The emergence of convergent price clusters in China

This paper reports new evidence on the existence of both large and small price divergent clusters for China's energy markets, 2000–2009. The largest convergent price clusters suggest that the coal and gasoline markets are well integrated, however, small convergent price clusters suggest that electricity and diesel markets are proving harder to integrate. The paper argues that the traditional approach to price convergence analysis should be applied with caution, especially in a transitional economy such as China where questions to be asked should relate to the ‘degree of market‐orientation’ and not simply whether it is a market‐based economy or not.     

‘We Live on Estimates': Everyday Practices of Prepaid Electricity and the Urban Condition in Maputo,Mozambique

This article examines the transition to prepaid electricity happening in Maputo, Mozambique, in order to reflect on the contemporary geographies of urban energy infrastructure and urbanization in sub‐Saharan Africa and other cities of the South. The article draws on fieldwork and archival research conducted in 2013 and 2014, arguing that prepayment constitutes a productive juncture in the urban experience of electricity infrastructure in Maputo's postcolonial moment, not merely a neutral technology or a disciplining technique of government (as argued by some scholarship). The article examines the multiple rationalities implicated in the use of the electricity infrastructure via prepayment and the organization of urban life it engenders (and of which it is also a product) by focusing on the everyday practices surrounding prepaid electricity of urban dwellers in neighbourhoods where the ‘modern infrastructural ideal' may never be fully realized. As a result, it contributes to an understanding of the experience of urban energy in cities where ‘slum urbanism', uncertainty and provisionality are dominant aspects of the urban condition.     

Value for money in energy efficiency retrofits in Ireland: grant provider and grant recipients

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administers the Better Energy Homes scheme to provide a financial incentive for home owners to engage in energy efficiency retrofits. This study analyses data from the scheme and Building Energy Rating data for participants to the scheme to examine the value for money achieved by households. In addition, this research identifies which retrofit combinations provide greatest value for money, in terms of energy efficiency gains, for the grant provider. We utilize an error-in-variables approach to model the variation in benefits accruing to households of varying characteristics. We find that household and grant provider surplus can be maximized in the short term by retrofitting less energy efficient and larger homes, timber or steel frame homes and houses rather and apartments. The types of retrofits leading to the greatest surplus for both household and grant provider include cavity wall insulation paired with either a boiler with heating controls or heating controls only retrofit.     

The rhetorical fantasy of energy transitions: implications for energy policy and analysis

This article explores the rhetoric of four energy transitions. It begins by summarising research on the intersection of fantasy, technology and the sociology of expectation. It then looks at how ideas of progress, modernity, cheapness, abundance and hope influence the way society perceives new energy technologies, causing them to overestimate benefits and underestimate challenges. Our rhetorical analysis finds in case studies of steam engines, gasoline automobiles, hydroelectric dams and nuclear reactors that newly ‘discovered’ sources of energy or newly invented technologies are always assumed to provide infinitely abundant energy and to have the potential to create positive utopian changes in society. We conclude by noting the salient implications of these rhetorical themes for energy planners, analysts and scholars.     

Contrasting Developments in UK Energy Regulation: Retail Policy and Consumer Engagement

This article explores the role of regulation as a supporting institution for an energy market. Two aspects are examined: first, the role of regulation in promoting a competitive market for the retail supply of energy, and second, the role of regulation in providing access to the transmission and distribution networks, assumed to be monopolies, that provide services for the retail suppliers. UK regulation promoted retail energy competition until 2008, but in that year changed direction, and since then has been restricting retail competition. In contrast, UK regulation since 2008 has encouraged more customer engagement in the network part of the energy sector. This offers the prospect, at least, of the emergence of a form of competition and choice in the process of setting price controls.     

浅谈电气节能在建筑工程中的运用

本文通过介绍电气节能设计应遵循的原则,着重阐述了建筑电气节能设计中线路损耗、变压器的选择、照明节能、电动机节能、空调系统节能、给排水节能等多个方面的节能技术措施,以及在建筑工程中的应用。     

中国汽车产业的外向发展与节能减排

中国汽车产业的产销量一直呈现良好的上升趋势。但在金融危机下,受国内外环境和政策的影响,中国汽车产业产销量的增速有所放缓,汽车的价格受市场竞争程度和供求状况等因素的影响出现了波动。为了保证中国汽车产业的平衡发展,更好地实现可持续发展,需要加快汽车产业节能减排的步伐。     

高压变频器在电厂凝结水泵上的应用

文章论述了高压变频器在燃煤发电厂大容量电动机上应用的必要性,介绍了凝结水泵的变频改造方案,分析了高压变频器改造的经济性,为同类型发电厂的节能降耗提供了借鉴经验和参考。     

关于项目建设中的节能

我国是世界上能源利用效率最低的国家之一。从工业的能源效率来看,目前我国的能源综合利用比发达国家低大约10个百分点,总效率约为33%;因此,在项目建设中必须节能,本文提出节能思想应贯穿于整个项目,并结合工程实例介绍了项目的资源节约措施。     

能源研发与内生经济增长

本文在内生经济增长理论的基础上,建立含能源研发的经济增长模型,借助动态优化的方法,分析能源研发对经济增长的关键作用。研究结果表明:能源研发活动具有规模收益递增的特点,对能源供应源的扩张具有特殊贡献,有助于经济摆脱能源的约束,实现可持续增长。