Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement

What’s the role of energy in UK’s productivity puzzle?

A major research project will explore the role of energy in the UK’s productivity puzzle, which has seen the country go from being the most productive of any major European country in the 1960s to being one of the least today.

Dr Joanna Boehnert from the University of Loughborough’s School of Arts and Drama will be working with the University of Surrey’s Professor Tim Jackson, director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity to map the links between energy and productivity in the UK.

The project will also look to understand the relationships between wellbeing and productivity.

Energy is a central factor in economic productivity across all industries. However, the UK has increasingly less access to high-grade energy and researchers believe this could have a significant impact on economic productivity.

They believe these problems are further complicated by climate change and the need for renewable energy.

The Loughborough and Surrey research team will use participatory systems mapping – a method that sees a group of stakeholders work together to develop maps through workshops – to map the existing links between productivity and energy.

In particular, the focus will be on understanding how changes in the energy basis of the economy might explain the declining growth rate of UK productivity over the last few decades.

It is hoped the research will enhance discussions on UK productivity and inform policymaking across various institutions.

Dr Boehnert said: ‘Since energy is central to sustainable futures, I am excited by the potential of this research to not only document the evidence base but potentially reveal spaces for interventions for sustainable transitions.’

Professor Tim Jackson added: ‘All economic activity involves the use and transformation of energy. The quality of energy resources is declining – we’re having to work harder to get the energy we need to power the economy. One of the areas we’ll be exploring is whether this could have contributed to the UK’s declining productivity growth.’

Thomas Barrett
Senior journalist - NewStart Follow him on Twitter
Help us break the news – share your information, opinion or analysis