Identifying demand-side measures that matter most for Europe's decarbonisation

This repository contains the network files (.nc) and other data necessary for reproducing the results and graphs in the paper. The code for reproducing these files plus the Jupyter notebooks used for creating all the figures in the paper are also available at: https://github.com/Parisra/Demand-management-paper. This record updates the code archived in 10.5281/zenodo.16918863 and adds the data and scripts used for the final version of the paper. A preprint of the paper is available on arXiv: arXiv:2508.04414v2.

Abstract: 

European countries pursue a miscellany of historic, emerging, and planned initiatives to transform energy demand through behavioural shifts and end-use efficiency improvements. Yet, these efforts often evolve within fragmented national frameworks that overlook the rapidly evolving supply landscape, risking misaligned investments and diminishing public engagement. We address this need for prioritization by employing a high-resolution European energy system model under a net-zero constraint to co-optimise demand and supply strategies across seven sectors, mapping system response to demand mechanisms that reflect real-world practices. Our findings confirm large-scale gains from demand reductions in heating and industry sectors, and show carbon capture reliance is most sensitive to aviation and shipping demand. For heating, reducing peak demand yields the greatest benefit, while critical curtailment is most effective for electricity and alleviates high consumer prices. Small measures also count: shifting even two hours of demand toward solar output, a low-effort and robust strategy, delivers benefits.