Energy Efficiency Market Research Articles

Energy Service and Conservation: Exploring the French Connection

Electricity market reform in New South Wales and Victoria has taken different paths. In NSW, explicit attempts have been made to stimulate the development of an energy services market, whereas Victoria has placed greater faith in the ability of the deregulated market to deliver energy efficiency. As this paper notes, energy service companies originated in France, yet France (with its heavy nuclear investment) is not known for its commitment to energy conservation. This article explores and explains this apparent contradiction, and draws lessons from the French experience about the institutional factors conducive to the establishment of a viable energy services sector capable of delivering improved energy efficiency in Australia. On the basis of French experience, it suggests that the key for the development of the sector in Australia may well lie in the provision of services additional to energy, and that building owners and managers might be just as important players in an energy efficiency market as engineering companies.

Energy Services Companies: Where Are International Markets Going?

The power industry in developing and reindustrializing countries continues its historic shift toward privatization and competition. This shift opens the door to the very large technical market for the goods and services that energy services companies offer. Signs indicate however that the energy services market will develop along competitive lines with energy being supplied by companies that provide a variety of power marketing, efficiency services and other services. This article summarizes estimates of current energy efficient market size, lists projects that are viewed as pilot energy services projects, and discusses a number of factors that will affect the ESCO market abroad.

ENERGY‐EFFICIENT LIGHTING: MARKET DATA, MARKET IMPERFECTIONS, AND POLICY SUCCESS

Many economists question engineering‐economic studies aimed at demonstrating anomalously slow diffusion of energy‐efficient technology and the benefits of regulations to promote such technology. One argument against such studies is that standard techniques of engineering economics are either inappropriate or are routinely misapplied in assessing the performance of the market for energy efficiency. This paper takes account of such critiques in presenting engineering‐economic evidence on the diffusion of energy efficiency improvements. It examines the engineering and economic characteristics of standard and energy‐efficient magnetic ballasts for fluorescent lighting. Efficient magnetic ballasts represent an excellent investment for 99 percent of the commercial building floor stock and a moderately good investment for 0.7 percent of the commercial floor stock. Still, in the 1980s these ballasts were being adopted only at a rate commensurate with the enactment of appliance efficiency standards in various states. In this case, solid empirical evidence supports skepticism about the effectiveness of the market mechanism in promoting cost‐effective energy efficiency improvements and about the benefits of regulation to counteract this shortcoming.

Energy Efficiency Policy and Market Failures

Human interactions with wildlife are a defining experience of human existence. These interactions can be positive or negative. People compete with wildlife for food and resources, and have eradicated dangerous species; co-opted and domesticated valuable ...Read More

Energy Efficiency Policy and Market Failures

Energy Efficiency Policy and Market Failures

The Behavior of the Market for Energy Efficiency in Residential Appliances Including Heating and Cooling Equipment

Our paper provides a quantitative analysis of market behavior for the purchase of energy efficiency in residential appliances and heating and cooling equipment. Accurate forecasts of residential energy use require quantitative assessments of market decisions about energy efficiency. The results of our investigation of market behavior can lead to a better understanding of the barriers to investment in energy conservation. Understanding market behavior over time is a prerequisite to an evaluation of the need for and the importance of policies to promote energy efficiency.