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.

The Rebound Effect in Residential Heating

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.

Do Energy Efficiency Improvements Reduce Energy Use? Empirical Evidence on the Economy-Wide Rebound Effect in Europe and the United States

Abstract: Improving energy efficiency is often considered to be one of the keys to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, efficiency gains also reduce the cost of energy services and may even reduce the price of energy, resulting in energy use rebounding and potential energy use savings being eaten up. There is only limited empirical research quantifying the economy-wide rebound effect that takes the dynamic economic responses to energy efficiency improvements into account. We use a Structural Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive model (S-FAVAR) that allows us to track how energy use changes in response to an energy efficiency improvement while accounting for a vast range of potential confounders. Our findings point to economy-wide rebound effects of 78% to 101% after two years in France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S. These findings imply that energy efficiency innovations alone may be of limited help in reducing future energy use and emphasize the importance of tackling carbon emissions directly.

A two-century analysis of household energy transitions in Europe and the United States: From the Swiss Alps to Wisconsin

Abstract: This research analyzes residential energy systems of five generations of the Hari family, ranging from the Johannes Hari home in Kandersteg, Switzerland (1800) to my home in Madison, Wisconsin, United States (1970–2014). The overall objective was to help illuminate specific behavioral, technological, and economic factors reflected in results from highly aggregated long-term historical studies of residential energy transitions. Technical data were derived from diverse databases including site visits, physical characteristics, archives and literature, statistical sources, and family/community oral histories. Analysis included quantitatively modeled estimates of end-use energy for each consumption technology, a technique denoted here as “retrospective bottom-up simulation”. Although the sample of five homes is clearly inadequate to derive comprehensive truisms about the long-term transitions of residential energy systems, temporal and spatial differences in the five houses provided explicit descriptions of technical and economic factors leading to the transitions, as well as insight into the accompanying human behavioral changes. In agreement with global trends, the houses experienced transitions from wood to coal, natural gas, and in recent years a significant return to renewables. An energy rebound effect was observed as land, resources and energy become more readily available and convenient. Energy dramatically decreased its share of expenditures in the three United States households, consistent with technology improvements and stability or decrease of energy prices, relative to the Consumer Price Index. Many residential end-use energy services evolved more rapidly than supply-side technologies. The analysis revealed a long-term decarbonization of the energy systems.

Energy Efficiency in Buildings by Using Evolutionary Algorithms: An Approach to Provide Efficiency Choices to the Consumer, Considering the Rebound Effect

Abstract: Energy efficiency can be achieved, by making optimal choices of household appliances, based on specific rules for consumption and use. However, it’s not always possible to achieve good solutions, since in general, an efficient equipment, with an economic consumption savings during his life cycle, is usually an expensive one, with a high initial investment. Additionally, the interaction of these choices, associated with consumer behavior, could lead toward to efficient losses during the lifecycle of the equipment, and then to a situation of indirect rebound effect. In this work, it is presented an approach, applied to the residential buildings, by using evolutionary algorithms to support consumer decisions. The approach presented here, could promote energy efficiency by providing the consumer with several optimal and feasible solutions, and at the same time, with information about the impact of his choices made on future.