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.

An agent based approach to the potential for rebound resulting from evolution of residential lighting technologies

Abstract: More energy efficient lighting options, such as compact fluorescent bulbs and light emitting diodes are predicted to significantly reduce the amount of energy used for lighting. Such forecasts are predicated on the assumption of light saturation and do not take into account the potential for economic rebound. The potential of the rebound effect to reduce or negate predicted energy savings is explored here. This work uses an agent-based model with a cellular automata approach to study the impact of rebound on the consumption of residential light and associated energy use, using three lighting technologies, and a time span from 2012 to 2030. Agents, representative of households, select between three lighting options using a multiplicative utility function and a probabilistic choice mechanism. Agents then decide whether to consume more light and potentially more energy based on the lighting technology selected and personal preferences. The agents are heterogeneous in nature, consisting of seven typologies, with their characteristics informed through survey data. The results of the model indicate that although the consumption of light may increase, overall changes in the consumption of energy compared to 2012 levels will be minor. If the consumption of light is held steady, assuming saturation, then there is the potential for the adoption of energy-efficient lighting to result in significant energy savings. However, if the rebound effect occurs, there will be a decrease in the consumption of energy for lighting as consumers adopt more energy efficient options. Overtime as the consumption of light continues to increase, those savings will largely be eroded. This study suggests that the adoption of energy-efficient lighting in itself will not reduce the overall consumption of energy for lighting on a long-term scale although it may be successful in doing so in the short-term. The rebound effect will greatly reduce the projected energy savings from more efficient lighting technologies, with potential for direct rebound to exceed 100 %. In order for the quantity of energy utilized in residential lighting to decrease, solutions beyond that of efficiency gains must be considered.

The rebound effect and Schatzki’s social theory: Reassessing the socio-materiality of energy consumption via a German case study

Abstract: Rebound effect studies are useful for policy making, as they indicate the extent to which increases in energy efficiency lead to lower energy savings than those predicted by engineering calculations. Existing rebound studies assume energy consumption changes arise from an economically rational response, by consumers, to cheaper energy services. This misses the possibility that energy efficiency increases could have effects on wider society, organization and material-human relationships which lead to increases in energy consumption for reasons other than economic utility. This paper argues that setting rebound studies within a properly worked out social theory would give a fuller picture of these causal routes. Noting that ‘practice theories’ drawn from Schatzki are being used increasingly in energy consumption studies, the paper critically expounds Schatzki’s development of practice theory and human-material ‘arrangements’, offering this as a framework for rebound studies. It then uses a small case study, of growth in computer use in a university research cluster, to compare rebound effect results obtained by the traditional approach and the Schatzkian approach. The latter gives rebounds up to 100% higher than the former. The paper recommends that policy take these wider causal determinants into account when estimating likely effects of energy efficiency increases.

Some Like it Hot: The Role of Environmental Concern and Comfort Expectations in EnergyRetrofit Decisions

Abstract: This study investigates the role of environmental concern and comfort expectations in the decision to retrofit a dwelling and their implications for the rebound effect. We ex-ante elicit individual preferences for deep thermal energy-saving measures in residential buildings by means of a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) among 3,161 owner-occupiers and tenants in Germany. Besides room temperature, we include air quality, level of control over the system, noise reduction, and aesthetics of the dwelling as proxies for indoor comfort. Our model also accounts for monthly payments related to the implementation of the measure – and customized based on tenancy status, building type, and size of the dwelling – as well as technical energy cost savings. Econometric estimation provides significant results for most of nthe parameter coefficients. Findings show that thermal comfort preferences are heterogeneous: 33% of the respondents attach positive values to an increase in indoor temperature that would result from the deep retrofit, providing evidence in favor of a technical rebound effect. While environmental concern explains heterogeneity in most of the attributes, its interaction with thermal comfort is not significant. Thermal comfort is, however, the least important attribute in the analysis.

The rebound effect on energy efficiency improvements in China’s transportation sector: A CGE analysis

Abstract: Energy use is becoming more efficient due to technological innovations. We focused on the transportation sector in China to develop a national multisector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for analyzing the rebound effect from an improvement of 10% in the energy efficiency. We compared the size of the energy rebound effect at both the macroeconomic and sectoral levels in different transportation modal subsectors, namely rail, road, water, and air travel. The findings showed that the magnitude of the rebound effect varies across the transportation modes. This is particularly true for the air transportation sector, which has an economy-wide rebound effect of 30.1% and an own-sector rebound effect of 74.6% because of a sharp increase in the export demand for air transport services. We also quantitatively evaluated the contribution of energy efficiency improvement in the transportation sector to China’s economic growth and carbon reductions and found a positive dividend effect on the economy as well as the environment. The modeling results suggest that improving overall transportation energy efficiency by 10% generates an economy-wide welfare gain of approximately 29 billion yuan, while 19 billion yuan are attributable to a more efficient road transportation subsector. Furthermore, to offset the effects of these mode-specific rebound effects, we simulated the effectiveness of different policies and solutions. These included economic instruments in the form of energy, environmental, and carbon taxes, household transport consumption structure adjustments, and energy structure adjustments. This study revealed that combining these sustainable development policies offers opportunities for economy-wide multisectoral improvements in energy savings, emissions reduction, and economic benefits.