Stoves or sugar? Willingness to adopt improved cookstoves in Malawi

Malawi has set a target of adoption of two million improved cookstoves (ICS) by 2020. Meeting this objective requires knowledge about determinants of adoption, particularly in rural areas where the cost of traditional cooking technologies and fuels are non-monetary, and where people have limited capacity to purchase an ICS. We conducted a discrete choice experiment with 383 households in rural Malawi asking them if they would chose a locally made ICS or a package of sugar and salt of roughly equal value. Six months later, we assessed adoption and stove use patterns. Sixty-six percent of households chose the ICS. We find that having a larger share of crop residues in household fuel supply, awareness of the environmental impacts of woodfuel reliance, time the primary cook devotes to collecting fuelwood, and peer effects at the village-level increase the odds of choosing the ICS. Having a large labor supply for fuelwood collection and experience with a non-traditional cooking technology decreased the odds of choosing the ICS. In a rapid assessment six months after stoves were distributed, we found 80% of households were still using the ICS, but not exclusively. Our findings suggest considerable potential for wide-scale adoption of low cost ICS in Malawi.     

Does there exist energy congestion? Empirical evidence from Chinese industrial sectors

Data envelopment analysis as a nonparametric frontier approach has gained increasing popularity in assessing total factor energy efficiency performance. Earlier studies often assume that production activity lies in the economic area, and energy inefficiency associated with energy congestion has seldom been examined. This paper contributes to energy efficiency assessment by developing a decomposition model to examine the energy inefficiency driven by energy congestion and empirically examining whether the energy use in Chinese industrial sectors shows evidence of congestion. It is found that energy congestion does exist in Chinese industrial sectors but varies across different provinces. The provinces with high energy intensities are more likely to suffer from energy congestion. Our empirical results also show that energy congestion could be a main driving force of energy inefficiency. Some policy implications towards energy conservation in China are finally discussed.     

Improved cookstoves in rural India: how improved are they?: A critique of the perceived benefits from the National Programme on Improved Chulhas (NPIC)

The National Programme on Improved Cookstoves (NPIC) was started by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Government of India, in 1985 to achieve the twin objectives of fuelwood conservation and smoke reduction in kitchens. NPIC has overseen the installation of 28 million improved cookstoves, saving nearly 20 million tons of firewood per year. These achievements, though seemingly impressive, are not realistic as they are based on certain assumptions, particularly regarding the life expectancy of stoves. This paper examines the various assumptions made in such calculations and tries to arrive at some realistic numbers regarding fuelwood savings, which can be used to evolve a policy for refining the NPIC further.     

What do customers want from improved residential electricity services? Evidence from a choice experiment

Improvements in customer satisfaction as well as product/service quality represent a common objective of all businesses, and electricity services are no exception. Using choice experiments and a mixed logit model, this study quantitatively analyzes customers' preferences and their marginal willingness to pay for improved residential electricity services. The study provides an ex ante evaluation of customers' acceptance of hypothetical electricity services. According to the results, customers consider the electricity bill and the electricity mix as the two most important attributes when choosing their electricity services. Customers are willing to pay 2.2% more in the average electricity bill (an additional monthly electricity bill of KRW 1,064; USD 0.96) for a significant increase in the share of renewable energy, which is far less than the actual cost of achieving this renewable target. Therefore, it is better to maintain the current electricity mix in principle, and the renewable share should be gradually expanded instead of making a sudden change in the electricity mix. In addition, customers are willing to pay KRW 6,793 (USD 6.15) more to reduce blackouts once in a year and KRW 64/year (USD 0.06/year) to reduce a minute of each blackout.     

Is economic growth good or bad for the environment? Empirical evidence from Korea

The effects of economic growth on the environment in Korea, for a given level of energy consumption, and fossil fuels and nuclear energy in electricity production, are examined in a dynamic cointegration framework. To that end, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach is used. We find empirical evidence supporting the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for Korea; that is, economic growth indeed plays a favorable role in influencing environmental outcomes. It is also found that, in both the short- and long-run, nuclear energy has a beneficial effect on environmental quality, whereas fossil fuels in electricity production and energy consumption have a detrimental effect on the environment.     

How does hydrogen-based renewable energy change with economic development? Empirical evidence from 32 countries

The hydrogen-based renewable energy resource base is sufficient to meet several times the present world energy demand. This paper analyzes the drivers promoting hydrogen-based renewable energy utilization, focusing on a group of 32 countries by applying panel data techniques. The pooled ordinary least square estimator and fixed effect estimator are employed for comparison. Grey relational analysis is used to explore the relationships at a national level between renewable energy development and its influencing factors. The main results over our time span indicate that: (1) GDP per capita is a significantly positive contributor to renewable energy consumption, while oil price does not present a strong relationship in the use of renewables; (2) social awareness about climate change and concerns for energy security is not enough to motivate the switch from traditional to renewable energy sources; (3) the role of urbanization in renewable energy consumption relies on different stages of the urbanization process, resulting in opposite trends in renewable energy development between developing and developed countries. The results show that the market mechanism is not entirely responsible for encouraging the use of renewables and the role of climate change and energy security concerns in renewables use should be enhanced. By analyzing the results, policy implications are provided for the sustainable development of renewable energy.     

Can an oil-rich economy reduce its income inequality? Empirical evidence from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend

The main focus of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) payouts on Alaska's income inequality by taking into account the roles of income and population. To that end, an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration and the Johansen cointegration approach are applied to annual time series data from 1963 to 2012. We find that the PFD payouts tend to worsen income inequality in Alaska in both the short- and long-run. We also provide evidence to support the existence of Kuznets' hypothesis for Alaska – growth deteriorates income inequality initially and improves it later. Finally, population is found to reduce Alaska's income inequality in the short- and long-run.     

Has energy efficiency performance improved in China?—non-energy sectors evidence from sequenced hybrid energy use tables

We conduct a comparative analysis of two energy efficiency indicators for China: heating value energy intensity (HEI) and economic value energy intensity (MEI). We formulate 1997–2002–2007–2012 hybrid energy comparable sequence use tables in an input-output accounting framework, and compare the two indicators using a randomized block ANOVA. The results show that MEIs and HEIs have significantly different variability patterns among sectors and are evolutionarily divergent over time. The directional changes in MEI and HEI are found to be inconsistent at both the sectoral and national levels. A further analysis with a LMDI index decomposition model shows that the difference between HEI LMDI and HEI LMDI is principally caused by energy prices. Based on the evidence from the two indicators and their relationship to energy prices, we are unconvinced about China's purported improvements in energy efficiency in recent years.     

Does environmental regulation affect energy efficiency in China's thermal power generation? Empirical evidence from a slacks-based DEA model

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has gained much popularity in performance measurement of power industry. This paper presents a slack-based measure approach to investigating the relationship between fossil fuel consumption and the environmental regulation of China's thermal power generation. We first calculate the total-factor energy efficiency without considering environmental constraints. An environmental performance indicator is proposed through decomposing the total-factor energy efficiency. The proposed approach is then employed to examine whether environmental regulation affects the energy efficiency of China's thermal power generation. We find that the environmental efficiency plays a significant role in affecting energy performance of China's thermal generation sector. Decreasing the discharge of major pollutants can improve both energy performance and environmental efficiency. Besides, we also have three main findings: (1) The energy efficiency and environmental efficiency were relatively low. (2) The energy and environmental efficiency scores show great variations among provinces. (3) Both energy efficiency and environmental efficiency are of obvious geographical characteristics. According to our findings, we suggest some policy implications.     

Which renewable energy policy is a venture capitalist's best friend? Empirical evidence from a survey of international cleantech investors

Governments around the world have adopted ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They pursue a variety of policy approaches to achieve these targets. It has been a popular theme for contributions in Energy Policy to investigate the effectiveness of such policies. This article adds a new perspective to the debate, namely looking at the policy preferences of private investors in innovative clean energy technology firms. We surveyed 60 investment professionals from European and North American venture capital and private equity funds and asked them to assess the effectiveness of various policies, in terms of stimulating their interest to invest in innovative clean energy technologies. In addition to quantitative rankings, we use qualitative interview data to capture additional information on why investors prefer some policies over others. The combined analysis compensates for the inherent limitations of a quantitative ranking using generic policy types. The results of this exploratory analysis demonstrate that, all other things being equal, investors in our sample perceived feed-in tariffs to be the most effective renewable energy policy. The overall preference for feed-in tariffs is even more pronounced among investors based in Europe and with higher exposure to clean energy.     

Does purchase price matter for the waiting time to start using energy efficient technologies: Experimental evidence from rural Ethiopia?

In this study we conducted a randomized experiment in rural Ethiopia to test on how quickly energy efficient technology (an improved stove) is put in use after the technologies is disseminated. We evaluate two concepts that may affect usage of a product: screening (related to valuation of a product) and sunk cost effects (based on the price the potential user paid for the product). A standard Tobit and IV-Tobit methods of estimations are used for testing sunk cost and screening effects, respectively. Results based on the baseline survey and follow up data shows that there is no difference in the length of waiting time to start using the energy efficient technology between those who got the stove for free and those that paid money for it; in other words, the sunk cost effect is absent. However, we find a difference in the waiting time between those with high valuation for the stove and those with lower valuation for it; in other words, we find an evidence of the screening effect. The result has pricing policy implications for government and non-government organizations involved in dissemination of such technologies that have both public (environmental) and private benefits.     

Who invests in renewable electricity production? Empirical evidence and suggestions for further research

Transforming energy systems to fulfill the needs of a low-carbon economy requires large investments in renewable electricity production (RES-E). Recent literature underlines the need to take a closer look at the composition of the RES-E investor group in order to understand the motives and investment processes of different types of investors. However, existing energy policies generally consider RES-E investments made on a regional or national level, and target investors who evaluate their RES-E investments according to least-cost high-profit criteria. We present empirical evidence to show that RES-E investments are made by a heterogeneous group of investors, that a variety of investors exist and that their formation varies among the different types of renewable sources. This has direct implications for our understanding of the investment process in RES-E and for the study of motives and driving forces of RES-E investors. We introduce a multi-dimensional framework for analyzing differences between categories of investors, which not only considers to the standard economic dimension which is predominant in the contemporary energy literature, but also considers the entrepreneurship, innovation-adoption and institutional dimensions. The framework emphasizes the influence of four main investor-related factors on the investment process which should be studied in future research: motives, background, resources and personal characteristics.     

For better or for worse? Empirical evidence of moral licensing in a behavioral energy conservation campaign

Isolated environmental campaigns focusing on defined target behaviors are rolled out to millions of households every year. Yet it is still unclear whether these programs trigger cross-domain adoption of additional environment-friendly behaviors (positive spillover) or reduced engagement elsewhere. A thorough evaluation of the real net performance of these programs is lacking. This paper investigates whether positive or perverse side effects dominate by exemplifying the impact of a water conservation campaign on electricity consumption. The study draws on daily water (10,780 data points) and weekly electricity (1386 data points) consumption data of 154 apartments in a controlled field experiment at a multifamily residence. The results show that residents who received weekly feedback on their water consumption lowered their water use (6.0% on average), but at the same time increased their electricity consumption by 5.6% compared with control subjects. Income effects can be excluded. While follow-up research is needed on the precise mechanism of the psychological process at work, the findings are consistent with the concept of moral licensing, which can more than offset the benefits of focused energy efficiency campaigns, at least in the short-term. We advocate the adoption of a more comprehensive view in environmental program design/evaluation in order to quantify and mitigate these unintended effects.     

When do energy-efficient appliances generate energy savings? Some evidence from Canada

Improvements in the energy efficiency of household appliances have the potential to decrease residential energy use, but these reductions accrue gradually over time as newer appliances replace older models. SHEU-2003 data are used to examine appliance replacement patterns in Canada for refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers and clothes dryers. The data indicate that the ages at which appliances are replaced tend to be lowest for dishwashers and highest for freezers, with over 40% of freezers in use for more than 20 years before being retired. The life spans of Canadian appliances are compared to the underlying assumptions regarding appliance lifetimes used in models of residential energy demand. We find that Canadian appliance retirement patterns differ from those assumed in the previous literature. Socioeconomic factors related to appliance replacement are also examined. We find that replacement patterns can be sensitive to household characteristics such as income, providing evidence that there may be scope for targeted policies aimed at inducing earlier replacements of older household appliances with new energy-efficient models.     

What can we learn from high-frequency appliance-level energy metering? Results from a field experiment

This study uses high-frequency appliance-level electricity consumption data for 124 apartments over 24 months to provide a better understanding of appliance-level electricity consumption behavior. We conduct our analysis in a standardized set of apartments with similar appliances, which allows us to identify behavioral differences in electricity use. The Results show that households' estimations of appliance-level consumption are inaccurate and that they overestimate lighting use by 75% and underestimate plug-load use by 29%. We find that similar households using the same major appliances exhibit substantial variation in appliance-level electricity consumption. For example, households in the 75th percentile of HVAC usage use over four times as much electricity as a user in the 25th percentile. Additionally, we show that behavior accounts for 25–58% of this variation. Lastly, we find that replacing the existing refrigerator with a more energy-efficient model leads to overall energy savings of approximately 11%. This is equivalent to results from behavioral interventions targeting all appliances but might not be as cost effective. Our findings have important implications for behavior-based energy conservation policies.     

What drives public acceptance of second-generation biofuels? Evidence from Canada

North American publics are currently much more supportive of second-generation biofuels than of conventional biofuels like corn-based ethanol. But what is the likely future trajectory of consumer acceptance of advanced biofuels? This study considers whether increased awareness of the potential unintended consequences of increasing the production of advanced biofuels could lead to a decline in public support for the technology. Using an experiment embedded in an original survey of Canadian adults, we test for the effect of two anti-biofuels arguments on Canadians' support for policies meant to encourage the production of biofuels. We find that support for biofuels policies was reduced in our experiment when respondents were exposed to an argument about the potential impact of biofuels production on food prices and when they were told that the use of woody biomass as a feedstock for the production of cellulosic biofuels might lead to an increase in commercial logging. In both cases, however, support was reduced only among respondents who did not perceive climate change to pose a significant risk. Overall, our results suggest that public support for advanced biofuels is potentially vulnerable to arguments that focus on the unintended consequences of producing biofuels from non-food feedstocks.     

Is per capita electricity consumption stationary? Time series evidence from OECD countries

This study examines the stationary properties of per capita electricity consumption in which the endogenously determined break points are incorporated in 23 high income OECD countries by using annual data over 1960-2005 period. We utilize Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root test that endogenously determines structural breaks in level and/or trend. We find that 21 country series reject the unit root null hypothesis at the 5% significance level, except for 2 country series. Thus, our empirical findings provide significant evidence that per capita electricity consumption is stationary in almost all countries considered in the study. The stationarity of per capita electricity consumption indicates that it should be possible for the series to forecast future movements in the energy consumption based on the past behaviors of the series. Important policy implications emerge from our empirical results of the unit root test with multiple structural breaks.     

Does centralized residence promote the use of cleaner cooking fuels? Evidence from rural China

The Chinese government has implemented the rural centralized residence (RCR) policy to promote rural development in 24 provinces since 2005. This study aims to estimate the effects of RCR on households' choice of clean cooking fuels by applying the instrumental variable approach on a dataset with 3685 observations in Sichuan Province. The empirical analysis showed that RCR has a significant positive effect on the choice of clean cooking fuels. We also found that RCR makes farmer households shift from using non-clean energy to clean energy for cooking by increasing both their total income and the cost of collecting and storing traditional fuels. Peer effects also motivate households to use clean cooking fuels. Further analysis indicates that an increase in the expenditure on clean energy due to RCR does not increase the farmer households' living burden, since the increase in the total income caused by RCR is much greater. Considering the accessibility and affordability of clean energy, the RCR policy could improve the standards of living among rural residents and synergistically promote energy transition in rural China.     

Do people put more value on electricity produced using waste-to-hydrogen? Findings from South Korea

South Korea is pushing for the waste-to-hydrogen (W2H) project to reduce greenhouse gases and utilize plastic and vinyl waste (PVW) while reducing environmental pollution from PVW. This research seeks to estimate additional willingness to pay (WTP) for electricity produced using W2H over that produced using traditional power sources, such as coal and nuclear. For the purpose of the estimation, a contingent valuation survey of 1000 people was performed employing the closed-ended one-and-one-half-bound question during November 2020. A spike model is utilized to reflect zero WTP values that a number of interviewees reported in the survey. Several factors affecting the additional WTP were also analyzed to derive implications. The average WTP was computed as KRW 27.7 (USD 0.025) per kWh with statistical significance, which reaches 26.4% of the electricity price. One more point to note is that 54.3% of the respondents stated a zero WTP as they thought that W2H is of no value to them or were worried that the W2H project could increase electricity bills.     

Are benefits from oil–stocks diversification gone? New evidence from a dynamic copula and high frequency data

Oil is perceived as a good diversification tool for stock markets. To fully understand this potential, we propose a new empirical methodology that combines generalized autoregressive score copula functions with high frequency data and allows us to capture and forecast the conditional time-varying joint distribution of the oil–stocks pair accurately. Our realized GARCH with time-varying copula yields statistically better forecasts of the dependence and quantiles of the distribution relative to competing models. Employing a recently proposed conditional diversification benefits measure that considers higher-order moments and nonlinear dependence from tail events, we document decreasing benefits from diversification over the past ten years. The diversification benefits implied by our empirical model are, moreover, strongly varied over time. These findings have important implications for asset allocation, as the benefits of including oil in stock portfolios may not be as large as perceived.