Current efforts to change patterns of energy demand tend to target people as discrete and isolated individuals. In so doing, they ignore the fact that energy use occurs in places such as homes, workplaces and communities in which complex webs of social relations already exist. Here, we argue that more attention should be paid to how people’s social relations influence energy demand. We review recent qualitative research to show how social relations shape how much energy people use, when and where they use it, as well as how they respond to interventions. We propose a typology that identifies three types of social relation as especially significant: those with family and friends, with agencies and communities, and those associated with social identities. We show how a focus on social relations can generate new forms of policy and intervention in efforts to build more just and sustainable energy futures.

当前改变能源需求方式的努力倾向于将人们定位为离散和孤立的个体。这样一来，他们就忽略了这样的事实：能源使用发生在诸如家庭，工作场所和社区等已经存在复杂社会关系网的地方。在这里，我们认为应该更多地关注人们的社会关系如何影响能源需求。我们回顾了最近的定性研究，以显示社会关系如何塑造人们使用能源的数量，何时何地使用能源以及他们对干预措施的反应。我们提出了一种类型学，用于识别三种特别重要的社会关系类型：与家人和朋友，与机构和社区的关系以及与社会身份相关的关系。