Fuel poverty and human health: A review of recent evidence

The health impacts of tackling fuel poverty are reviewed, drawing primarily on large-scale studies completed in the last 10 years. Although physical health effects on adults appear to be modest, caregivers and children perceive significant impacts on children’s respiratory health. There also appear to be significant effects on the physical health of infants, particularly on weight gain and susceptibility to illness. Mental health effects on adults emerge as significant in most studies, as do mental health impacts on adolescents. Mental health effects on children have, as yet, never been systematically assessed. Whilst several studies are methodologically rigorous, with some also based on very large samples, methodological problems remain. In future evaluations of health impacts, clinical outcomes could be more comprehensively augmented with measures that extend beyond physical health. These include measures reflecting quality of life, changes in patterns of social engagement and daily routine, and their concomitant impacts on mental wellbeing, Such measures may provide more rounded insights into the potential health impacts of tackling fuel poverty and—equally as important for policy and practice—the processes by which these impacts become manifest.     

The effects of energy price on energy intensity: evidence from Canadian manufacturing sector

This study provides estimates for the long-run elasticity of energy intensity with respect to energy price in Canadian manufacturing industries. The time-series properties of the data are investigated using panel unit root, and the long-run relationships are ascertained based on panel co-integration tests. Estimation of long-run elasticities is then conducted using panel error correction and panel fully modified ordinary least square (PFMOLS) methods. The estimated long-run elasticity is in the tune of ?0.4 for the overall manufacturing sector, but there is significant variation across the industries.     

Drivers for energy efficiency and their effect on barriers: empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing enterprises

Industrial activities are responsible for a significant share of both global delivered energy demand and CO₂ emissions. Hence, a widespread adoption of energy-efficient technologies and practices represents a crucial means for sustainable production. Adopting a novel framework of drivers for energy efficiency describing the effect of drivers on barriers in the decision-making process steps and able to account for the nature of drivers and the stakeholders responsible for their promotion, we have performed an exploratory investigation into 61 manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Italy. Our findings have highlighted the importance of information and economic drivers, showing the need for enterprises to be supported not only by public institutions but also by external stakeholders involved in the supply of energy-efficient technologies and practices such as industrial associations and groupings, as well as service and technology suppliers. Moreover, our study has highlighted an almost equal relevance of both internal and external drivers. According to our findings, the increase of awareness—generating the interest to energy issues and stimulated both by external and internal stakeholders—as well as financial issues have emerged as the most critical in the decision-making process to adopt an energy-efficient measure. A preliminary comprehension of the mechanisms relating drivers to barriers in the decision-making process brought additional value to the study, highlighting the most effective and specific means to overcome the existing barriers. We have also explored the effect of several firm characteristics, such as firm size and energy intensity offering suggestions for industrial decision-makers as well as policy-makers.     

The relationship between pollutant emissions,renewable energy,nuclear energy and GDP: empirical evidence from 18 developed and developing countries

This document investigates the causal relationship between nuclear energy (NE), pollutant emissions (CO₂ emissions), gross domestic product (GDP) and renewable energy (RE) using dynamic panel data models for a global panel consisting of 18 countries (developed and developing) covering the 1990–2013 period. Our results indicate that there is a co-integration between variables. The unit root test suggests that all the variables are stationary in first differences. The paper further examines the link using the Granger causality analysis of vector error correction model, which indicates a unidirectional relationship running from GDP per capita to pollutant emissions for the developed and developing countries. However, there is a unidirectional causality from GDP per capita to RE in the short and long run. This finding confirms the conservation hypothesis. Similarly, there is no causality between NE and GDP per capita.     

The impact of energy prices on energy consumption and energy efficiency: evidence from Taiwan

This study aims to explore the impact of energy prices on energy consumption and energy efficiency using industry data for Taiwan over the period of 1982–2011. A frontier-based framework is proposed with a microeconomic foundation to measure energy efficiency and decompose energy consumption into energy utilization and energy wastage in the short and the long run. We learn that the traditional energy efficiency indicators are essentially ambiguous measures. In contrast, the frontier-based framework can focus the measure on energy relatively specifically and capture the essence of a proper efficiency measure more precisely. The empirical analyses reveal that the values of short- and long-run energy efficiency in the Taiwan manufacturing sector are on average 0.6016 and 0.8040, respectively. Moreover, energy utilization is price inelastic in the short run, but in the long run, it is elastic at ?0.79. The energy price elasticity of energy wastage in the short run is ?0.61, which is somewhat higher than the ?0.52 in the long run. The energy price elasticity of energy efficiency in the short run is 0.077 and that in the long run is 0.144. All the energy price elasticities obtained using the frontier-based framework are lower than those obtained using the common framework of the past without distinguishing the heteroscedasticity between the energy utilization and energy wastage.     

The effects of home energy efficiency upgrades on social housing tenants: evidence from Ireland

This research examines some of the multiple benefits of a home energy efficiency upgrade programme for social housing tenants. Employing a quasi-experimental approach, we examine a range of objectively measured and self-reported outcomes, including metered gas consumption, for a control and upgrade group, before and after the upgrade. We drew our sample from a large home energy efficiency programme in Ireland, The SEAI Better Energy Communities Scheme, which provides funding for whole communities to upgrade the efficiency of their dwellings. Dwellings were selected for upgrade based on need, allowing us to control for observable dwelling characteristics correlated with selection into the trial. The upgrades undertaken were extensive relative to the average home energy improvement, with many dwellings receiving a number of measures. Households reported improvements across a range of outcomes associated with heating-related deprivation and comfort in the home. We use panel regression models to estimate the elasticity of gas demand with respect to the thermal efficiency of the dwellings. Overall, we find that use of natural gas fell much less than 1:1 for each increment to thermal efficiency of the home. For the average household in this study, about one third of the marginal increase in thermal efficiency was reflected in reduced gas demand. This result highlights issues with standard engineering models which are commonly used to assess the energy efficiency of dwellings and points to a behavioural response from households, potentially taking back some of the savings as increased internal temperatures.     

The validity of the index of vulnerable homes: evidence from consumers vulnerable to energy poverty in the UK

ABSTRACT

Energy poverty is a multidimensional issue, and this means that it is difficult to understand the different levels of vulnerability to this phenomenon and its relationship with households’ quality of life. This paper presents the validation of an innovative index for the analysis of vulnerability to energy poverty according to monetary, energy, and thermal comfort factors: The Index of Vulnerable Homes (IVH). The IVH goes beyond the use of single self-reported indicators of thermal comfort, and instead uses the adaptive thermal-comfort model defined in the normative UNE EN 15251:2007 to assess thermal comfort in relation to energy poverty. Furthermore, it has the potential to evaluate the societal impacts of current energy poverty policies by providing the economic analysis of different situations of vulnerability. The IVH is validated by comparing its results to those obtained from a survey conducted in a small-scale study undertaken in Salford, UK. To this end, evidence from households living in terraced houses built before 1980 is used to analyze health status in terms of vulnerability to energy poverty vulnerability according to their monetary situation and the characteristics of the dwelling. In the end, the results show good agreement between both the IVH’s assessment and households’ evidence, leading to consider the IVH as a suitable approach to understanding different levels of vulnerability to energy poverty.     

Exploring the relationship between energy use and economic growth with bivariate models: New evidence from G-7 countries

There is a rapidly growing literature on the interaction between energy use and economic development, with many analysts drawing policy conclusions on the basis of Granger causality tests that involve only an energy and an economic variable. This paper attempts to demonstrate empirically that such studies, although useful for certain applications, may be of limited use for policy purposes. After outlining theoretical and methodological issues associated with such approaches, I apply bivariate energy–economy causality tests for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, using aggregate and sectoral data and three different modern econometric methods. The results, which are often contradictory or economically implausible, illustrate explicitly that one should be cautious when drawing policy implications with the aid of bivariate causality tests on small samples. I therefore underline the importance of utilizing as large sample sizes as possible and using multivariate models, which are closer to economic theory, accommodate several mechanisms and causality channels and provide a better representation of real-world interactions between energy use and economic growth.     

The effects of stock market growth and renewable energy use on CO2 emissions: Evidence from G20 countries

The primary objective of this study is to empirically examine the effect of stock market growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on CO₂ emissions. Further, this study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption on CO₂ emissions and economic output in a panel of the G20 countries. The empirical analysis was carried out on the full sample as well as on sub-samples of developed and developing economies of the G20 member countries. The results confirm a significant long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables across the panels. Further, the long-run elasticities suggest that FDI significantly reduces CO₂ emissions in the full sample and developing economies while stock market growth reduces in developed economies. Similarly, the renewable energy consumption substantially reduces CO₂ emissions and increases economic output across the panels. Our findings have important policy implications. For instance, the policy makers have to initiate effective policies to promote the renewable energy sources to meet the increasing demand for energy by replacing the use of conventional energy such as coal, gas and oil. This will therefore help to reduce the CO₂ emissions and also ensure sustainable economic development in the G20 nations.     

The analysis of the impacts of energy consumption on environment and public health in China

The emission parameters and expose–response functions of some pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and Inhalable Particulate Matter (PM10), were introduced to calculate the emission caused by energy consumption in various sectors and regions in China under different scenarios. The impacts of economic growth, population, and technology progress on energy consumption and on the environment were also analyzed. Finally, the economic value of public health damage caused by the changes of pollutants' concentration related to energy consumption under various scenarios, different regions and sectors in China was analyzed. The results show that the PM-10 and SO₂ emissions and consequent health damage will increase significantly in the next 12 years. Thus, energy efficiency, population, economy, and urbanization are the main factors to be considered in this system.     

The effects of rising energy costs and transportation mode mix on forest fuel procurement costs

Since fossil fuels have been broadly recognized as a non-renewable energy source that threatens the climate, sustainable and CO₂ neutral energy sources - such as forest fuels - are being promoted in Europe, instead. With the expeditiously growing forest fuel demand, the strategic problem of how to design a cost-efficient distribution network has evolved. This paper presents an MILP model, comprising decisions on modes of transportation and spatial arrangement of terminals, in order to design a forest fuel supply network for Austria. The MILP model is used to evaluate the impacts of rising energy costs on procurement sources, transport mix and procurement costs on a national scale, based on the example of Austria. A 20% increase of energy costs results in a procurement cost increase of 7%, and another 20% increase of energy costs would have similar results. While domestic waterways become more important as a result of the first energy cost increase, rail only does so after the second. One way to decrease procurement costs would be to reduce the share of empty trips with truck and trailer. Reducing this share by 10% decreases the average procurement costs by up to 20%. Routing influences the modal split considerably, and the truck transport share increases from 86% to 97%, accordingly. Increasing forest fuel imports by large CHPs lowers domestic competition and also enables smaller plants to cut their procurement costs. Rising forest fuel imports via ship will not significantly decrease domestic market shares, but they will reduce procurement costs considerably.     

The impact of lifestyle on energy use and CO2 emission: An empirical analysis of China's residents

Based on the application of a Consumer Lifestyle Approach (CLA), this paper quantifies the direct and indirect impact of lifestyle of urban and rural residents on China's energy use and the related CO₂ emissions during the period 1999–2002. The results show that approximately 26 per cent of total energy consumption and 30 per cent of CO₂ emission every year are a consequence of residents’ lifestyles, and the economic activities to support these demands. For urban residents the indirect impact on energy consumption is 2.44 times greater than the direct impact. Residence; home energy use; food; and education, cultural and recreation services are the most energy-intensive and carbon-emission-intensive activities. For rural residents, the direct impact on energy consumption is 1.86 times that of the indirect, and home energy use; food; education, and cultural recreation services; and personal travel are the most energy-intensive and carbon-emission-intensive activities. This paper provides quantitative evidence for energy conservation and environmental protection focused policies. China's security for energy supply is singled out as a serious issue for government policy-makers, and we suggest that government should harmonize the relationships between stakeholders to determine rational strategies.     

An assessment of fossil fuel energy use and CO2 emissions from farm field operations using a regional level crop and land use database for Canada

The Canadian Economic and Emissions Model for Agriculture (CEEMA) is considered a potentially useful tool for investigating the impacts of biofuel feedstock production on rural land use. Fossil CO₂ emissions from fieldwork in the CEEMA model were upgraded with the Fossil Fuel Farm Fieldwork Energy and Emissions (F4E2) simulation model. There was very close agreement between the two models at the national level, but differences between the two models at the regional scale and among the three major land uses illustrated the need to revise CEEMA. Emission coefficients from the F4E2 model will give the upgraded CEEMA a more realistic response to the energy requirements by specific field operations and to differences between the major forms of land cover (annuals and perennials). The highest fossil fuel CO₂ emission intensity for fieldwork in 2001 was in Quebec at 0.19 t{CO₂}/ha, followed by Ontario at 0.17 t{CO₂}/ha, while the emission intensities were the lowest in Western Canada, at 0.12 t{CO₂}/ha. Fossil CO₂ emissions from just annual crops in Canada was 0.16 t/ha and the emissions from just harvesting perennial forages was 0.07 t{CO₂}/ha. Fieldwork to maintain summerfallow emitted only 0.02 t{CO₂}/ha.     

The air quality and human health effects of integrating utility-scale batteries into the New York State electricity grid

In a restructured electricity market, utility-scale energy storage technologies such as advanced batteries can generate revenue by charging at low electricity prices and discharging at high prices. This strategy changes the magnitude and distribution of air quality emissions and the total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. We evaluate the social costs associated with these changes using a case study of 500 MW sodium-sulfur battery installations with 80% round-trip efficiency. The batteries displace peaking generators in New York City and charge using off-peak generation in the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) electricity grid during the summer. We identify and map charging and displaced plant types to generators in the NYISO. We then convert the emissions into ambient concentrations with a chemical transport model, the Particulate Matter Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (PMCAM_x). Finally, we transform the concentrations into their equivalent human health effects and social benefits and costs. Reductions in premature mortality from fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) result in a benefit of 4.5 ¢ kWh⁻¹ and 17 ¢ kWh⁻¹ from displacing a natural gas and distillate fuel oil fueled peaking plant, respectively, in New York City. Ozone (O₃) concentrations increase due to decreases in nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions, although the magnitude of the social cost is less certain. Adding the costs from charging, displacing a distillate fuel oil plant yields a net social benefit, while displacing the natural gas plant has a net social cost. With the existing base-load capacity, the upstate population experiences an increase in adverse health effects. If wind generation is charging the battery, both the upstate charging location and New York City benefit. At $20 per tonne of CO₂, the costs from CO₂ are small compared to those from air quality. We conclude that storage could be added to existing electricity grids as part of an integrated strategy from a human health standpoint.     

Biodiesel from low cost feedstocks: The effects of process parameters on the biodiesel yield

Biofuel (e.g. biodiesel) has attracted increasing attention worldwide as blending component or direct replacement for fossil fuel in fuel energized engines. The substitution of petroleum-based diesel with biodiesel has already attained commercial value in many of the developed countries around the world. However, the use of biodiesel has not expanded in developing countries mostly due to the high production cost which is associated with the expensive high-quality virgin oil feedstocks. This research focuses on producing of biodiesel from low cost feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO) and animal fat (AF) via alkaline catalyzed transesterification process investigating the effects of process parameters, for example (i) molar ratio of feedstock to methanol (ii) catalyst concentration (iii) reaction temperature and (iv) reaction period on the biodiesel yield. The biodiesel was successfully produced via transesterification process from low cost feedstocks. It was also observed that the process parameters directly influenced the biodiesel yield. The optimum parameters for maximum biodiesel yields were found to be methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1, catalyst concentration of 1.25 wt% of oil, reaction temperature of 65 °C, reaction period of 2 h and stirring speed of 150 rpm. The maximum biodiesel yields at the optimum conditions were 87.4%, 89% and 88.3% for beef fat, chicken fat and UCO, respectively. The results demonstrate high potential of producing economically viable biodiesel from low cost feedstocks with proper optimization of the process parameters.     

Simulating climate change and its effects on the wind energy resource of Ireland

We consider the impact of climate change on the wind energy resource of Ireland using an ensemble of Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations. The RCM dynamically downscales the coarse information provided by the Global Climate Models (GCMs) and provides high resolution information, on a subdomain covering Ireland. The RCM used in this work is the Rossby Center's RCM (RCA3). The RCA3 model is evaluated by performing simulations of the past Irish climate, driven by European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts ERA‐40 data, and by comparing the output to observations. Results confirm that the output of the RCA3 model exhibits reasonable and realistic features as documented in the historical wind data record. For the investigation of the influence of the future climate under different climate scenarios, the Max Plank Institute's GCM, European Center Hamburg Model, is used to drive the RCA3 model. Simulations are run for a control period 1961‐2000 and future period 2021‐2060. The future climate was simulated using the four Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios A1B, A2, B1 and B2. The results for the downscaled simulations show a substantial overall increase in the energy content of the wind for the future winter months and a decrease during the summer months. The projected changes for summer and winter were found to be statistically significant over most of Ireland. However, the projected changes should be viewed with caution since the climate change signal is of similar magnitude to the variability of the evaluation and control simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production of producer gas from sugarcane bagasse and carpentry waste and its sustainable use in a dual fuel CI engine: A performance,emission, and noise investigation

Due to ever increasing use of conventional fuels and improper utilization of renewables, air pollution and GHG (Green House Gas) emissions are the primary areas of concern. Due to this, the world is now shifting interest towards the synthesis and use of alternate fuels; that can replace the conventional fuels. Present work focuses on an experimental investigation, which is carried out on two different biomass materials – sugarcane bagasse and carpentry waste in 1:1 ratio. Biomass samples were used to synthesize producer gas in a downdraft gasifier with a gas flow rate of 5.07 Nm³/h. Producer gas was blended with diesel and fired in a dual fuel CI engine. Engine performance was smooth while it was tested for six load variations for noise characteristics and various performance and emission parameters. A maximum reduction in diesel consumption by 45.7% and NOx emissions by 69.5% was reported with a slight increase (～3.4 dB) in the noise.     

An empirical study on the institutional factors of energy conservation and emissions reduction: Evidence from listed companies in China

Corporate excessive energy consumption and emissions are negative externality problems, with the basic countermeasure of establishing a series of institutional programs to promote corporate energy conservation and emissions reduction. This paper analyzes the influence of institutional factors such as laws, tax policies, credit policies, government subsidies, media supervision and marketization degree on corporate energy conservation and emissions reduction from the institutional perspective. The data, from 84 listed Chinese chemical and steel companies from 2006 to 2010, was analyzed using both a fixed effect model and the generalized method of moments (GMM) model. The empirical results demonstrate that these institutional factors positively affect corporate energy conservation and emissions reduction. Specifically, four factors – tax policies, government subsidies, credit policies and media supervision – have a significant positive relationship with corporate energy conservation and emissions reduction; whereas laws and marketization degree exhibit no significant effects. The research findings are theoretically and practically significant to the Chinese government with regard to improving the institutional environment and promoting corporate energy conservation and emissions reduction.     

Biodiesel production from inedible animal tallow and an experimental investigation of its use as alternative fuel in a direct injection diesel engine

In this study, a substitute fuel for diesel engines was produced from inedible animal tallow and its usability was investigated as pure biodiesel and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel in a diesel engine. Tallow methyl ester as biodiesel fuel was prepared by base-catalyzed transesterification of the fat with methanol in the presence of NaOH as catalyst. Fuel properties of methyl ester, diesel fuel and blends of them (5%, 20% and 50% by volume) were determined. Viscosity and density of fatty acid methyl ester have been found to meet ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specifications. Viscosity and density of tallow methyl esters are found to be very close to that of diesel. The calorific value of biodiesel is found to be slightly lower than that of diesel. An experimental study was carried out in order to investigate of its usability as alternative fuel of tallow methyl ester in a direct injection diesel engine. It was observed that the addition of biodiesel to the diesel fuel decreases the effective efficiency of engine and increases the specific fuel consumption. This is due to the lower heating value of biodiesel compared to diesel fuel. However, the effective engine power was comparable by biodiesel compared with diesel fuel. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and smoke opacity were reduced around 15%, 38.5%, 72.7% and 56.8%, respectively, in case of tallow methyl esters (B100) compared to diesel fuel. Besides, the lowest CO, NO_x emissions and the highest exhaust temperature were obtained for B20 among all other fuels. The reductions in exhaust emissions made tallow methyl esters and its blends, especially B20 a suitable alternative fuel for diesel and thus could help in controlling air pollution. Based on this study, animal tallow methyl esters and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel can be used a substitute for diesel in direct injection diesel engines without any engine modification.