Abstract
Energy balances have been historically conceived based on a supply-side perspective, providing neither detailed information about energy conversion into useful services nor the effects that may be induced by the application of policies in other sectors to energy consumption. This article proposes an approach to a thorough assessment of the impact of efficiency policies on final energy uses, focusing on residential space heating and cooling, and capable of: (1) quantifying final useful services provided and (2) accounting for the global impact of efficiency policies on final energy use, taking advantage of Input–Output analysis. This approach is applied in five cities of Argentina. Firstly, the quantity of energy service provided (i.e., level of thermal comfort) for each city is evaluated and compared with the defined target. It is found out that heating comfort is guaranteed approximately as established, whereas in the cooling case the provision is twice the established level. Secondly, primary energy consumption of heating and cooling services is evaluated before and after different efficiency improvement policies. The results show that the major primary energy saving (52%) is obtained from the upgrading appliances scenario and reflect the importance of accounting for embodied energy in goods and services involved in interventions.
Highlights
In recent years, great efforts have been made by different countries to increase the efficiency of energy systems in order to reduce emission wastes, local pollutants and greenhouse gases
The main challenge consists in giving an integral overview of both primary resources and the end of the energy flow [3], thinking of overall energy system efficiency as the benefits or services that systems provide in relation to the primary energy resources involved [4]
The adopted energy balance methodologies are framed under these approaches and, they do not provide policymakers enough information about final consumption processes
Summary
Great efforts have been made by different countries to increase the efficiency of energy systems in order to reduce emission wastes, local pollutants and greenhouse gases. The main challenge consists in giving an integral overview of both primary resources and the end of the energy flow [3], thinking of overall energy system efficiency as the benefits or services that systems provide in relation to the primary energy resources involved [4]. Under this approach, final consumption is as important as all the other stages (production, transformation, transport, distribution) in terms of public energy efficiency policies [5]. In order to improve final consumption efficiency, it is first necessary to have detailed information about it, and to integrate that information to the entire energy system analysis [6]
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