Low-carbon decentralised energy technologies (DETs) have become increasingly popular in recent UK energy policy debates. Many of the technologies involved are well established, but it is only with their increased technical maturity and the imperatives of climate change, energy security and fuel poverty that DETs have been realistically suggested as an integral part of our future built environment. This review will consider the possible physical and behavioural impacts of increased levels of low-carbon decentralised energy, presenting both recent research in this field and an analysis of policy trends and future scenarios. (c) 2008 Queen's Printer and Controller of HMSO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.