IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i23p16162-d992505.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy Sufficiency in the Household Sector of Lithuania and Hungary: The Case of Heated Floor Area

Author

Listed:
  • Viktorija Bobinaite

    (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos St. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Inga Konstantinaviciute

    (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos St. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Arvydas Galinis

    (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos St. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Mária Bartek-Lesi

    (REKK Foundation, Mányoki út 18. I. em 4/a, HU-1118 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Viktor Rácz

    (REKK Foundation, Mányoki út 18. I. em 4/a, HU-1118 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Bettina Dézsi

    (REKK Foundation, Mányoki út 18. I. em 4/a, HU-1118 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

Economic development and rising welfare lead to higher demand for energy services, which can limit or even negate the results of costly energy efficiency (EE) upgrades. At present, some consumption patterns in Central and Eastern European countries are more sustainable compared to the European Union (EU) average but are rapidly approaching it. Energy sufficiency (ES) leading to an absolute reduction in energy demand will be essential for achieving net zero climate goals, as it will contribute to reducing energy use and the significant investment needs associated with the electrification of the energy system. Various regulatory solutions can be deployed in pursuit of ES targets, but little information is available on the possible impacts on energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially at the national level. This paper focuses on the residential building sector of two Central and Eastern European countries: Lithuania and Hungary. It attempts to quantify the potential energy demand reduction, associated GHG savings and the resulting change in the energy mix from limiting the per capita heated floor area using scenario analysis with the MESSAGE and HU-TIMES energy system models. The findings suggest that final energy demand could be reduced by 3.6% in Lithuania and 0.9% in Hungary. This would lead to a change in the energy production mix resulting in lower GHG emissions and savings on new energy generation capacity. The results of the research are indicative, as no costs were assigned to ES measures and the calculations were based on assumed levels of ES indicators. However, they suggest that it is worth identifying the consumption segments with ES potential, as a combination of the relevant measures can largely contribute to the achievement of net zero emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Viktorija Bobinaite & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Arvydas Galinis & Mária Bartek-Lesi & Viktor Rácz & Bettina Dézsi, 2022. "Energy Sufficiency in the Household Sector of Lithuania and Hungary: The Case of Heated Floor Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16162-:d:992505
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16162/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16162/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samadi, Sascha & Gröne, Marie-Christine & Schneidewind, Uwe & Luhmann, Hans-Jochen & Venjakob, Johannes & Best, Benjamin, 2017. "Sufficiency in energy scenario studies: Taking the potential benefits of lifestyle changes into account," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 126-134.
    2. Cordroch, Luisa & Hilpert, Simon & Wiese, Frauke, 2022. "Why renewables and energy efficiency are not enough - the relevance of sufficiency in the heating sector for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    3. Kyle Barron & Edward Kung & Davide Proserpio, 2021. "The Effect of Home-Sharing on House Prices and Rents: Evidence from Airbnb," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(1), pages 23-47, January.
    4. Lorek, Sylvia & Spangenberg, Joachim H., 2019. "Energy sufficiency through social innovation in housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 287-294.
    5. Nathalie Spittler & Ganna Gladkykh & Arnaud Diemer & Brynhildur Davidsdottir, 2019. "Understanding the Current Energy Paradigm and Energy System Models for More Sustainable Energy System Development," Post-Print hal-02127724, HAL.
    6. Nathalie Spittler & Ganna Gladkykh & Arnaud Diemer & Brynhildur Davidsdottir, 2019. "Understanding the Current Energy Paradigm and Energy System Models for More Sustainable Energy System Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-22, April.
    7. Sharif Shofirun Sharif Ali & Muhammad Rizal Razman & Azahan Awang & M. R. M. Asyraf & M. R. Ishak & R. A. Ilyas & Roderick John Lawrence, 2021. "Critical Determinants of Household Electricity Consumption in a Rapidly Growing City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Diana Ivanova & Milena Büchs, 2020. "Household Sharing for Carbon and Energy Reductions: The Case of EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-28, April.
    9. Underwood, Anthony & Zahran, Sammy, 2015. "The carbon implications of declining household scale economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 182-190.
    10. Song, Haiyan & Xie, Karen & Park, Jinah & Chen, Wei, 2020. "Impact of accommodation sharing on tourist attractions," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Felix Creutzig & Leila Niamir & Xuemei Bai & Max Callaghan & Jonathan Cullen & Julio Díaz-José & Maria Figueroa & Arnulf Grubler & William F. Lamb & Adrian Leip & Eric Masanet & Érika Mata & Linus Mat, 2022. "Demand-side solutions to climate change mitigation consistent with high levels of well-being," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 36-46, January.
    12. Zell-Ziegler, Carina & Thema, Johannes & Best, Benjamin & Wiese, Frauke & Lage, Jonas & Schmidt, Annika & Toulouse, Edouard & Stagl, Sigrid, 2021. "Enough? The role of sufficiency in European energy and climate plans," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    13. Grigore Belostecinic & Radu Ioan Mogoș & Maria Loredana Popescu & Sorin Burlacu & Carmen Valentina Rădulescu & Dumitru Alexandru Bodislav & Florina Bran & Mihaela Diana Oancea-Negescu, 2021. "Teleworking—An Economic and Social Impact during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Data Mining Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-36, December.
    14. Franz Fuerst & Dimitra Kavarnou & Ramandeep Singh & Hassan Adan, 2020. "Determinants of energy consumption and exposure to energy price risk: a UK study [Determinanten des Energieverbrauchs und Energiepreisrisiko: Eine Studie aus Großbritannien]," Zeitschrift für Immobilienökonomie (German Journal of Real Estate Research), Springer;Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V., vol. 6(1), pages 65-80, April.
    15. van Sluisveld, Mariësse A.E. & Martínez, Sara Herreras & Daioglou, Vassilis & van Vuuren, Detlef P., 2016. "Exploring the implications of lifestyle change in 2°C mitigation scenarios using the IMAGE integrated assessment model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 309-319.
    16. Andrew Hook & Victor Court & Benjamin K Sovacool & Steven Sorrell, 2020. "A Systematic Review of the Energy and Climate Impacts of Teleworking," Working Papers hal-03192905, HAL.
    17. Narasimha D. Rao & Jihoon Min, 2018. "Decent Living Standards: Material Prerequisites for Human Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 225-244, July.
    18. Lucie Enochsson & Yuliya Voytenko Palgan & Andrius Plepys & Oksana Mont, 2021. "Impacts of the Sharing Economy on Urban Sustainability: The Perceptions of Municipal Governments and Sharing Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-31, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vaclovas Miskinis & Arvydas Galinis & Viktorija Bobinaite & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Eimantas Neniskis, 2023. "Impact of Key Drivers on Energy Intensity and GHG Emissions in Manufacturing in the Baltic States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Viktorija Bobinaite & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Arvydas Galinis & Ausra Pazeraite & Vaclovas Miskinis & Mindaugas Cesnavicius, 2023. "Energy Sufficiency in the Passenger Transport of Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lévay, Petra Zsuzsa & Vanhille, Josefine & Goedemé, Tim & Verbist, Gerlinde, 2021. "The association between the carbon footprint and the socio-economic characteristics of Belgian households," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    2. Spittler, Nathalie & Davidsdottir, Brynhildur & Shafiei, Ehsan & Diemer, Arnaud, 2021. "Implications of renewable resource dynamics for energy system planning: The case of geothermal and hydropower in Kenya," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Zell-Ziegler, Carina & Thema, Johannes & Best, Benjamin & Wiese, Frauke & Lage, Jonas & Schmidt, Annika & Toulouse, Edouard & Stagl, Sigrid, 2021. "Enough? The role of sufficiency in European energy and climate plans," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Andreas Andreou & Panagiotis Fragkos & Theofano Fotiou & Faidra Filippidou, 2022. "Assessing Lifestyle Transformations and Their Systemic Effects in Energy-System and Integrated Assessment Models: A Review of Current Methods and Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-24, July.
    5. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Dan Wang & Liang Yan & Fangli Ruan, 2022. "A Combined IO-DEMATEL Analysis for Evaluating Sustainable Effects of the Sharing Related Industries Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Plazas-Niño, F.A. & Ortiz-Pimiento, N.R. & Montes-Páez, E.G., 2022. "National energy system optimization modelling for decarbonization pathways analysis: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Charlotte Senkpiel & Audrey Dobbins & Christina Kockel & Jan Steinbach & Ulrich Fahl & Farina Wille & Joachim Globisch & Sandra Wassermann & Bert Droste-Franke & Wolfgang Hauser & Claudia Hofer & Lars, 2020. "Integrating Methods and Empirical Findings from Social and Behavioural Sciences into Energy System Models—Motivation and Possible Approaches," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-30, September.
    9. Yoro, Kelvin O. & Daramola, Michael O. & Sekoai, Patrick T. & Wilson, Uwemedimo N. & Eterigho-Ikelegbe, Orevaoghene, 2021. "Update on current approaches, challenges, and prospects of modeling and simulation in renewable and sustainable energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    10. Zhang, Yimeng & Wang, Feng & Zhang, Bing, 2023. "The impacts of household structure transitions on household carbon emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    11. Ivanova, Diana & Büchs, Milena, 2022. "Implications of shrinking household sizes for meeting the 1.5 °C climate targets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    12. César Berna-Escriche & Ángel Pérez-Navarro & Alberto Escrivá & Elías Hurtado & José Luis Muñoz-Cobo & María Cristina Moros, 2021. "Methodology and Application of Statistical Techniques to Evaluate the Reliability of Electrical Systems Based on the Use of High Variability Generation Sources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-27, September.
    13. Smetschka, Barbara & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Egger, Claudine & Haselsteiner, Edeltraud & Moran, Daniel & Gaube, Veronika, 2019. "Time Matters: The Carbon Footprint of Everyday Activities in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Theine, Hendrik & Humer, Stefan & Moser, Mathias & Schnetzer, Matthias, 2022. "Emissions inequality: Disparities in income, expenditure, and the carbon footprint in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    15. Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Lorek, Sylvia, 2019. "Sufficiency and consumer behaviour: From theory to policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1070-1079.
    16. M. Kanerva, 2022. "Consumption Corridors and the Case of Meat," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 619-653, December.
    17. Cordroch, Luisa & Hilpert, Simon & Wiese, Frauke, 2022. "Why renewables and energy efficiency are not enough - the relevance of sufficiency in the heating sector for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Felder, F.A. & Kumar, P., 2021. "A review of existing deep decarbonization models and their potential in policymaking," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Crelis F. Rammelt & Joyeeta Gupta & Diana Liverman & Joeri Scholtens & Daniel Ciobanu & Jesse F. Abrams & Xuemei Bai & Lauren Gifford & Christopher Gordon & Margot Hurlbert & Cristina Y. A. Inoue & Li, 2023. "Impacts of meeting minimum access on critical earth systems amidst the Great Inequality," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 212-221, February.
    20. Małgorzata Sztorc, 2022. "The Implementation of the European Green Deal Strategy as a Challenge for Energy Management in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16162-:d:992505. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.