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Journal ArticleDOI

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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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the net implications of energy efficiency improvement in China within alternative global climate policy regimes and show that a one percent improvement in energy efficiency in China reduces energy use by 0.38-0.59 percent per year depending on alternative international contexts.
Abstract: China has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity defined as carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 and by 60-65% by 2030 compared to the 2005 level. To fulfill the pledges, China’s government has made energy efficiency its de facto climate policy. This article raises the question to what extent energy efficiency will be an efficient mitigation measure for reaching the targets as pledged by China to the UNFCCC. In this context, two issues blur the picture. One is the potential rebound effect, generally causing one percent improvement in energy efficiency to generate less than one percent reduction in energy-related emissions since users adapt to the direct and indirect productivity gains and cost reductions in energy use. Further, there is the impact on energy use in China from interaction with global markets, in which China has emerged as a dominant player. In the present paper, we study the net implications of energy efficiency improvement in China within alternative global climate policy regimes. Our results show that a one percent energy efficiency improvement in China reduces energy use by 0.38-0.59 percent per year depending on alternative international contexts. Hence, policy makers should consider climate policies adopted by the other regions such as carbon trading system when assessing the implications of energy efficiency for energy consumption and climate mitigation. Policy makers should also consider overlapping effects of alternative energy policies, as energy efficiency improvement might have no effect on energy and emission reduction if there is global carbon trade. However, policy makers can expect more reduction in energy use and emissions due to energy efficiency improvement in the new mechanism announced in the Paris Agreement at the COP21.

4 citations


Cites background from "Energy efficiency and consumption —..."

  • ...These take-back effects are called rebound effects in the literature and have been debated for decades [5,6]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, W. Stanley Jevons, le premier, souligne avec vigueur les risques que presente cet epuisement for l'avenir economique de son pays, prolonge son analyse dans des directions multiples.
Abstract: La prosperite inedite de la Grande-Bretagne au xixe siecle se trouve, dans les annees 1860, sous une menace restee longtemps invisible : l’epuisement des mines de charbon. C’est W. Stanley Jevons qui, le premier, souligne avec vigueur les risques que presente cet epuisement pour l’avenir economique de son pays. Cinquante ans plus tard, en 1915 exactement, son fils, Herbert S. Jevons, prolonge son analyse dans des directions multiples. Si ces deux auteurs s’accordent pour indiquer que l’epuisement des ressources pose un probleme de cout de production plus que de penurie, tous deux ne mettent pas en evidence les memes voies de sortie pour eviter le declin industriel. Cette peur du declin reste neanmoins une caracteristique forte de la pensee economique britannique du tournant du xxe siecle.

4 citations

01 Mar 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined options for reducing emissions from motor vehicles and evaluated each of the options in terms of its public health, climate change, and cost implications, including the uncertainty associated with each option.
Abstract: Two of California's greatest environmental challenges are to meet national ambient air quality standards and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Although California has been struggling with air quality problems for more than four decades, concern over climate change is a relatively new phenomenon. Yet, the common ground between these two concerns is evident—both air quality and climate change policies aim to reduce the harmful pollutants that threaten the public's health and well-being. And one of the major culprits in both cases is the same—motor vehicles, the leading source of both smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines options for reducing emissions from motor vehicles and evaluates each of the options in terms of its public health, climate change, and cost implications, including the uncertainty associated with each option. We examine battery-electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, the use of ethanol blends in flex-fuel vehicles, and reductions in vehicle miles traveled. We find that increasing the use of battery-electric vehicles provides the greatest public health benefit per unit of GHG emission reduction, followed closely by the use of fuel cell vehicles, and then by reductions in vehicle miles traveled. However, all of these options involve tradeoffs, and none ranks favorably along all dimensions. For example, battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles provide significant public health and climate change benefits, but both options involve high cost and uncertainty. Flex fuel vehicles consuming fuel blends containing ethanol derived from corn, on the other hand, have fairly low technological uncertainty, but do not provide any significant public health or climate change benefit. Looking ahead, California needs to design policies that will reduce emissions from the transportation sector at a reasonable cost, while achieving maximum benefits for both public health and the climate. Policymakers, industry leaders, and the public need to understand the tradeoffs among these goals and seek to reconcile them. For example, there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles, which will depend on technological breakthroughs and broader market penetration to reduce cost and meet performance targets. And while biofuels may help reduce global warming, their benefits will be greatly reduced if future policies are not also designed to account for their impacts on land use and their potentially adverse effect on food prices, depending upon the material used in their production. In the concluding sections of this paper, we discuss California's policy goals relating to air …

4 citations

01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: The Digital Commons as discussed by the authors is part of the Civic and Community Engagement (CCE) Community Learning and Research Commons (CLR) and the Sustainability Commons (Sustainability).
Abstract: Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Economics Commons, Energy Policy Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Psychology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Sustainability Commons

4 citations


Cites background from "Energy efficiency and consumption —..."

  • ...There are studies that quantify a rebound effect in home heating [29] that will be addressed in Chapter 3 where actual costs and savings will be...

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Posted Content
01 May 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the economy-wide impacts of a 5% improvement in Scottish household energy efficiency, focussing specifically on general equilibrium energy rebound effects, both in household energy use and in total energy use across the Scottish economy.
Abstract: This paper investigates the economy-wide impacts of a 5% improvement in Scottish household energy efficiency, focussing specifically on general equilibrium energy rebound effects, both in household energy use and in total energy use across the Scottish economy. The impacts are measured through simulations using an intertemporal single region computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. Previous studies based on a national case show that improving efficiency in household energy can stimulate the economy through an increase and change in the pattern of the aggregate demand. However, this may put upward pressure on domestic prices, thereby crowding out exports. Here we find that in an open region, interregional migration of workers may give additional momentum to the economic expansion, by relieving pressure on the real wage and the CPI to their baseline values and restoring the lost competitiveness. By considering different simulation scenarios we show that there is a friction between the economic stimulus from increasing household energy efficiency and the rebound effects.

4 citations


Cites background from "Energy efficiency and consumption —..."

  • ...In the literature we find several ways of defining these three types of rebound, and also different taxonomies (see for example Gillingham and Rapson, 2014; Greening et al., 2000; Sorrell, 2007; Turner, 2013)....

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References
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Book
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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