• Energy Research

Les solutions d'atténuation sont souvent évaluées en termes de coûts et de potentiels de réduction des gaz à effet de serre, omettant la prise en compte des effets directs sur le bien-être humain. Ici, nous évaluons systématiquement le potentiel d'atténuation des options du côté de la demande classées en éviter, changer et améliorer, et leurs liens avec le bien-être humain. Nous montrons que ces options, reliant les domaines socio-comportementaux, infrastructurels et technologiques, peuvent réduire les émissions sectorielles contrefactuelles de 40 à 80 % dans les secteurs d'utilisation finale. Sur la base du jugement d'experts et d'une vaste base de données bibliographiques, nous évaluons 306 combinaisons de résultats en matière de bien-être et d'options du côté de la demande, trouvant des effets largement bénéfiques sur l'amélioration du bien-être (79 % positifs, 18 % neutres et 3 % négatifs), même si nous trouvons une faible confiance dans les dimensions sociales du bien-être. La mise en œuvre de telles solutions nuancées est basée de manière axiomatique sur une compréhension des préférences malléables plutôt que fixes, et de manière procédurale sur l'évolution des infrastructures et des architectures de choix. Les résultats démontrent le potentiel élevé d'atténuation des options d'atténuation du côté de la demande qui sont synergiques avec le bien-être. L'évaluation des mesures d'atténuation se concentre souvent sur les coûts et néglige les effets directs sur le bien-être. Ce travail montre que les mesures du côté de la demande ont un grand potentiel d'atténuation et des effets bénéfiques sur les résultats en matière de bien-être. Las soluciones de mitigación a menudo se evalúan en términos de costos y potenciales de reducción de gases de efecto invernadero, sin tener en cuenta los efectos directos sobre el bienestar humano. Aquí, evaluamos sistemáticamente el potencial de mitigación de las opciones del lado de la demanda clasificadas en evitar, cambiar y mejorar, y sus vínculos con el bienestar humano. Mostramos que estas opciones, uniendo los dominios socio-conductuales, infraestructurales y tecnológicos, pueden reducir las emisiones sectoriales contrafactuales en un 40–80% en los sectores de uso final. Con base en el juicio de expertos y una extensa base de datos bibliográfica, evaluamos 306 combinaciones de resultados de bienestar y opciones del lado de la demanda, encontrando efectos en gran medida beneficiosos en la mejora del bienestar (79% positivo, 18% neutral y 3% negativo), a pesar de que encontramos poca confianza en las dimensiones sociales del bienestar. La implementación de tales soluciones matizadas se basa axiomáticamente en la comprensión de preferencias maleables en lugar de fijas, y procedimentalmente en infraestructuras cambiantes y arquitecturas de elección. Los resultados demuestran el alto potencial de mitigación de las opciones de mitigación del lado de la demanda que son sinérgicas con el bienestar. La evaluación de las acciones de mitigación a menudo se centra en el coste y pasa por alto los efectos directos sobre el bienestar. Este trabajo muestra que las medidas del lado de la demanda tienen un gran potencial de mitigación y efectos beneficiosos en los resultados de bienestar. Mitigation solutions are often evaluated in terms of costs and greenhouse gas reduction potentials, missing out on the consideration of direct effects on human well-being. Here, we systematically assess the mitigation potential of demand-side options categorized into avoid, shift and improve, and their human well-being links. We show that these options, bridging socio-behavioural, infrastructural and technological domains, can reduce counterfactual sectoral emissions by 40–80% in end-use sectors. Based on expert judgement and an extensive literature database, we evaluate 306 combinations of well-being outcomes and demand-side options, finding largely beneficial effects in improvement in well-being (79% positive, 18% neutral and 3% negative), even though we find low confidence on the social dimensions of well-being. Implementing such nuanced solutions is based axiomatically on an understanding of malleable rather than fixed preferences, and procedurally on changing infrastructures and choice architectures. Results demonstrate the high mitigation potential of demand-side mitigation options that are synergistic with well-being. Evaluation of mitigation actions often focuses on cost and overlooks the direct effects on well-being. This work shows demand-side measures have large mitigation potential and beneficial effects on well-being outcomes. غالبًا ما يتم تقييم حلول التخفيف من حيث التكاليف وإمكانات الحد من غازات الدفيئة، مع إغفال النظر في الآثار المباشرة على رفاهية الإنسان. هنا، نقيم بشكل منهجي إمكانات التخفيف لخيارات جانب الطلب المصنفة في فئات التجنب والتحول والتحسين، وروابط رفاه الإنسان الخاصة بها. نظهر أن هذه الخيارات، التي تربط بين المجالات الاجتماعية والسلوكية والبنية التحتية والتكنولوجية، يمكن أن تقلل من الانبعاثات القطاعية المضادة بنسبة 40-80 ٪ في قطاعات الاستخدام النهائي. استنادًا إلى حكم الخبراء وقاعدة بيانات شاملة للأدبيات، نقوم بتقييم 306 مجموعة من نتائج الرفاهية وخيارات جانب الطلب، ونجد آثارًا مفيدة إلى حد كبير في تحسين الرفاهية (79 ٪ إيجابي و 18 ٪ محايد و 3 ٪ سلبي)، على الرغم من أننا نجد ثقة منخفضة في الأبعاد الاجتماعية للرفاهية. يعتمد تنفيذ مثل هذه الحلول الدقيقة بشكل بديهي على فهم التفضيلات المرنة بدلاً من التفضيلات الثابتة، ومن الناحية الإجرائية على تغيير البنى التحتية وبنى الاختيار. تُظهر النتائج إمكانات التخفيف العالية لخيارات التخفيف من جانب الطلب التي تتآزر مع الرفاهية. غالبًا ما يركز تقييم إجراءات التخفيف على التكلفة ويتجاهل الآثار المباشرة على الرفاهية. يُظهر هذا العمل أن تدابير جانب الطلب لها إمكانات تخفيف كبيرة وآثار مفيدة على نتائج الرفاهية.

Energy efficiency can make energy access more affordable by reducing the electricity cost burden on households and businesses. Improving products’ energy efficiency helps reduce monthly energy bills— freeing up funds that can feed back into the economy, thus stimulating economic growth. To demonstrate these benefits, this paper conducts a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and a national impact analysis (NIA) for implementing an energy-efficiency standards and labeling (EESL) program for refrigeration products in Uganda. The CBA compares the costs versus the benefits of investing in energy-efficient products for consumers: It shows that the most cost-effective products have an efficiency level 35 % higher than baseline products sold on the market. By choosing these products, consumers save, on average, US$76 over the lifetime of the product. The NIA assesses the impact of an energy-efficiency standard set at that level and shows potential cumulative savings of US$595 million (2023–2040) for households and small businesses. These savings translate into additional purchasing power for households and investments for small businesses, leading to increased living standards and economic development. This paper describes the importance of implementing energy efficiency policies and programs in emerging economies where affordability of electricity hinders electricity access. This paper provides a rigorous approach of using CBA and NIA assessments to demonstrate the economic savings for the consumers and the nation to implement EESL programs for major electric equipment.

AbstractGlobal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be traced to five economic sectors: energy, industry, buildings, transport and AFOLU (agriculture, forestry and other land uses). In this topical review, we synthesise the literature to explain recent trends in global and regional emissions in each of these sectors. To contextualise our review, we present estimates of GHG emissions trends by sector from 1990 to 2018, describing the major sources of emissions growth, stability and decline across ten global regions. Overall, the literature and data emphasise that progress towards reducing GHG emissions has been limited. The prominent global pattern is a continuation of underlying drivers with few signs of emerging limits to demand, nor of a deep shift towards the delivery of low and zero carbon services across sectors. We observe a moderate decarbonisation of energy systems in Europe and North America, driven by fuel switching and the increasing penetration of renewables. By contrast, in rapidly industrialising regions, fossil-based energy systems have continuously expanded, only very recently slowing down in their growth. Strong demand for materials, floor area, energy services and travel have driven emissions growth in the industry, buildings and transport sectors, particularly in Eastern Asia, Southern Asia and South-East Asia. An expansion of agriculture into carbon-dense tropical forest areas has driven recent increases in AFOLU emissions in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa. Identifying, understanding, and tackling the most persistent and climate-damaging trends across sectors is a fundamental concern for research and policy as humanity treads deeper into the Anthropocene.

Abstract In 2008, the gross domestic product (GDP) of California industry was larger than GDP of industry in any other U.S. states. This study analyses the energy use of and output from seventeen industry subsectors in California and performs decomposition analysis to assess the influence of different factors on California industry energy use. The logarithmic mean Divisia index method is used for the decomposition analysis. The decomposition analysis results show that the observed reduction of energy use in California industry since 2000 is the result of two main factors: the intensity effect and the structural effect. The intensity effect has started pushing final energy use downward in 2000 and has since amplified. The second large effect is the structural effect. The significant decrease of the energy-intensive “Oil and Gas Extraction” subsector's share of total industry value added, from 15% in 1997 to 5% in 2008, and the increase of the non-energy intensive “Electric and electronic equipment manufacturing” sector's share of value added, from 7% in 1997 to 30% in 2008, both contributed to a decrease in the energy intensity in the industry sector.

Numerous countries use public funds to subsidize residential electricity for a variety of socioeconomic objectives. These subsidies lower the value of energy efficiency to the consumer while raising it for the government. Further, while it would be especially helpful to have stringent Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for end uses in this environment, they are hard to strengthen without imposing a cost on ratepayers. In this second-best world, where the presence of subsidies limits the government’s ability to strengthen standards, we find that efficiency-induced savings in subsidy payments can be a significant source of financing for energy efficiency incentive programs. Here, we introduce the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Energy Efficiency Revenue Analysis (LEERA) model to estimate the greatest appliance efficiency improvements that can be achieved in Mexico by the revenue neutral financing of incentive programs from savings in subsidy payments yielded by the same efficiency improvements. We analyze Mexico’s tariff structures and the long-run marginal cost of supply to calculate the marginal savings for the government from appliance efficiency. We find that these avoided subsidy payments alone can provide enough revenue to cover the full incremental manufacturing cost of refrigerators that are 29 % more efficient and televisions that are 36 % more efficient than baseline models. For room air conditioners (ACs), the same source of financing can contribute up to one third of the incremental manufacturing cost of a model that is 10 % more efficient than baseline. We analyze the sensitivity of our results to the most important parameters and find our main conclusion that efficiency-induced avoided subsidy payments will contribute significantly to financing efficiency incentive programs in Mexico to be significant and robust.

Abstract The residential sector in Ghana accounts for about 40% of aggregate electricity consumption out of which urban centers contribute 70%. The high weighted share of residential electricity use is attributed to high appliance ownership and use, and other household/building factors. The ability to determine how changes in the pattern of these factors influence electricity demand is critical if efforts to reduce consumption are to be effective. This study combines a residential electricity consumption survey (RECS) with electricity end-use monitoring of 60 households in Tema city Ghana, to yield the first ever comprehensive investigation of city-scale electricity consumption in urban Ghanaian homes. A multiple linear regression analysis is used to identify the most statistically significant indicators of appliance ownership and household electricity consumption. Results indicate that ownership of air conditioner, freezer, fan, refrigerator and television; and changes in socio-economic and building factors such as energy efficiency awareness and practice; income; household size and floor space show high statistical significance, and collectively explain 57% variance in households’ total electricity consumption. The presence of dependent children increases ownership of television, iron, washing machine and small kitchen appliances. This work provides a solid foundation for developing more tailored energy-saving policy interventions targeted at households.