Total-factor energy productivity growth,technical progress,and efficiency change: An empirical study of China

This article introduces total-factor energy productivity change index (TFEPI) based on the concept of total-factor energy efficiency and the Luenberger productivity index to evaluate the energy productivity change of regions in China with a total-factor framework. Moreover, the TFEPI can be decomposed into change in energy efficiency and shift in the energy use technology. According to the computation results, China’s energy productivity was decreasing by 1.4% per year during 2000–2004. The average total-factor energy efficiency improves about 0.6% per year, while total-factor energy technical change declines progressively 2% annually. The factors affecting TFEPI are also examined: (1) The east area has a higher TFEPI than the central and west area; (2) increasing the development status and electricity share of energy consumption will improve the region’s TFEPI performance, while increasing the proportion of GDP generated by the secondary industry deteriorates TFEPI of a region.     

Scenario-based energy efficiency and productivity in China: A non-radial directional distance function analysis

Improving energy efficiency and productivity is one of the most cost-effective ways for achieving the sustainable development target in China. This paper employs non-radial directional distance function approach to empirically investigate energy efficiency and energy productivity by including CO₂ emissions as an undesirable output. Three production scenarios, namely energy conservation (EC), energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER), and energy conservation, emission reduction and economic growth (ECEREG), are specified to assess China's energy efficiency and productivity growth during the period of Eleventh Five-Year Plan. Our empirical results show that there exist substantial differences in China's total-factor energy efficiency and productivity under different scenarios. Under the ECEREG scenario, the national average total-factor energy efficiency score was 0.6306 in 2005–2010, while the national average total-factor energy productivity increased by 0.27% annually during the period. The main driving force for energy productivity growth in China was energy technological change rather than energy efficiency change.     

Decomposing energy productivity change: A distance function approach

By using output distance functions, this paper decomposes energy productivity change into several components: effects of the changes in the ratios of non-energy inputs to energy, energy supply composition, and output composition; technical efficiency change; technological change. We apply this method to decompose energy productivity change in 23 OECD countries between 1980 and 1990. Results show that technological change is the most important source; increase in capital–energy ratio and the growing importance within total energy supply of electricity also contribute to it.     

Environment-adjusted regional energy efficiency in Taiwan

This study applies the four-stage DEA procedure to calculate the energy efficiency of 23 regions in Taiwan from 1998 to 2007. After controlling for the effects of external environments, only Taipei City, Chiayi City, and Kaohsiung City are energy efficient. Note that Kaohsiung City reaches the efficiency frontier due to the adjustment via partial environmental factors such as higher education attainment and transport vehicles. We also find a worsening trend for Taiwan’s energy efficiency. Not only is there a gap of energy efficiency between Taiwan’s metropolitan areas and the other regions, but the gap has also widened in recent years. Those inefficient counties should be given priority and the savings potential. Except for road density, the evidence indicates that each environmental factor has partial incremental effects on input slacks. As more cars and motorcycles are unfavorable externalities affecting partial energy efficiency, the central government should help local governments retire inefficient old motor vehicles, encourage energy-saving vehicle models, and provide convenient mass transportation systems. Besides, people with higher education cause industrial energy inefficient in Taiwan. The conscious of effective energy saving is necessary to schools, communities, and employee accordingly.     

A conceptual framework for exploring transitions to decarbonised energy systems in the United Kingdom

Drawing upon ‘transitions theory’ and a typology which produces five types of transitions, we describe and analyse the changes that have taken place in the United Kingdom's energy system over the past several decades in terms of three of these transition pathways, namely reproduction (e.g. incremental improvements in energy efficiency), transformation (e.g. more directed efforts towards energy efficiency gains, e.g., through voluntary and compulsory standards-setting processes) and substitution (e.g. the shift from coal to natural gas). Looking into the future, and drawing upon a programme of UK-based research which covered a wide range of potential new supply technologies and changes on the demand side, we identify the key drivers of change, including economic and commercial, technological, policy and regulatory imperatives. This analysis opens up the prospect for two further transition pathways to become manifest. These are: de-alignment/re-alignment (e.g. shift from conventional coal to coal technologies with carbon dioxide capture and storage) and re-configuration (e.g. integrating renewables within buildings and the possible emergence of the ‘hydrogen economy’). We conclude with a discussion of the opportunities for policy learning and experimentation consistent with transitions theory to facilitate the deployment of more sustainable energy systems.     

Malmquist index measurement for sustainability enhancement in Chinese municipalities and provinces

This study discusses a use of DEA environmental assessment in a time horizon. We use a radial approach to examine a dynamic change of index measures related to China's regional development and industrial pollution prevention. In applying the proposed assessment to a time-series data, we need to examine components that produce a shift of an efficiency frontier in a time horizon. A unique feature of the proposed assessment is that it incorporates a framework of Malmquist index to examine the frontier shift among multiple periods. Here, the frontier shift indicates a progress potential on technology development and/or managerial improvement among observed periods. Thus, it is not an efficiency measure. Rather, the measurement eliminates inefficiency by shifting an organization to an efficiency frontier. In this study, the index is conceptually separated into 6 subcomponents, which are further disaggregated into 12 different elements (6 subcomponents × 2 disposability concepts) under natural and managerial disposability concepts. The proposed index measurement needs to consider a possible occurrence of a frontier crossover among different periods because technology diffusion on production activities usually has a time lag until it becomes really effective. Methodologically, this study conveys the message that DEA is an approximation method, so being not perfect. Therefore, it is necessary for us to use several different approaches (e.g., potential improvement by measuring a frontier shift and efficiency analysis) to obtain reliable empirical evidence. As an application, this study examines the level of sustainability related to 30 municipalities and provinces in China from 2003 to 2014. The following six policy implications are obtained in this study. First, all municipalities and provinces have made a considerable progress on their economies and pollution prevention efforts. Second, the effect of the frontier crossover is limited in China because they attain a high level of their potentials on economic development and pollution prevention. Of course, this effort is within the Chinese boundary, not international, because this study does not compare them with other industrial nations. Third, China needs to allocate its resources to western provinces at a level that it has used for coastal developments. Fourth, the government should reinforce efforts on environmental protection in central and southern regions. Fifth, the government has focused on the sustainability development in urban municipalities and provinces and then has gradually shifted the policy influence toward rural areas. Finally, different empirical results are confirmed by the potential analysis which consists of the Malmquist index measurement and the efficiency analysis. Both approaches need to be examined for future planning on Chinese regional development.     

Total-factor energy efficiency in developing countries

This paper uses a total-factor framework to investigate energy efficiency in 23 developing countries during the period of 1980–2005. We explore the total-factor energy efficiency and change trends by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) window, which is capable of measuring efficiency in cross-sectional and time-varying data. The empirical results indicate that Botswana, Mexico and Panama perform the best in terms of energy efficiency, whereas Kenya, Sri Lanka, Syria and the Philippines perform the worst during the entire research period. Seven countries show little change in energy efficiency over time. Eleven countries experienced continuous decreases in energy efficiency. Among five countries witnessing continuous increase in total-factor energy efficiency, China experienced the most rapid rise. Practice in China indicates that effective energy policies play a crucial role in improving energy efficiency. Tobit regression analysis indicates that a U-shaped relationship exists between total-factor energy efficiency and income per capita.     

Energy cultures: A framework for understanding energy behaviours

Achieving a ‘step-change’ in energy efficiency behaviours will require enhanced knowledge of behavioural drivers, and translation of this knowledge into successful intervention programmes. The ‘Energy Cultures’ conceptual framework aims to assist in understanding the factors that influence energy consumption behaviour, and to help identify opportunities for behaviour change. Building on a history of attempts to offer multi-disciplinary integrating models of energy behaviour, we take a culture-based approach to behaviour, while drawing also from lifestyles and systems thinking. The framework provides a structure for addressing the problem of multiple interpretations of ‘behaviour’ by suggesting that it is influenced by the interactions between cognitive norms, energy practices and material culture.     

Using LMDI method to analyze the change of China's industrial CO2 emissions from final fuel use: An empirical analysis

Based on time series decomposition of the Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI), this paper analyzes the change of industrial carbon emissions from 36 industrial sectors in China over the period 1998–2005. The changes of industrial CO₂ emission are decomposed into carbon emissions coefficients of heat and electricity, energy intensity, industrial structural shift, industrial activity and final fuel shift. Our results clearly show that raw chemical materials and chemical products, nonmetal mineral products and smelting and pressing of ferrous metals account for 59.31% of total increased industrial CO₂ emissions. The overwhelming contributors to the change of China's industrial sectors’ carbon emissions in the period 1998–2005 were the industrial activity and energy intensity; the impact of emission coefficients of heat and electricity, fuel shift and structural shift was relatively small. Over the year 1998–2002, the energy intensity change in some energy-intensive sectors decreased industrial emissions, but increased emissions over the period 2002–2005. The impact of structural shift on emissions have varied considerably over the years without showing any clear trend, and the final fuel shift increased industrial emissions because of the increase of electricity share and higher emissions coefficient. Therefore, raw chemical materials and chemical products, nonmetal mineral products and smelting and pressing of ferrous metals should be among the top priorities for enhancing energy efficiency and driving their energy intensity close to the international advanced level. To some degree, we should reduce the products waste of these sectors, mitigate the growth of demand for their products through avoiding the excessive investment highly related to these sectors, increasing imports or decreasing the export in order to avoid expanding their share in total industrial value added. However, all these should integrate economic growth to harmonize industrial development and CO₂ emission reduction.     

Total-factor energy efficiency of regions in China

This paper analyzes energy efficiencies of 29 administrative regions in China for the period 1995–2002 with a newly introduced index. Most existing studies of regional productivity and efficiency neglect energy inputs. We use the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to find the target energy input of each region in China at each particular year. The index of total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) then divides the target energy input by the actual energy input. In our DEA model, labor, capital stock, energy consumption, and total sown area of farm crops used as a proxy of biomass energy are the four inputs and real GDP is the single output. The conventional energy productivity ratio regarded as a partial-factor energy efficiency index is computed for comparison in contrast to TFEE; our index is found fitting better to the real case. According to the TFEE index rankings, the central area of China has the worst energy efficiency and its total adjustmentof energy consumption amount is over half of China's total. Regional TFEE in China generally improved during the research period except for the western area. A U-shape relation between the area's TFEE and per capita income in the areas of China is found, confirming the scenario that energy efficiency eventually improves with economic growth.     

Techno-economic appraisal of fossil-fuelled power generation systems with carbon dioxide capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities coupled to power plants provide a climate change mitigation strategy that potentially permits the continued use of fossil fuels whilst reducing the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. This process involves three basic stages: capture and compression of CO₂ from power stations, transport of CO₂, and storage away from the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years. Potential routes for the capture, transport and storage of CO₂ from United Kingdom (UK) power plants are examined. Six indicative options are evaluated, based on ‘Pulverised Coal’, ‘Natural Gas Combined Cycle’, and ‘Integrated (coal) Gasification Combined Cycle’ power stations. Chemical and physical CO₂ absorption capture techniques are employed with realistic transport possibilities to ‘Enhanced Oil Recovery’ sites or depleted gas fields in the North Sea. The selected options are quantitatively assessed against well-established economic and energy-related criteria. Results show that CO₂ capture can reduce emissions by over 90%. However, this will reduce the efficiency of the power plants concerned, incurring energy penalties between 14 and 30% compared to reference plants without capture. Costs of capture, transport and storage are concatenated to show that the whole CCS chain ‘cost of electricity’ (COE) rises by 27-142% depending on the option adopted. This is a significant cost increase, although calculations show that the average ‘cost of CO₂ captured’ is £15/tCO₂ in 2005 prices [the current base year for official UK producer price indices]. If potential governmental carbon penalties were introduced at this level, then the COE would equate to the same as the reference plant, and make CCS a viable option to help mitigate large-scale climate change.     

Measuring energy performance with sectoral heterogeneity: A non-parametric frontier approach

Evaluating economy-wide energy performance is an integral part of assessing the effectiveness of a country's energy efficiency policy. Non-parametric frontier approach has been widely used by researchers for such a purpose. This paper proposes an extended non-parametric frontier approach to studying economy-wide energy efficiency and productivity performances by accounting for sectoral heterogeneity. Relevant techniques in index number theory are incorporated to quantify the driving forces behind changes in the economy-wide energy productivity index. The proposed approach facilitates flexible modelling of different sectors' production processes, and helps to examine sectors' impact on the aggregate energy performance. A case study of China's economy-wide energy efficiency and productivity performances in its 11th five-year plan period (2006–2010) is presented. It is found that sectoral heterogeneities in terms of energy performance are significant in China. Meanwhile, China's economy-wide energy productivity increased slightly during the study period, mainly driven by the technical efficiency improvement. A number of other findings have also been reported.     

CO2 emissions reduction of Chinese light manufacturing industries: A novel RAM-based global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index

Climate change has become one of the most challenging issues facing the world. Chinese government has realized the importance of energy conservation and prevention of the climate changes for sustainable development of China's economy and set targets for CO₂ emissions reduction in China. In China industry contributes 84.2% of the total CO₂ emissions, especially manufacturing industries. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity (MP) index are the widely used mathematical techniques to address the relative efficiency and productivity of a group of homogenous decision making units, e.g. industries or countries. However, in many real applications, especially those related to energy efficiency, there are often undesirable outputs, e.g. the pollutions, waste and CO₂ emissions, which are produced inevitably with desirable outputs in the production. This paper introduces a novel Malmquist–Luenberger productivity (MLP) index based on directional distance function (DDF) to address the issue of productivity evolution of DMUs in the presence of undesirable outputs. The new RAM (Range-adjusted measure)-based global MLP index has been applied to evaluate CO₂ emissions reduction in Chinese light manufacturing industries. Recommendations for policy makers have been discussed.     

Effects of substituting energy with capital on China's aggregated energy and environmental efficiency

Substituting energy with capital (SEC) in economic productions has become a common practice both for business owners and policy-makers to improve their energy and environmental efficiency. However, seldom previous studies on energy efficiency and/or environmental performance evaluation took this role into account. This paper aims to shed some light on the effects of SEC on China's aggregated energy and environmental efficiency (AEEE) within a parametric stochastic frontier analysis framework. Moreover, influencing factors of regional efficiency score are also discussed using a pooled regression model. The results indicate that SEC poses significant effects on improving China's AEEE, and this impact appears obvious regional variation that regions with lower efficiency scores hold more extensive potential to improve their AEEE by means of SEC. Furthermore, upgrading industrial structure and decreasing the proportion of coal in energy consumption make great sense to improve China's AEEE.     

Energy-efficiency standards for electric motors in Brazilian industry

The first regulation of the “Energy Efficient Act” for electric motors, launched in 2002, established two sets of minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS), for ‘standard’ (mandatory) and ‘high efficiency’ (voluntary) motors. An updated regulation, from the end of 2005 (Edict 553/2005), established the previous high-efficiency MEPS as mandatory for all motors in the Brazilian market. This paper analyses the consequences of this new regulation, which is foreseen to take effect in 2010. These new Brazilian MEPS are compatible with those implemented in other countries. The cost–benefit analysis, considered for different scenarios for industrial consumers, showed that motor substitution (from standard to high efficiency) is generally advantageous. A sample of nine thousand industrial motors has been used, with measured operation in actual conditions, to analyze the investment cost–benefit in three different scenarios. This analysis also demonstrated the benefit of motor substitution, with an average MWh cost from 20 to 35 US$, and with only a few substitutions presenting an unfavorable cost–benefit relationship to the user. We assess that Edict 553 avoided construction of 350 MW of hydroelectric capacity. Nevertheless, since the cost of conserved energy for this energy-saving measure is generally below the marginal cost of expansion of the Brazilian electric system, we propose mechanisms to share investment costs among the society as a whole, including demand-side bidding.     

Total-factor carbon emission performance of fossil fuel power plants in China: A metafrontier non-radial Malmquist index analysis

This paper proposes the metafrontier non-radial Malmquist CO₂ emission performance index (MNMCPI) for measuring dynamic changes in total-factor CO₂ emission performance over time. The MNMCPI method allows for the incorporation of group heterogeneity and non-radial slack into the previously introduced Malmquist CO₂ emission performance index (MCPI). We derive the MNMCPI by solving several non-radial data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. We decompose the MNMCPI into an efficiency change (EC) index, a best-practice gap change (BPC) index, and a technology gap change (TGC) index, and based on the proposed indices, we examine the dynamic changes in CO₂ emission performance and its decomposition of fossil fuel power plants in China for the 2005–2010 period. The empirical results show a 0.38% increase in total-factor CO₂ emission performance as a whole and a U-shaped MNMCPI curve for the sample period. Because companies owned by the central government lack innovation and technological leadership, the results suggest a missing link in the role of the central government in promoting CO₂ emission performance.     

The impact of the EU ETS on the sectoral innovation system for power generation technologies – Findings for Germany

This paper provides an overview of early changes in the sectoral innovation system for power generation technologies which have been triggered by the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS). Based on a broad definition of the sector, our research analyses the impact of the EU ETS on the four building blocks ‘knowledge and technologies’, ‘actors and networks’, ‘institutions’, and ‘demand’ by combining two streams of literature, namely systems of innovation and environmental economics. Our analysis for Germany is based on 42 exploratory interviews with experts in the field of the EU ETS, the power sector, and technological innovation. We find that the EU ETS mainly affects the rate and direction of technological change of power generation technologies within the large-scale, coal-based power generation technological regime, to which carbon capture technologies are added as a new technological trajectory. While this impact can be interpreted as the defensive behaviour of incumbents, the observed changes should not be underestimated. We argue that the EU ETS’ impact on corporate CO₂ culture and routines may prepare the ground for the transition to a low-carbon sectoral innovation system for power generation technologies.     

The global socioeconomic energetic metabolism as a sustainability problem

This paper discusses sustainability problems related to socioeconomic energy flows based upon the societal metabolism approach. Contrary to conventional energy statistics that only include energy used in technical devices, this approach considers all kinds of energy flows related to human societies, including nutritional energy flows of humans and domesticated animals. Based upon human population data and data on the pro capite energy metabolism of hunter-gatherers and agricultural societies as well as on statistical data on industrial energy flows a time series of the global socioeconomic energetic metabolism for the last 10⁶ years and a scenario for the next 50 years is derived. These estimates show that the total energy input of mankind has risen by several orders of magnitude since the Neolithic revolution about 10,000 years ago. Whereas the energy input of agricultural societies prior to the advent of industrial societies about 200–300 years ago did not exceed 5% of global terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP), humanity's energy input currently amounts to about 30% of global terrestrial NPP and is likely to surpass 50% in about 2050. This shows that the sheer magnitude of human-induced flows is historically unprecedented and poses at least two closely interrelated sustainability challenges: (1) a reduction of energy available to ecosystem processes that can be assessed using the concept of ‘human appropriation of net primary productivity’ and (2) the changes in the global carbon cycle resulting from land-use change and fossil-energy combustion.     

Preliminary study on zinc–air battery using zinc regeneration electrolysis with propanol oxidation as a counter electrode reaction

A zinc–air battery using zinc regeneration electrolysis with propanol oxidation as a counter electrode reaction is reported in this paper. It possesses functions of both zincate reduction and electrochemical preparation, showing the potential for increasing the electronic energy utilization. Charge/discharge tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs reveal that when a nickel sheet plated with the high-H₂-overpotential metal, cadmium, was used as the negative substrate electrode, the dendritic formation and hydrogen evolution are suppressed effectively, and granular zinc deposits become larger but relatively dense with the increase of charge time. The performance of batteries is favorable even if the charge time is as long as 5 h at the current density of 20 mA cm⁻². Better discharge performance is achieved using a ‘cavity-opening’ configuration for the discharge cell rather than a ‘gas-introducing’ configuration. The highest energy efficiency is up to 59.2%. That is, the energy consumed by organic electro-synthesis can be recovered by 59.2%. Cyclic voltammograms show that the sintered nickel electrode exhibits a good electro-catalysis activity for the propanol oxidation. The increase of propanol concentration conduces to an enhancement in the organic electro-synthesis efficiency. The organic electro-synthesis current efficiency of 82% can be obtained.     

Industrial combined heat and power (CHP) planning: Development of a methodology and application in Greece

This paper establishes a methodology for the estimation of the primary energy savings of an industrial (sub)-sector and the primary energy savings of the total energy system due to CHP. A primary energy savings indicator within a (sub)-sector and a total primary energy savings indicator are developed which are related with the actual energy use of a (sub)-sector and the way of disposal of the excess CHP energy produced. The methodology is applied in an industrial sub-sector in Greece according to the ‘power match’ and the ‘thermal match’ CHP sizing scenarios; subsequently results are presented and the developed indicators are fully explained. It was found that the primary energy savings indicator of a sub-sector is determined by the efficiencies of the relevant technologies, and the interrelation of the ‘power to heat’ ratio of the CHP technology used and the ‘power to heat’ ratio of the sub-sector examined; the total primary energy savings indicator is determined by the efficiencies of the relevant technologies and the percentage of the CHP energy exported from the sub-sector. The methodology can be utilized for optimum CHP planning.