The most cited articles published since 2010, extracted from Scopus
Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 340-349
This paper provides a survey of the recent progress in the literature of energy consumption-economic growth and electricity consumption-economic growth causality nexus. The survey highlights that most empirical studies focus on either testing the role of energy (electricity) in stimulating economic growth or examining the direction of causality between these two variables. Although the positive role of energy on growth has become a stylized fact, there are some methodological reservations about the results from these empirical studies. A general observation from these studies is that the literature produced conflicting results and there is no consensus neither on the existence nor on the direction of causality between energy consumption (electricity consumption) and economic growth. As a policy implication, to avoid from conflicting and unreliable results, the authors may use the autoregressive distributed lags bounds test, two-regime threshold co-integration models, panel data approach and multivariate models including new variables (such as: real gross fixed capital formation, labor force, carbon dioxide emissions, population, exchange rates, interest rates, etc.). Thus, the authors should focus more on the new approaches and perspectives rather than by employing usual methods based on a set of common variables for different countries and different intervals of time. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 39, Issue 3, March 2011, Pages 1154-1169
Mark Z. Jacobson | Mark A. Delucchi
Climate change, pollution, and energy insecurity are among the greatest problems of our time. Addressing them requires major changes in our energy infrastructure. Here, we analyze the feasibility of providing worldwide energy for all purposes (electric power, transportation, heating/cooling, etc.) from wind, water, and sunlight (WWS). In Part I, we discuss WWS energy system characteristics, current and future energy demand, availability of WWS resources, numbers of WWS devices, and area and material requirements. In Part II, we address variability, economics, and policy of WWS energy. We estimate that ~3,800,000 5 MW wind turbines, ~49,000 300. MW concentrated solar plants, ~40,000 300. MW solar PV power plants, ~1.7 billion 3 kW rooftop PV systems, ~5350 100. MW geothermal power plants, ~270 new 1300. MW hydroelectric power plants, ~720,000 0.75. MW wave devices, and ~490,000 1. MW tidal turbines can power a 2030 WWS world that uses electricity and electrolytic hydrogen for all purposes. Such a WWS infrastructure reduces world power demand by 30% and requires only ~0.41% and ~0.59% more of the world's land for footprint and spacing, respectively. We suggest producing all new energy with WWS by 2030 and replacing the pre-existing energy by 2050. Barriers to the plan are primarily social and political, not technological or economic. The energy cost in a WWS world should be similar to that today. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 39, Issue 3, March 2011, Pages 1170-1190
Mark A. Delucchi | Mark Z. Jacobson
This is Part II of two papers evaluating the feasibility of providing all energy for all purposes (electric power, transportation, and heating/cooling), everywhere in the world, from wind, water, and the sun (WWS). In Part I, we described the prominent renewable energy plans that have been proposed and discussed the characteristics of WWS energy systems, the global demand for and availability of WWS energy, quantities and areas required for WWS infrastructure, and supplies of critical materials. Here, we discuss methods of addressing the variability of WWS energy to ensure that power supply reliably matches demand (including interconnecting geographically dispersed resources, using hydroelectricity, using demand-response management, storing electric power on site, over-sizing peak generation capacity and producing hydrogen with the excess, storing electric power in vehicle batteries, and forecasting weather to project energy supplies), the economics of WWS generation and transmission, the economics of WWS use in transportation, and policy measures needed to enhance the viability of a WWS system. We find that the cost of energy in a 100% WWS will be similar to the cost today. We conclude that barriers to a 100% conversion to WWS power worldwide are primarily social and political, not technological or even economic. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 1398-1414
Kjell Aleklett | Mikael Höök | Kristofer Jakobsson | Michael Lardelli | Simon Snowden | Bengt Söderbergh
The assessment of future global oil production presented in the IEA's World Energy Outlook 2008 (WEO 2008) is divided into 6 fractions; four relate to crude oil, one to non-conventional oil, and the final fraction is natural-gas-liquids (NGL). Using the production parameter, depletion-rate-of-recoverable-resources, we have analyzed the four crude oil fractions and found that the 75. Mb/d of crude oil production forecast for year 2030 appears significantly overstated, and is more likely to be in the region of 55. Mb/d. Moreover, analysis of the other fractions strongly suggests lower than expected production levels. In total, our analysis points to a world oil supply in 2030 of 75. Mb/d, some 26. Mb/d lower than the IEA predicts.The connection between economic growth and energy use is fundamental in the IEA's present modelling approach. Since our forecast sees little chance of a significant increase in global oil production, our findings suggest that the ". policy makers, investors and end users" to whom WEO 2008 is addressed should rethink their future plans for economic growth. The fact that global oil production has very probably passed its maximum implies that we have reached the Peak of the Oil Age. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 6, June 2010, Pages 2751-2762
Sören Lennart Andersson | A. K. Elofsson | Matthias D. Galus | Lisa Göransson | Sten Karlsson | Filip Johnsson | Göran Andersson
This study investigates plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as providers of regulating power in the form of primary, secondary and tertiary frequency control. Previous studies have shown that PHEVs could generate substantial profits while providing ancillary services. This study investigates under what conditions PHEVs can generate revenues using actual market data, i.e. prices and activations of regulating power, from Sweden and Germany from four months in 2008. PHEV market participation is modelled for individual vehicles in a fleet subject to a simulated movement pattern. Costs for infrastructure and vehicle-to-grid equipment are not included in the analysis. The simulation results indicate that maximum average profits generated on the German markets are in the range 30-80. c stroke per vehicle and month whereas the Swedish regulating power markets give no profit.In addition, an analysis is performed to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of PHEVs as regulating power providers. Based on the simulation results and the SWOT analysis, characteristics for an ideal regulating power market for PHEVs are presented. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 39, Issue 10, October 2011, Pages 5690-5702
Petr Havlík | Uwe Andreas Schneider | Erwin Schmid | Hannes Böttcher | Steffen Fritz | Rastislav Skalský | Kentaro Aoki | Stéphane D. Cara | Georg E. Kindermann | Florian Kraxner | Sylvain Leduc | Ian McCallum | Aline Mosnier | Timm Sauer | Michael H. Obersteiner
Recently, an active debate has emerged around greenhouse gas emissions due to indirect land use change (iLUC) of expanding agricultural areas dedicated to biofuel production. In this paper we provide a detailed analysis of the iLUC effect, and further address the issues of deforestation, irrigation water use, and crop price increases due to expanding biofuel acreage. We use GLOBIOM - an economic partial equilibrium model of the global forest, agriculture, and biomass sectors with a bottom-up representation of agricultural and forestry management practices. The results indicate that second generation biofuel production fed by wood from sustainably managed existing forests would lead to a negative iLUC factor, meaning that overall emissions are 27% lower compared to the "No biofuel" scenario by 2030. The iLUC factor of first generation biofuels global expansion is generally positive, requiring some 25 years to be paid back by the GHG savings from the substitution of biofuels for conventional fuels. Second generation biofuels perform better also with respect to the other investigated criteria; on the condition that they are not sourced from dedicated plantations directly competing for agricultural land. If so, then efficient first generation systems are preferable. Since no clear technology champion for all situations exists, we would recommend targeting policy instruments directly at the positive and negative effects of biofuel production rather than at the production itself. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 955-965
Toby Couture | Yves Gagnon
Recent experience from around the world suggests that feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the most effective policy to encourage the rapid and sustained deployment of renewable energy. There are several different ways to structure a FIT policy, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. This paper presents an overview of seven different ways to structure the remuneration of a FIT policy, divided into two broad categories: those in which remuneration is dependent on the electricity price, and those that remain independent from it. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of these different FIT models, and concludes with an analysis of these design options, with a focus on their implications both for investors and for society. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 10, July 2010, Pages 6111-6119
Tom Hargreavesn | Michael Nye | Jacquelin A. Burgess
This paper explores how UK householders interacted with feedback on their domestic energy consumption in a field trial of real-time displays or smart energy monitors. After examining relevant bodies of literature on the effects of energy feedback on consumption behaviour, and on the complex role of energy and appliances within household moral economies, the paper draws on qualitative evidence from interviews with 15 UK householders trialling smart energy monitors of differing levels of sophistication. It focuses specifically on householder motivations for acquiring the monitors, how the monitors have been used, how feedback has changed consumption behaviour, and the limitations to further behavioural change the householders experienced. The paper concludes by identifying significant implications for future research and policy in this area. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 11, November 2010, Pages 6977-6988
Giovanni Sorda | Martin Banse | Claudia Kemfert
In the last decade biofuel production has been driven by governmental policies. This article reviews the national strategy plans of the world's leading producers. Particular attention is dedicated to blending targets, support schemes and feedstock use. Individual country profiles are grouped by continent and include North America (Canada and the US), South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia), Europe (the European Union, France, and Germany), Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand) and Australia. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 9, September 2010, Pages 4828-4837
Christopher A. Kennedy | Julia K. Steinberger | Barrie Gasson | Yvonne Hansen | Tim C. Hillman | Miroslav Havránek | Diane E. Pataki | Aumnad Phdungsilp | Anu Ramaswami | Gara Villalba Méndez
This paper describes the methodology and data used to determine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to ten cities or city-regions: Los Angeles County, Denver City and County, Greater Toronto, New York City, Greater London, Geneva Canton, Greater Prague, Barcelona, Cape Town and Bangkok. Equations for determining emissions are developed for contributions from: electricity; heating and industrial fuels; ground transportation fuels; air and marine fuels; industrial processes; and waste. Gasoline consumption is estimated using three approaches: from local fuel sales; by scaling from regional fuel sales; and from counts of vehicle kilometres travelled. A simplified version of an intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) method for estimating the GHG emissions from landfill waste is applied. Three measures of overall emissions are suggested: (i) actual emissions within the boundary of the city; (ii) single process emissions (from a life-cycle perspective) associated with the city's metabolism; and (iii) life-cycle emissions associated with the city's metabolism. The results and analysis of the study will be published in a second paper. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 11, November 2010, Pages 6439-6452
Nan Zhou | Mark D. Levine | Lynn K. Price
From 1970 to 2001, China was able to significantly limit energy demand growth through aggressive energy-efficiency programs. Energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) declined by approximately 5% per year during this period. However, the period 2002-2005 saw energy use per unit of GDP increase an average of 3.8% per year. To stem this out-of-control growth in energy demand, in November 2005 the Chinese government enunciated a mandatory goal of 20% reduction of energy intensity between 2006 and 2010. The National People's Congress passed legislation identifying the National Reform and Development Commission as the lead agency to design and carry out programs in support of this goal. These policies and programs, created after almost a decade of decline of the energy-efficiency policy apparatus, have had considerable impact. Although initial efforts have not been sufficient to meet the annual declines required to reach the ambitious 20% energy intensity target, the latest reports indicate that China may now be on track to meet this goal. The paper provides an assessment of these policies and programs to begin to understand issues that will play a critical role in China's energy and economic future. Activities undertaken in China will have a significant influence on the global effort to reduce the growth, and later the absolute quantity, of greenhouse gas emissions. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 24-29
Gregory James Offer | David A. Howey | Marcello Contestabile | Ralph Clague | Nigel P. Brandon
This paper compares battery electric vehicles (BEV) to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicles (FCHEV). Qualitative comparisons of technologies and infrastructural requirements, and quantitative comparisons of the lifecycle cost of the powertrain over 100,000 mile are undertaken, accounting for capital and fuel costs. A common vehicle platform is assumed. The 2030 scenario is discussed and compared to a conventional gasoline-fuelled internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis shows that in 2030 FCEVs could achieve lifecycle cost parity with conventional gasoline vehicles. However, both the BEV and FCHEV have significantly lower lifecycle costs. In the 2030 scenario, powertrain lifecycle costs of FCEVs range from $7360 to $22,580, whereas those for BEVs range from $6460 to $11,420 and FCHEVs, from $4310 to $12,540. All vehicle platforms exhibit significant cost sensitivity to powertrain capital cost. The BEV and FCHEV are relatively insensitive to electricity costs but the FCHEV and FCV are sensitive to hydrogen cost. The BEV and FCHEV are reasonably similar in lifecycle cost and one may offer an advantage over the other depending on driving patterns. A key conclusion is that the best path for future development of FCEVs is the FCHEV. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 656-660
Nicholas Apergis | James E. Payne
This study examines the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth for a panel of twenty OECD countries over the period 1985-2005 within a multivariate framework. Given the relatively short span of the time series data, a panel cointegration and error correction model is employed to infer the causal relationship. The heterogeneous panel cointegration test reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, renewable energy consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force with the respective coefficients positive and statistically significant. The Granger-causality results indicate bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in both the short- and long-run. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 762-769
Jack N. Barkenbus
The actions individuals can take to mitigate climate change are, in the aggregate, significant. Mobilizing individuals to respond personally to climate change, therefore, must be a complementary approach to a nation's climate change strategy. One action item overlooked in the United States has been changing driver behavior or style such that eco-driving becomes the norm rather than the exception. Evidence to date indicates that eco-driving can reduce fuel consumption by 10%, on average and over time, thereby reducing CO2 emissions from driving by an equivalent percentage. A sophisticated, multi-dimensional campaign, going well beyond what has been attempted thus far, will be required to achieve such savings on a large scale, however, involving education (especially involving the use of feedback devices), regulation, fiscal incentives, and social norm reinforcement. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 9, September 2010, Pages 4856-4869
Benjamin K. Sovacool | Marilyn A. Brown
A dearth of available data on carbon emissions and comparative analysis between metropolitan areas make it difficult to confirm or refute best practices and policies. To help provide benchmarks and expand our understanding of urban centers and climate change, this article offers a preliminary comparison of the carbon footprints of 12 metropolitan areas. It does this by examining emissions related to vehicles, energy used in buildings, industry, agriculture, and waste. The carbon emissions from these sources-discussed here as the metro area's partial carbon footprint-provide a foundation for identifying the pricing, land use, help metropolitan areas throughout the world respond to climate change. The article begins by exploring a sample of the existing literature on urban morphology and climate change and explaining the methodology used to calculate each area's carbon footprint. The article then depicts the specific carbon footprints for Beijing, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, New Delhi, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo and compares these to respective national averages. It concludes by offering suggestions for how city planners and policymakers can reduce the carbon footprint of these and possibly other large urban areas. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 10, June 2010, Pages 6180-6193
Guoqian Chen | Bo Zhang
For greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the Chinese economy in 2007 with the most recent statistics availability, a concrete inventory covering CO2,CH4, and N2O is composed and associated with an input-output analysis to reveal the emission embodiment in final consumption and international trade. The estimated total direct GHG emission amounts to 7456.12 Mt CO2-eq by the commonly referred IPCC global warming potentials, with 63.39% from energy-related CO2, 22.31% from non-energy-related CO2, 11.15% from CH4 and 3.15% from N2O. Responsible for 81.32% of the total GHG emissions are the five sectors of the Electric Power/Steam and Hot Water Production and Supply, Smelting and Pressing of Ferrous and Nonferrous Metals, Nonmetal Mineral Products, Agriculture, and Coal Mining and Dressing, with distinctive emission structures. The sector of Construction holds the top GHG emissions embodied in both domestic production and consumption, and the emission embodied in gross capital formation is prominently more than those in other components of the final consumption characterized by extensive investment in contrast to limited household consumption. China is a net exporter of embodied GHG emissions, with emissions embodied in exports of 3060.18 Mt CO2-eq, in magnitude up to 41.04% of the total direct emission. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 8, August 2010, Pages 4048-4056
Manuel Frondel | Nolan Ritter | Christoph M. Schmidt | Colin James Vance
The allure of an environmentally benign, abundant, and cost-effective energy source has led an increasing number of industrialized countries to back public financing of renewable energies. Germany's experience with renewable energy promotion is often cited as a model to be replicated elsewhere, being based on a combination of far-reaching energy and environmental laws that stretch back nearly two decades. This paper critically reviews the centerpiece of this effort, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), focusing on its costs and the associated implications for job creation and climate protection. We argue that German renewable energy policy, and in particular the adopted feed-in tariff scheme, has failed to harness the market incentives needed to ensure a viable and cost-effective introduction of renewable energies into the country's energy portfolio. To the contrary, the government's support mechanisms have in many respects subverted these incentives, resulting in massive expenditures that show little long-term promise for stimulating the economy, protecting the environment, or increasing energy security. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 9, September 2010, Pages 5290-5295
Steve R. Sorrell | Jamie Speirs | Roger W. Bentley | Adam R. Brandt | Richard G. Miller
Within the polarised and contentious debate over future oil supply a growing number of commentators are forecasting a near term peak and subsequent decline in production. But although liquid fuels form the foundation of modern industrial economies, the growing debate on 'peak oil' has relatively little influence on energy and climate policy. With this in mind, the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has conducted an independent, thorough and systematic review of the evidence, with the aim of establishing the current state of knowledge, identifying key uncertainties and improving consensus. The study focuses upon the physical depletion of conventional oil in the period to 2030 and includes an in- depth literature review, analysis of industry databases and a detailed comparison of global supply forecasts. This Communication summarises the main findings of the UKERC study. A key conclusion is that a peak of conventional oil production before 2030 appears likely and there is a significant risk of a peak before 2020. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 613-621
Boqiang Lin | Chuanwang Sun
China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). As exports account for about one-third of China's GDP, the CO2 emissions are related to not only China's own consumption but also external demand. Using the input-output analysis (IOA), we analyze the embodied CO2 emissions of China's import and export. Our results show that about 3357 million tons CO2 emissions were embodied in the exports and the emissions avoided by imports (EAI) were 2333 million tons in 2005. The average contribution to embodied emission factors by electricity generation was over 35%. And that by cement production was about 20%. It implies that the production-based emissions of China are more than the consumption-based emissions, which is evidence that carbon leakage occurs under the current climate policies and international trade rules. In addition to the call for a new global framework to allocate emission responsibilities, China should make great efforts to improve its energy efficiency, carry out electricity pricing reforms and increase renewable energy. In particular, to use advanced technology in cement production will be helpful to China's CO2 abatement. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 39, Issue 3, March 2011, Pages 1817-1830
Paul L. Denholm | Maureen Maureen Hand
We examine the changes to the electric power system required to incorporate high penetration of variable wind and solar electricity generation in a transmission constrained grid. Simulations were performed in the Texas, US (ERCOT) grid where different mixes of wind, solar photovoltaic and concentrating solar power meet up to 80% of the electric demand. The primary constraints on incorporation of these sources at large scale are the limited time coincidence of the resource with normal electricity demand, combined with the limited flexibility of thermal generators to reduce output. An additional constraint in the ERCOT system is the current inability to exchange power with neighboring grids.By themselves, these constraints would result in unusable renewable generation and increased costs. But a highly flexible system - with must-run baseload generators virtually eliminated - allows for penetrations of up to about 50% variable generation with curtailment rates of less than 10%. For penetration levels up to 80% of the system's electricity demand, keeping curtailments to less than 10% requires a combination of load shifting and storage equal to about one day of average demand. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 39, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 4016-4021
Jianhui Wang | Cong Liu | Dan Ton | Yan Zhou | Jinho Kim | Anant D. Vyas
This paper uses a new unit commitment model which can simulate the interactions among plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), wind power, and demand response (DR). Four PHEV charging scenarios are simulated for the Illinois power system: (1) unconstrained charging, (2) 3-hour delayed constrained charging, (3) smart charging, and (4) smart charging with DR. The PHEV charging is assumed to be optimally controlled by the system operator in the latter two scenarios, along with load shifting and shaving enabled by DR programs. The simulation results show that optimally dispatching the PHEV charging load can significantly reduce the total operating cost of the system. With DR programs in place, the operating cost can be further reduced. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 8, August 2010, Pages 4743-4749
Nick A. Owen | Oliver R. Inderwildi | David King
The status of world oil reserves is a contentious issue, polarised between advocates of peak oil who believe production will soon decline, and major oil companies that say there is enough oil to last for decades.In reality, much of the disagreement can be resolved through clear definition of the grade, type, and reporting framework used to estimate oil reserve volumes. While there is certainly vast amounts of fossil fuel resources left in the ground, the volume of oil that can be commercially exploited at prices the global economy has become accustomed to is limited and will soon decline. The result is that oil may soon shift from a demand-led market to a supply constrained market.The capacity to meet the services provided by future liquid fuel demand is contingent upon the rapid and immediate diversification of the liquid fuel mix, the transition to alternative energy carriers where appropriate, and demand side measures such as behavioural change and adaptation. The successful transition to a poly-fuel economy will also be judged on the adequate mitigation of environmental and social costs. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 38, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 919-931
Max Wei | Shana Patadia | Daniel M. Kammen
An analytical job creation model for the US power sector from 2009 to 2030 is presented. The model synthesizes data from 15 job studies covering renewable energy (RE), energy efficiency (EE), carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear power. The paper employs a consistent methodology of normalizing job data to average employment per unit energy produced over plant lifetime. Job losses in the coal and natural gas industry are modeled to project net employment impacts. Benefits and drawbacks of the methodology are assessed and the resulting model is used for job projections under various renewable portfolio standards (RPS), EE, and low carbon energy scenarios We find that all non-fossil fuel technologies (renewable energy, EE, low carbon) create more jobs per unit energy than coal and natural gas. Aggressive EE measures combined with a 30% RPS target in 2030 can generate over 4 million full-time-equivalent job-years by 2030 while increasing nuclear power to 25% and CCS to 10% of overall generation in 2030 can yield an additional 500,000 job-years. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Volume 38, Issue 8, August 2010, Pages 4422-4428
Ilhan Ozturk | Alper Aslan | Hüseyin Kalyoncu
This paper uses the panel data of energy consumption (EC) and economic growth (GDP) for 51 countries from 1971 to 2005. These countries are divided into three groups: low income group, lower middle income group and upper middle income group countries. Firstly, a relationship between energy consumption and economic growth is investigated by employing Pedroni (1999) panel cointegration method. Secondly, panel causality test is applied to investigate the way of causality between the energy consumption and economic growth. Finally, we test whether there is a strong or weak relationship between these variables by using Pedroni (2001) method. The empirical results of this study are as follows: i) Energy consumption and GDP are cointegrated for all three income group countries. ii) The panel causality test results reveal that there is long-run Granger causality running from GDP to EC for low income countries and there is bidirectional causality between EC and GDP for middle income countries. iii) The estimated cointegration factor, Β, is not close to 1. In other words, no strong relation is found between energy consumption and economic growth for all income groups considered in this study. The findings of this study have important policy implications and it shows that this issue still deserves further attention in future research. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Volume 39, Issue 4, April 2011, Pages 2165-2178
Lynn K. Price | Mark D. Levine | Nan Zhou | David G. Fridley | Nathaniel T. Aden | Hongyou Lu | Michael A. McNeil | Nina Zheng | Yining Qin | Ping Yowargana
From 1980 to 2002, China experienced a 5% average annual reduction in energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP). With a dramatic reversal of this historic relationship, energy intensity increased 5% per year during 2002-2005. China's 11th Five Year Plan (FYP) set a target of reducing energy intensity by 20% by 2010. This paper assesses selected policies and programs that China has instituted to fulfill the national goal, finding that China made substantial progress and many of the energy-efficiency programs appear to be on track to meet - or in some cases exceed - their energy-saving targets. Most of the Ten Key Projects, the Top-1000 Program, and the Small Plant Closure Program will meet or surpass the 11th FYP savings goals. China's appliance standards and labeling program has become very robust. China has greatly enhanced its enforcement of new building energy standards but energy-efficiency programs for buildings retrofits, as well as the goal of adjusting China's economic structure, are failing. It is important to maintain and strengthen the existing energy-saving policies and programs that are successful while revising programs or adding new policy mechanisms to improve the programs that are not on track to achieve the stated goals. © 2011.