Modifying the Rebound: It Depends!: Explaining Mobility Behaviour on the Basis of the German Socio-Economic Panel

We address the empirical question to which extent higher fuel efficiency of cars affects additional travel and how this behavioural aspect is modified by additional variables. The data set used to estimate a theoretical model of the rebound effect covers two panel waves, 1998 and 2003, taken from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). To take full advantage of the information in the data available, and to avoid problems due to possible selection effects, we estimated an unbalanced two-wave random effects panel model. Our results suggest that in line with the rebound hypothesis, there is a negative effect of car efficiency on the kilometers driven. That is, the lower the fuel consumption, the larger the driven distance. However, contrasting recent empirical literature about the rebound effect in the transportation sector, this seems to be true only for cars with a consumption of more than roughly eight liters per hundred kilometers. In addition, we find a positive diesel effect, which implies that owning a diesel engined car, has a positive effect on the driven distance. Both effects can be interpreted as support for the rebound hypothesis, although not in a simple linear way. Moreover, it can be shown that some "soft" variables such as certain attitudes towards the environment tend to amplify this non-linear rebound effect. Our results support the general direction of the rebound effect on households travel activities. But because of the remaining political relevance of the rebound effect, they also highlight the importance of accounting for additional behavioural variables which tend to influence individual mobility behaviour. Hence, the classical interpretation of the rebound as a linear effect of advances in fuel economy on individual travel has to be questioned.energy demand, rebound effect, panel data analysis

Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources in the European Union

One of the important goals of European energy policy is to increase the share of renewable energy resources in the energy supply. The instruments used in the member states are not fully compatible with the rules of the European internal market. In a theoretical section, this paper analyses possible different instruments for promoting renewable energy. Some countries use feed in tariffs - using fixed prices to increase incentives for producers to invest into renewable energy, other countries use quantity-based systems like quotas that lead to a premium above the market price. In an institutional analysis we show that on the basis of effectiveness and efficiency considerations for the European Union, in the long-term quantity oriented systems of promotion are preferable if combined with elements of a capacity market. The main reason for this conclusion is that price-based systems cannot give enough incentives for backup capacities necessary to cope with intermittent production of renewable sources. In addition price-based systems violate the basic rules of the open internal European market because feed in tariffs are a considerable barrier for trade of renewable energy products

Strom aus Windkraft oder Stromausfall?

Die Ergebnisse der Netz-Studie Deutschen Energie Agentur haben für einen öffentlichen Streit über die zukünftigen Kosten von Windenergie gesorgt. Sowohl Gegner als auch Befürworter der Windenergie sahen ihre Position durch die Ergebnisse des Gutachtens gestärkt. Die folgende Analyse zeigt, wie solch ein scheinbarer Widerspruch möglich wird

A method for determining the time-dependent indoor CO2 concentration to evaluate air hygiene

This paper deals with new ways to describe and assess indoor air CO2-levels to provide a sufficient clarity. Besides common illustrations of measured or calculated CO2 concentrations over a certain period of time different computed indicating values like CO2 hours over a specific threshold exist. However, most of these diagrams need interpretation by experts and a sum of CO2 hours over a specific threshold does not provide information on extreme values in difficult phases. Thus, a new kind of categorization and additional indicating value was developed. By generating ppm-hours as an integration of the C02 curve e.g. over 1000 ppm with the correlative time duration an advanced characteristic parameter can be proposed. Own calculations with dynamic thermal building tools (IDA-ICE) and measurements were applied to set-up use cases and validation. Further improvements could lead to a standard procedure in terms of the assessment of indoor air CO2-levels.publishedVersio

Underground cables versus overhead lines: Do cables increase social acceptance of grid development? Results of a Contingent Valuation survey in Germany

Transmission network development plans have led to protests throughout Germany. Many studies present underground cables as a means to increase public agreement to transmission line construction. This paper investigates this thesis reporting results of a Contingent Valuation study conducted in late 2012 in four regions of Germany, which are affected by transmission line development in different ways. In an analysis of 1.003 household responses a majority of households favours underground cables (about 60%). Willingness-to-pay, however, relativizes this result. Almost 50% of households voting for underground cables are not willing to accept an increase in electricity prices to finance cable projects (free riders). The fact that positive willingness-to-pay does not correlate positively with increasing lengths of underground cables in 60% of cases underlines that cables are not supported unconditionally. All-in-all, the thesis that cables increase acceptance of grid development has to be rejected based on the WTP-evaluation presented in this paper

Recycling behavior of private households: an empirical investigation of individual preferences in a club good experiment

While recycling helps to limit the use of primary resources, it also requires considerable technological investments in regional circular flow systems. The effectiveness of recycling systems, however, also depends on household behavior. Therefore, current research increasingly focuses on behavioral and psychological theories of altruism, moral behavior, and social preferences. From an economic perspective, recycling systems can be understood as public goods with contributions resulting in positive externalities. In this context, the literature shows that recycling behavior highly depends on the perception of how others behave. In neutrally framed public good experiments, contributions tend to increase when alternative public goods are offered and group identity is generated. We aim to contribute to this discussion by observing household behavior concerning recycling opportunities in controlled settings. For this purpose, we study a laboratory experiment in which individuals con‑tribute to recycling systems: At first, only one public recycling system (public good) is offered. After dividing societies into two clubs, “high” and “low” according to their environmental attitudes, excludable club systems (club goods) are added as alternative recycling options for each club. The results of our pilot experiment show that adding a more exclusive recycling club option increases individual contributions to recycling compared with a pure public good framework. However, this increase in cooperation is only significant for those clubs where members with higher environmental attitudes are pooled

Keys to Profitable Southern Pea Production.

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Die gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz der Energiewende: Befunde eines interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes

Die gesellschaftliche Zustimmung zu den politischen Zielen der Energiewende wird nicht unwesentlich von ihren finanziellen Verteilungswirkungen und den individuellen Gerechtigkeitsvorstellungen der privaten Haushalte beeinflusst. Die empirische Untersuchung dieses Zusammenhangs bildet den Kern dieses Beitrags, welcher die Ergebnisse des vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderten Forschungsprojektes AKZEPTANZ zusammenfasst. Die empirischen Einzelbefunde verweisen auf drei wesentliche Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich der Präferenzstruktur der privaten Haushalte bei der Gestaltung der energiewendebedingten Kostenbelastung. Erstens besteht grundsätzlich der Wunsch nach einer Anwendung des Leistungsfähigkeitsprinzips bei der Finanzierung der Ökostromförderung. Zweitens kann die Unsicherheit über die Kosten der Energiewende zu einer Abkehr vom Leistungsfähigkeitsprinzip führen und drittens können Anreize in Form von Subventionen für Investitionen in Energieeffizienz zu kontraproduktiven Nebeneffekten führen

Keys to Profitable Sweet Corn Production in Texas.

4 p