Household energy use: a study investigating viewpoints towards energy efficiency technologies and behaviour

Improving the energy efficiency of our homes presents an excellent opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase thermal comfort. However, a shortfall exists between the full potential and realised adoption of energy efficiency measures, a phenomenon termed the ‘Energy Efficiency Gap’. To better understand the energy efficiency gap, this research identified household viewpoints towards energy and stated preferences towards energy efficiency technologies and behaviour. The research was carried out through interviews and a Q study in the cities of Manchester and Cardiff, alongside a questionnaire. The results revealed a range of nuanced viewpoints, which mapped onto three principal household themes: energy use in terms of the environment, energy in relation to money and apathy towards energy. A key finding was the small number strong correlations between distinct energy viewpoints and specific energy efficiency technologies or behaviours. This result implies that being environmentally aware and actively concerned about energy efficiency does not in itself lead to a stated desire, or even, intention to install energy-efficient technologies. The wider implication is that households that hold proactive energy efficiency viewpoints based on environmental concern may still require specifically targeted incentives to encourage the uptake of energy efficiency measures, i.e. their proactive and environmental beliefs are not alone enough to motivate them to improve the energy efficiency of their home.     

Household energy use and emission reduction effects of energy conversion in Lanzhou city,China

Creating better understanding between environmental quality and energy use, this paper collects 150 household energy use data sets, using questionnaires, from households in Lanzhou, China. Converted to kilograms of coal standardized energy equivalent, urban energy usage is calculated at a yearly rate of 490.37 kgce/a per capita and 1598.61 kgce/a per household. Types of emissions are also specified. Coal is the dominant energy source, and maximum environmental benefit is shown to be gained from substituting natural gas and solar energy for coal, and specific measures for substitution are identified.     

Household fuel expenditure and residential building energy efficiency ratings in Ireland

This paper examines the relationship between residential buildings׳ energy efficiency labels and household energy expenditure, complementing an existing literature comparing theoretical and actual energy use. Residential building energy performance certificates indicate a theoretical energy use based on standardised assumptions about occupancy and energy service demand and are a market signal about the energy performance of a property. This paper quantifies the empirical relationship between households’ expenditure on fuel and building energy performance using household expenditure survey data from the Republic of Ireland. The extent of this relationship, i.e. the size of the elasticity parameter, is of direct relevance to policy makers in the context of energy efficiency and climate policy targets. With building energy efficiency measured as a 15-point scale, we find that each rating decline along the scale is associated with a reduction in energy expenditure of 1.6%.     

Lifestyle change and energy use in Japan: Household equipment and energy consumption

Energy use in the Japanese residential sector has more than doubled (on a per-household basis) during the post-war period. Important factors contributing to the increase include changes in the types of housing built, heating, cooling, water-heating equipment, and other appliances. In this paper, the developments of household equipment and living conditions in Japan are described, from their 1950s state to the present. Trends in energy consumption by fuel types and end uses are reviewed over the same period. The past trends are combined with expectations for future developments in household equipment and quality, as well as with international comparisons of household-energy use, to predict further increases in household-energy consumption. The results indicate the importance of a renewed emphasis on energy efficiency in the residential sector.     

Reassessing the “energy ladder”: Household energy use in Maun,Botswana

In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa's rapid urbanization, improved insight into urban energy use is increasingly important. Based on the predictions of “energy transition” theory, a regional shift from biomass to “modern” fuels has long been expected to occur in tandem with urban growth. However, trends observed in the region's towns and cities have often not followed such patterns and fuelwood continues to be important in most areas. This paper examines the practical relevance of transition theory using a recent case study, conducted by the authors in Maun, Botswana, and results previously reported in the literature. It finds that, despite the long-term link between socio-economic development and increased modern fuel consumption at the national scale, the notion of “transition” does not accurately reflect ongoing energy-use patterns at lower levels of aggregation. This is chiefly because its model of household fuel switching largely dismisses the importance of active (and strategic) decision making by urban consumers and their responsiveness to structural factors such as relative fuel prices. As the Botswana case illustrates, this weakness can significantly distort expectations and policies around urban fuelwood use.     

Metropolitan density,energy efficiency and carbon emissions: Multi-attribute tradeoffs and their policy implications

Of all the potential benefits of urban containment, compaction, and densification, just two are the central focus here: attainment of greater energy efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions. In cities these are largely associated with the transport and building sectors. This paper probes the form-efficiency relation in the transport sector across 57 census-defined urbanized areas in the United States in 2000. Thirty-six of the forty largest are included. Increase in core area population density is correlated with modest gain in energy efficiency in the urban transport sector and modest decrease in its carbon emissions. Densification's lagged effects related to travel rationalization and growth in transit receptivity may increase overall metro transport energy efficiency beyond the degree revealed here. These impacts are associated with two off-setting negative externalities: (1) diminished housing affordability, and (2) increased roadway congestion. Each may moderate over time. Such effects are non-additive, owing to a difference of metrics. Elevated CAFE standards provoking new transport technologies may reduce total energy consumption and associated emissions ceteris paribus, lessening densification's marginal efficiency payoff while magnifying the significance of densification's opportunity costs. Categories of policy interventions to promote metro-scale energy efficiencies and emissions reductions, with and without urban densification, conclude the paper.     

The effect of energy end-use efficiency improvement on China’s energy use and CO2 emissions: a CGE model-based analysis

With its rapid economic growth, China is now confronted with soaring pressure from both its energy supply and the environment. To deal with this conflict, energy end-use efficiency improvement is now promoted by the government as an emphasis for future energy saving. This study explores the general equilibrium effect of energy end-use efficiency improvement on China’s economy, energy use, and CO₂ emissions. This paper develops a static, multisector computable general equilibrium model (CGE) for China, with specific detail in energy use and with the embodiment of energy efficiency. In order to explore the ability of subsidizing non-fossil-generated electricity on moderating potential rebound effects, in this model, the electricity sector was deconstructed into five specific generation activities using bottom–up data from the Chinese electricity industry. The model is calibrated into a 16-sector Chinese Social Accounting Matrix for the year 2002. In the analysis, seven scenarios were established: business as usual, solely efficiency improvement, and five policy scenarios (taxing carbon, subsidized hydropower, subsidized nuclear power, combination of taxing carbon and subsidized hydropower, combination of taxing carbon and subsidized nuclear power). Results show that a sectoral-uniform improvement of energy end-use efficiency will increase rather than decrease the total energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. The sensitivity analysis of sectoral efficiency improvement shows that efficiency improvements happened in different sectors may have obvious different extents of rebound. The three sectors, whose efficient improvements do not drive-up total national energy use and CO₂ emissions, include Iron and Steel, Building Materials, and Construction. Thus, the improvement of energy end-use efficiency should be sectoral specific. When differentiating the sectoral energy-saving goal, not only the saving potential of each sector but also its potential to ease the total rebound should be taken into account. Moreover, since the potential efficiency improvement for a sector over a certain period will be limited, technology measures should work along with a specific policy to neutralize the rebound effect. Results of policy analysis show that one relatively enhanced way is to combine carbon taxing with subsidized hydropower.     

Household archetypes and behavioural patterns in UK domestic energy use

Variations in household behaviour often lead to a mismatch between actual and estimated energy performance at home. More detailed information on behavioural variables could help in improving the prediction of energy consumption and enabling policy interventions responding to different household groups. This research aims to identify household archetypes and behavioural patterns in order to allow a targeted approach in energy-saving policy and retrofit improvement. It employed a statistical approach to cluster households based on empirical data collected from a household survey in Cambridge, UK. Factor analysis was used to identify behavioural factors. Based on the commonalities of variables under each factor, five factors were defined: (1) main space heating, (2) auxiliary space use, (3) main space use, (4) auxiliary space heating and (5) use of appliances. Statistical pattern analysis was then applied to develop behavioural patterns. These patterns were derived based on their factor scores. Finally, non-parametric correlation analysis was carried out in order to determine the relationship between behavioural factors and the following: household or dwelling characteristics, comfort and energy use for creating household archetypes. After significant correlations were found between behavioural factors and other variables, five archetypes were identified: (1) active spenders, (2) conscious occupiers, (3) average users, (4) conservers and (5) inactive users. Among these archetypes, households with a larger house, higher energy use and more complex household composition tended to have longer hours of main space heating, while larger and more complex households tended to use the main space of their dwellings for longer. Using these archetypes allows for a better integration of occupant behaviour into the technically oriented efficiency paradigm. This tailored approach provides a gateway to developing more effective policies and low energy strategies geared towards specific households.     

Setting SMART targets for industrial energy use and industrial energy efficiency

Industrial energy policies often require the setting of quantitative targets to reduce energy use and/or greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper a taxonomy has been developed for categorizing SMART industrial energy use or greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The taxonomy includes volume reduction targets, physical efficiency improvement targets, economic intensity improvement targets and economic targets. This paper also provides a comprehensive overview of targets for industrial energy use or greenhouse gas emission reductions at sector or firm level in past, current and proposed future policies worldwide. This overview includes approximately 50 different emission permit systems, voluntary or negotiated agreement schemes and emission trading systems. Finally, the paper includes an assessment of the various types of targets. The target types are compared with respect to the certainty of the environmental outcome and compliance costs, the targets’ relevance for the public and for industry and their environmental integrity, as well as their complexity and potential for comparison.     

Urbanization,energy use,and CO2 emissions: A provincial-level analysis of China

Most previous studies have studied the relationship among urbanization, energy use, and CO₂ emissions. In this paper, Ordinary Least Square (OLS), Fixed Effects (FE), Prais–Winsten (PW), and First Differenced (FD) regression model approaches are applied to analyze the correlation among urbanization, energy use, and CO₂ emissions in the interior provinces and eastern/coastal provinces of China. The results show that the impact of urbanization on CO₂ emissions is not homogenous for all provinces. The eastern/coastal provinces have a different elasticity with respect to per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and urbanization than the interior provinces. Also, it’s possible an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) exists for the eastern provinces but not for China as a whole.     

Sectoral trends in global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions

Integrated assessment models have been used to project both baseline and mitigation greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Results of these scenarios are typically presented for a number of world regions and end-use sectors, such as industry, transport, and buildings. Analysts interested in particular technologies and policies, however, require more detailed information to understand specific mitigation options in relation to business-as-usual trends. This paper presents sectoral trend for two of the scenarios produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Global and regional historical trends in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions over the past 30 years are examined and contrasted with projections over the next 30 years. Macro-activity indicators are analyzed as well as trends in sectoral energy and carbon demand. This paper also describes a methodology to calculate primary energy and carbon dioxide emissions at the sector level, accounting for the full energy and emissions due to sectoral activities.     

An efficiency analysis of household energy use

A new method to estimate the energy efficiency of households is presented. Households are treated as productive units organized to provide services for the occupants. The approach to measuring efficiency compares a group of productive units along several dimensions of input resources and service outputs. The comparison identifies a subset of units that are considered efficient because they require the fewest resources per unit of service provided. The efficient units form a production possibility frontier of best practice in service provision. All other units are compared to this best practice frontier and their index of efficiency is based on their distance from that frontier. Data from the 1979 Household Screener Survey are used to construct a household typology. Two different energy efficiency models are explored. One model uses the annual consumption of electric and non-electric fuels as the input resources. The other uses the annual expenditures for the two fuel types. Both models use the number of rooms and the number of people in the dwelling as proxies for the service outputs. A regression analysis of the two sets of efficiency scores indicates that the more efficient units used electric heat, had higher ratios of non-electric to electric fuel inputs, and were owner-occupied.     

Policies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in the UK

The UK differs from may other industrialized nations in that its carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from energy use have declined in recent years despite relatively rapid economic growth. In all sectors but transport, substantial reductions have already occurred in the level of carbon emissions per unit of GDP output. At the same time, a number of official and unofficial studies have pointed out that the UK has one of the largest remaining potentials amongst comparable industrialized countries for achieving further CO₂ reductions through the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency and fuel switching measures. This paper discusses past and present patterns of energy use and carbons emissions in the UK. The analysis then examines historical trends in UK energy policy and presents policy options for further reducing the UK's energy-use and carbon emissions in the future.     

Metafroniter energy efficiency with CO2 emissions and its convergence analysis for China

This paper measures the energy efficiency performance with carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in 30 provinces in China during the period of 1997–2011 using a meta-frontier framework with the improved directional distance function (DDF). We construct a new environmental production possibility set by combining the super-efficiency and sequential data envelopment analysis (DEA) models to avoid “discriminating power problem” and “technical regress” when evaluating efficiency by DDF. Then, it is used in a meta-frontier framework to reflect the technology heterogeneities across east, central and west China. The results indicate that eastern China achieved the highest progress inefficiency relative to the metafrontier, followed by western and the central China. By focusing on technology gaps, we offer some suggestions for the different groups based on group-frontier and meta-frontier analyses. The inefficiency can be attributed to managerial failure for eastern and western China, and technological differences for central China. The convergence analysis shows that energy and CO₂ emission governance will produce negative effects on economic growth, and it is suitable and acceptable to introduce rigorous environmental measures in eastern China.     

Residential energy use in Lithuania: the prospects for energy efficiency

The energy demand in Lithuania's residential sector is very high. While the potential for saving energy in this sector is large, significant barriers to energy efficiency remain. Removing or ameliorating these barriers will be difficult since these are systemic barriers that require societal change. This article analyzes the barriers and offers several recommendations for promoting energy efficiency in Lithuania. Also, a proposal for short- and medium-term strategies for implementing such policies is proposed.     

The efficiency of the rational use of energy

From an ecological point of view, the reduction of the “consumption” of energy is the first aim. The reduction of the CO₂-emissions is only a subsidiary aim. On the other hand in industry, the reduction of the costs for energy is the main motive power to increase the efficiency of energy use.Therefore, efficiency may be interpreted in different ways and the understanding of efficiency is led by different criteria. Nevertheless, from a scientifical point of view, an efficient use of energy means the minimization of the input energy for a given energy application. This objective definition has been applied in the German directive for the evaluation of the efficient use of heat in buildings within the “Energie-Einspar-Verordnung 2002” [EnEV – Verordnung über energiesparenden Wärmeschutz und energiesparende Anlagentechnik bei Gebäuden – Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I Nr. 59 vom 21. Nov. 2001. S. 3085 ff.], the German directive for the saving of energy in buildings.In this paper, a criterion for the rational use of energy in industry. The starting point therefore is the exergy and the corresponding input energy. A project for the efficient use of energy in industry that is run in Germany [Schaumann G, Pohl Ch. Transferstelle Bingen Projekt since 2000; www.energie-industrie.de.] is presented and the formulae for the cogeneration of heat-and-power is shown as an example.     

Modeling the CO2 emissions, energy use, and economic growth in Russia

This paper applies the co-integration technique and causality test to examine the dynamic relationships between pollutant emissions, energy use, and real output during the period between 1990 and 2007 for Russia. The empirical results show that in the long-run equilibrium, emissions appear to be energy use elastic and output inelastic. This elasticity suggests high energy use responsiveness to changes in emissions. The output exhibits a negative significant impact on emissions and does not support EKC hypothesis. These indicate that both economic growth and energy conservation policies can reduce emissions and no negative impact on economic development. The causality results indicate that there is a bidirectional strong Granger-causality running between output, energy use and emissions, and whenever a shock occurs in the system, each variable makes a short-run adjustment to restore the long-run equilibrium. The average speed of adjustment is as low as just over 0.26 years. Hence, in order to reduce emissions, the best environmental policy is to increase infrastructure investment to improve energy efficiency, and to step up energy conservation policies to reduce any unnecessary waste of energy. That is, energy conservation is expected to improve energy efficiency, thereby promoting economic growth.     

A review of energy use and energy efficiency technologies for the textile industry

The textile industry is a complicated manufacturing industry because it is a fragmented and heterogeneous sector dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). There are various energy-efficiency opportunities that exist in every textile plant. However, even cost-effective options often are not implemented in textile plants mostly because of limited information on how to implement energy-efficiency measures. Know-how on energy-efficiency technologies and practices should, therefore, be prepared and disseminated to textile plants. This paper provides information on the energy use and energy-efficiency technologies and measures applicable to the textile industry. The paper includes case studies from textile plants around the world and includes energy savings and cost information when available. A total of 184 energy efficiency measures applicable to the textile industry are introduced in this paper. Also, the paper gives a brief overview of the textile industry around the world. An analysis of the type and the share of energy used in different textile processes is also included in the paper. Subsequently, energy-efficiency improvement opportunities available within some of the major textile sub-sectors are given with a brief explanation of each measure. This paper shows that a large number of energy efficiency measures exist for the textile industry and most of them have a low simple payback period.     

Alternative fuel buses currently in use in China: Life-cycle fossil energy use,GHG emissions and policy recommendations

The Chinese government has enacted policies to promote alternative vehicle fuels (AVFs) and alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), including city bus fleets. The life cycle (LC), energy savings (ES) and GHG reduction (GR) profiles of AVFs/AFVs are critical to those policy decisions. The well-to-wheels module of the Tsinghua-CA3EM model is employed to investigate actual performance data. Compared with conventional buses, AFVs offer differences in performance in terms of both ES and GR. Only half of the AFVs analyzed demonstrate dual benefits. However, all non-oil/gas pathways can substitute oil/gas with coal. Current policies seek to promote technology improvements and market creation initiatives within the guiding framework of national-level diversification and district-level uniformity. Combined with their actual LC behavior and in keeping with near- and long-term strategies, integrated policies should seek to (1) apply hybrid electric technology to diesel buses; (2) encourage NG/LPG buses in gas-abundant cities; (3) promote commercialize electric buses or plug-in capable vehicles through battery technology innovation; (4) support fuel cell buses and hydrogen technology R&D for future potential applications; and (5) conduct further research on boosting vehicle fuel efficiency, applying low-carbon transportation technologies, and addressing all resultant implications of coal-based transportation solutions to human health and natural resources.     

Communications on energy Household energy conservation

This study assesses the influence of attitudinal and socio-economic factors on household energy conservation actions. A household interview survey in Regina, Saskatchewan found that respondents perceive an energy problem, although no association with energy conservation actions was determined. Two attitudinal and five socio-economic variables influence household energy conservation. Energy and monetary savings are available to households through energy conservation. Public awareness of household energy conservation through the media can reinforce existing energy conservation actions and encourage new actions.