Open Journal of Energy Efficiency, 2018, 7, 100-117 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojee ISSN Online: 2169-2645 ISSN Print: 2169-2637 DOI: 10.4236/ojee.2018.74007 Dec. 5, 2018 100 Open Journal of Energy Efficiency A Comparison of Residential Energy Demand Behaviour in Britain and Australia Sven Hallin 1 , Thomas Weyman-Jones 2 1 School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK 2 School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK Abstract This research highlights an interesting finding comparing energy use in the residential sector in the United Kingdom and Australia. Energy consumed per capita is largely similar, however the energy available is manifestly differ- ent. Australia is blessed with a greater abundance of energy than the United Kingdom. Particularly, in the main area of study in Australia, Victoria state, Brown coal is easy and cheap to access. It is therefore politically more difficult to argue that the population affords more expensive sustainable energy re- sources even though Australia is one of the countries that can readily produce this type of energy. Britain, however, is a net importer of energy. A large proportion of this energy is natural gas which is a fossil fuel, and therefore contributes to the negative effects of climate change. The findings of this re- search focus on what motivates residential users of energy to use energy more sustainably. It presents the conclusions of previous research as a backdrop, and reveals the complexity of occupant behaviour. Key drivers are financial incentives and the role of large organisations such as governments in influ- encing behaviour. This may take significant time. Keywords Energy Policy, Behavioural Economics, Australia UK Comparison, Sustainable Energy 1. Introduction The purpose of this research is to explore residential energy use in two devel- oped countries, the UK and Australia. Few studies have been done comparing motivation behind such energy use in these two countries. This research looks at the comparative energy use in both countries along with the motivational factors How to cite this paper: Hallin, S. and Weyman-Jones, T. (2018) A Comparison of Residential Energy Demand Behaviour in Britain and Australia. Open Journal of Energy Efficiency, 7, 100-117. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojee.2018.74007 Received: October 7, 2018 Accepted: December 2, 2018 Published: December 5, 2018 Copyright © 2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access