Abstract
The policies of Third National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the Netherlands, regarding the reduction of household energy consumption (HEC), were made based on the unwritten presumption that the stimuli of HEC are similar in each and every location of the Netherlands, and that it therefore is possible to formulate an identical set of incentives and regulations that are optimally suitable in all the locations of the country. The objective of this study is to examine the validity of this presumption by formulating two research questions: what are the national determinants of HEC, i.e. the stimuli that trigger the same response across the whole country? What are the local determinants of HEC, i.e. the stimuli which trigger different responses across the country? To identify local and national determinants of HEC, the impact of nine determinants of HEC in 2 462 neighbourhoods of the Netherlands is assessed by employing the geographical variability test. The results show that two of the determinants are national: (1) the number of frost-days, (2) wind speed. The results indicate that seven of the determinants are local: (1) income, (2) household size, (3) building age, (4) surface-to-volume ratio, (5) population density, (6) number of summer days, and (7) land surface temperature. By employing a semi-parametric geographically weighted regression analysis, the impact of the local and global determinants of HEC is estimated and mapped.
Highlights
The policies of Third National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the Netherlands (Ministry of Economic Affairs 2014) regarding the reduction of household energy consumption (HEC) were developed based on a one-size-fits-all approach: in the policy document, as it is reported to the European commission, the ‘‘geographical area’’ of all the proposed incentives and regulations is specified as ‘‘the Netherlands’’, without any differentiation according to location-specific circumstances, i.e. socioeconomic patterns, climate, level of urbanisation, land cover, and housing stock
A comparison between AICc of the two models determines whether the kth variables are local or national determinants of HEC: if the AIC of the second model is lower than that of the first model, the ‘‘DIFF of Criterion’’ measure is smaller than zero, the kth variable is a local determinant of HEC; if not, the kth is a national determinant
The core objective of this study was to examine the validity of an unwritten presumption underlying the policies regarding HEC in the Netherlands: that the stimuli of HEC are similar in each and every location of the Netherlands, and that it is possible to formulate an identical set of incentives and regulations that is optimally suitable in all locations of the country
Summary
The policies of Third National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the Netherlands (Ministry of Economic Affairs 2014) regarding the reduction of household energy consumption (HEC) were developed based on a one-size-fits-all approach: in the policy document, as it is reported to the European commission, the ‘‘geographical area’’ of all the proposed incentives and regulations is specified as ‘‘the Netherlands’’, without any differentiation according to location-specific circumstances, i.e. socioeconomic patterns, climate, level of urbanisation, land cover, and housing stock (see Table 1) In this respect, the policy is made based on an unwritten presumption: that the stimuli of HEC are similar in GeoJournal (2020) 85:393–406 Policy measure. Green Deal (support for investment in energy-saving and renewable energy measures) each and every location of the Netherlands, and that it is possible to formulate an identical set of incentives and regulations that is optimally suitable in all locations of the country These studies, have failed to prove whether or not that is the case for each and every determinant of HEC
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