Resource Efficiency and Service Provision
2000
Foxon, Timothy J.
This paper addresses the possibility that improvements in energy and resource efficiency, together with a move towards the service economy, could help to stimulate the more profound social changes needed for sustainable development. The vision of resource efficiency improvements proposed in Factor Four and Natural Capitalism is discussed. It is argued that the key novel ingredient is the idea of moving towards a service economy, based upon the provision and sale of services, such as thermal comfort instead of energy, domestic services instead of appliances, and information services instead of printed matter. It is argued that this could lead to new relations between consumers and suppliers, a move towards sufficiency as well as efficiency, and could contribute significantly to moves towards more environmentally sustainable development.
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