Efficiency and Sufficiency in electric energy: a study with higher education students

Trabalho apresentado em 14th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), 1- 6 outubro 2019, Dubrovnik, CroatiaConsuming less energy whenever possible and obtaining the same satisfaction with equipment or services we use does not depend exclusively on the efficiency of the appliance. The behaviour of the energy consumer itself plays a fundamental role in this process. The consumer behaviour is also what can help us to go from efficiency to sufficiency in energy use. The fulfilment of our energy needs reducing environmental externalities led us through the path of energy efficiency improvement options and rational use of energy - Energy sufficiency. In this paper we discuss some of the results obtained from surveys conducted with the aim of studying the electricity consumption behaviours of higher education students’ households. Its main objective was to characterize their willingness to change behaviours of what we expect to be well-informed individuals. These surveys are part of the Learn2Behave project that intend to characterize consumer’s behaviours and suggest new alternatives that will increase efficiency and sufficiency behaviours in electricity use. The results of the surveys indicate that there is some knowledge about increasing efficiency in electric energy use. The results of these surveys will inform the app “Minha Energia”, as a way to improve respondents’ literacy on energy efficiency and energy sufficiency related subjects.N/