Comparison of household consumption and regional production approaches to assess urban energy use and implications for policy

Assessment of urban energy use may proceed by a number of methods. Here we derive an energy account from local statistics, and compare them with an input output (IO) analysis as applied to Melbourne, Australia. These approaches highlight different aspects of urban energy use and comparable outputs are presented together to assess consistency, to identify complementarities and discuss the insight each approach brings to understanding urban energy. The IO method captures the direct and embodied primary energy requirements of local household expenditure (235.8 GJ/capita/year) while the regional assessment more directly accounts for local production activity (258.1 GJ/capita/year). The parity of these results is unexpected for a developed city with a strong tertiary sector. Sectoral detail reveals differences between the primary energy required by Melbourne's economic structure and that ultimately required through the full supply chain relating to household expenditure. This is accompanied by an IO analysis of the geography of Melbourne's ‘energy catchment’. It is suggested that the IO consumption and regional production approaches have particular relevance to policies aimed at consumption behaviour and economic (re)structuring, respectively. Their complementarity further suggests that a combined analysis would be valuable in understanding urban energy futures and economic transitions elsewhere.     

Nairobi households and their energy use: An economic analysis of consumption patterns

This paper describes and analyses the results of an urban household energy survey conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, during 1981. Aggregate data on fuel and energy demand are examined in light of the problems facing urban areas in developing countries such as the increases in petroleum prices in the 1970s and the depletion of non-commercial energy resources such as wood. The paper provides a disaggregation of urban household fuel demand by income group. Using regression analysis, the results confirm that there is a high income elasticity for electricity (approximately 1.6), while charcoal exhibits a negative income elasticity of -0.23. Gas energy consumption is primarily explained by price movements.     

Energy-related emissions and mitigation opportunities from the household sector in Delhi

Urban centers are the major consumers of energy, which is a major source of air pollution. Therefore, an insight into energy consumption and quantification of emissions from urban areas are extremely important for identifying impacts and finding solution to air pollution in urban centers. This paper applies the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system for modeling the total energy consumption and associated emissions from the household sector of Delhi. Energy consumption under different sets of policy and technology options are analyzed for a time span of 2001–2021 and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH₄), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), nitrous oxide (N₂O), total suspended particulates (TSP) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) are estimated. Different scenarios are generated to examine the level of pollution reduction achievable by application of various options. The business as usual (BAU) scenario is developed considering the time series trends of energy use in Delhi households. The fuel substitution (FS) scenario analyzes policies having potential to impact fuel switching and their implications towards reducing emissions. The energy conservation (EC) scenario focuses on efficiency improvement technologies and policies for energy-intensity reduction. An integrated (INT) scenario is also generated to assess the cumulative impact of the two alternate scenarios on energy consumption and direct emissions from household sectors of Delhi. Maximum reduction in energy consumption in households of Delhi is observed in the EC scenario, whereas, the FS scenario seems to be a viable option if the emission loadings are to be reduced.     

The impact of household consumption on energy use and CO2 emissions in China

In this paper, the consumer lifestyle approach is applied to analyze the impact of consumption by urban and rural households on energy use and CO₂ emissions for different regions and income levels in China. Grey Model is used to compare the relationship between energy consumption, consumption expenditure and CO₂ emissions for different lifestyles. The results show that direct energy consumption is diverse for urban households and simple for rural households in China. Direct energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are increasing faster for urban than for rural households. Indirect energy consumption and CO₂ emissions for urban households are much greater than the direct consumption values. The total indirect energy consumption and CO₂ emissions differ by regions and the structures are different, but the latter differences are not obvious. The impact of household income is enormous. Indirect energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are higher for high-income than for low-income households. The structural difference for indirect energy consumption and CO₂ emissions for households with different income levels is significant. The higher the income, the more diverse is the energy consumption and CO₂ emission structure. The structures for indirect energy use and CO₂ emissions are diverse for urban households, but simple for rural households.     

The relationship among energy prices and energy consumption in China

The pricing mechanism for energy is not in line with the international standards, because the energy prices are controlled by the government partly or completely in China. Chinese government made a lot of efforts to improve the pricing mechanism for energy. The relations between Chinese energy prices and energy consumption are the foundations to reform the mechanism. In this paper, the relations between Chinese energy consumption and energy prices are researched by cointegration equations, impulse response functions, granger causality and variance decomposition. The cointegration relations among energy prices, energy consumption and economic outputs show that higher energy price will decrease energy consumption in Chinese industrial sectors but will not reduce the economic output in the long run. The cointegration relation between energy price and household energy consumption shows that higher energy price will decrease household energy consumption in the long run and increase it in the short run. So Chinese government should deepen the reform of pricing mechanism for energy, and increase the energy prices reasonably to save energy.     

The direct and indirect household energy requirements in the Republic of Korea from 1980 to 2000—An input–output analysis

As energy conservation can be realized through changes in the composition of goods and services consumed, there is a need to assess indirect and total household energy requirements. The Korean household sector was responsible for about 52% of the national primary energy requirement in the period from 1980 to 2000. Of this total, more than 60% of household energy requirement was indirect. Thus, not only direct but also indirect household energy requirement should be the target of energy conservation policies. Electricity became the main fuel in household energy use in 2000. Households consume more and more electricity intensive goods and services, a sign of increasing living standards. Increases in household consumption expenditure were responsible for a relatively high growth of energy consumption. Switching to consumption of less energy intensive products and decrease in energy intensities of products in 1990s contributed substantially to reduce the increase in the total household energy requirement. A future Korean study should apply a hybrid method as to reduce errors occurred by using uniform (average) prices in constructing energy input–output tables and as to make energy intensities of different years more comparable.     

农村家庭能源贫困问题研究——基于贵州省盘县的问卷调查

我国的能源消费城乡差距大,能源消费结构极不合理,农村地区是能源贫困的重灾区。文章在文献综述的基础上,对农村地区目前使用的电力、煤炭、薪柴、汽油／柴油、煤油、液化气、沼气、太阳能等九种能源结构分析发现,受访地区农村家庭能源贫困主要体现为家庭能源消费支出贫困和家庭能源消费结构贫困。从解决途径来看,发展农村地区绿色电力、提高农村家庭经济收入、优化农村家庭能源消费结构、实施农村家庭能源贫困救助是值得提倡和可行的。     

Rural household energy consumption with the economic development in China: stages and characteristic indices

This paper discusses history variance and general features on rural household energy consumption with the economic development in China. Energy shortage has been a long-standing problem in rural areas of China. The average effective energy consumption was 0.46–0.54 kgce per day per household in the 1960s and 1970s. The reason for this is that the rural household energy supply mainly relies on the available amounts of local natural energy resources. The problem of cooking fuel shortage was basically solved in the early 1980s since more straw and stalks were produced due to the rapid development of agriculture. The process of energy commercialization also started from the early 1980s due to the availability of coal, fuel oil and other energy sources in the market, and the reconstruction of rural power supply network. Energy consumption was 369.8 kgce per capita with 30% of commercial energy consumption and the effective heat per capita per day was 0.64 kgce in 1995. A closer relationship was found between household energy consumption level/structure and family income along with the economic development. This paper analyzed the rural household energy consumption of three typical regions, i.e., out-of-poverty, well-off and rich regions, in terms of effective heat per capita per day, percentage of commercial energy consumption in total effective heat, electricity consumption per capita and room temperature of northern areas in winter.     

Impact of energy subsidies on energy consumption and supply in Zimbabwe. Do the urban poor really benefit?

Twenty percent of Zimbabwe's urban poor households are still to be connected to the grid. The majority of these households are poor. There are several reasons why the Zimbabwe urban poor are still not connected to the grid, the most important one being the household incomes and the cost of different sources of energy. In order to facilitate wider usage of electricity by the poor, the policy makers have introduced a subsidy policy.

The objective of this paper is to ascertain the extent to which the poor urban households could afford the cost of electricity with or without subsidies. This gives an indication on whether contrary to the current thinking, subsidies are decisive for the affordability of electricity by the urban households. The paper also examines the distribution of the subsidies, amongst the different urban household income categories and other economic sectors. Furthermore the impact of such subsidies on the utility's finances is assessed.     

Analysis of household energy demand in Vietnam

Household energy demand in Vietnam is analysed based on a recent household energy survey in four northern provinces. Energy consumption patterns by fuel type and by end use are analysed. The effects of income on these patterns are also examined for different categories of households. Widely held beliefs about energy use and behaviour have been given actual value.     

Evaluation of city-scale impact of residential energy conservation measures using the detailed end-use simulation model

Energy conservation policies for the residential sector are evaluated by a model that simulates city-scale energy consumption in the residential sector by considering the diversity of household and building types. In this model, all the households in the city are classified into 380 categories based on the household and building type. The energy consumption for each household category is simulated by the dynamic energy simulation model, which includes an energy use schedule model and a heating and cooling load calculation model. Since the energy usage of each appliance is simulated for every 5 min according to the occupants’ energy usage activity, this model can evaluate not only the energy conservation measures by improving the buildings and appliances but also the measures that involve changing the occupants’ activities. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing its results with the statistical and the measured data on Osaka City, Japan. Various types of energy conservation measures planned by the Japanese government for the residential sector are simulated and their effects on Osaka City are evaluated quantitatively. The future effects of these combined measures on the energy consumption are also predicted.     

中国居民生活与CO_2排放关系研究

本文采用Consumer Lifestyle Approach(CLA)方法,比较分析中国各地区和不同收入水平下居民的二氧化碳排放量。结果表明,城镇居民直接二氧化碳排放一直处于增长状态,农村增速较缓慢。城镇居民间接二氧化碳排放量高于直接消费。城镇居民食品、衣着、居住、教育文化是主要的二氧化碳排放源,农村居民食品消费占据主要比例。地区间的差异对于居民间接二氧化碳排放影响主要体现在总量上,收入水平对居民生活方式的间接二氧化碳排放量影响大,高收入水平的居民二氧化碳排放量高于低收入水平居民;收入水平越高,二氧化碳排放结构越多样化。根据研究提出了降低生活能源强度和二氧化碳排放强度的建议。     

Changes in energy requirements of the residential sector in India between 1993–94 and 2006–07

A substantial amount of primary and secondary energy is consumed by the residential sector. Residential energy consumption includes energy required for construction activity and household consumption. Hence there is a need to quantify energy consumption, its significance and causes. Calculating energy intensity of goods and services is the first step towards quantifying the causes. This research is based on the 115 sector classification input–output tables for India, for 1993–94, 1998–99 and 130 sector classification input–output tables for 2003–04 and 2006–07. Energy intensity of sectors related to household consumption has been calculated to analyze the trend between 1993–94 and 2006–07. Indirect energy requirements of Indian households have been assessed in this study from calculations of total primary energy intensity along with private final consumption expenditure. Results indicate that energy consumption has increased for all categories except “medical care and hygiene”. Percentage increase in indirect primary energy consumed by households is maximum for “house building” and “recreation” categories. Finally a complete decomposition analysis of indirect primary energy consumed by households has been carried out based on changing structural composition of the private final consumption expenditure, energy intensity patterns, per capita expenditures on energy and population.     

Relative inequality in energy resource consumption: a case of Kanvashram village, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttranchall (India)

Energy planning exercises for rural areas make use of a mix of locally available renewable resources with some commercial resources to cater to the energy needs of the population. Such exercises are economically attractive in developing countries, whereby, the foreign exchange reserves for the purchase of commercial energy is curtailed. The first step in the implementation of an energy planning exercise is to understand the energy consumption and utilization habits of the population being served. Frequently, an assessment of the levels of inequality in the consumption of various resources is necessary as, this provides the rural planner with an understanding of the future trends and thus forearms him with strategic alternatives to combat any future energy resource crisis that the trends seem to imply.In the present paper, an attempt is made to assess the level of energy resource consumption inequality in a typical hilly rural Indian village. The Gini Coefficient of Inequality, a measure of inequality in the field of Econometrics has been applied for this assessment. The population is segregated into different categories based on their income levels and certain socio-economic criteria, which are also felt to exercise an influence on consumption levels of energy. The results of the analysis are then discussed in the light of the findings.     

The requirement and utilization of renewable energy technologies in Chinese rural areas

The tendency of using commercial fossil energy, especially high-quality energy, will increase rapidly along with the rural economic development in China. However, energy consumption for household use in most rural areas still relies on firewood or straw, except the urban suburb. The application and development of renewable energy has been and should play an important role in China. In order to integrate and adapt renewable energy technologies, we need to carefully study the specific economic and social conditions of the rural economic development.     

Common factors and major characteristics of household energy consumption in comparatively well-off rural China

Common factors that influence Chinese rural household energy consumption are proposed and major demand characteristics of well-off rural areas are analyzed on the basis of survey data. A system of major characteristic indicators for rural household energy consumption includes effective heat consumption for livelihood per capita per day (EHC), the proportion of commercial energy in EHC (PCE) and annual electricity consumption for livelihood per capita (AEC). Typical values in three economic regions (out-of-poverty, well-off and rich areas) of China are also given.     

Household energy consumption in the UK: A highly geographically and socio-economically disaggregated model

Devising policies for a low carbon society requires a careful understanding of energy consumption in different types of households. In this paper, we explore patterns of UK household energy use and associated carbon emissions at national level and also at high levels of socio-economic and geographical disaggregation. In particular, we examine specific neighbourhoods with contrasting levels of deprivation, and typical ‘types’ (segments) of UK households based on socio-economic characteristics. Results support the hypothesis that different segments have widely differing patterns of consumption. We show that household energy use and associated carbon emissions are both strongly, but not solely, related to income levels. Other factors, such as the type of dwelling, tenure, household composition and rural/urban location are also extremely important. The methodology described in this paper can be used in various ways to inform policy-making. For example, results can help in targeting energy efficiency measures; trends from time series results will form a useful basis for scenario building; and the methodology may be used to model expected outcomes of possible policy options, such as personal carbon trading or a progressive tax regime on household energy consumption.     

Comprehensive evaluation of household indirect energy consumption and impacts of alternative energy policies in China by input–output analysis

Households consume a large amount of indirect energy through the consumption of goods and services. This fact makes the quantitative analysis of indirect household energy consumption the foundation of energy policy design. This paper improves the compilation method of energy input–output tables, and establishes a sequence of energy input–output tables for China. Based on these tables, the indirect energy consumption of both rural and urban households is calculated. Then, with economic data for the year of 2005, the adjusted input–output price model is applied to evaluate how the alternative energy policies impact production prices, consumption prices, and real income of rural and urban households through the mechanism of indirect energy consumption by using electricity as an example. This research has practical implications for Chinese economy. The integration of energy-efficiency improvements and energy prices increase serves as a means to achieve both economic and energy conservation goals, and may also have a positive effect on residents’ real income and a minimal effect on production prices.     

Household electricity and gas consumption for heating homes

Energy consumption has been drastically changed because of energy source depletion, price fluctuations, development and penetration of alternative energy sources, and government policies. Household energy sources are interrelated, and energy price and household characteristics, such as income level and dwelling size, affect the usage. To supply energy consistently and achieve a balance between production and consumption, stakeholders must understand consumer energy-consumption behavior. Therefore, this study identifies household heating energy usage patterns and the substitutive and/or complementary relationships between electricity and gas. Based on a multiple discrete-continuous extreme value model, household utility structure is identified from data on gas-heating usage. Results show greater utility and the smallest satiation values for gas boilers than for electric heaters and electric heating beds. The effects of consumer socioeconomic and environmental characteristics on the choice of heating energy sources were analyzed. Also, for further comparison, the respondents were split into high and low categories for income, heating degree days, dwelling size, and gas usage. Gas was found to be the most economical heating choice for households.