Energy efficiency and consumption — the rebound effect — a survey
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of some of the relevant literature from the US offers definitions and identifies sources including direct, secondary, and economy-wide sources and concludes that the range of estimates for the size of the rebound effect is very low to moderate.
About: This article is published in Energy Policy.The article was published on 2000-06-01. It has received 1867 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Rebound effect (conservation) & Energy consumption.
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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the energy consumption behavior of residential adopters of solar photovoltaic systems (solar-PV) was analyzed based on large data sets from the San Diego region that have been assembled or otherwise acquired by the author.
Abstract: This dissertation analyzes the energy consumption behavior of residential adopters of solar photovoltaic systems (solar-PV). Based on large data sets from the San Diego region that have been assembled or otherwise acquired by the author, the dissertation quantifies changes in energy consumption after solar-PV installation and determines whether certain household characteristics are correlated with such changes. In doing so, it seeks to answer two related questions: First, Do residential solar adopters increase or decrease their electricity consumption after they install a solar-PV system? Assuming that certain categories of residential adopters increase and others decrease, the second question is Which residential adopters increase and which decrease their consumption and why? The database that was used to conduct this analysis includes information about 5,243 residential systems in San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDGE the solar companies that sold and installed them; individual customer electric utility billing data; metered PV production data for a subgroup of these solar systems; and data about the properties where the systems are located. Primarily, the author was able to conduct an electricity consumption analysis at the individual household level for 2,410 PV systems installed in SDGE age of the home; the climate zone (inland or coastal) where the home is located; the home's pre-installation energy consumption; home characteristics such as assessed value and square footage; and the identity of the solar installation contractor. Aside from extending the literature on the rebound effect to the context of home-based energy generation, this study links to the innovation diffusion literature by focusing on solar innovators to understand more about the characteristics that may drive behavior, or conditions under which they also adopt clean energy technologies and practices. The results have clear policy relevance with regard to the development and coordination of policies to promote integration of solar and energy efficiency. Currently several public policies are being developed at various levels of government to encourage both, based on application of the economically rational concept of the loading order , the California policy that places energy efficiency as the state's highest priority energy resource. However, there has been little study of the interrelationships between them or how these innovations are implemented in practice. This dissertation begins to fill that gap.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a bibliometric review method was used by studying documents published from 2005 to 2020, using the VOSviewer, Bibexcel, SPSS, and GunnMap2 software.
8 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the main theoretical arguments that have been proposed in the literature to support the validity of the Porter Hypothesis and pick the most significant contributions paying special attention to the strategic and international trade aspects.
Abstract: Environmental protection and firms' competitiveness are typically seen as conflicting elements as firms tend to ignore the environmental consequences of their actions and any regulation forcing them to modify their policies can only make them worse-off. Contrarily to this traditional paradigm, the Porter Hypothesis suggests the existence of "low hanging fruits" in the sense that some environmental policies may simultaneously benefit the environment and domestic competitiveness. Our aim is to identify the main theoretical arguments that have been proposed in the literature to support the validity of the Porter Hypothesis and pick the most significant contributions paying special attention to the strategic and international trade aspects. After presenting some general issues and different interpretations of the Porter Hypothesis, we review different theoretical explanations such as the generation of scarcity rents, the use of environmental regulation by national governments as an instrument of strategic trade policy, the existence of externalities in technology adoption, the interaction with output quality competition and the existence of information incompleteness.
8 citations
01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: This chapter reviews the key deficiencies, misunderstandings, fallacies, and challenges associated with smart and smarter cities with respect to environmental sustainability and substantiates the potential that smarter cities hold in accelerating and advancing environmental sustainability on the basis of ICT of various forms of pervasive computing.
Abstract: Smart cities are evolving and ever changing, i.e., morphing into new faces. This is being fueled by the rapid computerization and urbanization of the world, driven by the evolvement of ICT visions of various forms of pervasive computing into deployable and achievable computing paradigms, as well as by the perceived role of advanced ICT in overcoming the challenge of urbanization. Indeed, visions of noteworthy advances in computing and ICT bring with them wide-ranging common visions on how cities as social fabrics will evolve in the future along with the immense opportunities and potential threats such future will bring. However, there are several critical issues that remain largely ignored concerning smarter cities. In particular, smarter (and smart) cities involve several problems—when it comes to their development and implementation as to their concrete contribution to and explicit incorporation of the fundamental goal of environmentally sustainable development. They moreover pose many risks to environmental sustainability due to the ubiquity of computing and the massive use of ICT throughout all urban domains. Also, relatively little or no attention has been given to smarter cities as future visions of smart cities in terms of the potential of ICT of various forms of pervasive computing to respond to the challenge of environmental sustainability. In addition, it is important not to conceive of smarter cities as “isolated islands”, like some urban scholars might presume. Instead, the interplay between such cities and other scales, as well as the links to political and regulatory processes on a macro level have to be recognized. The purpose of this chapter is manifold. First, it reviews the key deficiencies, misunderstandings, fallacies, and challenges associated with smart and smarter cities with respect to environmental sustainability. Second, it identifies the significant risks that smarter cities pose to environmental sustainability, which are expected to escalate during the transition of smart cities to smarter cities. Third, it substantiates the potential that smarter cities hold in accelerating and advancing environmental sustainability on the basis of ICT of various forms of pervasive computing. The underlying assumption is that smarter cities are still at the early stage of their development and thus could, if planned strategically, do a lot more in this regard, including the mitigation of environmental risks posed by ICT itself, if linked to the goal of environmentally sustainable development. Fourth, this chapter endeavors to reflect on what it means for smart cities to move behind their foundational visions as they transition to smarter cities and embrace environmental sustainability as an important trend increasingly gaining prominence in urban development as a result of the unprecedented urbanization of the world. Fifth, this chapter probes both the ways in which the transition of smart cities to smarter cities (with environmental sustainability in mind) can be managed or governed at the macro level as well as the role of politics and policy in the creation and evolution of smarter cities. This entails drawing on different theoretical perspectives from socio-technical studies, innovation studies, and discursive studies, most notably transition governance; technological and national innovation systems; and the link between political practice and the emergence, insertion, and functioning of new discourses.
8 citations
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: The authors provides a brief history of the debate about the rebound phenomenon and distinguishes four genuine phases of past rebound research, and sets the stage for the research questions addressed in this book and outlines the structures as well as the contents of all chapters to this volume.
Abstract: This introductory chapter to the book “Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies. New Perspectives on the Rebound Phenomenon” serves four functions. First, it contextualizes this volume in current up-to-date climate and energy discourses, notably vis-a-vis the endeavor to limit anthropogenic climate change to below 2 degrees Celsius. Second, it embeds rebound research in the longer-standing debates on sustainable development, including discussions on the limits to growth and the challenges to sufficiently decouple energy and resource demand from economic growth. Third, it provides a brief history of the debate about the rebound phenomenon and distinguishes four genuine phases of past rebound research. Finally, the chapter sets the stage for the research questions addressed in this book and outlines the structures as well as the contents of all chapters to this volume.
8 citations
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01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: Deaton and Muellbauer as mentioned in this paper introduced generations of students to the economic theory of consumer behaviour and used it in applied econometrics, including consumer index numbers, household characteristics, demand, and household welfare comparisons.
Abstract: This classic text has introduced generations of students to the economic theory of consumer behaviour. Written by 2015 Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer, the book begins with a self-contained presentation of the basic theory and its use in applied econometrics. These early chapters also include elementary extensions of the theory to labour supply, durable goods, the consumption function, and rationing. The rest of the book is divided into three parts. In the first of these the authors discuss restrictions on choice and aggregation problems. The next part consists of chapters on consumer index numbers; household characteristics, demand, and household welfare comparisons; and social welfare and inequality. The last part extends the coverage of consumer behaviour to include the quality of goods and household production theory, labour supply and human capital theory, the consumption function and intertemporal choice, the demand for durable goods, and choice under uncertainty.
3,952 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an industrial demand for energy is essentially a derived demand: the firm's demand for the energy is an input, derived from demand for a firm's output, which is an output.
Abstract: Industrial demand for energy is essentially a derived demand: the firm's demand for energy is an input is derived from demand for the firm's output. Inputs other than energy typically also enter the firm's production process. Since firms tend to choose that bundle of inputs which minimized the total cost of producing a giving level of output, the derived demand for inputs, including energy, depends on the level of output, the submitions possibilies among inputs allow by production technology, and the relative prices of all inputs.
1,422 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a model of individual behavior in the purchase and utilization of energy-using durables is presented, where the tradeoff between capital costs for more energy efficient appliances and operating costs for the appliances is emphasized.
Abstract: This article presents a model of individual behavior in the purchase and utilization of energy-using durables. The tradeoff between capital costs for more energy efficient appliances and operating costs for the appliances is emphasized. Using data on both the purchase and utilization of room air conditioners, the model is applied to a sample of households. The utilization equation indicates a relatively low price elasticity. The purchase equation, based on a discrete choice model, demonstrates that individuals do trade off capital costs and expected operating costs. The results also show that individuals use a discount rate of about 20 percent in making the tradeoff decision and that the discount rate varies inversely with income.
1,361 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the indiscriminate use of mandated standards will backfire, but a mix of selective standards and reliance on prices as a restraint can be effective.
Abstract: Regulations which mandate appliance efficiency standards may be based on calculations which exaggerate the potential energy savings. Improved efficiency can, in fact, increase demand enough to be counterproductive unless the standards are applied selectively. As appliances improve, they are used more, new stock is demanded, and the demand for and use of related equipment increases. The policy implications of these empirical studies are that the indiscriminate use of mandated standards will backfire, but a mix of selective standards and reliance on prices as a restraint can be effective. 11 references, 5 figures, 2 tables. (DCK)
802 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a detailed study of automobile demand and use, presenting forecasts based on the powerful new techniques of qualitative choice analysis and standard regression techniques, which are combined to analyze situations that neither alone can accurately forecast.
Abstract: This book addresses two significant research areas in an interdependent fashion. It is first of all a comprehensive but concise text that covers the recently developed and widely applicable methods of qualitative choice analysis, illustrating the general theory through simulation models of automobile demand and use. It is also a detailed study of automobile demand and use, presenting forecasts based on these powerful new techniques. The book develops the general principles that underlie qualitative choice models that are now being applied in numerous fields in addition to transportation, such as housing, labor, energy, communications, and criminology. The general form, derivation, and estimation of qualitative choice models are explained, and the major models - logit, probit, and GEV - are discussed in detail. And continuous/discrete models are introduced. In these, qualitative choice methods and standard regression techniques are combined to analyze situations that neither alone can accurately forecast. Summarizing previous research on auto demand, the book shows how qualitative choice methods can be used by applying them to specific auto-related decisions as the aggregate of individuals' choices. The simulation model that is constructed is a significant improvement over older models, and should prove more useful to agencies and organizations requiring accurate forecasting of auto demand and use for planning and policy development. The book concludes with an actual case study based on a model designed for the investigations of the California Energy Commission.
726 citations