Abstract
Using remotely-sensed Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP)-VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite) night-time light (NTL) imagery between 2012 and 2016 and electricity consumption data from the IEA World Energy Balance database, we assemble a five-year panel dataset to evaluate if and to what extent NTL data are able to capture interannual changes in electricity consumption within different countries worldwide. We analyze the strength of the relationship both across World Bank income categories and between regional clusters, and we evaluate the heterogeneity of the link for different sectors of consumption. Our results show that interannual variation in nighttime light radiance is an effective proxy for predicting within-country changes in power consumption across all sectors, but only in lower-middle income countries. The result is robust to different econometric specifications. We discuss the key reasons behind this finding. The regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle-East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbeans, and East Asia and the Pacific render a significant outcome, while changes in Europe, North America and South Asia are not successfully predicted by NTL. The designed methodological steps to process the raw data and the findings of the analysis improve the design and application of predictive models for electricity consumption based on NTL at different spatio-temporal scales.
Highlights
Over the last 20 years, the release of open-access night-time light (NTL) data with worldwide coverage has proven useful for estimating multiple aspects of human development at both a global [1]and a local scale [2]
Our results show that interannual variation in nighttime light radiance is an effective proxy for predicting within-country changes in power consumption across all sectors, but only in lower-middle income countries
To test if significant differences affect different regions of the world in the total final consumption (TFC)-NTL relationship, here (Table 7) we report the results of the regressions specifications implementing interaction terms between each macro-region and NTL intensity
Summary
Over the last 20 years, the release of open-access night-time light (NTL) data with worldwide coverage has proven useful for estimating multiple aspects of human development at both a global [1]and a local scale [2]. Over the last 20 years, the release of open-access night-time light (NTL) data with worldwide coverage has proven useful for estimating multiple aspects of human development at both a global [1]. Energies 2019, 12, 456 where data availability is affected by a broad spectrum of issues, including the financial, technical, or infrastructure constraints to collect and maintain up-to-date data, and data quality issues. This has been of particular relevance in the objective of tracking progress towards the United Nations’
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
