1 - 10 of 23
-
PublicationMögliche Ausgestaltung eines Energieeinsparverpflichtungssystems für Deutschland. AbschlussberichtDie EU-Energieeffizienzrichtlinie (EED) sieht in Artikel 7 die Einrichtung eines Energieeinsparverpflichtungssystems (EEOS) als ein zentrales Instrument zur Erreichung von Energieeinsparzielen vor. Während mittlerweile mehr als die Hälfte der Mitgliedstaaten ein solches System eingerichtet haben, wurde eine Einführung in Deutschland zwar in verschiedenen Studien diskutiert, jedoch bisher nicht umgesetzt. Mit dieser Studie wird ein Ausgestaltungsvorschlag für ein mögliches Energieeinsparverpflichtungssystem in Deutschland unter den derzeitigen energie- und klimapolitischen Rahmenbedingungen vorgelegt. Im Rahmen eines EEOS wird durch den Staat ein Einsparziel festgelegt und auf verpflichtete Akteure allokiert. Je nach Ausgestaltung kann eine Handelskomponente (so genannte ""Weiße Zertifikate"") hinzukommen. Um ein EEOS in einem Land zu etablieren, sind Festlegungen zu zentralen Ausgestaltungsmerkmalen zu treffen. Dazu gehören neben den zu verpflichtenden Sektoren, Energieträgern und Akteuren auch die Konkretisierung des Einsparziels, Anforderungen an die durchgeführten Einsparmaßnahmen sowie Regelungen zum Handel mit Zertifikaten und zu den Nachweis- und Überprüfungsmechanismen. Die hier vorgeschlagene Ausgestaltung wurde so gewählt, dass damit eine hohe Effektivität und Kosteneffizienz des Instruments gewährleistet ist und der Markt für Energiedienstleistungen gestärkt wird. Trotz der schon stark ausdifferenzierten Förderlandschaft für Energieeffizienz könnte ein marktnahes Instrument wie ein EEOS dazu beitragen, einige der noch bestehenden Hemmnisse abzubauen, die bisher einer vollen Ausschöpfung der Energieeffizienzpotenziale entgegenstehen.
-
PublicationWhat's in it for me? Self-interest and preferences for distribution of costs and benefits of energy efficiency policies(Fraunhofer ISI, 2021)
-
PublicationAnalysis to support the implementation of the Energy Efficiency First principle in decision-making. Final report(Publications Office of the European Union, 2021)
-
PublicationPoor energy ratings when appliances convey?Conveyance, i.e., leaving one's appliance in the dwelling when moving out, shortens the expected length of ownership of an appliance and may therefore lead to the purchase of less energy-efficient appliances. Employing a demo-graphically representative survey in Spain, this paper uses statistical-econometric analyses to explore the effects of conveyance on stated adoption of energy-efficient appliances (refrigerators or fridge-freezer combinations, freezers, dishwashers, and washing machines). The findings suggest that the take-up of energy-efficient appliances is on average about 8%-points lower when appliances convey. In addition, conveyance appears to have comparable effects for renters and homeowners. These findings therefore suggest that conveyance contributes to explaining the energy efficiency paradox. Finally, the results appear robust to a series of robustness checks involving alternative assumptions about the distribution and data generating process, the specifications of the dependent variable, and the handling of missing values. They also provide insights for policy-making.
-
PublicationHousehold preferences for new heating systems: Insights from a multi-country discrete choice experiment(Fraunhofer ISI, 2020)
-
PublicationEffects of rescaling the EU energy label on household preferences for top-rated appliancesThe European Union has decided to replace its current A+++ to D labelling scheme for cold appliances with a rescaled A to G labelling scheme. Employing a demographically representative discrete choice experiment on refrigerator adoption using an online survey among more than 1000 households in Germany, this paper explores the effects of the rescaled scheme compared to the old scheme on the stated uptake of top-rated refrigerators. Since in practice both schemes will be shown for a transitory period, the paper also analyses the effects of displaying both labels simultaneously. The findings from estimating a mixed logit model suggest that showing the rescaled A to G label alone significantly increases valuation of top-rated refrigerators compared to showing the current A+++ to D label alone. In comparison, when the A+++ to D and the re-scaled A to G schemes are shown simultaneously, no benefits of introducing the rescaled label are found. Thus, policymakers should strive to enforce the application of the rescaled label scheme as quickly as possible and to shorten transitory periods where both labels are shown simultaneously.
-
PublicationHow effective are EU minimum energy performance standards and energy labels for cold appliances?In most countries, minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and energy labels are the key policies to accelerate the diffusion of energy-efficient appliances and to help meet energy efficiency and climate policy targets. This paper estimates country-specific multivariate econometric models for eight EU countries over the period of 2007 to 2017 to evaluate the combined effects of changes in the MEPS and the energy labels entering into force in the EU in 2010 and 2011. The findings suggest that these policies increased the market share of cold appliances (refrigerators and fridge-freezer combinations) with an energy label of A+ and better between about 15 and 38 percentage points. For these appliances, autonomous developments (captured through a time trend) are estimated to range between 5 and 10 percentage points per year. Thus, failure to account for autonomous developments would have resulted in substantially overestimating the combined effects of MEPS and energy label policies in the EU. The findings further imply that policy evaluations should allow for policy effectiveness and autonomous developments to differ across countries.
-
PublicationAdoption of retrofit measures among homeowners in EU countries: The effects of access to capital and debt aversionEnergy efficiency policies often involve low-interest loans for retrofit measures in private buildings; the main target of these loans are meant to be households with otherwise poor access to capital. However, such programs can only be successful if the targeted households also take up these loans. This paper studies the relation between access to capital and debt aversion and the adoption of retrofit measures in European Union countries, employing a demographically representative household survey including about 6,600 homeowners in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The findings suggest that debt aversion negatively affects the adoption of retrofit measures by homeowners. In particular, debt-averse homeowners with poor access to capital are less likely to have adopted retrofit measures than non-debt-averse homeowners with poor access to capital. The findings further provide evidence that low-interest loan programs should be targeted at younger homeowners with lower income and less formal education.
-
PublicationA large-scale test of the effects of time discounting, risk aversion, loss aversion and present bias on household adoption of energy efficient technologiesThis paper empirically and jointly analyses the relations between risk aversion, standard time discounting, present bias, and loss aversion and household stated adoption of low to high stake energy efficiency technologies (EETs) (light emitting diodes (LEDs), energy efficient appliances, and retrofit measures). The analysis relies on a large representative sample drawn from eight European Union countries. Preferences over time, risk and losses were elicited and jointly estimated from participant choices in incentivized, context-free multiple price list experiments. The findings from econometrically estimating EET adoption equations suggest that present-biased individuals are less likely to adopt EETs. They also provide (weak) evidence that individuals which are more risk-averse, or more loss-averse, or which exhibit a lower discount factor are less likely to adopt EETs. Finally, omitting one or several of the time and risk or loss-aversion parameters when estimating the EET adoption equations did not appear to cause omitted variable bias.
-
PublicationEnergy efficient technology adoption and low-income households in the EU - what is the evidence?This paper studies the adoption of high-cost, medium-cost, and low-cost ener-gy-efficient technologies (EETs) by income categories across eight European Union countries. The statistical-econometric analyses allow the effects of in-come to differ by income quartiles and across countries. They rely on demo-graphically representative household surveys carried out simultaneously among about 15,000 households in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom in 2016. For retrofit measures, the findings suggest that homeowners falling into the lowest income quartile exhibit lower adoption propensities than those falling into the highest income quartile. These findings provide support for policies targeting ""poor homeowners"", particularly in lower-income countries with a high share of owner-occupiers such as Poland and Romania. Further, differences in adoption propensities across income quartiles also exist for medium- and low-cost EETs such as appliances and light bulbs. Finally, analyzing factors related to homeowners' receiving financial sup-port from governments or utilities for retrofit measures suggests that differences in implementation rates between the highest and lowest income quartile would likely have been higher without such support schemes in place. For the United Kingdom (but not for other countries) these schemes appeared to have had a progressive effect.
