Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

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  • Publication
    Discriminatory subsidies for energy-efficient technologies and the role of envy
    ( 2022)
    Fanghella, Valeria
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    Faure, Corinne
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    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
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    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    Discriminatory subsidies, that is, subsidies for which only a subset of the population is eligible, are widespread. However, research on social preferences suggests that non-eligible households may negatively respond to these subsidies. We investigate both eligible and non-eligible households' response to discriminatory subsidies for smart thermostats using a discrete choice experiment with 3071 owner-occupiers from France and Romania. Households are randomly exposed to discriminatory subsidies through a between-subject design that manipulates two factors: type of discrimination (positive or negative) and eligibility criteria (based on geographical location or on household characteristics). A control condition (uniform subsidy) is also included. In addition, we elicit envy via an incentivized game in the sample from France. Our results show that eligible households are more likely to adopt a smart thermostat, regardless of whether the subsidy is uniform or discriminatory. By contrast, non-eligible households are less likely to adopt it, especially when eligibility criteria are based on household characteristics. We find no evidence for a moderating effect of envy.
  • Publication
    Household preferences for private versus public subsidies for new heating systems: Insights from a multi-country discrete choice experiment
    ( 2022)
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
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    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
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    Tu, Gengyang
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    Faure, Corinne
    This paper employs demographically representative discrete choice experiments (DCEs) with owner occupiers in Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK) to estimate the effects of subsidies, heating cost savings, installation time (reflecting 'hassle costs') and warranty length on owner occupiers' propensity to invest in a new heating system. In particular, the paper explores whether owner occupiers value subsidies received from public funding sources differently than subsidies received from private funding sources. The results from estimating mixed logit models suggest that respondents not only value subsidies for new heating systems because they decrease the net price, but they also value receiving a subsidy per se. For participants from Sweden (but not from Poland and the UK), this non-monetary value was found to be higher for subsidies offered by a public than by a private funding source. The results for heating cost savings in the three countries imply implicit discount rates between about 11 and 13%. We further find that respondents in Poland dislike longer installation times, and that respondents in all three countries value longer warranty times.
  • Publication
    Mögliche Ausgestaltung eines Energieeinsparverpflichtungssystems für Deutschland. Abschlussbericht
    (UBA, 2021)
    Schlomann, Barbara
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    Rohde, Clemens orcid-logo
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    Bentele, Sophie
    Die 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.
  • Publication
    Bewertung von Energieeffizienztechnologien mit der Methodik EDUAR&D an zwei Beispielen
    ( 2021)
    Schäfer, Bernhard
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    Toro Chacón, Felipe A.
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    Brinkmann, Thorsten
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    Drews, Anja
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    Jochem, Eberhard
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    Sauer, Jörg
    Die Methodik EDUAR&D, kurz für Energiedaten und -analyse R&D, wird zur Bewertung von Energieeffizienztechniken genutzt. Es handelt sich um einen strukturierten Such- und Analyseprozess, der verschiedene methodische Ansätze zur Darstellung, Analyse und Bewertung der Techniken miteinander verbindet. Ziel ist es, Handlungsempfehlungen, z. B. bzgl. thematischer Schwerpunktsetzung, für die zukünftige Energieforschung im Rahmen der Forschungsförderung und für die Energiepolitik abzuleiten. Die Methodik wird hier am Beispiel der organophilen Nanofiltration und der Latentwärmespeicher vorgestellt.
  • Publication
    What's in it for me? Self-interest and preferences for distribution of costs and benefits of energy efficiency policies
    (Fraunhofer ISI, 2021)
    Fanghella, Valeria
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    Faure, Corinne
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    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
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    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    Public acceptability appears an essential condition for the success of low-carbon transition policies. In this paper, we investigate the role of self-interest on citizens' preferences for the distribution of costs and of environmental benefits of energy efficiency policies. Using a discrete choice experiment on nationally representative household samples of Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, we first investigate preferences for specific burden-sharing rules and for the distribution of policy environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural and/or urban areas. We examine the role of self-interest in a correlation manner by looking at the effects of income and of location of residency on preferences for these policy attributes. Moreover, we investigate the effect of self-interest on preferences for burden-sharing rules in a causal manner by exogenously priming subsets of participants to feel either rich or poor. Our results suggest that the polluter-pays rule is the most popular burden-sharing rule and an equal-amount rule the least popular and that policies with environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural areas are less preferred, with some heterogeneity in preferences across the three countries. We also find evidence for self-interest, both through correlational and through causal approaches.
  • Publication
    How effective are EU minimum energy performance standards and energy labels for cold appliances?
    ( 2021)
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
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    Durand, Antoine orcid-logo
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    Brugger, Heike orcid-logo
    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.
  • Publication
    Energy Efficiency Vision 2050: How will new societal trends influence future energy demand in the European countries?
    ( 2021)
    Brugger, Heike orcid-logo
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    Eichhammer, Wolfgang orcid-logo
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    Mikova, Nadezhda
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    Dönitz, Ewa
    New societal trends are unfolding, such as digitalization, sharing economy and consumer awareness. They will highly influence future energy demand and, depending on their realization, enhance or counteract projected energy efficiency gains. Therefore, these trends have to be accompanied by policies with a strong focus on reducing energy demand (including Energy Efficiency First). This work analyzes quantitatively for all sectors how New Societal Trends interact with energy efficiency (policies). An extensive consultation with European experts identified 12 new societal trends that are likely to shape future energy demand. Based on these, four energy demand scenarios were developed for 2050. Using literature review and expert consultations, the impacts on all sectors were evaluated taking these trends explicitly into account. The results show that New Societal Trends can have a crucial impact on future energy demand beyond mere techno-economic potentials. In the best case scenario, ""New Trends Efficient"", they can reduce final energy demand by 67% compared to the EU ""Baseline"" scenario in 2050. While in the ""Worst Case"" scenario, they could increase final energy demand by 40%. This paper opens up the discussion on how New Societal Trends will shape future energy demand and emphasizes the crucial role of policy-making therein.
  • Publication
    Analysis to support the implementation of the Energy Efficiency First principle in decision-making. Final report
    (Publications Office of the European Union, 2021)
    Zondag, Marie-Jose
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    Bufalo, Nicoletta del
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    Benthem, Menno van
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    Maleki-Dizaji, Pouyan
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    Heidecke, Laura
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    Brugger, Heike orcid-logo
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    Mandel, Tim orcid-logo
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    Yu, Songmin orcid-logo
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    Thomas, Stefan
    Energy efficiency (first) is one of the central pillars of the EU's long-term strategy [1] and is termed its first fuel. Yet, in real-world planning, it is a fuel that is still far too often overlooked as compared to supply-side options. In order to prioritise energy efficiency options when they are more beneficial than supply-side options, a more thorough discussion, understanding, and guidance is needed in which policy areas and at which decision-making steps the Energy Efficiency First (EEF) principle can and should be applied. This project aims to deliver a hands on approach to do so. To consequently implement the EEF principle in all steps of the decision-making process, it is necessary to value the benefits of energy efficiency (EE) against the supply-side options. Hereby, in a first step, it needs to be assessed whether energy efficiency is an alternative to an energy supply option at all. If yes, in the second step all the costs of the two options have to be considered in an encompassing manner. This goes beyond the mere direct economic costs necessary to implement the various options. Particularly the literature shows that the EE options are often performing better than the supply-side options when taking multiple impacts (such as environmental or employment impacts) and benefits over the lifetime of the projects into account, because EE options often have the advantage that they have smaller operating costs than supply-side options. Often decision-makers are trained to very specific considerations when deciding for a certain option. From recent studies, it is known that these considerations might systematically undervalue the advantages of EE options. In order to do justice to the EEF principle it is, therefore, necessary to widen the spectrum of indicators, which evaluate the best option. The EEF principle can be applied both in policy-making, in planning processes, and for concrete investment decisions. It is not only applicable to energy-related processes and decisions, but also to other sectors, including transport, water, digitalization, or all kinds of natural resources.
  • Publication
    Effects of rescaling the EU energy label on household preferences for top-rated appliances
    ( 2021)
    Faure, Corinne
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    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
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    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    The European Union has decided to replace its previously existing A+++ to D labelling scheme for cold appliances with a rescaled A to G labelling scheme in 2021. 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 previous scheme on the stated uptake of top-rated refrigerators, i.e. those classified A+++ under the previous scheme and B under the rescaled scheme. Since in practice both schemes may be shown for a transitory period, the paper also explores the effects of displaying both labels simultaneously. The findings from estimating a mixed logit model suggest that showing the rescaled label alone significantly increases valuation of top-rated refrigerators compared to showing the previous A+++ to D label alone. In comparison, when the previous A+++ to D and the rescaled 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 labelling scheme as quickly as possible and to shorten transitory periods where both labels are shown simultaneously.
  • Publication
    Adoption of retrofit measures among homeowners in EU countries: The effects of access to capital and debt aversion
    ( 2021)
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
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    Faure, Corinne
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    Meissner, Thomas
    Energy 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 6600 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.