Socioeconomic inequality in low-carbon technology adoption

Burlinson, Andrew; Davillas, Apostolos; Giulietti, Monica

Abstract

The widespread adoption of low-carbon technologies (LCTs) by residential consumers is a cornerstone of net zero targets worldwide; however, LCT adoption may not be equally distributed across socioeconomic groups. Our paper contributes to the related literature by exploring socioeconomic inequality in LCT adoption and its underlying sources. We exploit nationally representative longitudinal data on the adoption of three key LCTs (solar photovoltaics, solar water heating, and electric vehicles) in the UK. We investigate the aggregate role of predetermined socioeconomic factors in determining socioeconomic inequalities in LCT adoption. We further contribute to the literature by employing Shapley-decomposition techniques to reveal the relative contribution of each individual socioeconomic factor to the total estimated socioeconomic inequality. Our results suggest that socioeconomic inequalities in LCT adoption have fallen over the last decade but remain prevalent, non-negligible in magnitude and highly statistically significant. Our analysis of longitudinal LCT adoption patterns shows that those consumers who have recently adopted LCTs, are contributing to the reduction in the observed socioeconomic inequalities over time. Policies targeting groups with the most disadvantaged socioeconomic background are crucial in order to mitigate the observed inequalities, potentially hindering a more rapid low-carbon transition.

Citation

Burlinson, A., Davillas, A., & Giulietti, M. (2025). Socioeconomic inequality in low-carbon technology adoption. Energy Economics, 143, Article 108244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108244

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 25, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-03
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 28, 2026
• Journal: Energy Economics
• Print ISSN: 0140-9883
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-6181
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 143
• Article Number: 108244
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108244
• Keywords: technology adoption; inequality; low carbon technologies; renewable resources
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/44688141
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988325000672
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Socioeconomic inequality in low-carbon technology adoption; Journal Title: Energy Economics; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108244; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.