Buildings behaving badly:A behavioral experiment on how different motivational frames influence residential energy label adoption in the Netherlands

Heating buildings contributes to approximately 36% of Europe’s energy demand and several EU member states have adopted mandatory energy labels to improve energy efficiency by promoting home weatherization investments. This paper focuses on the perception of the energy label for residential buildings in the Netherlands and the role of different frames (egoistic, biospheric and social norms and neutral frames) in motivating adoption of energy labels for housing. We used a behavioral email experiment and an online survey to investigate these motivational factors. We find that biospheric frames are weaker than the other three motivational frames in terms of engaging interest in the energy label, but that the biospheric frame results in higher willingness to pay (WTP) for the energy label. We also find that age (rather than income) correlates with higher willingness to pay for home energy labels

Olio di riso:un prodotto da valorizzare. (English preliminary results in: Proceeding of 8th International Commodity Science Conference Current Trends in Commodity Science, Poznań, 28 August, 02 September 2005. Poznan, August 28-September 4, 2005, vol. 2, p. 939-944, Poznań:The Poznań University of Economics Publishing House, ISBN: 83-7417-113-8)

Rice bran oil: a product to exploit Within the researches regarding the exploitation of the agricultural by-products and the increasing demand of functional foods, rice bran oil assumes a particular importance. This oil, besides to be a product with an elevated stability in the time, shows an interesting composition in fats (rich of unsaturated fat acids above all oleic and linoleic) and in antioxidant substances (phytosterol, particularly the gamma-oryzanol, tocopherol, etc.). Rice bran oil nutritional characteristics make it a valuable food product. Currently its world production is equal to more or less 1 Mt (million of tons) but estimated productive potentialities are more and more elevated. Italy, for example, is the main rice producer in Europe but does not produce this oil. The aim of this paper is to analyze the available rice bran oil production technologies and to collect further information about the material and energy flows of this important niche product with an high added value