Increasing Energy Prices Research Articles

Response to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives

Response to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives

Fuelwood Consumption, Restrictions about Resource Availability and Public Policies: Impacts on the French Forest Sector

In the context of climate change and of increasing energy prices, the share of fuelwood in primary energy consumption may increase, especially in countries with large forest endowments. However, larger fuelwood consumption may have non-negligible impacts on forest sectors. This paper assesses those impacts for France using a new model of the French forest sector, and comparing four different policy options to boost fuelwood demand. First, supply- and demand-side policies yield very different outcomes, with a trade-off between trade balance and harvest intensity. Second, even a modest increase in fuelwood consumption leads to tensions over forest stock over time under pessimistic views about resource availability.

АНАЛИЗ ФАКТОРОВ, ВЛИЯЮЩИХ НА ВЫБОР СИСТЕМ УТЕПЛЕНИЯ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫХ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЙ

the article raises the problem of improving the energy efficiency of buildings in operation with a constant increase in energy prices, which is now becoming increasingly important. The analysis of the design decisions of the buildings of educational institutions of Donetsk region was carried out; the main typical series of the region were highlighted and given. The issues and the factors affecting the heat and moisture characteristics of enclosing structures of educational institutions were discussed. The values of resistance to heat transfer for the most common standard series of secondary schools are given. The modeling of temperature fields of nodes of public buildings of standard series was made. The most unfavorable design solutions of serial buildings were identified by the following factors: the temperature of the inner surface of the outer enclosures and the temperature difference between the average temperature at the surface and the air temperature in the room. Possible ways of thermo-modernization of such buildings with consideration of the requirements for temperature and breathability are considered. The influence of heat-conducting inclusions on the heat-moisture regime of external enclosing structures during partial and full thermal modernization is estimated. The analysis of various methods and ways of warming the buildings of educational institutions are performed. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed options from an economic point of view are indicated, as well as on the basis of the requirements of fire regulations.

Model of the Market Value of Apartments Including a Time Variable and Energy Features of a Building

Abstract Research background: The implementation of EU directives in national legislations imposes an obligation to monitor energy efficiency in every sector of the economy, including construction. In the era of energy conservation, which results from environmental requirements, as well as from constantly increasing energy prices, the energy consumption of premises and buildings becomes an important prerequisite for decision-making processes in the real estate market. There have also been changes in the provisions of the Act on Real Estate Management, which impose an obligation on the professional group of property appraisers to incorporate energy performance certificates for buildings and premises into the valuation process. Energy intensity in terms of the demand for heating of multi-family residential buildings will be the basis for the assessment of its impact on the market value of residential units. Purpose: The article analyses the energy intensity of different types of buildings (e.g. low and high-rise buildings) and the diverse distribution of units in the building, especially with regard to their exposure to the different point of the compass. The research covered the Słoneczne housing estate in Szczecin, in a situation where the property appraiser does not have access to the energy performance certificates of the estimated apartments as well as apartments taken for comparison. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between energy intensity and market value of residential units on the selected real estate market. The analysis will be based on data from the Price and Value Register of the County Office, a collection of statistics and public information as well as on the authors’ own databases and research. Research methodology: A multidimensional analysis will be used to distinguish homogeneous groups of residential units due to their property attributes. The study will also employ a valuation model including energy intensity and time variables. Results: The study showed that building type is one of the features determining energy consumption by a building. Depending on the period, the introduced attributes explained the evolution of the unit price at 78%, 75% and 24%. The parameters of the variables Size, Neighborhood and Time were found to be statistically significant. What is more, in all three periods, the value of the residential unit was significantly affected by the type of building which determined the energy performance of the building. Novelty: Energy intensity in terms of the heating demand of multi-family residential buildings will be the basis for the assessment of its impact on the market value of residential units. The article analyses the energy intensity of different types of buildings (e.g. low and high buildings) and the different location of units in a building, especially in relation to the directions of the world.

Towards a carbon-neutral economy: The dynamics of factor substitution in Germany.

This paper investigates the elasticity of substitution between four inputs-capital, labor, energy, and material-with the translog cost approach for a wide range of industries in Germany by incorporating the slow adjustment process in factor substitution. To this end, we take advantage of EU KLEMS database covering a wide range of industries and consider two models. The first is the static model, in which instantaneous and complete substitution adjustments are assumed. The other model, referred to as dynamic, takes into account the slow adjustment process and applies this to the cost share equations which are estimated using Zellner's seemingly unrelated regression. The empirical results suggest that (i) the dynamic models have greater explanatory power than the static models; (ii) the production process at the national or industry level in Germany is mainly characterized by a complementarity or weak substitutability between energy and other inputs, which limits German government's ability to reduce energy use through factor substitution; (iii) among four factor prices, energy demand seems to be more sensitive to changes in the price of material, followed by labor. Hence, an increase in energy prices can be efficient to some extent in order to reduce energy use; (iv) there is a substantial industry heterogeneity in Germany in terms of both input substitution and its adjustment process. Therefore, strategies to mitigate CO2 emissions through input substitution channel should be designed at the industry level based on the industry-specific needs and peculiarities. It is because well-designed comprehensive policies that consider different structures of industries could help to achieve a carbon-neutral economy for Germany.

Do Energy Prices Drive Outward FDI? Evidence from a Sample of Listed Firms

Affordable energy is often argued to be a vital condition for manufacturing industries to be able to compete on global markets. Consequently, the idea of introducing a (unilateral) carbon tax is usually opposed on the grounds of potential losses of competitiveness and leakage of economic activity abroad. In this paper, we shed light on one potential channel of such effects—the impact of energy prices on firms’ outward FDI. Using an instrumental variable strategy we estimate the longer-term effects on a sample of listed firms from 9 manufacturing sectors in 24 OECD countries over 1995-2008. The results suggest that relative energy prices—that is the difference between domestic energy prices and prices in the potential FDI destination—are significantly and asymmetrically related to firms’ outward FDI asset share. Only firms that faced increases in the relative energy prices have increased their international asset position and this effect was relatively small.

Evaluating policy success of emissions trading schemes in emerging economies: comparing the experiences of Korea and Kazakhstan

ABSTRACTEmissions trading schemes have been increasing in popularity as a market-based instrument to meet CO2 reduction commitments. In this paper, we examine the emission trading schemes (ETS) of Kazakhstan and Korea, two emerging economies. We do so by using a policy success typology, which includes programme, process, political, temporal, distributional and capacity dimensions, and operationalizing criteria that the Partnership for Market Readiness and International Carbon Action Partnership have identified as key to effective ETS scheme design. We find that these criteria, or ETS success dimensions, align well with a typology of policy success. Using indicators developed to evaluate each ETS success dimension, we identify the positive and negative attributes of both Kazakhstan’s and Korea’s ETS and provide a qualitative ranking for each ETS success dimension. This evaluation and ranking allows us to identify necessary conditions for policy success in emerging market ETS: consultation with stakeholders in both the design and implementation stages; development of human and institutional home-grown capacity; mechanisms to solve illiquidity issues using market interventions; development of legitimacy from the perspective of business over time; implementation of policies that are complementary to an ETS; and flexibility to enable firms to manage periods of low revenues. Our findings provide important lessons for emerging economies planning to implement their own ETS, which may be more relevant than experiences from developed nations’ ETS.Key policy insightsETS success requires more than political will and reaching programme goals.Identifying and involving key business and public stakeholders is necessary for ETS success.Capacity building within the public and private sectors should be implemented from the design stage of an ETS.In emerging economies, where increases in energy prices could lead to social unrest, complementary policies are necessary to ensure cost pass-through.Liquidity problems likely be experienced during the initial stages of an ETS need to be addressed.

Towards agricultural demand for the main energy carriers in Iran: Application of linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA-AIDS) analysis

Abstract Due to the necessity of cognizance of demand for the various forms of energy in the agricultural sector in Iran’s economy and considering the effects of price liberalization policies on forms of energy, analysis of the main energy carriers’ demand is very important. This study used the LA-AIDS approach and ISUR technique to estimate the demand and elasticities for various energy carriers. Also, the welfare effects of increasing energy prices under the 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% scenarios are evaluated using the compensating variation (CV). The uncompensated and compensated own-price demand elasticities for oil products, electricity and, natural gas carriers were −1.21, −0.85 and −0.55, and −0.98, −0.32 and −0.30, respectively, confirming the demand theory. The cross-price elasticities showed that electricity has substitutability and complementarity relationship with oil products and natural gas, respectively, while the relationship between natural gas and oil products is a substitutability relationship. The income elasticities of energy usages estimated to be 0.64, 1.2 and 1.05. Agricultural producers’ welfare would experience a further decrease in oil products and electricity price liberalization, though the welfare impacts of natural gas are trivial. As price elasticity is different in the agricultural sector, price policies, then price liberalization and omitting energy subsidy should be applied based on the elastic or inelastic of energy carriers. The price policies effectiveness on oil products is more than electricity and natural gas. Given the prevalence of consumption and high price elasticities of oil products and pollutants, rising oil prices can reduce their consumption and environmental pollution.

Investigation of Novel Composite Materials for Thermochemical Heat Storage Systems

Increasing energy prices make space heating more expensive every year in The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. Thermochemical heat storage systems (THSS) can be used to reduce residential energy consumption for space heating and to control humidity. Utilizing compressed thermochemical pellets as heat storage materials is a way to increase volumetric energy storage capacity and to improve the performance of the THSS. In this work, expanded natural graphite (ENG), activated carbon (AC), strontium bromide, and magnesium sulphate were mixed in different mass ratios and compressed under applied pressures in a range of 0.77 to 5.2 kN⋅mm−2 to form composite pellets with a diameter of 12 and 25 mm, respectively, and a thickness from 1.5 to 25 mm. These pellets were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Cyclic tests of hydration at 20 °C and dehydration at 85 °C were conducted to investigate changes in the surface morphology and the heat and mass transfer characteristics of the composite pellets. The permeability and thermal conductivity of the composite pellets were also measured. It was found that the structural stability of the pellets was enhanced by increasing the compression pressure. Utilizing AC and ENG in the composite mixture enhanced the porosity, thermal conductivity, and the permeability of the pellets.

A hybrid stochastic model based Bayesian approach for long term energy demand managements

In this study, a hybrid stochastic model (BScA model) using Bayesian approach and scenario analysis to forecast long term energy demand is developed. The main objective of this study is to design and develop a model for energy analysis in demand side and describe the energy saving and GHG reduction potential on the other. For this, total energy demand is selected as the response variable and primary energy production, population, GDP and natural gas and gasoline prices are chosen as covariates. Also, Political drivers, economic drivers, social-environmental and technological drivers are the key driving forces for scenario development. After interview and ranking the drivers, we have built scenario matrixes and reducing them upon strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and how the energy system perspective in each of the scenarios develop. Results show that primary energy production and population growth have positive impact on energy demand. And Energy consumption would decrease with energy price increase. And, economic development would rise energy demand. Also, the total potential for energy saving is equal to 3663 MBOE in duration of 2016–2040. Results demonstrate the energy intensity (EI) will be 2.12 MBOE/Million Rials in 2040 if energy saving solutions are taken. And, the carbon emission will reduce about 32% in 2040.

Urban proximity, demand for land and land shadow prices in Malawi

We assess the spatial and intertemporal variation in farmland prices using per hectare minimum willingness to accept (WTA) sales and rental (shadow) prices in Malawi. We use three rounds of nationally representative farm household panel data from the Living Standards Measurement Surveys (LSMS), collected in 2010, 2013 and 2016. The sample is split in quintiles based on distance from the nearest major city, building on the land valuation and transaction cost theory, and agrarian political economy perspectives on global and national land transactions. Generally, farmland shadow prices decrease with distance from urban areas. However, farmland shadow sales prices increased more sharply between 2010 and 2013 in rural areas (+100 % vs +30 % in urban proximity). The results indicate that the sharp increase in demand for large-scale land transfers following the sharp increase in energy and food prices also affected rural smallholders’ land valuation, even in remote rural areas of Malawi. Conversely, by 2016 land shadow sales prices were again, like in 2010, about three times as high in areas near urban centres compared to remote rural areas. Even though sales prices declined in remote rural areas from 2013 to 2016, rental prices remained high. Using farm household-level population pressure variable, we show that local population pressure is a driver of farmland shadow prices, indicating land scarcity challenges, growing demand for land, and poorly developed land markets. With increasing land scarcity, land markets are becoming more important and need to be factored in when formulating development policies that aim to improve access to land in both peri-urban and rural areas.

China and the Emerging Global Energy System

Energy and resource security have become critical issues on the economic and strategic agenda in the Asian region as demand and dependence on imported supplies grow. Energy security cuts across many sectors–economic, environmental and national security. Recent increases in energy prices, climate change and a steady escalation in global energy demand –expected to rise by nearly 60% over the next 20 years–have led energy policy-makers across the world to engage in a wide ranging debate over how best to address their country’s future energy requirements. Regional powers, most notably China, have responded with nationalistic strategies to secure control over energy and commodity supplies. China is trying to shift its role from a passive recipient to an active innovator of international energy rules; from an onlooker to an active participant in international energy affairs; and from a receiver to a contributor of international energy policy. Major Asian powers are now redefining their foreign policy to meet the growing energy needs. This is most evident from the grand strategy adopted by China since 1991. China is destined to become a significant player in key energy- and resource-exporting regions, such as the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America. China’s new involvement in these regions could have a powerful impact on the strategic goals of other major power in the world. Asian stability is central to the global prosperity and security; thus, the potential for conflict driven by energy competition and resource insecurity must become a conscious and carefully crafted dimension of energy strategies of all leading players in the region.

Auswirkung der letzten Gesetzesänderungen auf Energiepreise für Haushalte in Polen

The liberalization of the electricity market, in terms of creating a guarantee of free choice of energy supplier for the consumer, requires public authorities to intervene in the prices of energy transmission and distribution services. However, the question is how much intervention is necessary and in what situations it can occur. This article looks at the regulation of household electricity prices in Poland (tariff setting) and then, by presenting the legislative changes in 2018 and 2019, shows how much state intervention in the Polish electricity market has come to pass since then, in particular, intervention in the setting of energy prices. The article assesses these measures and analyses the provisions of the Act on the compensation of energy companies by a state fund in relation to state aid issues. It also attempts to answer the question of whether the intervention was necessary or whether the President of the Energy Regulatory Office, within the scope of his powers, could have prevented the effects of a sudden increase in energy prices for households. The article also raises the question of the future of energy prices and raises questions about market disturbances.

The relative position of the flax plant strip and stripping apparatus during separate cleaning

Nowadays, with an acute shortage of high-quality raw materials for the textile industry and a significant increase in energy prices, the introduction of separate flax harvesting technology in production is becoming especially urgent. However, the use of such technology is constrained by its high dependence on weather conditions and the lack of reliable and inexpensive equipment. The greatest difficulty for mechanization is the second phase of separate cleaning, which is most dependent on weather conditions. The level of weather dependence entirely depends on the design features of the pick-up stripping apparatus, which main working body is the apparatus for separating the seed of the crop from the stems. It was established in the work that the quality of this apparatus depends on the width of the zone of arrangement of the boxes in the plant ribbon and on its ordinate relative to the clamping conveyor of the stripping apparatus. During the pickers operation, the indicated ordinate changes to a wider extent due to systematic errors in copying the flax tape in the horizontal plane by the selecting working body. In order to maximize the collection of products during separate flax harvesting, scientists of the Kostroma State Agricultural Academy investigated the process of separating the seed part of the crop from the stems with a stripping apparatus, taking into account the influence of the mentioned factors. The results of experimental studies have shown that the stated requirement is fulfilled with a minimum size of the box location zone (≤ 30 cm) and its distance from the front edge of the clamping conveyor by 53 cm. In this case, all seed boxes fall into the area of action of the ridges of the stripping apparatus, and the loss of stems does not exceed 3 %. It is possible to stabilize the optimal position of the plant ribbon using an orienting device and a system for automatically moving the stripping apparatus. The minimum size of the zone of location of seed boxes can be ensured only with high quality performance of all previous technological operations for the cultivation of flax.

Ecological Efficiency and Sustainable Regional Development in Russia During the 20 Years of Resource-Based Growth

Climate change as well as ecological and social problems requires new goals and instruments of economic policy, based on the principles of sustainable develop­ment. However, over the past 20 years, an increase in energy prices has resulted in the raw material growth model prevailing in Russia. Has this growth led to sustainable regional development? We propose an approach to evaluating eco­logical efficiency of the Russian regions as the ratio of the output of non-primary goods and services to the input of resources (labor, capital, raw materials, and environmental costs). This is a new indicator of the quality of economic growth. The sustainable development model, combining growth of GRP per capita and ecological efficiency, has been observed for more than half of the period in most regions. The eco-efficiency of the average region has been growing since 2003, except crisis periods, following an increase of the services sector share and the closure of inefficient pollution-intensive factories. According to the econometric results, ecological efficiency was growing faster in densely populated regions with a high share of high-tech services, investment attractiveness and intensive tech­nology implementation (Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Sverdlovsk, Tomsk, Belgorod and Kaliningrad regions etc.); it decreased in most northern and Siberian regions. Great potential for raising eco-efficiency remains in most regions. In general, the results of regional development in Russia do not contradict the principles and goals of sustainable development (SDGs), although it was largely achieved due to the system of inter-budget transfers, distributing the oil rent surplus among the regions. In the future, an increase in investments in the non-primary sector, en­ergy efficiency and public transportation will be required. Corresponding changes can be accelerated in the context of an emerging economic crisis caused by the pandemic and falling oil prices.

The potential of timber-based buildings in terms of energy efficiency

The topic of energy efficiency is currently under discussion. One of the areas of energy efficiency is the energy efficiency of buildings. The thermo-technical requirements for building envelope structures are gaining increasing importance due to new legislation and technical regulations regarding the reduction of heating and energy demands of buildings over time and because of continuously increasing energy prices. Building construction and the operational costs of buildings are among the largest consumers of material and energy resources and environmental pollutants. Ecological constructions are a response to the current state of the environment. A suitable solution that represents ecological construction, operation and comfortable living is the construction of low-energy and passive houses based on wood. Wood-based buildings have many benefits that are particularly timely in the context of sustainability today. The aim of this paper is to introduce selected aspects of wood-based buildings in the context of energy efficiency and thus to reduce the adverse effects of construction on the surrounding environment.

Optimal Demand Response Management of a Residential Microgrid Using Model Predictive Control

Demand response (DR) is an important factor contributing to achieve a balance between energy production and demand in Smart Grids. DR plays a key role in the use of residential energy allowing to improve the load management, electrical grid reliability, to reduce energy demand during peak hours and to minimize the use of energy in face of increasing energy prices. This article proposes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy to manage the energy resources of a residential microgrid combined with DR techniques, such as load curtailment, that promotes short term reduction of electricity demand in pre-defined hours. In particular, the presented approach encompasses degradation issues of the Energy Storage System (ESS), the cost of the electricity, renewable energy generation, and other operational constraints. The developed control strategy is able to maximize microgrid economical benefit, while minimizing the degradation of the ESS, reducing electricity consumption during the day, and fulfilling the different operational constraints. The proposed strategy is validated in an experimental renewable-energy based microgrid platform for different climatic conditions. The obtained results demonstrate and verify the effectiveness of the proposed control and management strategy.

Experimental Verification of the Performance of the Floor Cooling System in Comparison with the Ceiling Cooling System While Maintaining Thermal Comfort in the Environment

The trend of constantly increasing energy prices can be observed especially in the increased demands on the thermal insulation properties of building structures. The possibilities of reducing the energy intensity of residential buildings also include the right choice of technology for heating, cooling and hot water preparation. Different cooling systems have different proportions of convection and radiant components. This results in a variety of temperature profiles, and thus also directly affect the quality of the environment in terms of thermal comfort. For efficient heating, it is therefore best to choose a cooling system with a minimum temperature gradient in both the horizontal and vertical directions. At the same time, however, the investment costs for the cooling system must be considered. From this point of view, it seems to be most advantageous to use one system for both heating and cooling. From the point of view of comfort, the most suitable choice of cooling system is ceiling cooling. On the contrary, this system is less suitable for heating compared to the floor system. Therefore, if you are considering the design of a system that will be the greater part of the operation for heating the building and during the summer months will be used to increase thermal comfort by cooling in buildings with lower heat loads [1].

Non-similar solution of Casson nanofluid with variable viscosity and variable thermal conductivity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a numerical investigation of Casson nanofluid along a vertical nonlinear stretching sheet with variable thermal conductivity and viscosity.Design/methodology/approachThe boundary-layer equations are presented in the dimensionless form using proper non-similar transformations. The subsequent non-dimensional nonlinear partial differential equations are solved using the implicit finite difference technique. To linearize the nonlinear terms present in these equations, the quasilinearization technique is used.FindingsThe investigation showed graphically the temperature, velocity and nanoparticle volume fraction for particular included physical parameters. It is observed that the velocity profile decreases with an increase in the values of Casson fluid parameter while increases with an increase in the viscosity variation parameter. The temperature profile enhances for large values of velocity variation parameter and thermal conductivity parameter while it reduces for large values of thermal buoyancy parameter. Further, the Nusselt number and skin-friction coefficient are introduced which are helpful in determining the physical aspects of Casson nanofluid flow.Practical implicationsThe immediate control of heat transfer in the industrial system is crucial because of increasing energy prices. Recently, nanotechnology is proposed to control the heat transfer phenomenon. Ongoing research in complex nanofluid has been fruitful in various applications such as solar thermal collectors, nuclear reactors, electronic equipment and diesel–electric conductor. A reasonable amount of nanoparticle when added to the base fluid in solar thermal collectors serves to deeper absorption of incident radiation, and hence it upgrades the efficiency of the solar thermal collectors.Originality/valueThe non-similar solution of Casson nanofluid due to a vertical nonlinear stretching sheet with variable viscosity and thermal conductivity is discussed in this work.

Energy price and cost induced innovation: Evidence from China

This study investigates the effect of energy price on firm’s innovation in China. Energy is important input factor in manufacturing firms and significantly affecting firm’s operation cost, but we scarcely know its effects on firm innovation. While the increase of energy price may reduce R&D investment and innovation by undermining firm profits, the high input cost may call for active responses of firms to energy-saving efforts, which will eventually enhance firm innovation. We present the following evidence on the basis of listed firms in China’s manufacturing industry: 1) Energy price significantly raises firm’s innovation as measured by patents at the firm level, which support the induced innovation hypothesis. 2) Path analysis indicates that the underlying channel is operation cost and manager’s career concern. Specifically, rising energy price increases operating costs and the prospects of manager’s career concern, which, in turn, encourage firms to innovate. 3) Our findings are particularly pronounced in firms where the rising energy shock may bring more cost pressures, and firms where CEOs have more career concerns. Overall, this study provides timely evidence and important policy implications for the ongoing debates on energy saving worldwide.