A hydrogen standard for future energy accounting?

Present methods of energy accounting include both primary energy and final energy consumption. Both these methods have inconsistencies, although today their impact is minor. Some level of inconsistency and approximation in energy accounting is unavoidable when energy inputs come from such heterogeneous sources. We argue that in the decades to come, renewable energy will probably come to dominate the energy supply system, with most from intermittent energy sources, particularly wind and solar. In such an energy system, existing measures will become increasingly irrelevant for tracking energy use over time, for assessing a renewable energy source’s technical potential, and in determining future energy infrastructure needs. Further, conversion of most primary electricity to a storable energy form will be needed, with some then perhaps converted back to electricity as needed. We propose that in this case energy production and demand, and technical potential for renewable energy sources, will be more accurately measured by use of a new energy accounting framework, based on the energy content of hydrogen.     

Are energy efficiency standards within the electricity sector a form of regulatory capture?

There is a growing trend to introduce energy efficiency standards at the state level. We examine why electricity utilities may be in favor of such a standard and conclude that energy efficiency standards may be a form of regulatory capture.     

Fusion energy : An energy source of the future?

With an increasing world population and a growing economy, the demand for energy is sure to grow. The latest predictions for world energy demand all show an upward trend and even with increased energy efficiency we will still need substantially more energy by 2050 than we use today. Where's it to come from? Dr Federico Casci of the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) organisation believes part of the answer is fusion…     

Cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency programmes—evaluating the impacts of a regional programme in France

This paper presents the evaluation of a regional energy efficiency programme implemented in two “départements” of France. électricité de France (EDF), a French energy company, provides refurbishment advice and financial incentives to end-users in the residential sector as well as specific training courses and certification to local installation contractors and building firms. Refurbishment measures analysed in this paper are efficient space heating equipment (condensing boilers, heat pumps and wood stoves or boilers), solar water heating systems and the installation of double-glazed windows. A billing analysis based on a survey of programme participants’ energy consumption is used to calculate the energy savings attributed to the programme. In order to receive an economic feedback of this demonstration programme, the evaluation of both saved energy and programme costs is of importance. Detailed knowledge of the programme’s cost-effectiveness is essential for EDF to achieve the saving obligations imposed by the French White Certificate scheme at the lowest cost. Results of this evaluation can support the development and implementation of further energy efficiency programmes with similar characteristics in other regions of France. The cost-effectiveness is determined from the perspective of the programme participant and the society as well as the energy company in charge of the programme. All cost and benefit components are calculated in Euro per kilowatt-hour, which allows a direct comparison of levelized costs of conserved energy with the avoidable costs of the energy supply system.     

Cool or school?: the role of building attributes in explaining residential energy burdens in California

This paper quantifies the dimensions of an important energy efficiency conversation: the energy burden of low-income households. Due to budgetary constraints, low-income households face a stark consumption trade-offs described as “cool or school”. This study is the first to apply multivariate building energy regression modeling to assess the independent effects of various building characteristics and appliances on a household’s energy burden in the USA. We find that more attic insulation and newer air conditioners significantly predict lower energy burdens. Furthermore, homeowners enjoy ~?27% more attic insulation compared to renters. Our results offer empirical support for programs that offer deep retrofits to low-income households. We conclude by offering suggestions for leveraging weatherization funding to fund building energy retrofits.     

Sure,but who has the energy? The importance of location for knowledge transfer in the energy sector

Using over 350,000 U.S. patent citations, we test whether knowledge transfers in the energy sector are sensitive to distance, and whether that sensitivity has changed over time. Controlling for self-citation by inventor, assignee and examiner, multivariate regression analysis shows that physical distance is becoming less important for spillovers with time, but differs by energy subsector.     

What is the global potential for renewable energy?

World energy demand is projected to rise to 1000 EJ (EJ = 10¹⁸ J) or more by 2050 if economic growth continues its course of recent decades. Both reserve depletion and greenhouse gas emissions will necessitate a major shift from fossil fuels as the dominant energy source. Since nuclear power is now unlikely to increase its present modest share, renewable energy (RE) will have to provide for most energy in the future. This paper addresses the questions of what energy levels RE can eventually provide, and in what time frame. We find that when the energy costs of energy are considered, it is unlikely that RE can provide anywhere near a 1000 EJ by 2050. We further show that the overall technical potential for RE will fall if climate change continues. We conclude that the global shift to RE will have to be accompanied by large reductions in overall energy use for environmental sustainability.     

A review on test procedure,energy efficiency standards and energy labels for room air conditioners and refrigerator–freezers

Air conditioners and refrigerator–freezers are major energy users in a household environment and hence efficiency improvement of these appliances can be considered as an important step to reduce their energy consumption along with environmental pollution prevention. Energy efficiency standards and labels are commonly used tools to reduce the energy uses for household appliances for many countries around the world. The first step towards adopting energy efficiency standards is to establish a test procedure for rating and testing of an appliance. It may be mentioned that an energy test procedure is the technical foundation for energy efficiency standards, energy labels, and other related programs. This paper reviews requirements and specifications of various international test standards for testing and rating of room air conditioners and refrigerators. A review on the development of the energy efficiency standards has been provided as well. Finally, energy labels that provide some useful information for identifying energy efficient products have been reviewed for these appliances. It may be stated that the review will be useful for the developing countries who wish to develop these energy savings strategies. It is also expected to be useful to revise the existing strategies for a few selected countries who already implemented these strategies earlier.     

Is technological change biased toward energy? A multi-sectoral analysis for the French economy

Since the adoption and implementation of new technologies has an important influence on the structure and performance of the economy in both developed and developing countries, many research papers are devoted to the technology–economy nexus. Motivated by the fact that the impact of technical progress on the demand for different production factors may vary depending on the bias of the technological change, in this paper, by estimating a translog cost-share system and using state-space modeling technique, we investigate to what extent the direction of technical change is biased toward energy and away from other factors. By applying this methodology to the French economy for the period 1978–2006 the obtained results suggest that: first, technical change has a non-neutral impact on factor demands; second, capital-saving technical progress is present in the majority of the sectors studied; third, energy demand has increased in all sectors but electricity and gas. These findings may have important policy implications for environmental and energy issues in France.     

Building energy saving potential in Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) Zone,China—Influence of building energy efficiency standards and implications

Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) region plays an important role in China's building energy conservation task due to its high consumption in recent years for both climate and social reasons. National and local building energy standards according to which the buildings are built and operated can affect the building energy consumption to a great extent. This study investigated the energy saving potential in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone under different level of energy efficiency standards (China local, China national, and UK standard). Chongqing was taken as an example, and the commercial energy simulation tool eQuest was applied to analyze the building end-use energy. With the existing situation as a baseline, the building energy saving for residential section could achieve 31.5% if the Chinese national standard were satisfied, and the value would further increase to 45.0% and 53.4% when the Chongqing local and UK standard were met. For public buildings, the corresponding energy saving potentials were 62.8%, 67.4% and 75.9%. Parameter sensitivity analysis was conducted. The analysis was able to provide suggestions on energy saving implementation priorities for residential and public buildings. Indications to improve building energy standards and their implementation were also discussed.     

Renewable energy strategies for rural Africa: is a PV-led renewable energy strategy the right approach for providing modern energy to the rural poor of sub-Saharan Africa?

Rural areas continue to be home to majority of the population in Africa. The importance of providing modern energy to rural areas cannot, therefore, be overemphasised. Despite numerous efforts by Governments and donors in the region to promote solar photovoltaics (PVs) for rural electrification (almost every country in the region has had a rural electrification PV project), access to modern energy in rural Africa continues to be woefully low. In addition to being unaffordable to the rural masses, solar PV has the limitation that it can only be used for lighting and powering low-voltage appliances. This article reviews emerging trends in the rural energy sector of sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses the limitations of over-reliance on solar PV. It suggests possible options that could have greater impact on rural clean energy development. For the majority of rural households in the region, biomass fuels will continue to be the dominant fuel of choice. Efficient technologies for the use of biomass would, therefore, ensure that scarce biomass resources are effectively utilised, and reduce the negative impacts of biomass use on women and children's health. Solar thermal, windpumps, micro-/pico-hydropower and cleaner fuels such as kerosene and LPG, have not received adequate attention from policy makers. These energy options could significantly improve the performance of rural small- and micro-enterprises. This article argues that rural energy policies that emphasise a broader range of renewables and target income-generating activities are likely to yield greater benefits to the rural poor than the current policies that rely on the solar PV option.     

Advanced control systems engineering for energy and comfort management in a building environment—A review

Given restrictions that comfort conditions in the interior of a building are satisfied, it becomes obvious that the problem of energy conservation is a multidimensional one. Scientists from a variety of fields have been working on this problem for a few decades now; however, essentially it remains an open issue. In the beginning of this article, we define the whole problem in which the topics are: energy, comfort and control. Next, we briefly present the conventional control systems in buildings and their advantages and disadvantage. We will also see how the development of intelligent control systems has improved the efficiency of control systems for the management of indoor environment including user preferences. This paper presents a survey exploring state of the art control systems in buildings. Attention will be focused on the design of agent-based intelligent control systems in building environments. In particular, this paper presents a multi-agent control system (MACS). This advanced control system is simulated using TRNSYS/MATLAB. The simulation results show that the MACS successfully manage the user’s preferences for thermal and illuminance comfort, indoor air quality and energy conservation.     

Does the use of renewable energy sources mitigate CO2 emissions? A reassessment of the US evidence

Previous research on the determinants of CO₂ emissions has concluded that, although increasing nuclear energy consumption can help to mitigate emissions, increasing use of renewable energy sources is not effective in this regard. These studies, however, do not consider energy prices as a possible driver of energy demand (and hence of emissions) and we find that this omission and the choice of functional form materially alters the outcome in the US case. Specifically, our cointegration and Granger-causality test results indicate that CO₂ emission levels are negatively related to the use of renewable energy, but are unrelated to nuclear energy consumption.     

Communication on energy: Who pays for the long-term costs of nuclear power?

The question in the title arises in making a fair comparison between a coal-fired station, which has no long-term costs, and a nuclear station, whose large long-term costs are discounted into insignificance by the present method of calculation. This problem was raised by the present author in his evidence to the Sizewell Inquiry, and has recently been discussed by the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy, who expressed grave disquiet that ‘the costs of decommissioning become almost irrelevant to the current economics of nuclear power’. The present article analyses the bizarre effects of long-term discounting, and suggests a method of making a fair and symmetrical comparison between coal-fired and nuclear stations.     

Climatic considerations in school building design in the hot–humid climate for reducing energy consumption

Energy-conscious design of school buildings can contribute to significant energy savings and improve the students’ learning environment. The purpose of this research is to formulate design recommendations for school buildings in the hot–humid climatic zone and assess the influence of different design variables on their energy consumption. A base-case classroom was constructed by taking commonly used values for each design variable. Using computer simulation techniques, these variables were modified one by one to find the value that minimized energy consumption, while keeping thermal and visual comfort in the room. Based on these tests, the recommended value for each design variable to achieve a high performance classroom, was determined. Comparative tests were done to determine which variables have greatest impact on the energy consumption and thermal comfort in the classroom, and how their absolute influence depends on the order of implementation of each improvement. A complex interdependence among the design variables was found, but strong conclusions for energy savings could still be reached.     

Are energy statistics useful for making energy scenarios?

One can measure “energy quantities” – e.g. joules, BTU, quads – but only at a given scale and within a specific narrative about energy conversions at the time. Therefore, at the moment of generating aggregate indicators, the arithmetic summing of assessments of energy quantities referring to different scales and narratives is meaningless. This paper addresses epistemological problems typical of energy accounting, which are at the moment tackled by acknowledging the existence of unspecified “qualitative differences” among different energy forms – e.g. a joule of electricity has more “value” than a joule of coal. Three energy forms referring to different scales and narratives about energy conversions are relevant for national accounting: Primary Energy Sources (PES), Energy Carriers (EC), and End Uses (EU). We critically examine the usefulness of current energy statistics in relation to this distinction. The conventional linear representation – flow chart – based on a single scale and a single quantitative accounting confuses the three semantic categories and entails an important loss of information. Finally, we illustrate an innovative scheme for energy accounting across hierarchical levels that: (i) addresses the autocatalytic nature of energy transformations; (ii) provides a multi-scale quantitative representation; and (iii) preserves the semantic distinction between relevant energy forms (PES, EC, and EU).     

Energy and behavioral impacts of integrative retrofits for residential buildings: What is at stake for building energy policy reforms in northern China?

Based upon the results from extensive building monitoring and surveys on occupant’s behaviors in a representative nine-story apartment building in northern China, building energy simulations were performed to evaluate the impacts of integrative retrofits implemented. Integrative retrofits required by the newer building energy standard produced significant heating-energy savings (i.e., 53%) when compared with baseline buildings commonly built in early 1980s. Taking into account district-heating-system upgrades as part of integrative retrofit measures, a representative apartment building was 66% more efficient than the baseline building. Contrary to expectation, little behavioral change was found in response to the provisions of monetary incentive, billing-method reform, or metering of heating energy use in individual apartment units. Yet this paper identified sizable energy savings potential if occupants’ behavioral changes were to actually happen. This indicates that provisions of financial incentives or individual metering were insufficient for triggering substantial behavioral changes leading toward more energy savings in the current buildings. It is recommended that innovative energy policies, technology upgrades, and education would be needed to promote behavioral changes toward additional energy savings. Finally, measures and strategies to further enhance thermal integrity criteria (e.g., insulations of roof and balcony) are recommended in China’s future building energy policy reforms.     

The value of domestic building energy efficiency — evidence from Ireland

Following the transposition of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive into Irish law, all properties offered for sale or to let in Ireland are obliged to have an energy efficiency rating. This paper analyses the effect of energy efficiency ratings on the sale and rental prices of properties in the Republic of Ireland. Using the Heckman selection technique we model the decision to advertise the energy efficiency rating of a property and the effect of energy efficiency ratings on property values. Our results show that energy efficiency has a positive effect on both the sales and rental prices of properties, and that the effect is significantly stronger in the sales segment of the property market. We also analyse the effect of energy efficiency across different market conditions and we find that the effect of the energy rating is generally stronger where market conditions are worse.