• Energy Research
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To meet international efforts to prevent climate change, the South Korean government is seeking to transform its main power source from coal to natural gas (NG), which emits less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal. The government needs information about public preferences for increasing NG-fired generation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide the government with this information by gathering the data on public preferences for increasing NG-fired generation for reducing CO2 emissions, analyzing these data, and obtaining the implications from the analysis. To this end, a survey of 1000 people, after explaining the merits and demerits of NG-fired power, were asked to determine the proper ratio of NG-fired generation by choosing one of six examples: lower than 10%, 10%–20%, 20%–30%, 30%–40%, 40%–50%, and higher than 50%. An interval data model was employed to deal with the data. The average value of the ratio was estimated to be 26.7% with statistical significance, which is greater than the actual value of 22.2% from 2017. Finally, whether and how much some variables such as education level, age, gender, and income level of the respondent affected their preferences for NG-fired generation were investigated.

This paper attempts to investigate the short- and long-run causality issues among oil consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic growth in the Philippines by using time series techniques and annual data for the period 1965–2012. Tests for unit root, co-integration, and Granger-causality tests based on an error-correction model are presented. Three important findings emerge from the investigation. First, there is bi-directional causality between oil consumption and economic growth, which suggests that the Philippines should endeavor to overcome the constraints on oil consumption to achieve economic growth. Second, bi-directional causality between oil consumption and CO2 emissions is found, which implies that the Philippines needs to improve efficiency in oil consumption in order not to increase CO2 emissions. Third, uni-directional causality running from CO2 emissions to economic growth is detected, which means that growth can continue without increasing CO2 emissions.

Abstract Electricity has been the foundation of economic growth, and constitutes one of the vital infra-structural inputs in socio-economic development. The world faces a surge in demand for electricity that is driven by such powerful forces as population growth, extensive urbanization, industrialization, and the rise in the standard of living. This paper attempts to ascertain whether there is a systematic relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth. To this end, we use a large set of data that spans 88 countries during the period, 1975–2004. A statistically significant inverted-U-shaped relationship between per-capita consumption of electricity and per-capita income is detected. Nevertheless, by using a purchasing power parity that is much higher than the per-capita income of all the countries in the world, the level of per-capita income is estimated at the peak point of per-capita electricity consumption to be $61,379 in 2000 constant international dollars. Moreover, we segment the sample into Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and non-OECD countries, and separately analyze the developed and developing countries. The separate estimation shows that even though the peak income is higher than the average per-capita income, a statistically significant inverted-U-shaped relationship is found in OECD and developed countries but not in non-OECD and developing countries.

Abstract This paper investigates the short- and long-run causality issues between electricity consumption and economic growth in Korea by using the co-integration and error-correction models. It employs annual data covering the period 1970–2002. The overall results show that there exists bi-directional causality between electricity consumption and economic growth. This means that an increase in electricity consumption directly affects economic growth and that economic growth also stimulates further electricity consumption.

This article investigates the short- and long-run causality issues between oil consumption and economic growth in Korea by applying modern time-series techniques. It employs annual data covering the period 1968–2002. Tests for unit roots, cointegration, and a Granger-causality based on error-correction model are presented. The results show that bidirectional causality runs from oil consumption to economic growth in Korea. This means that an increase in oil consumption directly affects economic growth and that economic growth also stimulates further oil consumption.

Heat accounts for about one-third of the final energy use and it is mostly produced using fossil fuels in South Korea. Thus, heat production is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. However, using renewable heat that is directly produced from renewable energy, such as bioenergy, geothermal, or solar heat can save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rather than transforming conventional fuel into heat. Therefore, an energy policy for renewable heat urgently needs to be established. It is such situations that this paper attempts to assess the consumers’ additional willingness to pay (WTP) or the price premium for renewable heat over heat that is produced from fossil fuels for residential heating. To that end, a nationwide contingent valuation survey of 1000 households was conducted during August 2018. Employing the model allowing for zero WTP values, the mean of the additional WTP or premium for one Gcal of heat produced using renewable energy rather than fossil fuels was estimated to be KRW 3636 (USD 3.2), which is statistically meaningful at the 1% level. This value represents the price premium for renewable heat over heat that is based on fossil fuels. Given that the heat price for residential heating was approximately KRW 73,000 (USD 65.1) per Gcal at the time of the survey, the additional WTP or the price premium corresponds to about 5% of that. When considering that the cost of producing renewable heat is still significantly higher than the cost of producing fossil fuels-based heat, more efforts to lower the production costs of renewable heat as well as financial support of the government for producing and supplying renewable heat are needed to ensure residential consumers’ acceptance of renewable heat.

Abstract The utilization of renewable energy sources for hydrogen production is attracting attention regarding a sustainable future energy system. The South Korean Government aims to develop and commercialize marine biological hydrogen (MBH) technology, which produces hydrogen using marine hyperthermophilic archaeons. The purpose of this study is to perform an economic evaluation of MBH technology based on households’ mean willingness to pay (WTP). The contingent valuation method and cost–benefit analysis are used as methodologies for detailed analysis. The results show that the mean WTP estimate is KRW 2508 (USD 2.14) per household per year, but the ratio of households with zero WTP is considerable. The net present value and the benefit–cost ratio of MBH technology development are KRW 169.04 billion (USD 144.35 million) and 5.65, respectively, proving the high economic feasibility of the technology. Several implications for future decisions on MBH technology are provided based on the results.

Abstract The Korean government has planned to expand a variety of waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities in order to reduce waste disposal, decrease the crude oil imports, and mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. One response to this concern is to measure the external benefits of WtE. To this end, this study attempts to apply a choice experiment (CE) to four attributes or types of benefits such as the improvement of energy security, reduction of GHG emissions, job creation, and extension of landfill life expectancy. A survey of 500 households was undertaken in Seoul, Korea. The trade-offs between price and the four attributes for selecting a preferred alternative are considered in the CE survey and a marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) estimate for each attribute is derived. A nested logit (NL) model is employed in this study, rather than a multi-nomial logit (MNL) model since two specification tests indicate that the NL model outperforms the MNL model. The estimation results for the NL model show that the MWTPs for a 1% increase in energy security, a 1% reduction in GHG emissions, the creation of 10,000 new jobs, and the doubling of landfill life expectancy as a result of expanding WtE facilities is estimated to be KRW 437 (USD 4.5), 1763 (1.5), 598 (0.5), and 89 (0.1) per household per month, respectively. The findings can provide policy-makers with useful information for evaluating and planning WtE policies and projects.

Abstract This paper attempts to investigate the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth among seven South American countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela using widely accepted time-series techniques for the period 1975–2006. The results indicate that the causal nexus between electricity consumption and economic growth varies across countries. There is a unidirectional, short-run causality from electricity consumption to real GDP for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, and Ecuador. This means that an increase in electricity consumption directly affects economic growth in those countries. In Venezuela, there is a bidirectional causality between electricity consumption and economic growth. This implies that an increase in electricity consumption directly affects economic growth and that economic growth also stimulates further electricity consumption in that country. However, no causal relationships exist in Peru. The documented evidence from seven South American countries can provide useful information for each government with regard to energy and growth policy.