Serious Gaming as a Means to Change Adolescents Attitudes Towards Saving Energy: Preliminary Results from the EnerCities Case

Reduction of energy consumption, and thus CO2 emissions, has become the focal point of energy and environmental policies worldwide. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol and The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have spurned the European Union (EU) to substantially curtail emissions (20% below 1990 levels by 2020). The “Peak Oil” phenomenon will further influence nations’ energy household for the coming decade. In this light it is interesting to see new developments in the field of e.g. electric and hybrid vehicles that consume no or limited fossil fuels.

The substantial efforts that are required to reduce energy consumption and migrate towards sustainable energy sources have widespread repercussions, however, for industry and transportation as well as for the household. In fact, some have argued that focusing on household appliances and domestic lighting constitutes a cost-effective way to achieve energy savings [5]. Organic LEDs for lighting applications, for instance, constitutes an eyecatching technological development enabling low energy lighting. Although current and future technology (e.g. double-paned windows, insulation technology, and organic LED (Light-Emitting Diode) for lighting applications) may reduce energy consumption by an estimated 30 % [5], we cannot afford to overlook the role of consumer behaviour and psychology (cf. [10]). Indeed, influencing consumers to change their behaviour may substantially add to modern technology's energy-saving potential. In fact, some researchers suggest that focused attempts to do so may result in an energy reduction of at least 10 % ([6]; cf. [2]).