Fuel poverty in residential housing: providing financial support versus combatting substandard housing

Between 50 and 125 million Europeans are unable to afford the energy needed for adequate heating, cooking, light and use of appliances in the home. Tackling fuel poverty has thus become a public policy challenge. In this article, we assess the effectiveness of social energy subsidies and social housing to reduce fuel poverty. The literature reports that rising fuel prices, low incomes and energy-inefficient housing are the main causes of fuel poverty. Existing public policies focus mainly on price- and income-based measures to reduce fuel poverty, such as social energy subsidies. This type of policy is palliative as it does not permit to sustainably eradicate fuel poverty. Other policies aim to encourage renovation in order to improve energy efficiency. Those policies are curative as they sustainably reduce one cause of fuel poverty: energy inefficiency. In this article, we focus on another public policy to tackle fuel poverty: social housing. We believe that this policy could be preventive, as the literature reports the better energy efficiency of social housing. We use matching methods and find that living in social housing decreases fuel poverty by 5.4% to 9.1%. On the contrary, social energy subsidies have no effect on fuel poverty.     

Vehicle-to-grid systems for sustainable development: An integrated energy analysis

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems represent a means by which power capacity in parked vehicles can be used to generate electricity for the grid. This paper describes the first detailed and global analysis of the potential of V2G technologies over the long-term (to 2100) using a comprehensive energy-systems model. In this analysis we explore the potential for V2G systems to supply a number of electricity submarkets and concomitantly accelerate the diffusion of advanced vehicle technologies, including hybrid-electric and fuel cell drivetrains. We also examine the potential impact of V2G on the global energy system, particularly in terms of investment in conventional capacity, and the possible role of V2G-enabled vehicles in increasing the market penetration of renewable electricity generation technologies. Importantly, however, V2G technologies represent a paradigm shift in how the energy and mobility markets are related, and a number of possible barriers to the widespread adoption of this technology are also discussed.     

汽车油耗的检测和处理

随着经济的迅速发展,汽车数量迅猛增加,油价高涨,油耗成为了许多车主最为关心的问题。本文对如何保证汽车油耗的合理性进行了探讨和分析。     

The impacts of biofuels targets on land‐use change and food supply: A global CGE assessment

We analyze the long‐term impacts of large‐scale expansion of biofuels on land‐use change, food supply and prices, and the overall economy in various countries or regions using a multi‐country, multi‐sector global computable general equilibrium model augmented with an explicit land‐use module and detailed biofuel sectors. We find that an expansion of biofuel production to meet the existing or even higher targets in various countries would slightly reduce GDP at the global level but with mixed effects across countries or regions. Significant land re‐allocation would take place with notable decreases in forest and pasture lands in a few countries. The expansion of biofuels would cause a moderate decrease in world food supply and more significant decreases in developing countries like India and Sub‐Saharan Africa. Feedstock commodities (sugar, corn and oil seeds) would experience significant increases in their prices in 2020, but other price changes are small.     

A multi-level perspective on the introduction of hydrogen and battery-electric vehicles

Alternative vehicles powered by electricity or hydrogen hold the potential to solve a number of challenges that relate to automobile use, such as climate change, deterioration of local air quality, security of energy supply, and high fuel prices. This article addresses the question as to how a transition to vehicles powered by hydrogen or electricity could take place. Recognizing that transitions result from joint development of technology and society, a co-evolutionary, multi-level perspective is adopted. The perspective is used to analyze the dynamics of the relationship between car manufacturers and consumers and developments that put pressure on this relationship. Building on the analysis, two sets of scenarios for a transition to battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles are identified. In one set of scenarios, tightening emissions regulation stimulates carmakers to scale up experiments with alternative vehicles, moving them into the commercialization phase. In the other set, rising fuel prices prompt carmakers to first extend their current product line-up with plug-in versions, and later with battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles. The two scenarios have different implications for the actors involved and for the requisite supporting infrastructure.     

Optimizing the aerodynamic efficiency of intermodal freight trains

We develop an aerodynamic loading assignment model for intermodal freight trains based on an integer-programming framework to help terminal managers make up more fuel-efficient trains. This is the first use of optimization modeling to address the aerodynamics and energy efficiency of railroad intermodal trains. Several recommendations regarding railway equipment use, operations, and policy are proposed to improve fuel-efficiency and reduce emissions from intermodal transportation. Analysis of one major railroad intermodal route reveals the potential to reduce fuel consumption by 15 million gallons per year with corresponding savings of $28,000,000. Greater benefits are possible through broader implementation of the model.     

Standards and innovation: US public/private partnerships to support technology-based economic growth

This paper examines how strategic alliances to create and use standards affect economic growth and development. The explanation of the link from standards to economic growth and development is through the effects of standards on the incentives to perform industrial research and development (R&D). We examine product standards, metrology traceable to national and international standards, and regulatory standards to address negative externalities. The paper develops a theoretical explanation for the link from standards to growth, survey/interview-guides to gather information from industrial R&D experts about the explanation, and case-study evidence about the explanation. We discuss the standard-setting process and explain that it entails strategic alliances among firms and with government involvement. Case studies of R&D projects in firms and in a national laboratory support the belief that standards implemented via strategic alliances leverage economic growth and development.     

Technological change in niches: Auxiliary Power Units and the hydrogen economy

In studies of large scale systems innovations or technological transitions, niches have been given a prominent role as incubators for the seeds of future technological systems. It is often argued that immature technologies rely on niches for their development, before they are able to compete in mainstream markets. This paper combines insights from economic theory and from technology studies to formulate a framework for understanding the dynamics of technological change in niches, and applies this framework to the case of fuel cell Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). We conclude that the choice of technology for APUs will be of critical importance in determining the role this market could have in shaping future developments in hydrogen and fuel cells. However, a number of factors are not strictly dependent on the technology used in fuel cell APUs. These comprise factors influencing external economies of scale, network effects, the behaviour of users and expectations.     

Interfuel substitution effects of biofuel use on carbon dioxide emissions: evidence from the transportation sector

This study examines the interfuel substitution effects of biofuel use on carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. transportation sector. First, the dynamic linear logit model is used to examine substitution possibilities between biofuels and non-biofuels. The results reveal that petroleum demand is the most inelastic with respect to changes in petroleum prices since the transportation sector depends heavily on the use of petroleum. In addition, ethanol serves as a substitute for petroleum, showing that the use of ethanol can reduce the dependence on petroleum when petroleum prices increase. The results also indicate that ethanol is a complement for natural gas, while natural gas is a substitute for petroleum. Second, the coefficients for carbon dioxide emissions are used to compute the potential amount of carbon dioxide associated with interfuel substitution. The results represent that price-induced interfuel substitution is a critical factor to predict biofuel-related carbon dioxide emissions.     

The demand for gasoline: a two stage approach

The demand for gasoline has typically been estimated using a reduced-form equation model. The simplicity of the approach is attractive, but has proven to be costly in terms of the insights lost as to the nature of the processes governing the interdependence between fuel efficiency and the overall demand for gasoline. On the other hand, disaggregating the overall demand for gasoline into all of its components produces an enormous amount of detail and many insights, but increases commensurately the complexity of the system and reduces its usefulness in forecasting.A two stage simple demand equation is used which first involves an estimation of the level of fuel efficiency of the fleet stock in terms of price induced technical change. In the second stage, the first equation is coupled with other typical demand variables to determine the overall demand for gasoline. The procedure provides an excellent forecasting equation of both the short-and long-term demand for gasoline.