Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households

This paper develops an empirical model to investigate the main determinants of household energy conservation patterns in Greece employing cross-section data. In the empirical analysis, household energy-conserving choices models are employed, using a discrete and a latent trait variable respectively as a dependent variable. The results show that socio-economic variables such as consumers’ income and family size are suitable to explain differences towards energy conservation preferences. In addition, the results suggest that electricity expenditures and age of the respondent are negatively associated with the number of energy-conserving actions that a consumer is willing to adopt. Finally, other variables such as environmental information feedback and consciousness of energy problems are characteristics of the energy-saver consumer. By evaluating consumer's decision-making process with regards to energy conservation measures, we are able to formulate and propose an effective energy conservation framework for Greece. An energy policy framework is among the main prerequisites not only to achieve sustainable development but also to maintain consumers’ quality of life.     

Economies of scale in energy use in adult-only households

The residential sector is responsible for 18% of Australia's primary energy use; thus improved knowledge about household energy use is vital to future energy management. This study examines economies of scale in energy use and expenditure among adult-only households and across three adult-only household types. Significant economies of scale are found in all cases. Small households suffer a double penalty of greater per capita energy use and higher charge per unit of energy, with older households the most affected. The trend towards smaller average household size means that economies of scale are continually being lost, offsetting gains in energy efficiency achieved through other means.     

Assessing energy supply security: Outage costs in private households

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the topic of energy supply security by proposing a Monte Carlo-based and a survey based model to analyze the costs of power interruptions. Outage cost estimations are particularly important when deciding on investments to improve supply security (e.g. additional transmission lines) in order to compare costs to benefits. But also other policy decisions on measures that have direct or indirect consequences for the supply security (e.g. a phasing out of nuclear energy) need to be based on results from outage cost estimations. The main focus of this paper lies with residential consumers, but the model is applied to commercial, industrial and governmental consumers as well. There are limited studies that have approached the problem of evaluating outage cost. When comparing the results of these studies, they often display a high degree of diversification. As consumers have different needs and dependencies towards the supply of electricity because of varying circumstances and preferences, a great diversity in outage cost is a logical consequence. To take the high degree of uncertainties into account, a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted in this study for the case of private households in Germany.     

Consumer discount rates and energy carrier choices in urban households

Consumer discount rates are good indicators of the potential of energy conservation programmes. They can also be used to evaluate the penetration of different energy carriers and are useful to study the carrier shifts. This paper analyses the trade-off between the capital cost of the energy-efficient device and the operating costs of the standard one using the household energy consumption data of Bangalore, a city in southern India. The results show that households shift from one energy carrier to another if their income increases and the consumer discount rates decrease exponentially with household income. This income-dependent consumer discount rate for the carrier shifts implies that the cost aspects dominates the decisions of Bangalore's households regarding the choice of energy carrier.     

Small-scale households renewable energy usage intention: Theoretical development and empirical settings

The slow growth of acceptance is a major barrier to small-scale renewable energy development. This study examines the determinants of acceptance of small-scale renewable energy in Malaysia. The research model for this study was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour, the technology acceptance model, the diffusion of innovation theory and the existing literature on technology adoption. This study tested five hypotheses based on a survey, of 200 Malaysian urban residents and which used structured questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis results reveal that perceived ease of use, perceived behavioural control, awareness, relative advantage and cost reduction have significant impact on small-scale renewable energy usage intention. This study not only contributes to and extends our understanding of small-scale renewable energy purchasing behaviour, it also identifies the rationales for purchasing small-scale renewable energy. From a managerial viewpoint, the findings not only provide support for investment decisions but also take into consideration the concerns and needs of businesses and Malaysian government agencies.     

Analysis of changing hidden energy flow in Vietnam

The energy consumption in production process is changing especially in developing countries by substituting technology. Input–output analysis for energy flows has been developing and is one of the best solutions for investigating macroscopic exchanges of both economy and energy. Since each element in the Leontief inverse contains both direct and indirect effects of any change in final demand, to separate those direct and indirect effects, the power series expansion is available. In this work, the changes of embodied energy intensity in Vietnam from 1996 to 2000 were analyzed using the structural decomposition and its power series expansion. By illustrating the change of causal relationship between direct energy consumption and embodied energy consumption, the change of hidden energy flow, which indicates how the changing embodied energy builds up the change of direct energy consumption in every sector, can be seen. In the case study, the rice processing sector, which is one of the important food processing sectors in Vietnam, is focused. By drawing a diagrammatic map for the change of hidden energy flow, it is clarified that in the case of raising embodied energy intensity, cultivation sector and trade and repaired service sector are the main contributors, and, on the contrary, in the case of reducing embodied energy intensity, paper pulp sector is the main contributor.     

Granular phase changing composites for thermal energy storage

Granular phase changing composites for thermal energy storage were made of granular porous materials and organic phase changing materials by means of vacuum impregnation method. Experimental studies on the vacuum impregnation method, phase changing behavior, chemical compatibility between porous materials and phase changing materials, and sealing performance of coating materials arrived in the following conclusions. Firstly, the vacuum impregnation method is effective in loading porous materials with phase changing materials; and its setup is simple, cheap and easy of scale-up. Secondly, organic phase changing materials (including fatty acids and their derivatives, and paraffin) and inorganic porous materials (including expanded clay, expanded fly ash and expanded perlite) are suitable raw materials for the phase changing composites with respect to chemical compatibility, large thermal energy storage density, and feasibility of large scale processing. Thirdly, thickened latex is the best choice of coating materials for the porous material granules, whose sealing performance is about 40-fold higher than that of normal cement paste and about sevenfold higher than that of the best polymer modified cement paste in this paper.     

Modelling of electricity savings in the Danish households sector: from the energy system to the end-user

In this paper, we examine the value of investing in energy-efficient household appliances from both an energy system and end-user perspectives. We consider a set of appliance categories constituting the majority of the electricity consumption in the private household sector, and focus on the stock of products which need to be replaced. First, we look at the energy system and investigate whether investing in improved energy efficiency can compete with the cost of electricity supply from existing or new power plants. To assess the analysis, Balmorel, a linear optimization model for the heat and power sectors, has been extended in order to endogenously determine the best possible investments in more efficient home appliances. Second, we propose a method to relate the optimal energy system solution to the end-user choices by incorporating consumer behaviour and electricity price addition due to taxes. The model is non-exclusively tested on the Danish energy system under different scenarios. Computational experiments show that several energy efficiency measures in the household sector should be regarded as valuable investments (e.g. an efficient lighting system) while others would require some form of support to become profitable. The analysis quantifies energy and economic savings from the consumer side and reveals the impacts on the Danish power system and surrounding countries. Compared to a business-as-usual energy scenario, the end-user attains net economic savings in the range of 30–40 EUR per year, and the system can benefit of an annual electricity demand reduction of 140–150 GWh. The paper enriches the existing literature about energy efficiency modelling in households, contributing with novel models, methods, and findings related to the Danish case.     

Nairobi households and their energy use: An economic analysis of consumption patterns

This paper describes and analyses the results of an urban household energy survey conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, during 1981. Aggregate data on fuel and energy demand are examined in light of the problems facing urban areas in developing countries such as the increases in petroleum prices in the 1970s and the depletion of non-commercial energy resources such as wood. The paper provides a disaggregation of urban household fuel demand by income group. Using regression analysis, the results confirm that there is a high income elasticity for electricity (approximately 1.6), while charcoal exhibits a negative income elasticity of -0.23. Gas energy consumption is primarily explained by price movements.     

Hydrogen energy in changing environmental scenario: Indian context

This paper deals with how the Hydrogen Energy may play a crucial role in taking care of the environmental scenario/climate change. The R&D efforts, at the Hydrogen Energy Center, Banaras Hindu University have been described and discussed to elucidate that hydrogen is the best option for taking care of the environmental/climate changes. All three important ingredients for hydrogen economy, i.e., production, storage and application of hydrogen have been dealt with. As regards hydrogen production, solar routes consisting of photoelectrochemical electrolysis of water have been described and discussed. Nanostructured TiO₂ films used as photoanodes have been synthesized through hydrolysis of Ti[OCH(CH₃)₂]₄. Modular designs of TiO₂ photoelectrode-based PEC cells have been fabricated to get high hydrogen production rate (10.35 lh⁻¹ m⁻²). However, hydrogen storage is a key issue in the success and realization of hydrogen technology and economy. Metal hydrides are the promising candidates due to their safety advantage with high volume efficient storage capacity for on-board applications. As regards storage, we have discussed the storage of hydrogen in intermetallics as well as lightweight complex hydride systems. For intermetallic systems, we have dealt with material tailoring of LaNi₅ through Fe substitution. The La(Ni_l − xFe_x)₅ (x = 0.16) has been found to yield a high storage capacity of 2.40 wt%. We have also discussed how CNT admixing helps to improve the hydrogen desorption rate of NaAlH₄. CNT (8 mol%) admixed NaAlH₄ is found to be optimum for faster desorption (3.3 wt% H₂ within 2 h). From an applications point of view, we have focused on the use of hydrogen (stored in intermetallic La–Ni–Fe system) as fuel for Internal Combustion (IC) engine-based vehicular transport, particularly two and three-wheelers. It is shown that hydrogen used as a fuel is the most effective alternative fuel for circumventing climate change.     

Application of the Structural Decomposition Analysis to assess the indirect energy consumption and air emission changes related to Italian households consumption

The design of sustainable production and consumption strategies and the assessment of implemented actions require to identify the driving forces that influence the trend of energy consumption and environmental impacts.For this purpose, the Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) was developed as a suitable methodology to analyse the driving forces of the changes in economic, energy and environmental indicators.The paper presents one of the first Italian studies that apply an energy and environmental extended input-output model, opportunely shaped to the examined context, combined with SDA. In detail, it aims at: (1) investigating the energy use and the air emissions arisen from the productive sectors to meet the household final demand in the period 1999-2006; (2) identifying the sources of variations in energy and environmental indicators; and (3) identifying which economic sectors are the most relevant sources of variation and must to be taken into account in the definition of sustainable production and consumption strategies.As sources of changes, the authors investigate: energy and emission intensity effects, Leontief effect and final demand effect.Outcomes point out that the increase of the final consumptions often nullifies the energy and environmental benefits due to the improvement of the eco-efficiency and to the introduction of innovative technologies of production.The sector level analysis shows that “tertiary” and “electricity, gas and vapour” result the highest Italian consuming sectors of energy. Thus they should be focused for energy saving strategies. “Agriculture, hunting and sylviculture” and “road transports”, that are primarily sectors affecting air emissions, should be taken into account for the reduction of environmental impacts.Results highlight that the current dichotomy of final demand growth and improvement of eco-efficiency represents a key problem that needs to be addressed. Therefore the presented study can aid to define suitable oriented strategies for the energy and environmental impact reduction.     

Variations in energy use by Indian households: An analysis of micro level data

In this paper an attempt has been made to determine the factors that influence individual's decision to choose a particular energy carrier, viz., firewood, LPG, kerosene, and electricity. From the economic perspective, an individual's propensity to choose a particular energy carrier is determined by his/her economic status, carrier availability and prices, household size and other regional and demographic variables. For this reason, the choice of selecting a carrier for a service (e.g. cooking) is expected to vary among individuals. To assess this, the study uses the 1999–2000 National Sample Survey (NSS) data covering over 118,000 households and analyses the rural and urban areas separately. A multinomial logit selection model has been applied for estimating the energy carrier choice decision. The results show that individuals are influenced by per capita income, household size, educational status of the head of the household, occupation of the household members, in addition to other household location characteristics. It is found that the monthly household income and household size have nonlinear relationship on the probability of choosing a fuel.     

Biomass availability, energy consumption and biochar production in rural households of Western Kenya

Pyrolytic cook stoves in smallholder farms may require different biomass supply than traditional bioenergy approaches. Therefore, we carried out an on-farm assessment of the energy consumption for food preparation, the biomass availability relevant to conventional and pyrolytic cook stoves, and the potential biochar generation in rural households of western Kenya. Biomass availability for pyrolysis varied widely from 0.7 to 12.4 Mg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ with an average of 4.3 Mg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹, across all 50 studied farms. Farms with high soil fertility that were recently converted to agriculture from forest had the highest variability (CV = 83%), which was a result of the wide range of farm sizes and feedstock types in the farms. Biomass variability was two times lower for farms with low than high soil fertility (CV = 37%). The reduction in variability is a direct consequence of the soil quality, coupled with farm size and feedstock type. The total wood energy available in the farms (5.3 GJ capita⁻¹ y⁻¹) was not sufficient to meet the current cooking energy needs using conventional combustion stoves, but may be sufficient for improved combustion stoves depending on their energy efficiency. However, the biomass that is usable in pyrolytic cook stoves including crop residues, shrub and tree litter can provide 17.2 GJ capita⁻¹ y⁻¹ of energy for cooking, which is well above the current average cooking energy consumption of 10.5 GJ capita⁻¹ y⁻¹. The introduction of a first-generation pyrolytic cook stove reduced wood energy consumption by 27% while producing an average of 0.46 Mg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ of biochar.     

Adaptability of a generic wave energy converter to different climate conditions

This study evaluates the influence of wave climate tunability on the performance of a generic Wave Energy Converter (WEC) for different climate scenarios. The generic WEC is assumed to be composed of an array of heaving, floating cylinders. In this study, two natural periods for the cylinders of 4 s and 8 s (typical of enclosed seas and the mean Atlantic swell, respectively) and a location-tunable cylinder are considered to evaluate the influence of tuning on the power performance of the cylinder. The WEC power matrix is computed using a frequency domain model, and the performance of the WEC is evaluated along the global coasts; the met-ocean data originated from the global reanalysis database (GOW) from Reguero et al. (2012). The performance of the WEC is evaluated using two parameters: the capture width ratio (CWR), which evaluates the efficiency of the converter at each location, and the kW/Ton (KWT) parameter, which evaluates the efficiency of the converter using “economic” terms. Tuning a converter for each location displayed a positive CWR; however, the KWT was low after WEC tuning because of the weight of the structures required to tune the converter that experiences high peak periods.     

The role of income in energy consumption behaviour: Evidence from French households data

The main purpose of this paper is to characterise quantitatively the impact of income on household energy consumption in the residential and transport sectors. Starting from the data collected in a paper survey, we analyse the extent of the constraint experienced by households in terms of equipment purchasing behaviour and daily energy consumption. This analysis shows that the least well-off households are particularly constrained since the share of their budget represented by these energy services is very large (15–25%), and this corresponds to a level of energy service well below that of the better-off households. The case of space-heating shows a factor of 2 in terms of level of comfort achieved between the extreme 10-percentiles. These households also face a strong capital constraint for equipment purchases. This leads either to a large increase in the required rate of return or to a reduction in the proportion of households that are prepared to replace their equipment earlier. The least well-off households are thus doubly constrained, since it is more difficult for them to invest. In our opinion, it is crucial to take into account this observation in the context of political measures aimed at reducing households’CO₂ emissions.     

A new methodology to optimise solar energy extraction under cloudy conditions

The orientation and tilt position of the solar panel affect the amount of solar radiation that falls on the panel surface over the course of the day and indeed the year. The choice of tilt angle for a solar panel is fundamental to its efficient operation because incorrectly positioning the solar panel leads to an unnecessary loss in potential power. In the past, much work has been done by authors to determine the optimum tilt angle by applying existing models to their locations. This approach has been successful in climates with the most favourable solar potential, where greater than 90 percent of the solar radiation arrives as direct beam radiation. The accuracy of these models in these locations has been attributed to the low presence of cloud cover and the consequential dominance of the beam radiation portion of the global radiation. Countries located above 45°N however, (Northern Europe), require a different approach to optimising the tilt angle as they receive the least amount of direct radiation with approximately half arriving as diffuse radiation, due to frequent, heavy cloud cover. This paper reviews existing methods and describes a means of predicting the solar radiation in a frequently overcast climate and proposes a method for choosing the optimum tilt angle in such a climate. The effect of different load profiles on the optimum tilt angle is also investigated. The solar radiation model is then used to predict the solar radiation for Cairo, Egypt to show that the model has a global application and is not limited to frequently overcast climates.     

Energy use and changing energy policies of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is an energy rich country that has been using energy with low efficiency and low socio-economic benefit. Recently, the focus of the government has changed to emphasize energy efficiency, conservation and management in its energy policies. This paper reviews the energy consumption patterns of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as its new policy focus on energy efficiency.     

North African oil and foreign investment in changing market conditions

Since the 1960s, the experiences of the North African oil producers of Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan within the oil industry have followed separate paths, which have led them into different relations with foreign oil companies. While reflecting broader trends of “resource nationalism”, these relations have also been affected by a number of factors specific to these countries. In tracing the evolution of the oil investment frameworks of these countries, as well as their concomitant relations with IOCs, this paper probes the roles played by these factors and argues that the type and size of remaining reserves as well as the capability of NOCs are likely to determine the most future developments in the region's oil industry.     

Responsiveness of low-income households to hybrid price/non-price policies in the presence of energy shortages: evidence from Colombia

At the beginning of 2016, Colombia was experiencing an energy shortage, and in order to avoid mandatory power cuts, the government launched an unexpected hybrid price/non-price energy-saving policy. In this paper, I evaluate how low-income households in a major Colombian city respond to this policy. Using hourly household electricity consumption data, I find that, on average, households reduce electricity consumption by 4.5% as a result of the policy. It is striking that even low-income households, who consume relatively small amounts of electricity, respond to energy-saving policies and engage in conservation behaviors in the short term. In my analysis, I also find that the effect is stronger the higher the household pre-treatment electricity consumption levels and smaller among poorer households. However, the heterogeneity in terms of income level vanishes once I control for household pre-program electricity consumption levels. Finally, my point estimates are comparable to the impact estimates of policies that are similar to the one I analyze in this paper.     

The energy and environmental impacts of Italian households consumptions: An input–output approach

Promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns is a key challenge for the future, in order to use the Earth resources efficiently, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to decouple the economic growth from the environmental degradation.New or customized methods have to be applied to support decisions makers in the choice of environmental-friendly products, and to select policy priorities and sustainable strategies.A modified input–output model can aid to analyse the relationships among economic growth, energy consumptions and pollutants, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts due to the actual production and consumption patterns.The following paper introduces an energy and environmental extended input–output model and combines it with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology.The authors apply this model to the Italian context in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts related to the consumptions of the Italian households in the period 1999–2006 and to identify the economic sectors involving the highest impacts.The paper represents one of the first Italian studies aimed at identifying those national economic sectors and final goods and services to be assumed prior in the definition of sustainable production and consumption strategies. Results show that about the 70% of the total energy, needed to meet the household final demand of products, is consumed by the productive sectors. In particular tertiary, “electricity, gas and vapour”, road transports and “food and beverage” sectors are the most contributors, accounting for about 75%.Further, the environmental impact analysis associated to Italian households consumptions is carried out, starting from three different data sources The results point out that, to include emissions arising both from energy and non-energy sources, in the assessment of environmental impacts is of paramount importance to obtain reliable simulations of the link between households consumptions and energy and environmental performances.