Social capital is one of the factors affecting energy consumption. In this article, an attempt has been made to theoretically examine the issues related to the role of social capital in energy consumption in the household sector. Surveys showed that current efforts to change patterns of energy demand tend to target people as discrete and isolated individuals. In so doing, they ignore the fact that energy use occurs in places such as homes, workplaces and communities in which complex webs of social relations already exist. Social capital broadly refers to the social resources available through networks, social norms and associated levels of trust and reciprocity. The literature of energy, in the form of environmental protection and consumption, is investigated here with regards to social capital to determine the utility of any theoretical and empirical relationship. It is argued that insights from the associations of social and energy consumption can assist energy efficiency practitioners and researchers in understanding the broader social framework that underpins household energy use, but that more robust empirical research is necessary.
