Energy-saving Policies Research Articles

Causal effects of policy and occupant behavior on cooling energy

Rising energy consumption in buildings has prompted architectural engineers and policymakers to ask “what-if” questions in the pursuit of energy efficiency. Current simulation and machine learning methods rely primarily on correlations and associations necessitating causal inference techniques. In this research, a causal inferential approach combining double machine learning and domain knowledge using directed acyclic graphs is employed. The utility of this approach is demonstrated on the 2015 United States Residential energy consumption survey to evaluate the impact of energy policies and occupant behavior on cooling energy consumption. The results show that energy policies such as energy audits, proper insulation, access to interval data and Energy Star qualified windows significantly reduce energy use intensity (EUI). Additionally, air conditioning usage by occupants causally affects EUI. For instance, proper insulation reduces EUI by 5.603 kWh/m2 while changing static thermostat settings to automatic adjustments at certain times reduces EUI by 3.542 kWh/m2. This study suggests potential energy-saving policies for balanced building energy efficiency and functionality.

Realizing Ultrafast Response Speed for Self-Powered Photodetectors with a Molecular-Doped Lateral InSe Homojunction.

The implementation of energy-saving policies has stimulated intensive interest in exploring self-powered optoelectronic devices. The 2D p-n homojunction exhibits effective generation and separation of carriers excited by light, realizing lower power consumption and higher performance photodetectors. Here, a self-powered photodetector with high performance is fabricated based on an F4-TCNQ localized molecular-doped lateral InSe homojunction. Compared with the intrinsic InSe photodetector, the switching light ratio (Ilight/Idark) of the p-n homojunction device can be enhanced by 2.2 × 104, and the temporal response is also dramatically improved to 24/30 μs. Benefiting from the built-in electric field, due to the formation of an InSe p-n homojunction after partial doping of F4-TCNQ on InSe, the device possesses a high responsivity (R) of 93.21 mA/W, with a specific detectivity (D*) of 1.14 × 1011 Jones. These results suggest a promising approach to get a lateral InSe p-n homojunction and reveal the potential application of the device for next generation low-consumption photodetectors.

Energy Marketing and Fiscal Regulation of a Competitive Energy Efficiency System

Introduction. Developing and implementing the principles of the energy-saving approach concept actualizes the need to define energy marketing tasks and fiscal regulation tools for energy conservation to increase the efficiency of using resources in the energy sector.
 Aim and tasks. The aim of this study is to form and substantiate the expediency of implementing directions for energy marketing development and fiscal regulation of implementing energy-saving measures to achieve the goals of national economic recovery and large-scale energy modernization.
 The results. The main tasks of energy marketing in monitoring the current world environment based on information and communication technologies have been defined and substantiated, and that should become a source of competitive advantage in the electric energy market and obtain significant income for market participants. It has been proven that using oligopoly models to determine the equilibrium condition of the electric energy market will make it possible to form a corrective managerial influence on the development of a competitive energy industry. With a 3-fold increase in the demand parameter, it has been established that the electricity market reaches equilibrium under the equilibrium model of supply functions with larger electricity production volumes and lower prices than in other models. It has been proposed to introduce tools for fiscal regulation by introducing energy-saving technologies into a single system of solutions to increase energy efficiency and energy saving.
 Conclusions. Analysing and generalizing the features of energy market participants’ interaction using a wide range of oligopoly models made it possible to develop recommendations for implementing strategic security-related tasks. If these tasks are not realized, the risks of losing energy independence will increase, and the economic potential necessary for the restoration and further development of the national economy will continue to be lost based on the principles of sustainable development and a systematic approach to setting and achieving the goal of the national energy-saving policy. The feasibility of introducing tools for budget regulation is also justified, which will create a robust creative basis for implementing an effective strategy for managing the demand for energy resources.

Relationship between Energy and Economic Growth: Evidence from a Panel Nonlinear ARDL Model

In this article, we study the heterogeneous relationship among energy consumption and economic growth by incorporation gross fixed capital formation, foreign direct investment, international trade and finance development as control variables in a selected sample of 11 countries of the Middle East and North Africa over the period 1980-2020 using a panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model. Empirical results show the presence of an asymmetric long run relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in the group of countries. The Pooled Mean Group estimates indicate that positive and negative changes in energy consumption have positive and significant effects on output growth in the long term, whereas both Mean Group and Difference Fixed Effect estimates report that only negative changes in energy consumption have positive and significant effect on long-term economic growth in the selected sample of countries. In addition, the short run individual effects of energy use on economic growth are positive and significant for only three countries (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia). These results are very important for the design of energy policies and sustainable economic growth. Energy-saving policies are suitable for long-run economic growth for the entire sample, while they are only suitable for eight countries out of eleven in the short-run.

Revisiting the relationships between energy consumption, economic development and urban size: A global perspective using remote sensing data

Existing methods of measuring energy consumption require complex statistics and computing. A real-time and globally applicable approach for comparing energy consumption across different cities is still lacking. Additionally, the nonlinear relationships and varying thresholds of energy consumption in relation to economic activities and urbanization remain unconfirmed. This study aims to fill these gaps by utilizing Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) nighttime light data in 2015 and a top-down approach based on a multiple regression model to examine energy consumption in global cities employing a redefined urban boundary. It also explores the accurate relationship between energy consumption, population density (as a proxy of urbanization), and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) across different regions and urban sizes using generalized additive models and regression models. High-resolution gridded population and GDP datasets covering the entire planet are utilized for this purpose. The study also estimates the development potentiality. The study yields followings outcomes: Firstly, the top 30 cities with the highest per capita energy consumption account for over 0.66% of the total per capita energy consumption of all cities. Secondly, in East Asia (EA) and Southeast Asia (SEA), the per capita energy consumption decreases when per capita GDP reaches $40,000 and $75,000, respectively, while it remains stable in cities located in Western Europe (WE) and North America (NA) as per capita GDP increases. Thirdly, the per capita energy consumption declines with increasing urban population density until reaching 10,000 person/km2, 22,000 person/km2, and 4000 person/km2 in EA, SEA, and NA, respectively. Fourthly, in Central Asia (CA), megacities can save over 100 Mbtu/population when per capita GDP increases by $1000 compared to big cities. This pioneering study provides a comparable investigation of energy consumption at the global city level, exploring its relationship with urbanization and economy by employing a unified calculation standard. It will facilitate long-term energy-saving policies and urban planning strategies.

Managing the Energy-Saving of College Students

Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the energy-saving behaviors (ESB) of college students, who represent the backbone of the future society, is imperative for advancing energy conservation initiatives. This paper employs a PLS-SEM model with 2786 valid responses to investigate the determinants of college students' ESB within the comprehensive action determination model (CADM). The results show that (1) the applicability of CADM, including the theory of planned behavior, norm activation model, and ipsative theory of behavior, was confirmed in the context of college students' ESB. (2) The cultivation of energy-saving habits significantly contributes to the promotion of ESB. (3) The availability of energy-saving access has a positive impact on ESB. (4) Media's energy-saving promotional activities positively influence the energy-saving intention. (5) Energy-saving policy incentives exert a positive moderating influence on the transition from energy-saving intentions to ESB. Based on these empirical findings, this paper provides specific and target policy recommendations.

Heat recovery with low pressure loss for natural ventilation

Regenerative heat exchangers are widely used in life support systems, gas turbines, boilers and other high-temperature industrial installations. These heat exchangers are used for cooling and heating gases, humidification and dehumidification of gases, heat recovery from high-potential heat carriers. Today, the increase in energy consumption and the increase in energy prices require a large-scale energy-saving policy in the creation of modern engineering structures – residential, commercial and industrial facilities alike. When designing and creating life support systems to save energy, it is advisable to use secondary energy resources, such as, for example, the heat of the air removed from the room. The energy intensity of conventional ventilation systems is on average 50–80% of the total energy intensity of the engineering systems of the facility where they are operated. The use of rotating regenerative heat exchangers in ventilation and air conditioning systems makes it possible to return up to 85% of heat to the system at a relatively low capital investment. In this regard, when improving such systems, considerable attention should be paid to the calculation, optimization and increase in the efficiency of heat exchangers. Thus, this work is about increasing the efficiency of rotating regenerative heat exchangers in ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Thermal Characteristics and User Regulation of Household Heat Metering for Residential District Heating Systems in Northern China

Heat metering is an important measure of China’s heating marketization reform as well as an energy-saving policy implemented in buildings nearly 20 years ago. However, this policy has not achieved the expected results due to various reasons. It is important to note that although northern China is dominated by large apartment buildings, resulting in unique thermal characteristics and user behavior, the measured results of these characteristics are not common. In this study, data from cities in northern China were obtained using household heat meters and field testing. Based on the three levels of station, building, and household, the effects of location, heat outages, and users’ regulation behavior on energy consumption were analyzed. The results show that different locations lead to a considerable difference in heat consumption among users, and an outage leads to a significant increase in consumption by surrounding users. For typical buildings in northern China, it is challenging to realize energy savings with district heating systems based on user behavior, and household metering and charging are not fair and reliable. Adjusting the heat meter unit from the household to the building was suggested.

Energy saving of rural buildings in Henan Province based on rural revitalization in China

Abstract Based on rural revitalization in China, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats model combined with the politics, economy, society and technology model (SWOT-PEST) has been used to comprehensively analyze the advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats to the development of rural energy-efficient buildings in Henan Province based on national policies, the local economic development level, the social situation and technology. The results showed that rural energy-efficient buildings have both advantages and disadvantages at the levels of policy, the economy, society and technology, and that overall, rural energy-efficient building development is at an optimum time. On this basis, we proposed energy-saving countermeasures to execute the primary responsibilities of local party committees and governments, enhance innovation in energy-saving technologies and improve the affordability of energy-efficient buildings. These are the three ways to encourage the effective establishment of rural energy-efficient buildings. This study provides references for promoting rural energy transformation and energy-saving policy reform in developing countries.

Hydraulic Performance Optimization of a Submersible Drainage Pump

Small submersible drainage pumps are used to discharge leaking water and rainwater in buildings. In an emergency (e.g., heavy rain or accident), advance monitoring of the flow rate is essential to enable optimal operation, considering the point where the pump operates abnormally when the water level is increased rapidly. Moreover, pump performance optimization is crucial for energy-saving policy. Therefore, it is necessary to meet the challenges of submersible pump systems, including sustainability and pump efficiency. The final goal of this study was to develop an energy-saving and highly efficient submersible drainage pump capable of performing efficiently in emergencies. In particular, this paper targeted the hydraulic performance improvement of a submersible drainage pump model. Prior to the development of driving-mode-related technology capable of emergency response, a way to improve the performance characteristics of the existing submersible drainage pump was found. Disassembling of the current pump followed by reverse engineering was performed instead of designing a new pump. Numerical simulation was performed to analyze the flow characteristics and pump efficiency. An experiment was carried out to obtain the performance, and it was validated with numerical results. The results reveal that changing the cross-sectional shape of the impeller reduced the flow separation and enhanced velocity and pressure distributions. Also, it reduced the power and increased efficiency. The results also show that the pump’s efficiency was increased to 5.56% at a discharge rate of 0.17 m3/min, and overall average efficiency was increased to 6.53%. It was concluded that the submersible pump design method is suitable for the numerical designing of an optimized pump’s impeller and casing. This paper provides insight on the design optimization of pumps.

Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Measures at Thammasat University's Lampang Campus in Thailand.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the primary drivers of global climate change. Human activities, particularly those related to energy production, transportation, and industry, have long contributed to the escalating levels of GHGs in the Earth's atmosphere. Recognizing the significance of this issue, universities, including Thammasat University, play a vital role in Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions research and education, carrying a responsibility to address the matter. This study is aimed aims to assess the greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation measures at Thammasat University (Lampang campus), Thailand. The emissions are categorized into 3 types: (1) direct GHG emissions; (2) energy-related indirect GHG emissions; and (3) other indirect GHG emissions. Activity data from the years 2019 to 2022 was used for the calculations, resulting in GHG emissions of 1051.70, 778.28, 558.64, and 1034.531 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Among these emissions, energy-related indirect GHG emissions from electricity purchases represent the majority, accounting for approximately 78.55% of the total emissions. Consequently, implementing mitigation strategies, such as solar panel installations and solid waste reduction (combined scenario), has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by up to 57.78%. Furthermore, the university should actively promote GHG emissions reduction through the enactment of energy-saving policies and the adoption of energy-efficient technologies to reduce reliance on energy purchases.

How do energy-saving policies improve environmental quality: Evidence from China’s Top 10,000 energy-consuming enterprises program

Treating China’s Top 10,000 Energy-Consuming Enterprises Program (T10000P) as a quasi-natural experiment, this is the first study to investigate the synergistic effects of the representative energy-saving policy on environmental quality at the micro-level. We create a panel data set by matching China’s Environmental Statistics Database, Industrial Enterprise Database, and State Intellectual Property Office Database, and employ the difference-in-differences model to identify the policy’s environmental effects and their mechanisms. The results show that the T10000P can effectively lower chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, which still hold after a series of robustness checks, indicating that the policy has a significant synergistic effect on environmental quality improvement. Furthermore, compared with small polluters, the T10000P has a higher pollutant emission inhibition effect on large polluters. Such a positive environmental impact is confirmed for energy-intensive, large, rather than non-energy-intensive and small enterprises, showing heterogeneous effects across different enterprises. We also find that promoting green technology innovation and environmental compliance are the important channels through which the policy improves environmental quality. Therefore, the energy-saving policy can improve environmental quality by setting constrained targets on energy consumption, especially in developing countries.

Exploring decoupling relationship between ICT investments and energy consumption in China's provinces: Factors and policy implications

Prior studies on ICT and energy consumption in China lack exploration of the decoupling relationship and reasons and fail to propose policy implications for provinces based on energy and ICT investment features. We investigate the decoupling relationship between ICT investments and energy consumption in China's 30 provinces, exploring factors impacting decoupling using the Generalized Divisia Index Method decomposition analysis, including ICT investment scale, revenue scale, gross investment scale, energy intensity of ICT investment scale, energy intensity of ICT revenue, energy intensity of gross investment, ICT investment structure, and efficiency. We find most Chinese provinces showed weak decoupling between energy consumption and ICT investment from 2006 to 2020, except for Beijing, Tianjin, Sichuan, and Hubei which achieved strong decoupling during the 13th Five-Year-Plan period. In many provinces, ICT investment, ICT revenue, and gross fixed asset investment led to an increase in the decoupling index, but energy intensities of these factors were found to significantly reduce the decoupling index. Furthermore, we use K-Means clustering to classify China's provinces based on four ICT-related factors and propose targeted energy-saving policies for each cluster, considering their respective ICT investment characteristics.

Impacts of energy saving measures on IEQ, task performance and COVID-19 contagion risk in public buildings: analysis of a case-study in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

The recent 2022 energy crisis has pushed several Italian public administrations to adopt solutions to reduce energy demand for space heating in public buildings. Reduction of HVAC system operation time, decrease of heating setpoint and changes to ventilation schedules are some examples of typically implemented measures. However, some of them are in direct competition with those adopted so far to limit the risk of COVID-19 contagion, such as higher ventilation rates. Furthermore, limited operation time and lower setpoints can lead to suboptimal thermal comfort conditions for workers in public buildings, with subsequent decrease of their task performances. In this framework, to assess the global efficacy of the most recent energy saving policies in public buildings, this research focuses not only on the quantification of energy savings but also on the analysis of increased COVID-19 contagion risk, as well as performance loss due to suboptimal building operation conditions. To investigate the impact of new building operation policies for energy savings, an intermediate storey of a public office building in Bolzano, Italy, was selected as a case-study.

The green innovation effect of urban energy saving construction: A quasi-natural experiment from new energy demonstration city policy

Energy-saving construction has promoted the sustainable development of cities and is an important measure to achieve carbon neutrality and peak carbon. This paper uses the synthetic control method(SCM), propensity score matching difference-in-difference model(PSM-DID), spatial Durbin difference-in-difference model (SDM-DID) and other methods to explore the policy effect of energy-saving policy on the green innovation efficiency of Chinese cities based on the New Energy Demonstration City(NEDC) policy as a quasi-natural experiment. The paper has found that establishing NEDC can significantly improve the green innovation efficiency of pilot cities, and its positive impact continues to increase over time. The effect of energy-saving policy has regional heterogeneity, and NEDC can promote the improvement of urban green innovation efficiency more in eastern and central China. The results of PSM-DID further verify the robustness of the previous conclusion. The results of SDM-DID show that NEDC has a positive spatial spillover effect on the improvement of urban green innovation efficiency. NEDC policy can effectively promote the improvement of green innovation efficiency in neighboring cities of pilot cities. Mechanism analysis shows that NEDC affects urban green innovation efficiency by optimizing industrial structure, reducing resource dependence and gathering innovative elements. This paper enriches the research on the effect of urban energy-saving policies and provides policy references for improving urban green innovation capabilities.

A study on the impact of residents' energy usage behavior on heating energy consumption based on smart meter data and surveys

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence heating energy consumption in residential apartments using smart meter data and surveys. It emphasized the significance of residents' behavior as a key variable. The analysis considered physical and behavioral factors, including external factors, building characteristics, resident demographics, and residents' heating energy consumption behavior. Based on these factors, a model for heating energy consumption was developed. Moreover, the study found that residents' heating energy consumption behavior had a strong explanatory power in both space heating and hot water energy consumption models. Therefore, to achieve accurate prediction and evaluation of energy consumption in the residential sector, future research should thoroughly consider resident characteristics and energy use behavior, taking into account different types of final energy. Furthermore, it is crucial to comprehensively consider residents' characteristics when developing energy-saving policies for buildings, as this will lead to meaningful outcomes.

Exploring the carbon emission reduction effect of local government attention: an analysis based on an environmental policy perspective.

Government attention and policy implementation are important for achieving environmental goals. This study uses 257 cities in China from 2013-2019 as the sample and measures local government attention through text mining, thus exploring the carbon emission reduction effect of government attention. Threshold regression is further used to examine the role and nonlinear relationship that environmental policies assume in the effect of government attention on carbon emission reduction. The conclusions are as follows: first, government attention can significantly reduce carbon emissions: with a 1% increase in local government attention to environmental protection, China's urban CO2 can be reduced by 0.04%. Second, the impact of government attention on carbon emissions is more significant in cities in non-air pollution prevention areas, in non-SO2 and acid rain control areas, with longer tenure of officials, and with female officials serving during the sample period. Third, the effect of government attention on carbon emission reduction can be significantly increased under policy influence, especially when two policies are implemented in concert. Fourth, market incentive policies play a stronger role in the first place, while traditional energy-saving policies have strong sustainability. In general, the study concludes that municipalities should allocate more attention to the environment, and it gives some reasons supporting policy choices.

Reduction of Power Losses and Voltage Profile Improvement in a Smart Grid Incorporated with Electric Vehicles

Governments worldwide have adopted energy-saving policies out of concern for the planet. System efficiency and renewable energy are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change. Electricity generation is the biggest polluter, followed by transportation. Electric vehicles would strain electricity infrastructure without technical solutions. This study uses a hybrid genetic algorithm particle sworn optimization (HGAPSO) to find the optimal switching and feeder reconfiguration approach. Meet transmission constraints while reducing real power losses and improving system bus voltage. In the context of power system change, what are the benefits of employing the HGAPSO approach as opposed to the GA method and the PSO method, respectively. HGAPSO increases network power losses and voltage dispersion. Improved algorithms can help solve this crucial issue. It uses many heuristic optimization techniques to reconfigure transmission network connectivity and determine the best configuration. Limit bus voltage changes while maintaining the system’s radial structure and lowering power usage. MATLAB’s IEEE 33-bus communication network evaluated procedure reliability and performance. The results show that the proposed method reduces power waste during standalone runs and speeds up processing.

How does energy efficiency affect employment? Evidence from Chinese cities

Improving energy efficiency and securing employment are critical challenges for sustainable growth, especially in developing countries. Using an econometric model and panel data from China's prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2019, this study provides empirical evidence of the impact of increased energy efficiency on employment. Multiple robustness test results reveal that a 1% rise in the energy intensity reduction rate leads to a 2% increase in the employment growth rate. According to heterogeneity tests, cities with low energy efficiency and depressed employment rates, compared to flourishing cities, may greatly benefit from increased energy efficiency. Furthermore, this study examines the influence mechanism of energy efficiency on employment. The outcome indicates that booming trade and technological progress magnify the positive impact of increased energy efficiency on employment. In addition, decreasing regional investment in the energy industry is one of the mechanisms by which improved energy efficiency promotes employment. Finally, this study proposes certain energy-saving policies at the city level to guide future policy refinement.

The Perceived Relationship between Eco-friendly Business Practices and Firm Performance of SMEs in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR

This study investigates the impact of environmental performance on firm profitability in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. Data from 419 firms were collected using an e-questionnaire distributed through a Google form. The results indicate a need to increase awareness and acknowledgment of clean activities among surveyed firms. While there is a positive trend towards energy-saving practices and the provision of designated smoking areas, more efforts are required to encourage the wider adoption of reusable practices and prioritize proper waste management. Regression analysis reveals significant impacts on firm profitability, with firms having regulations for environmentally friendly practices, acknowledging clean activities, providing free space for waste sorting or disposal, and having designated smoking areas experiencing notable increases in profitability. However, the impact of energy-saving policies on profitability is not significant, potentially due to insufficient implementation. The study recommends implementing and enforcing effective energy-saving policies, strengthening eco-friendly regulations, encouraging waste management and recycling practices, and catering to customer preferences to enhance firm financial performance. These measures can contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally responsible business landscape in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR.