Missing the spark: An investigation into the low adoption paradox of combined heat and power technologies

This study tests the influence of regulatory requirements for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies on its adoption in the market-place controlling for other relevant variables identified in the literature. Control variables in this study include profitability of CHP technology at the individual firm level, ownership structure of the firm, and knowledge about CHP within firms. Employing a logit model with data collected from a survey and an energy engineering software program, the study finds that firms initially search for CHP technologies in order to reduce their current energy cost. Subsequently, however, firms abandon the adoption process due to concerns about the complexity of regulatory requirements. Ownership structure and familiarity with CHP are found to be not significant in this analysis. The study recommends that information programs that promote CHP need to place stronger emphasis on the profitability of CHP. Another recommendation calls for the deployment of alternative regulatory structures that could govern CHP. This research was supported with a grant from the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (Grant DGE 9870646).     

Determinants of energy productivity in 39 countries: An empirical investigation

This paper uses three types of analysis to investigate the drivers of energy productivity changes occurring in 39 countries during 1995–2009. We find that increases in sectoral energy productivity were the primary driver behind economy-wide energy productivity improvements. Structural economic shifts away from industry and towards service-oriented sectors played a lesser role in aggregate energy productivity improvements. Nations with similar demographic and economic characteristics showed similar levels of energy productivity and rates of improvement. Most notably, former communist countries and nations undergoing economic liberalization exhibited the highest rate of improvement—although they are still less energy productive than developed nations. Moreover, the econometric analysis reinforces the long-standing hypothesis that higher levels of income per capita and higher energy prices are associated with greater energy productivity, while a greater share of output from industry is associated with lower energy productivity levels. In particular, higher energy prices and income levels are associated with improvements in sectoral energy productivity.     

An empirical analysis on the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles: The case of natural gas vehicles

The adoption of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) has been regarded as one of the most important strategies to address the issues of energy dependence, air quality, and, more recently, climate change. Despite decades of effort, we still face daunting challenges to promote wider acceptance of AFVs by the general public. More empirical analyses are needed to understand the technology adoption process associated with different market structures, the effectiveness of regulations and incentives, and the density of infrastructure adequate to reach sustainable commercial application. This paper compares the adoption of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in eight countries: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the US. It examines the major policies aimed at promoting the use of NGVs, instruments for implementing those policies and targeting likely stakeholders, and a range of factors that influence the adoption of NGVs. The findings in this paper should be applicable to other AFVs.     

Environmental Kuznets Curve for carbon emissions in Pakistan: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the relationship between carbon emissions, income, energy consumption, and foreign trade in Pakistan for the period 1972–2008. By employing the Johansen method of cointegration, the study finds that there is a quadratic long-run relationship between carbon emissions and income, confirming the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve for Pakistan. Moreover, both energy consumption and foreign trade are found to have positive effects on emissions. The short-run results have, however, denied the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The short-run results are unique to the existing literature in the sense that none of the long-run determinants of emissions is significant. The contradictory results of short- and long-run give policy makers the opportunity to formulate different types of growth policies for the two terms taking environmental issues into consideration. In addition, the uni-directional causality from growth to energy consumption suggests that the policy makers should not only focus on forecasting future demand for energy with different growth scenarios but also on obtaining the least cost energy. Furthermore, the absence of causality from emissions to growth suggests that Pakistan can curb its carbon emissions without disturbing its economic growth.     

Achieving sustainable development goals through adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in India: An empirical analysis

Hydrogen is a growing facilitator for a multisectoral transition to a renewable energy-based economy. Despite this, there is negligible scholarly literature examining the connections between the hydrogen economy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations. In this empirical investigation, we demonstrate a correlation between adopting Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) and their direct and indirect impact on SDGs (#7, 9, 11, 12, 13,14 and 15). This empirical investigation was performed based on 358 valid sample responses from the pan-India survey. Utilising structural equation modelling, the hypotheses were tested, and the research model was validated. The findings revealed that the adoption of HFCV has a positive impact on SDGs. The results confirm that policy implications significantly change public perception regarding high cost and infrastructure readiness. Keeping the finding in mind, we recommend that the fuel retailers create more hydrogen refuelling stations across the country to ease infrastructure bottlenecks. Further, governments at various levels should provide financial benefits to green hydrogen producers, fuel cell manufacturers, HFCV manufacturers, and early adopters of HFCVs in India.     

US demilitarization and global warming : An empirical investigation of the environmental peace dividend

In the paper input-output methods are used to generate ballpark empirical estimates of the implications for global warming of the projected demilitarization of the US federal budget. The impact is found to be qualitatively ambiguous, and highly sensitive to the manner in which the funds saved are distributed. The effect is adverse where the budgetary savings are used to fund economy-wide cuts in personal taxation and/or deficit reduction. In other cases the effect may be neutral or beneficial.     

A dynamic equilibrium of electricity consumption and GDP in Hong Kong: An empirical investigation

Public debates on electricity policy in Hong Kong focus on the regulation regime but seldom discuss the macroeconomic impact. In this paper, we use the novel dataset on electricity consumption and report the following findings: (1) there is a long run equilibrium relationship between real GDP and electricity consumption; (2) a one-way causal effect exists from electricity consumption to real GDP; (3) a significant adjustment process occurs when equilibrium is interrupted; (4) there exists possible structural change in the relationship between electricity consumption and economic activities in 1990s.     

Visible technologies,invisible organisations: An empirical study of public beliefs about electricity supply networks

Reducing carbon emissions in the energy system poses significant challenges to electricity transmission and distribution networks. Whilst these challenges are as much social as economic or technical, to date few research studies have investigated public beliefs about electricity supply networks. This research aimed to address this gap by means of a nationally representative study of UK adults (n=1041), probing beliefs about how electricity reaches the home, responsibility for electricity supply, associations with the words ‘National Grid’, as well as beliefs about the planning of new infrastructure. Findings suggest that electricity networks are represented predominantly in terms of technologies rather than organisations, specifically in terms of familiar, visible components such as cables or wires, rather than more systemic concepts such as networks. Transmission and distribution network operators were largely invisible to members of the public. In terms of planning new lines, most respondents assumed that government ministers were involved in decision-making, while local residents were widely perceived to have little influence; moreover, there was strong public support for placing new power lines underground, regardless of the cost. In conclusion, organisational invisibility, coupled with low expectations of participatory involvement, could provoke public opposition and delay siting new network infrastructure.     

GHG emission mitigation measures and technologies in the Czech Republic

The paper presents an overview of the main results in two fields: projection of GHG emission from the energy sector in the Czech Republic and assessment of technologies and options for GHG mitigation. The last part presents an overview of measures that were prepared for potential inclusion in the Czech Climate Change Action Plan.     

Impact of climate policy uncertainty on the adoption of electricity generating technologies

This paper presents a real options model where multiple options are evaluated simultaneously so that the effect of the individual options on each other is accounted for. We apply this model to the electricity sector, where we analyze three typical technologies based on fossil fuel, fossil fuel with carbon capture and renewable energy, respectively. In this way, we can analyze the transition from CO₂-intensive to CO₂-neutral electricity production in the face of rising and uncertain CO₂ prices. In addition, such a modelling approach enables us to estimate precisely the expected value of (perfect) information, i.e. the willingness of investors and producers to pay for information about the correct CO₂ price path. As can be expected, the expected value of information rises with increasing CO₂ price uncertainty. In addition, the larger the price uncertainty, the larger are the cumulative CO₂ emissions over the coming century. The reason for this is that the transition to less CO₂-intensive technologies is increasingly postponed with rising CO₂ price uncertainty. By testing different price processes (geometric Brownian motion versus jump processes with different jump frequencies), we can also make useful recommendations concerning the importance of policy predictability. We find that it is better to have climate change policies that are stable over a certain length of time and change abruptly than less abrupt but more frequently changing policies. Less frequent fluctuations reduce the expected value of information and result in smaller cumulative CO₂ emissions.     

An investigation into the potential of low head hydro power in Northern Ireland for the production of electricity

The maximum exploitable potential for low head hydroelectric sites (gross head≤10 m) in Northern Ireland (NI) was determined as 12.07 MW using a simple payback analysis for 304 potential sites investigated to derive a classification scheme in terms of economic viability. A techno-economic analysis with validated numerical models from previous research estimated the capital investment required for the development of a hydroelectric plant, using the low head Michell-Banki cross flow turbine, for the 304 sites investigated. The number of potentially viable sites in NI for low head hydro ranged from 198 to 286 with an estimated installed capacity ranging from 11.95 to 12.05 MW. Sites with a limited installed capacity were not economically viable unless increased government support in the form of longer term (25–50 years) low interest loans as well as the current (Renewables Obligations Certificates) Renewables Obligation Certificates scheme is provided and sustained.     

The impact of oil prices on GDP in European countries: An empirical investigation based on asymmetric cointegration

This paper investigates the existence of a long-term relationship between oil prices and GDP in 12 European countries. To account for the fact that economic activity responds asymmetrically to oil price shocks, we propose an approach based on asymmetric cointegration. Our results show that, while standard cointegration is rejected, there is evidence for asymmetric cointegration between oil prices and GDP in the majority of the considered European countries.     

Broadening to sustainability the perspective of industrial decision-makers on the energy efficiency measures adoption: some empirical evidence

The industry should take further efforts towards increased energy efficiency, that is a major contributor to improve industrial sustainability performance, by implementing energy efficiency measures (EEMs). However, the rate of adoption of these measures is still quite low. Hitherto, EEMs and barriers to their adoption have been evaluated almost exclusively from the viewpoint of energy efficiency decision-makers, not accounting for the broader sustainability perspective. This work aims at understanding whether an industrial sustainability perspective can better address issues related to EEMs adoption, analyzing the question through different viewpoints and insights offered by industrial decision-makers of different industrial sustainability areas within a firm. By doing this, we aim at offering a contribution in the understanding of the low rate of adoption of EEMs. As case studies, we investigated 12 firms from Northern Italy. In comparison to previous literature, results show that an industrial sustainability perspective can better explain the real decision-making process of adopting an EEM. Indeed, people knowledgeable about different industrial sustainability areas may perceive different barriers about the same EEM. EEMs may be negatively affected by reasons related to other areas of industrial sustainability, while positive reciprocal impacts may exist among areas of industrial sustainability; thus, EEMs may have effects on areas other than energy efficiency, and these effects may be perceived only by such areas. The study concludes with some remarks for policy and industrial decision-makers and advice for further research.     

Burning peat in Ireland: An electricity market dispatch perspective

This paper examines peat power production in Ireland under the three pillars of energy policy—security, competitiveness and environment. Peat contributes to energy security—as an indigenous fuel, it reduces dependency on imports. During a period of low capacity margins, the operation of the peat plants is useful from a system security perspective. Peat generation is being financially supported by consumers through an electricity levy. The fuel also has high carbon intensity. It is not politically viable to consider peat on equal economic criteria to other plant types because of history and location. This paper reviews electricity generation through combustion of peat in Ireland, and quantifies the costs of supporting peat utilising economic dispatch tools, finding the subsidy is not insignificant from a cost or carbon perspective. It shows that while peat is beneficial for one pillar of energy policy (security), the current usage of peat is not optimal from a competitiveness or environmental perspective. By switching from the current ‘must-run’ mode of operation for peat to the ‘dispatched’ mode used for the other generation, significant societal savings (in the range €21 m per annum) can be achieved, as well as reducing system emissions by approximately 5% per year.     

Improving the energy performance of UK households: Results from surveys of consumer adoption and use of low- and zero-carbon technologies

This paper presents results from a UK Open University project which surveyed consumers’ reasons for adoption, and non-adoption, of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy systems—collectively called low- and zero-carbon technologies—and their experiences of using these technologies. Data were gathered during 2006 via an online questionnaire with nearly 400 responses, plus 111 in-depth telephone interviews. The respondents were mainly environmentally concerned, ‘green’ consumers and therefore these are purposive rather than representative surveys. The paper outlines results for four energy efficiency measures (loft insulation, condensing boilers, heating controls and energy-efficient lighting) and four household renewables (solar thermal water heating, solar photovoltaics, micro-wind turbines and wood-burning stoves). These green consumers typically adopted these technologies to save energy, money and/or the environment, which many considered they achieved despite rebound effects. The reasons for considering but rejecting these technologies include the familiar price barriers, but there were also other obstacles that varied according to the technology concerned. Nearly a third of the surveyed consumers had adopted household renewables, over half of which were wood stoves and 10% solar thermal water heating systems. Most adopters of renewables had previously installed several energy efficiency measures, but only a fifth of those who seriously considered renewables actually installed a system. This suggests sell energy efficiency first, then renewables. There seems to be considerable interest in household renewables in the UK, especially among older, middle-class green consumers, but so far only relatively few pioneers have managed to overcome the barriers to adoption.     

Distributed generation: An empirical analysis of primary motivators

What was once an industry dominated by centralized fossil-fuel power plants, the electricity industry in the United States is now evolving into a more decentralized and deregulated entity. While the future scope and scale of the industry is not yet apparent, recent trends indicate that distributed generation electricity applications may play an important role in this transformation. This paper examines which types of utilities are more likely to adopt distributed generation systems and, additionally, which factors motivate decisions of adoption and system capacity size. Results of a standard two-part model reveal that private utilities are significantly more inclined to adopt distributed generation than cooperatives and other types of public utilities. We also find evidence that interconnection standards and renewable portfolio standards effectively encourage consumer-owned distributed generation, while market forces associated with greater market competition encourage utility-owned distributed generation. Net metering programs are also found to have a significant marginal effect on distributed generation adoption and deployment.     

Determinants of China's energy imports: An empirical analysis

Sustained economic growth in China has triggered a surge of energy imports, especially oil imports. This paper investigates the determinants of China's energy import demand by using cointegraiton and VECM techniques. The findings suggest that, in the long run, growth of industrial production and expansion of transport sectors affect China's oil imports, while domestic energy output has a substitution effect. Thus, as the Chinese economy industrializes and the automotive sector expands, China's oil imports are likely to increase. Though China's domestic oil production has a substitution effect on imports, its growth is limited due to scarce domestic reserve and high exploration costs. It is anticipated that China will be more dependent on overseas oil supply regardless of the world oil price.     

An empirical analysis of petroleum demand for Indonesia: An application of the cointegration approach

This paper uses selection criteria from various models in a bounds testing approach to cointegration to estimate the price and income elasticities of demand for total petroleum products (gasoline and diesel) and gasoline share in total products in Indonesia. The results suggest that both total products and gasoline share estimates are more responsive to changes in income than changes in the real price of petroleum products. These results have important policy implications as they suggest that policy makers may need to use market-based pricing policies and other policies such as public enlightenment in addition to regulations like minimum energy efficiency standards to promote efficiency and conservation and curb the rising consumption of petroleum products in Indonesia.     

Assessing the impact of policy interventions on the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles: An agent-based model

Heightened concern regarding climate change and energy independence has increased interest in plug-in electric vehicles as one means to address these challenges and governments at all levels have considered policy interventions to encourage their adoption. This paper develops an agent-based model that simulates the introduction of four policy scenarios aimed at promoting electric vehicle adoption in an urban community and compares them against a baseline. These scenarios include reducing vehicle purchase price via subsidies, expanding the local public charging network, increasing the number and visibility of fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the roadway through government fleet purchases, and a hybrid mix of these three approaches. The results point to the effectiveness of policy options that increased awareness of BEV technology. Specifically, the hybrid policy alternative was the most successful in encouraging BEV adoption. This policy increases the visibility and familiarity of BEV technology in the community and may help counter the idea that BEVs are not a viable alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles.