The energy crisis and its impact on the stability of the demand for factors of production

This paper addresses the question of the stability of the demand for the factors of production at the aggregate level for United States manufacturing over the period 1947 through 1976. The results are conclusive. The demand for capital and labor have remained virtually constant over the period of investigation while the relative importance of the factors affecting the demand for energy has changed in a statistically significant fashion.     

The impact of the first oil crisis on energy demand in Korea

This paper investigates how the first oil crisis affected energy demand in Korea. First, annual growth rates in energy consumptions for pre-and post-crisis periods are compared. Second, the price and income elasticities of energy sources estimated from the 1961–1972 and 1961–1976 observations are compared. Third, F-test is performed with an oil demand equation to see whether a structural change in oil demand occurred after the first oil crisis. The author concludes that the impact of the first oil crisis in Korea was not serious enough to cause a structural change in oil demand.     

The impact of price expectations on the demand for electrical energy in the United States

Given the variability of the price of electrical energy over the past several years, the consumer has been put in a position of not knowing precisely from one month to the next what the price of electrical energy will be. Consequently, this paper hypothesises a relationship between the expected price and kilowatt-hour sales. The results indicate that “static expectations” seem to be the rule with regard to price and that more than 65 per cent of price changes are regarded as permanent by consumers.     

The Iranian crisis — its impact on the price of oil

The simulations reported in this article show that if the present shortfall in oil supply is made good solely by price rises, the required price for 1979 that would clear the market is $16.51 per barrel (corresponding to a 30% increase over the 1978 price of $12.70). The dynamic response of oil consumption to a shock of a 40% increase in oil prices during 1979 is traced up to 1985. Contrasted against the base case of a 10% price rise, the model predicts that the share of oil to total energy could be cut by up to 3 percentage points over the next seven years.     

The shift in US oil demand and its impact on OPEC's market share

Tremendous political pressure is being exerted on the US government by different political parties to diversify its sources of foreign oil supplies by switching from the reliance on OPEC's oil to that originating from non-OPEC nations. Without a doubt, such a shift would adversely impact the market share of some OPEC members, particularly Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. These countries should therefore consider seriously the negative impact of this scenario and consequently formulate individual or joint production policies aiming at protecting their oil market share. To help OPEC achieve this objective, there is a need to estimate the demand function of US oil imports. This paper proffers an estimate of such a function, taking into account, among other variables, the impact of US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).     

The demand for energy for irrigation in the USA

There seems to be some question concerning the relationship between irrigation and the price of energy. Did changes in the price of energy actually impact irrigation in the USA? Additionally, the substitution between alternative types of energy seems to be a possibility for irrigation. Whether in fact it occurred is another matter. In this study, an appropriate model is developed and estimated to address the issues. The specific energy types considered include motor gasoline, diesel fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas and electrical energy. The results for 1978 and for 1980 clearly indicate that energy use for irrigation is responsive to the price of energy. Additionally, some substitution between energy types took place during this period. Finally, when the question of the stability of the demand for the various energy types is addressed, the suggestion is that the demand for the energy types considered was stable for the 1978 and 1980 periods.     

Quantifying the impact of exogenous non-economic factors on UK transport oil demand

This paper attempts to quantify the impact of exogenous non-economic factors on UK transport oil demand (in addition to income, price, and fuel efficiency) by estimating the demand relationship for oil transport for 1960–2007 using the structural time series model. From this, the relative impact on UK transport oil demand from income, price, and efficiency are quantified. Moreover, the relative impact of the non-economic factors is also quantified, based on the premise that the estimated stochastic trend represents behavioural responses to changes in socio-economic factors and changes in lifestyles and attitudes. The estimated elasticities for income, price and efficiency are 0.6, −0.1, and −0.3, respectively, and it is shown that for efficiency and price the overall contribution is relatively small, whereas the contribution from income and non-economic factors is relatively large. This has important implications for policy makers keen to reduce transport oil consumption and associated emissions, but not willing to reduce the trend rate of economic growth. Taxes and improved efficiency only have a limited impact; hence, a major thrust of policy should perhaps be on educating and informing consumers to persuade them to change their lifestyle and attitudes and thus reduce their consumption through the non-economic instruments route.     

Residential demand for energy commodities : A household production function approach

This paper formulates a demand model for energy commodities using a household production function approach. The model is stated in a utility maximization framework where utility is assumed to be a function of two composite commodities directly yielding utility. Electricity and natural gas are used as inputs along with a capital stock to produce one of the utility-yielding commodities. The other utility-yielding commodity is assumed to be produced with two non-energy goods and capital stock which are purchased on the market. The Kuhn-Tucker conditions are then used to characterize the optimal time paths for input purchases and investments by the household.     

The energy demand in the British and German industrial sectors: Heterogeneity and common factors

This paper estimates energy demands for the German and British industrial sectors over the 1978–2004 and the 1991–2004 samples. From time series models we can conclude that there is a considerable variation in the value of the coefficients across sectors, even though energy demands with sensible parameters can rarely be estimated. When using a panel approach, the ability of some estimators to allow for diversity across subsectors was an important factor in explaining the estimates for price elasticity. On the other hand, correlation across panel members or common factors did not markedly influence our results. With regard to the estimated parameters, our preferred choice for elasticity of economic activity and price in the longer sample is 0.52 and ? 0.64. Similar values are found in the case of the shorter samples. Bearing in mind the high price elasticity, energy taxes can be considered an effective strategy for reducing energy consumption.     

Renewable energy and its impact on thermal generation

Electricity production from renewable sources generally displaces thermal generation, which leads to lower CO₂ emissions in the power sector. However, the intermittent nature of many renewable technologies in combination with less residual demand leads to greater inefficiencies in the operation of existing fossil power plants. This inefficiency translates into a higher rate of emissions relative to output. In this paper we focus on Italian power installations between 2005 and 2014. Using panel econometrics, we show that a 10% increase in photovoltaics and wind infeed has reduced yearly CO₂ emissions of the average thermal installation by about 2% while the average plants emissions relative to its output have increased by about 0.3%.     

The impact of ICT investment and energy price on industrial electricity demand: Dynamic growth model approach

The authors investigate the effects of information and communications technology (ICT) investment, electricity price, and oil price on the consumption of electricity in South Korea's industries using a logistic growth model. The concept electricity intensity is used to explain electricity consumption patterns. An empirical analysis implies that ICT investment in manufacturing industries that normally consume relatively large amounts of electricity promotes input factor substitution away from the labor intensive to the electricity intensive. Moreover, results also suggest that ICT investment in some specific manufacturing sectors is conducive to the reduction of electricity consumption, whereas ICT investment in the service sector and most manufacturing sectors increases electricity consumption. It is concluded that electricity prices critically affect electricity consumption in half of South Korea's industrial sectors, but not in the other half, a finding that differs somewhat from previous research results. Reasons are suggested to explain why the South Korean case is so different. Policymakers may find this study useful, as it answers the question of whether ICT investment can ultimately reduce energy consumption and may aid in planning the capacity of South Korea's national electric power.     

Evaluation of the environmental impact of waste wood co-utilisation for energy production

The need for a practical, economic and environmentally sound solution for waste wood arises from the requirements for resource conservation and recent regulations. Co-firing with coal is a promising option for the thermal recycling of waste wood. The overall environmental impact caused by the co-utilisation of waste wood with coal was evaluated by using life cycle assessment as established by Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) [A technical framework for life cycle assessment. Washington, DC: SETAC, USA; 1991, Guidelines for life cycle assessments: A code of practice. Brussels: SETAC, Europe; 1993]. This provides opportunities to evaluate direct environmental impact, to identify possible improvements, and to reduce energy resource consumption. In this work, the environmental impact of co-utilising lignite and waste wood in an industrial steam boiler was evaluated. Results obtained showed that co-utilisation is technically feasible and can meet strict environmental standards. A net decrease of CO₂ emissions can be achieved by the thermal use of waste wood, as well as conservation of fossil fuel resources, minimisation of waste disposal and reduction of impacts on health.     

Cumulative energy demand and cumulative emissions of photovoltaics production in Europe

Studies of popular renewable energy systems show that cumulative energy demand (CED) can be understood as a kind of simplifying life cycle assessment [1] where the accounting of energy and material inputs is seen as part of an inventory analyses and the calculation of CED as a rough form of impact assessment.Within this research project, three grid-connected photovoltaic systems (sc-Si, pc-Si and a-Si based) are examined in regard to CED and cumulative emissions. The production of these systems was chosen to take place in seven European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Austria and Sweden.Due to the fact that electricity demand does play a major role in production of photovoltaics and that power generation differs throughout these countries CED varies from about 23,200 to 65,200 MJ/kWp. The cumulative emissions (CEm) were found to lie between about 900 and 4000 kg CO₂/kWp, 1.9 and 5.5 kg NO_x/kWp and 2.4 and 4.8 kg SO₂/kWp.     

The demand for electrical energy in Korean industry

There is no question that energy is an important ingredient in the development of any country. Unfortunately, the ability of less developed countries to respond to the particular nuances of the energy market is not well understood. This paper endeavors to look at one aspect of this potential responsiveness in one country (Korea). After establishing an empirical relationship between the consumption of electrical energy in various industries and the price of electrical energy, the price of petroleum, and the price of coal, estimates of the magnitudes of the relationships are obtained. Finally, the stability of the estimated relationship is examined with the resultant suggestion that industries' demand for electrical energy was fairly stable over the decade of the seventies.     

The demand for electrical energy in Korean industry

There is no question that energy is an important ingredient in the development of any country. Unfortunately, the ability of less-developed countries to respond to the particular nuances of the energy market is not well understood. This paper endeavors to look at one aspect of this potential responsiveness in one country—Korea. After establishing an empirical relationship between the consumption of electrical energy in various industries and the prices of electrical energy, petroleum and coal, estimates of the magnitudes of the relationships are obtained. Finally, the stability of the estimated relationship is examined with the resultant suggestion that industrial demand for electricity was fairly stable during the decade of the 1970s.     

The demand for electrical energy by agriculture in the USA

This paper examines the responsiveness of US agriculture to changes in the price of electricity. Price and demand equations for electricity are estimated using data for 48 American states over the period 1975–1977. Price elasticity is then estimated and found to be of sufficient magnitude to dispel doubts about the market mechanism in curtailing demand.     

Modeling and energy demand analysis of a scalable green hydrogen production system

Models based on too many parameters are complex and burdensome, difficult to be adopted as a tool for sizing these technologies, especially when the goal is not the improvement of electrochemical technology, but the study of the overall energy flows.The novelty of this work is to model an electrolysis hydrogen production process, with analysis and prevision of its electrical and thermal energy expenditure, focusing on the energy flows of the whole system. The paper additionally includes investigation on auxiliary power consumption and on thermal capacity and resistance as functions of the stack power. The electrolysis production phase is modeled, with a zero-dimensional, multi-physics and dynamic approach, both with alkaline and polymer membrane electrolyzers.Models are validated with experimental data, showing a good match with a root-mean-square percentage error under 0.10. Results are scaled-up for 180 kg/day of hydrogen, performing a comparison with both technologies.     

Modeling the high frequency demand for energy

This paper looks at the nature and length of the impact that prices and economic activity have on the demand for motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil in the United States. A general approach is presented and implemented to aid any energy analyst in gaining insights into the modeling activity. The results suggest that price changes affect the quantity of motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil demanded for as long as two years after an initial change, while changing personal income has an impact for about a year.     

Building stock dynamics and its impacts on materials and energy demand in China

China hosts a large amount of building stocks, which is nearly 50 billion square meters. Moreover, annual new construction is growing fast, representing half of the world's total. The trend is expected to continue through the year 2050. Impressive demand for new residential and commercial construction, relative shorter average building lifetime, and higher material intensities have driven massive domestic production of energy intensive building materials such as cement and steel. This paper developed a bottom-up building stock turnover model to project the growths, retrofits and retirements of China's residential and commercial building floor space from 2010 to 2050. It also applied typical material intensities and energy intensities to estimate building materials demand and energy consumed to produce these building materials. By conducting scenario analyses of building lifetime, it identified significant potentials of building materials and energy demand conservation. This study underscored the importance of addressing building material efficiency, improving building lifetime and quality, and promoting compact urban development to reduce energy and environment consequences in China.     

US business and the energy crisis

The results of a survey carried out among executives of large American corporations in an effort to gauge the reaction of businessmen both to the changed energy situation and measures taken by the US government.