Rebound effect (conservation)

About: Rebound effect (conservation) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 773 publications have been published within this topic receiving 25741 citations.

Energy efficiency and household behavior: the rebound effect in the residential sector

Abstract: Over the years, various efficiency policies have been designed and implemented to reduce residential energy consumption. However, it is very common that the policy expectations that are based upon engineering calculations do not come true. The widely accepted explanation for the gap between expectation and the realization is the change of household behavior, as the energy efficiency gains change the perceived cost of energy services and thereby generate shifts in consumption patterns – the rebound effect. The real controversy about the rebound effect lies in the identification of its magnitude. In this paper, we estimate the rebound effect in residential energy consumption by comparing the actual gas consumption levels with the ex-ante predictions within a sample of well over 600,000 Dutch dwellings and households. We find a significant deviation between the engineering predictions and the households’ actual energy consumption, a difference which varies by ownership, wealth, income and the actual gas use intensity. Our results show a rebound effect of 26.7 percent among home-owners, and 41.3 percent among tenants. Moreover, we find that these effects are greatest among the lower income-wealth groups, and among households that tend to use more gas than average.

The rebound effect through industrial ecology’s eyes: a review of LCA-based studies

Abstract: Industrial ecology academics have embraced with great interest the rebound effect principle operationalised within energy economics. By pursuing more comprehensive assessments, they applied tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to appraise the environmental consequences of the rebound effect. As a result, the mainstream rebound mechanism was broadened and a diversity of (sometimes inconsistent) definitions and approaches unveiled. To depict the state of play, a comprehensive literature review is needed. A literature review has been carried out by targeting scientific documents relevant for the integration of the rebound effect into LCA-based studies. The search was conducted using two approaches: (1) via online catalogues using a defined search criterion and (2) via cross-citation analysis from the documents identified through the first approach. By analysing a total of 42 works yielded during our review, it was possible to bring together the various advantages of the life cycle perspective, as well as to identify the main inconsistencies and uninformed claims present in literature. Concretely, three main advantages have been identified and are discussed: (1) the representation of the rebound effect as a multi-dimensional, life cycle estimate, (2) the improvement of the technology explicitness and (3) the broadening of the consumption and production factors leading to the rebound effect. Also, inconsistencies on the definition and classification of the rebound effect have been found among studies. The review contributes a number of valuable insights to understand how the rebound effect has been treated within the industrial ecology and LCA fields. For instance, the conceptual and methodological refinements introduced by these fields represent a step forward from traditional viewpoints, making the study of the rebound effect more comprehensive and meaningful for environmental assessment and policy making. However, the broadened scope of this new approach unveiled some conceptual inconsistencies, which calls for a common framework. This framework would help the LCA community to consistently integrate the rebound effect as well as to create a common language with other disciplines, favouring learning and co-evolution. We believe that our findings can serve as a starting point in order to delineate such a common framework.

The Economy-Wide Rebound Effect from Improved Energy Efficiency in Swedish Industries – A General Equilibrium Analysis

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the rebound effect from increased efficiency in industrial use of energy in Sweden. Energy efficiency improvements can have significant micro- and macroeconomic effects that hampers the positive effect on real energy savings. To assess the size of the overall rebound effect in the Swedish economy we apply a computable general equilibrium model. The results show that the economy-wide rebound effect in Sweden depends on a number of factors, e.g. the extent of the energy efficiency improvement, how the labour market is modeled as well as if the increase in energy efficiency is combined with a cost or not. We find that the rebound effect following a 5 percent increase of energy efficiency in the Swedish industry lies in the range of 40-70 percent. When energy efficiency only is improved in energy-intensive production, the rebound effect becomes even higher. These findings are in line with the results in the literature.