Regional differentiation of energy consumption in urban households

Abstract

The paper considers a very important problem for modern world - the energy consumption and energy saving. Nowadays households consume more than a quarter of global energy consumption (29%), which means that this sector has great savings potential. However, this potential for savings can only benefit upon development of proper structural policy measures and laws and implementation of appropriate energy-saving measures. This requires information on the future trends of energy demand and on the factors influencing this demand and the actual energy consumption. The main challenge for researchers presents the fact that energy consumption in the regional aspect is extremely uneven, structurally heterogeneous, which assumes the different measures for the energy saving in each region of the country. Besides, we were unable to find publications describe the contribution of various factors to the dynamics of the energy consumption of the regional economy at the municipal level. Hence, the paper analyzes stream-lined trends in the energy consumption in households of Germany which is one of the world leaders in these issues. So the paper highlights some factors as well as some trends affecting the energy consumption in households in the Perm region.