcoming climate change mitigation behavioral barriers are systematized in Table 4.…”

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“…In particular, the relationship between income and energy consumption in the residential sector is also investigated [77,[118][119][120][121][122], with special concern for social housing occupants [123]. The income-energy use relationship is often examined along with other contextual factors, such as age and employment status, as is the case of the research of Godoy-Shimizu et al, who found that according to statistical analyses, high electricity use is significantly correlated with social class, large household size, unemployment, and middle age, while low electricity use is significantly correlated with single-person households, small homes, and retirement [124].…”

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