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Abstract In this study, we investigate the driving forces behind the changes in residential energy consumption (REC) in China’s urban and rural areas over the 2001–2012 period. Based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index method, the REC changes are decomposed into seven driving forces, which are climate change, energy price, energy expenditure mix, energy cost share (in total expenditure), expenditure share (in income), per capita income and population effects. According to the results, climate effect due to increasing days with abnormal temperature, energy cost share effect characterized by more expenditure to be paid for energy use, income effect describing constant income growth in the residential sector definitely increase REC in both urban and rural areas. In contrast, energy prices and energy expenditure mix effects negatively contribute to the REC increase, respectively because of the increase in energy prices and the transition from the low-priced energy to high-priced energy. Expenditure share and population effects play opposite roles in urban and rural areas, and the reasons and implications are analysed in depth.

This empirical paper tests for trade-facilitated spillovers in the convergence of energy productivity across 16 European Union (EU) countries from 1995 to 2005. One might anticipate that by inducing specialization, trade limits the potential for convergence in energy productivity. Conversely, by inducing competition and knowledge diffusion, trade may spur sectors to greater energy productivity. Unlike most previous work on convergence, we explain productivity dynamics from cross-country interactions at a detailed sector level and apply a spatial panel data approach to explicitly account for trade-flow related spatial effects in the convergence analysis. Our study confirms the existence of convergence in manufacturing energy productivity, caused by efficiency improvements in lagging countries, while undermined by increasing international differences in sector structure. Further, we find that trade flows explain 30 to 40% of the unobserved variation in energy productivity. Trade continues to explain the unobserved variation in energy productivity even after accounting for geographic proximity. Last, we find that those countries and sectors with higher dependence on trade both have higher energy productivity growth and a higher rate of convergence, further implying that trade can enhance energy productivity. Thus, unlike concerns that trade may spur a 'race to the bottom', we find that promoting trade may help stimulate energy efficiency improvements across countries.

Recently, in the economics literature, several papers have put forward arguments for using a declining discount rate in social-cost benefit analysis. This paper examines the impact of employing a declining discount rate on the social cost of carbon-the marginal social damage from a ton of emitted carbon. Six declining discounting schemes are implemented in the FUND 2.8 integrated assessment model, including the recent amendments to the Green Book of HM Treasury (Treasury, H.M., 2003. The Greenbook: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government. TSO, London). We find that using a declining schedule of discount rates increases the social cost of carbon estimate by as little as 10% or by as much as a factor of 40, depending upon the scenario selected. Although the range of plausible estimates is large, using declining discounting schemes in FUND 2.8 in most cases does not yield values at the £70/tC level suggested by UK DEFRA [Clarkson, R., Deyes, K., 2002. Estimating the social cost of carbon emissions. Government Economic Service Working Paper. HM Treasury, London]. Indeed, only at the higher end of the values of social cost of carbon found here would many climate change related policies - such as the Kyoto Protocol - pass a cost-benefit analysis. This conclusion, however, does not necessarily undermine the ethical and political economic reasons for supporting international collective action on climate change. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AbstractThis study analyses the relationship between foreign direct investment, economic growth, urbanization, energy use, and carbon emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS countries) between 1990 and 2014. According to the empirical results, both environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and pollution haven hypotheses (PHH) are confirmed. Urbanization contributes to reducing carbon emissions, while energy use is one of the main driving forces of ascending carbon emissions. The main advance of this paper lies in the moderating effect of foreign direct investment and energy usage on carbon emission in the case of the BRICS. The empirical results confirm a dampening impact of foreign direct investment on energy use, generating a correction in carbon emission. Thus, structural transformations are highlighted with a positive influence on energy efficiency and sustainable growth. It is expected that policymakers must promote renewable sources and boost clean foreign industries in selected host countries.

The role of cities and their commitment to meet the European targets on energy and climate has steadily increased in the latest years as testified by the large number of ambitious initiatives undertaken by European cities to face multiple challenges towards sustainability. Many projects and initiatives have arisen all around Europe to support cities in the achievement of the Europe 2020 targets of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. RE-SEEties "Towards resource-efficient urban communities in SEE" is one of the projects funded under the South East Europe program aimed to enhance the policy-making and strategic planning competences of municipalities in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and waste valorization. This paper focuses on the methods developed and the main results achieved in the framework of RE-SEEties. The main focus is on the eight partner cities (The Local Government of Budapest District 18 - Hungary/HU, Municipality of Aigaleo - Greece/EL, Municipality of Potenza - Italy/IT, City of Nitra - Slovakia/SK, City of Skopje - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/FYROM, City of Miercurea Ciuc - Romania/RO, Municipality of Ptuj - Slovenia/SI, City of Ivani?-Grad - Croatia/HR) and how they were assisted by professional institutions in translating their commitments towards resource efficiency into Local Strategies and Action Plans. A critical comparison of these final results points out differences and similarities in the state-of-the-art of cities across South East Europe as well as a the level of ambition and difficulties faced to turn into resource efficient urban communities.

Artículos en revistas The growing importance of the electricity sector in many economies, and of energy and environmental policies, requires a detailed consideration of these sectors and policies in computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, including both technological and temporal aspects. This paper presents the first attempt to our knowledge at building temporal disaggregation into a CGE model, while keeping technological detail. This contribution is coupled with some methodological improvements over existing technology-rich CGE models. The model is able to account for the indirect effects characteristic of CGE models while also mimicking the detailed behavior of the electricity operation and investment present before only in bottom-up detailed models. The present paper is the first of two parts and focuses on the bottom-up top-down calibration methodology needed to build such a model. Part II will present the CGE model applied to the evaluation of an energy policy with temporal consequences. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

There is a strong connection between economic growth and development of cities. Economic growth tends to stimulate city growth, and city economies have often shaped innovative environments that in turn support economic growth. Simultaneously, social and environmental problems related to city growth can be serious threats to the realization of the socio-economic contributions that cities can make. However, as a result of considerable diversity of competences combined with interactive learning and innovation, cities may also solve these problems. The ‘urban order’ may form a platform for innovative problem solving and potential spill-over effects, which may stimulate further economic growth and development. This paper discusses how waste problems of cities can be transformed to become part of new, more sustainable solutions. Two cases are explored: Aalborg in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden. It is shown that the cities have the potential to significantly contribute to a more sustainable development through increased material recycling and energy recovery. Waste prevention may increase this potential. For example, instead of constituting 3% of the total greenhouse gas emission problem, it seems possible for modern European cities to contribute to greenhouse gas emission reduction by 15% through up to date technology and integrated waste management systems for material and energy recovery. Going from being part of the problem to providing solutions; however, is not an easy endeavour. It requires political will and leadership, supportive regulatory frameworks, realistic timetables/roadmaps, and a diverse set of stakeholders that can provide the right creative and innovative mix to make it possible.

The emerging concept of bioeconomy offers several opportunities to address societal challenges. The bioeconomy is mainly driven by advances in microbiology, which can be applied to various processes that use biological resources by shifting consumer preferences and by yielding new insights into resource constraints related to such issues as climate and land. Although expectations are high, less is known about the economic importance of the bioeconomy. This article reviews the methodological challenges of measuring the bioeconomy, the approaches used, and the outcomes reported. The results show that measuring the bioeconomy is still in its infancy and faces a number of methodological challenges. Bioeconomy cuts across sectors and therefore cannot be treated as a traditional sector in economics. Economics must catch up with bioeconomy realities. For a comprehensive economic assessment, information about bioeconomy resources, compounds, and product flows is required. We outline innovations in data storage and analytical methods that would realize bioeconomy opportunities and help guide policy.