IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v110y2015icp28-35.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Constant’ rebound effects in domestic heating: Developing a cross-sectional method

Author

Listed:
  • Galvin, Ray

Abstract

Policymakers are increasingly concerned about rebound effects, which lead to lower savings than expected when energy-efficiency increases. There are difficulties in making coherent comparisons between magnitudes of rebound effects in different sectors, such as home heating, industry and transport. A barrier to this in domestic heating is the conceptual difficulty of estimating rebound effects as energy-efficiency elasticities, since the large, stepwise increases in energy-efficiency through thermal retrofits fit uneasily with differential calculus. This paper offers a solution. Firstly, it develops a ‘cross-sectional’ method in which elasticity-based rebound formulae are used to estimate implied average rebound effects in large datasets of energy consumption and energy efficiency. It then shows how a simple power curve can model these datasets, simplifying the mathematics, giving ‘constant’ rebound effect results that are immediately meaningful, and extending compatibility to rebound effect modelling in other sectors. The method is then extended to case studies of thermal retrofits of individual dwellings. Here the inherent inaccuracy of using linear approximations in rebound effect formulas is also illustrated. The cross-sectional, ‘constant’ rebound effect methodology is offered for wider use in estimating rebound effects in case studies and in domestic heating as more datasets of energy consumption and efficiency become available.

Suggested Citation

  • Galvin, Ray, 2015. "‘Constant’ rebound effects in domestic heating: Developing a cross-sectional method," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:110:y:2015:i:c:p:28-35
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.12.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800914003838
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.12.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Madlener, Reinhard & Hauertmann, Maximilian, 2011. "Rebound Effects in German Residential Heating: Do Ownership and Income Matter?," FCN Working Papers 2/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    2. Matos, Fernando J.F. & Silva, Francisco J.F., 2011. "The rebound effect on road freight transport: Empirical evidence from Portugal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2833-2841, May.
    3. Yu, Biying & Zhang, Junyi & Fujiwara, Akimasa, 2013. "Evaluating the direct and indirect rebound effects in household energy consumption behavior: A case study of Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 441-453.
    4. Kenneth A. Small & Kurt Van Dender, 2007. "Fuel Efficiency and Motor Vehicle Travel: The Declining Rebound Effect," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 25-52.
    5. Ruzzenenti, F. & Basosi, R., 2008. "The rebound effect: An evolutionary perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 526-537, November.
    6. David L. Greene, 1992. "Vehicle Use and Fuel Economy: How Big is the "Rebound" Effect?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 117-144.
    7. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John, 2008. "The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 636-649, April.
    8. Bentzen, Jan, 2004. "Estimating the rebound effect in US manufacturing energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 123-134, January.
    9. Barker, Terry & Ekins, Paul & Foxon, Tim, 2007. "The macro-economic rebound effect and the UK economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4935-4946, October.
    10. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John & Sommerville, Matt, 2009. "Empirical estimates of the direct rebound effect: A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1356-1371, April.
    11. West, Sarah E., 2004. "Distributional effects of alternative vehicle pollution control policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 735-757, March.
    12. Chung, William & Hui, Y.V. & Lam, Y. Miu, 2006. "Benchmarking the energy efficiency of commercial buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Hanley, Nick & McGregor, Peter G. & Swales, J. Kim & Turner, Karen, 2009. "Do increases in energy efficiency improve environmental quality and sustainability?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 692-709, January.
    14. Berkhout, Peter H. G. & Muskens, Jos C. & W. Velthuijsen, Jan, 2000. "Defining the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 425-432, June.
    15. Allan, Grant & Hanley, Nick & McGregor, Peter & Swales, Kim & Turner, Karen, 2007. "The impact of increased efficiency in the industrial use of energy: A computable general equilibrium analysis for the United Kingdom," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 779-798, July.
    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. Calvo, Rubén & Álamos, Nicolás & Huneeus, Nicolás & O'Ryan, Raúl, 2022. "Energy poverty effects on policy-based PM2.5 emissions mitigation in southern and central Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Niemierko, Rochus & Töppel, Jannick & Tränkler, Timm, 2019. "A D-vine copula quantile regression approach for the prediction of residential heating energy consumption based on historical data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 691-708.
    3. Michelsen, Claus & El-Shagi, Makram & Rosenschon, Sebastian, 2016. "The diffusion of "green'' buildings in the housing market: empirics on the long run effects of energy efficiency regulation," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145534, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Galvin, Ray, 2016. "Rebound effects from speed and acceleration in electric and internal combustion engine cars: An empirical and conceptual investigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 207-216.
    5. Benjamin Volland, 2016. "Efficiency in Domestic Space Heating: An Estimation of the Direct Rebound Effect for Domestic Heating in the U.S," IRENE Working Papers 16-01, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    6. Galvin, Ray & Sunikka-Blank, Minna, 2016. "Quantification of (p)rebound effects in retrofit policies – Why does it matter?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 415-424.
    7. Galvin, Ray, 2015. "The rebound effect, gender and social justice: A case study in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 759-769.
    8. Deng, Qianli & Jiang, Xianglin & Zhang, Limao & Cui, Qingbin, 2015. "Making optimal investment decisions for energy service companies under uncertainty: A case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 234-243.
    9. Belaïd, Fateh & Bakaloglou, Salomé & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Direct rebound effect of residential gas demand: Empirical evidence from France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 23-31.
    10. Li, Ke & Zhang, Ning & Liu, Yanchu, 2016. "The energy rebound effects across China’s industrial sectors: An output distance function approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1165-1175.

    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. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Zhou, D.Q., 2012. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 452-460.
    2. Wang, Jiayu & Yu, Shuao & Liu, Tiansen, 2021. "A theoretical analysis of the direct rebound effect caused by energy efficiency improvement of private consumers," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 171-181.
    3. Karen Turner, 2013. ""Rebound" Effects from Increased Energy Efficiency: A Time to Pause and Reflect," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    4. Jeroen Bergh, 2011. "Energy Conservation More Effective With Rebound Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 43-58, January.
    5. Wang, H. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Zha, D.L., 2012. "Direct rebound effect for passenger transport: Empirical evidence from Hong Kong," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 162-167.
    6. Li, Ke & Jiang, Zhujun, 2016. "The impacts of removing energy subsidies on economy-wide rebound effects in China: An input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 62-72.
    7. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Peng, Hua-Rong & Su, Bin, 2017. "Energy rebound effect in China's Industry: An aggregate and disaggregate analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 199-208.
    8. Galvin, Ray, 2015. "The ICT/electronics question: Structural change and the rebound effect," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 23-31.
    9. Llorca, Manuel & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2017. "Energy efficiency and rebound effect in European road freight transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 98-110.
    10. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Liu, Zhao & Qin, Chang-Xiong & Tan, Tai-De, 2017. "The direct and indirect CO2 rebound effect for private cars in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 149-161.
    11. Wang, Zhaohua & Lu, Milin, 2014. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for road freight transport in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 274-281.
    12. Toroghi, Shahaboddin H. & Oliver, Matthew E., 2019. "Framework for estimation of the direct rebound effect for residential photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Broberg, Thomas & Berg, Charlotte & Samakovlis, Eva, 2015. "The economy-wide rebound effect from improved energy efficiency in Swedish industries–A general equilibrium analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 26-37.
    14. David Font Vivanco & Jaume Freire‐González & Ray Galvin & Tilman Santarius & Hans Jakob Walnum & Tamar Makov & Serenella Sala, 2022. "Rebound effect and sustainability science: A review," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1543-1563, August.
    15. Ouyang, Jinlong & Long, Enshen & Hokao, Kazunori, 2010. "Rebound effect in Chinese household energy efficiency and solution for mitigating it," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 5269-5276.
    16. Moshiri, Saeed & Aliyev, Kamil, 2017. "Rebound effect of efficiency improvement in passenger cars on gasoline consumption in Canada," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 330-341.
    17. Hong, Li & Liang, Dong & Di, Wang, 2013. "Economic and environmental gains of China's fossil energy subsidies reform: A rebound effect case study with EIMO model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 335-342.
    18. Sondes Kahouli & Xavier Pautrel, 2020. "Residential and Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis of the Rebound Effect," Working Papers 2020.28, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    19. Stela Rubínová, 2011. "Reakce poptávky domácností po energii na zvyšování energetické účinnosti: teorie a její důsledky pro konstrukci empiricky ověřitelných modelů [Reaction of Household Energy Demand to Improvements in," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2011(3), pages 359-378.
    20. Belaïd, Fateh & Youssef, Adel Ben & Lazaric, Nathalie, 2020. "Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    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:eee:ecolec:v:110:y:2015:i:c:p:28-35. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.