Effects Of Energy Efficiency Improvements Research Articles

Analysis of Synergistic Effect of Energy Efficiency Improvement and Vocational Competence Development

INTRODUCTION: Growing global energy demand and constant competition for energy resources have made energy efficiency a focus of international attention. At the same time, occupational competency development is crucial for sustained individual and overall economic growth.OBJECTIVES: This study explores the synergistic effects of energy efficiency improvement and occupational competence development to inform policy-making and business strategies.METHODS: A literature review summarises relevant theories and research progress on energy efficiency improvement and occupational capability development. Then, the relationship between energy efficiency improvement and vocational ability development was analyzed in depth using econometric models and a large amount of empirical data.RESULTS: There is a significant positive association between energy efficiency improvement and vocational ability development. Specifically, improving energy efficiency not only reduces the cost of energy consumption and enhances productivity but also helps promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading, which in turn enhances the level of occupational ability of workers. In turn, improving occupational ability further encourages technological innovation and productivity in enterprises, forming a virtuous circle and promoting the sustainable development of the economy.CONCLUSION: This study reveals the synergistic effect between energy efficiency improvement and vocational competence development, emphasizing the critical role of energy efficiency improvement and vocational competence development in promoting economic growth and achieving sustainable development.

Rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement based on computable general equilibrium models: a systematic review

Rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement based on computable general equilibrium models: a systematic review

Effects of Energy Efficiency Index on Economic Activity: The Case of G7 Countries

This investigation aims to examine the effects of energy efficiency improvements on economic growth for G7 countries during 1971-2018. To measure energy efficiency, we calculate the energy efficiency index (EEI) using the Fisher Ideal index decomposition method. This study utilizes capital and labor as control variables, in addition to the EEI variable, as determinants of economic growth. Methodologically, this paper conducts the LM (Lagrange Multiplier) bootstrap panel cointegration test which is developed by Westerlund ve Edgerton (2007), and the AMG (Augmented Mean Group) estimator of Eberhardt ve Teal (2010). Both methodologies take into consideration of cross-sectional dependency (CD) issue in the panel setting. The empirical results of this paper indicate that there is a cointegration relationship between the aforementioned variables. In detail, the impact of capital formation on economic growth is positive for all countries, while the effect of labor varies across countries. Besides, it is found that an improvement in energy efficiency leads to an advancement in economic growth for five out of seven G7 countries. The empirical findings of this paper provide some implications for policymakers.

The impacts of renewable energy, financial inclusivity, globalization, economic growth, and urbanization on carbon productivity: Evidence from net moderation and mediation effects of energy efficiency gains

Although the relevance of establishing low-carbon economic growth has been extensively highlighted in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals declarations, the analysis of the macroeconomic determinants of carbon productivity has remained overlooked in the literature. Therefore, this study makes a novel attempt to evaluate whether energy efficiency gains, along with renewable energy use, financial inclusivity, economic growth, globalization, and urbanization, improve carbon productivity in the emerging seven countries between 2007 and 2018. Moreover, the study contributes to the literature by predicting the net moderating and mediating effects of energy efficiency improvements on carbon productivity. The findings support that enhancing the level of energy use efficiency by 1% helps to improve carbon productivity by around 0.3% in the long run. In addition, the predicted net effects reveal that energy efficiency gains exert a moderating effect on the level of carbon productivity and reverse the negative impact of financial inclusivity, trade globalization, and urbanization on carbon productivity. However, energy efficiency gains cannot moderate to neutralize the carbon productivity-inhibiting impact associated with economic growth. Moreover, the analysis shows that energy efficiency gains mediate to jointly boost carbon productivity alongside higher renewable energy use. Lastly, financial globalization is evidenced to enhance carbon productivity in the emerging seven countries in the long run. Accordingly, a set of relevant policies are recommended.

Degree of financialization and energy efficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa: do institutions matter?

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 emphasizes the need for economies around the world to double their efforts in energy efficiency improvements. This is because improvements in energy efficiency can trigger economic growth and considered as one of the ‘green’ growth strategies due to its carbon free content. To this end, some empirical studies have investigated the nexus between economic growth and energy efficiency, but the effects of the latter on financial indicators have not been sufficiently studied in the literature, at least in developing economies like Africa. This study examines the effect of energy efficiency improvements on commercial bank profitability under different political regimes (i.e., autocratic and democratic political regimes); something previous literature had neglected. The study uses panel data, consisting of 43 African countries and the simultaneous System Generalized Method of Moments. We found that energy efficiency improvement is more likely to induce higher bank profitability in political institutions with the characteristics of centralization of power compared with those with decentralization of power. Furthermore, for the banking sector, the findings suggest that energy utilization behavior of clients should be included in the loan or credit valuation process. For the government, the agenda of energy efficiency should be aggressively pursued while taking cognizance of creating a political environment that weans itself from a ‘grandfathering’ behavior.

Environmental rebound effect of energy efficiency improvements in Colombian households

Colombia aims to diversify and decarbonize its energy sector by encouraging the use of non-conventional renewable resources. Policies and/or measures to achieve this will presumably help to achieve national and international environmental goals, yet potential rebound effects may reduce its efficacy by triggering additional demand and environmental burdens. One of such rebound effects may take place as household demand rises in response to cheaper electricity prices due to the increasing shares of wind power. This study assesses the environmental rebound effect (ERE) in the household sector from increased shares of wind power into the Colombian power grid, across six environmental impacts and for the period 2020–2030. The method used combines life cycle assessment, input-output modelling, energy system modelling, econometrics, and re-spending modelling. The results show that the ERE has the potential to partially, and even completely, offset any environmental savings (backfire effect), depending on the specific impact, year, and modelling choices considered. The magnitude of the ERE (as the percentage of potential environmental savings that are offset) ranges highly across impacts, from a negligible 1% (eutrophication) to a staggering 9241% (photochemical ozone creation). The ERE has thus the potential to render decarbonization policies largely ineffective, which calls for rebound mitigation policies, such as environmental taxes.

Assessment of the optimal rebound effects from energy intensity reduction

Abstract Energy efficiency improvement is widely recognized as a cost-effective measure for clean production. In the literature of rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement represented by energy intensity reductions, potential energy savings and actual energy savings are not well defined and properly clarified. To address this issue, this study comprehensively discusses and clarifies how to define and estimate potential and actual energy savings in the assessment. We focus on the well-known concept of rebound effect and propose a new notion of optimal rebound effect, which avoids the counter-intuitive values in cases of energy intensity increases in neighboring years. The optimal rebound effect must be assessed by an optimization approach, while the traditional rebound effect assumes the observed next-year data as the case of energy intensity reduction. For illustration, a non-radical data envelopment analysis model is used to estimate the potential energy intensity reduction, which serves to assess the optimal rebound effects in four Asian countries including China, India, Japan and Korea, during the period 1973–2017. The findings indicate that neither backfire nor super-conservation appears in the estimated optimal rebound effects.

The technology-evoked time use rebound effect and its impact on pro-environmental consumer behaviour in tourism

The growing awareness of tourism’s environmental impacts has facilitated energy efficiency improvements in all tourism sub-sectors, especially in tourist transport. Further technological improvements are envisaged to save travel time as well as to reduce travel costs. However, the time savings achieved can potentially trigger behavioural responses of tourists that are unexpected and can intensify consumption. Ultimately, this intensified consumption can negate the positive effect of energy efficiency improvements in tourism, the phenomenon known as the time use rebound effect. Existing literature fails to account for this effect as a driver of unsustainable consumer behaviour in tourism. This paper proposes a framework to conceptualise the potential time use rebound effect in tourism and discusses the importance of considering it for better understanding and management of pro-environmental tourist behaviour. The paper elaborates upon the implications of the time use rebound effect for sustainable tourism development.HighlightsDiscusses the effect of energy efficiency improvements in tourism on consumptionDemonstrates this effect is not always positiveConceptualises the rebound effect in tourism with respect to timeDiscusses how the time use rebound effect can reduce the positive effect of energy efficiency improvements in tourism

Sectoral energy efficiency improvements in Taiwan: Evaluations using a hybrid of top-down and bottom-up models

Improving energy efficiency is an important strategy for reducing energy demand and carbon emissions. Numerous studies reveal that improvements in energy efficiency lead to reductions in the total energy demand and the enhancement of economic growth. However, mainstream papers have adopted top-down or bottom-up approaches to investigate energy efficiency improvements.In this study, a hybrid of the aforementioned approaches is adopted. A soft-link between the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Computable General Equilibrium for Taiwan (top-down) and the Taiwan 2050 Calculator (bottom-up) is employed to evaluate the effects of energy efficiency improvements in Taiwan. We investigate the influence of energy efficiency improvements on the industrial, residential and service, and transport groups, respectively. Energy efficiency improvements decrease energy demand and enhance the growth of gross domestic production (GDP). Moreover, energy efficiency improvements result in a decrease in CO2 emissions. The industrial group has a comparative advantage over other groups in terms of energy efficiency improvements. However, the subsidies on energy efficiency investments crowd out household consumption. An appropriate fiscal balance scheme could mitigate the crowding-out effects on household consumption, as indicated by our counterfactual analysis. Therefore, energy efficiency improvements are one of the most important strategies for conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions.

How robust are estimates of the rebound effect of energy efficiency improvements? A sensitivity analysis of consumer heterogeneity and elasticities

Economy-wide rebound effects may undermine climate policies relying on energy efficiency improvements. However, available rebound estimates diverge widely. We illustrate the crucial role of model assumptions of household heterogeneity and elasticities.A computable general equilibrium model of the Austrian economy incorporates multiple household groups with heterogeneous preferences and analyzes how improving efficiency by 10% affects household fossil fuel consumption. In the base model, economy-wide rebound is 65%; different household groups show direct rebound of 8–12%; thus, economy-wide rebound is mainly advanced by indirect rebound. A sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation varies elasticities between household groups, namely substitutability between material and energy goods, and between different energy goods.In 160 simulation runs, the economy-wide rebound emerges as rather robust. By contrast, direct rebound varies widely among household groups and attains 30%, where reciprocal feedback between groups builds up. In the base model, a fossil fuel tax rate of 43% neutralizes the economy-wide rebound. When elasticities in 180 simulation runs are varied, this tax rate spans from 15% to 80%. Thus, rebound estimates and derived policy advice, such as specific rates and numbers, should be treated with great caution, unless elasticity parameters are reliable and account for heterogeneous consumer preferences.

How rebound effects of efficiency improvement and price jump of energy influence energy consumption?

Energy efficiency improvement is usually regarded as an effective way to decrease energy consumption and to fight climate change, but it also booms energy consumption through rebound effects. But the improvement of energy efficiency also has rebound effects, which increases energy consumption and emission. So this paper arms to capture the rebound effects of efficiency improvement by considering zero-cost breakthrough of energy efficiency and price jump of energy purchase. First, energy efficiency improvement, measured by zero-cost breakthrough of energy efficiency, stimulates energy consumption, but it may reduce the total emission. Second, both the direct and indirect rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement on energy consumption and environment are captured. Interestingly, jumping energy price decreases both the direct and indirect rebound effect. Finally, the result of the paper shows that restriction of individuals’ entry or competition restriction moderates the rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement.

How significant is energy efficiency to mitigate CO2 emissions? Evidence from OECD countries

This paper develops a two-step approach to investigate the effect of energy efficiency improvements on CO2 emissions at the macro level. We use the index decomposition analysis to derive the true energy efficiency by separating out the impact of structural shifts in economic activity on energy intensity. We then employ both STSM and LSDVC models to examine and quantify the impact of the energy efficiency on CO2 emissions accounting for non-economic factors such as consumers' lifestyle, attitudes and environmental awareness. The application for 30 OECD countries shows that at the group level, the decline in energy intensity predominately occurred due to improvements in energy efficiency while at the country level, there are mixed contributions from improvement in energy efficiency and structural shift to the decline in energy intensity. The econometric results show that income has the most significant positive impact on CO2 emissions but improving energy efficiency makes the biggest contribution to driving down CO2 emissions. The method further enables the separate assessment of non-economic behavioural effects, which are found to exert a non-trivial influence on CO2 emissions in parallel with changes in energy efficiency. We conclude that energy efficiency remains a key option but that there is also a need for additional policies aiming for behavioural and other non-economic changes.

Implementation of energy efficiency measures in compressed air systems: barriers, drivers and non-energy benefits

Increased global competition and resource scarcity drives industrial companies to cut costs. Energy can be a significant component of such cuts, particularly for energy-intensive companies. Improving energy efficiency in industry is complex, as it pertains to various energy-using processes that are heavily intertwined. One such process is the compressed air system (CAS), which is used in most industrial companies worldwide. Since energy efficiency improvement measures for various types of energy-using processes differ, technology-specific measures might encounter different barriers to and drivers for energy efficiency. The same applies to the non-energy benefits (NEBs) related to energy efficiency improvement measures; since measures vary between various energy-using processes, the perceived NEBs might be different as well. The aim of this paper is to study the barriers to, drivers for and NEBs of CAS energy efficiency improvement measures from the perspectives of three actors. Carried out as an interview study combined with a questionnaire, the paper merges the perspectives of users, audit experts and suppliers of CASs. The results showed that the major barriers are related to the investment, or are of an organisational character, and that organisational and economic factors seemed to be important for making positive decisions on energy efficiency investments and measures in CASs. Major NEBs for CASs include productivity gains and the avoidance of capital expenditures. The results of this study also address the importance of having a comprehensive approach to recognise additional effects of energy efficiency improvements in CASs.

The Energy Efficiency Rebound Effect in General Equilibrium

We develop a stylized general equilibrium model to decompose the rebound effect of energy efficiency improvements into its partial and general equilibrium components. In our theoretical analysis, we identify key drivers of the general equilibrium rebound effect, including a composition channel, an energy price channel, a labor supply channel, and a growth channel. Based on numerical simulations with both the stylized model as well as a large-scale computable general equilibrium model of the global economy, we show that both general and partial equilibrium components of the rebound effect can be substantial. Our benchmark parameterization suggests a total rebound effect due to an exogenous energy efficiency improvement in the US manufacturing sector of 67% with roughly two-thirds occurring through the partial equilibrium rebound channel and the remaining one-third occurring through the general equilibrium rebound channel.

How Robust are Estimates of the Rebound Effect of Energy Efficiency Improvements? A Sensitivity Analysis of Consumer Heterogeneity and Elasticities

Economy-wide rebound effects may undermine climate policies relying on energy efficiency improvements. However, available rebound estimates diverge widely. We illustrate the crucial role of model assumptions of household heterogeneity and elasticities. A computable general equilibrium model of the Austrian economy incorporates multiple household groups with heterogeneous preferences and analyzes how improving efficiency by 10% affects household fossil fuel consumption. In the base model, economy-wide rebound is 65%; different household groups show direct rebound of 8-12%; thus, indirect rebound mainly contributes to economy-wide rebound. A sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation varies elasticities between household groups, namely substitutability between material and energy goods, and between different energy goods. In 160 simulation runs, the economy-wide rebound emerges as rather robust. By contrast, direct rebound varies widely among household groups and attains 30%, where reciprocal feedback between groups builds up. In the base model, a fossil fuel tax rate of 43% neutralizes the economy-wide rebound. When elasticities in 180 simulation runs are varied, this tax rate spans from 15% to 80%. Thus, rebound estimates and derived policy advice, such as specific rates and numbers, should be treated with great caution, unless elasticity parameters are reliable and account for heterogeneous consumer preferences.

A new way to estimate the direct and indirect rebound effect and other rebound indicators

Some progress has been done during the last years on the methods and provision of empirical evidence on the direct and indirect rebound effect. However, these methods are complex, and sometimes require some specific economic knowledge. The development of risk and vulnerability rebound indicators for economies can be a useful tool to help the research community, policy-makers and other practitioners to understand and tackle the rebound effect. This research shows a new analytical way to obtain the direct and indirect rebound effect from the direct rebound effect and the use of energy input-output coefficients, and proposes three risk and vulnerability rebound indicators to show the effects of energy efficiency improvements in households on overall energy consumption. An estimation of these indicators has been conducted for the EU-27 countries.

The Effect of Energy Efficiency Improvements on the Development of 4th Generation District Heating

Article is about development scenarios for the Latvian district heating system in which a policy instrument for energy efficiency improvement is used to achieve a higher share of renewable energy. The system dynamics model was used to determine whether it is possible to use energy efficiency policy to accelerate a shift from fossil fuels to renewables in district heating. In addition, the task was to determine measures which would help to remove barriers for renewable resource technology implementation. Six different development scenarios were viewed in the article. Results reveal that increased energy efficiency at heat source have no direct impact on fossil energy and renewable energy ratio. By increasing energy efficiency it is only possible to vary renewable energy share between different renewable technologies. It is possible to reach 40% biomass energy share and 30% solar energy share in 2030 when policy is used only for biomass technologies, but 20% biomass energy share and 50% solar energy share could be achieved by implementing policy only for solar technologies. The main barrier for switching from fossil energy to renewable energy is a lot of new gas boilers which were installed during reconstructions at many heat sources in the past few years. It is possible to reach even 97.47% renewable energy share in district heating in 2030 if the service life for gas boilers is reduced to 5 years.

Modeling methodology of the heating energy consumption and the potential reductions due to thermal improvements of staggered block buildings

Understanding of the buildings energy performance at the city level is necessary in order to form a city energy planning policy and make a strategic decision on which buildings should be thermally improved. Energy modeling of the building sector is methodology that estimates energy consumption in buildings and simulates the effects of energy efficiency improvements of building envelopes and systems. In this paper engineering bottom-up method was used for modeling the heating energy consumption of a multi-family residential building sector built before 2012 in the city of Kragujevac in Serbia. The first part of methodology presents the criteria based on which a multi-family residential building sector of the city was described and building types were defined. The second part of methodology investigates the selection of the real buildings, their modeling and heating energy consumption simulation. The modeling method was performed on staggered block buildings constructed between 1981 and 1990, and estimated heating energy consumption was compared to measured consumption. After the simulation of different thickness of polystyrene thermal insulation additions to external walls and simulation of the new windows installation, the reductions of the total annual heating energy consumption were obtained.

Living up to expectations: Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for UK households

This study estimates the combined direct and indirect rebound effects from various types of energy efficiency improvement by UK households. In contrast to most studies of this topic, we base our estimates on cross-price elasticities and therefore capture both the income and substitution effects of energy efficiency improvements. Our approach involves estimating a household demand model to obtain price and expenditure elasticities of different goods and services, utilising a multiregional input–output model to estimate the GHG emission intensities of those goods and services, combining the two to estimate direct and indirect rebound effects, and decomposing those effects to reveal the relative contribution of different mechanisms and commodities. We estimate that the total rebound effects are 41% for measures that improve the efficiency of domestic gas use, 48% for electricity use and 78% for vehicle fuel use. The primary source of this rebound is increased consumption of the cheaper energy service (i.e. direct rebound) and this is primarily driven by substitution effects. Our results suggest that the neglect of substitution effects may have led prior research to underestimate the total rebound effect. However, we provide a number of caveats to this conclusion, as well as indicating priorities for future research.

Determinants of greenhouse gas emissions from Swedish private consumption: Time-series and cross-sectional analyses

The relationships between consumption, energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Swedish households are analysed using both cross-sectional multivariate regressions and a decomposition analysis of GHG emissions between 1993 and 2006 into underlying trends. The analyses cover 104 consumption categories and include both direct and indirect energy use. The results from the cross-sectional analysis confirm previous results from other countries showing that total expenditures is by far the most important determinant of households' energy use and GHG emissions with expenditure elasticities of 0.77 and 0.85, respectively. Households living in single-family houses were also found to cause higher total energy demand than households living in apartments. Age also showed a positive relationship with both total energy use and emissions, while the level of education had a low significance. The decomposition analysis showed that improvements in technical energy efficiency over time had twice as large impact on energy use as the change in composition of consumption. When the effect of energy efficiency improvements was deducted from the energy trend, the relationship between total expenditures and energy use was found to be similar to the cross-sectional relationship.