System Energy Assessment (SEA), Defining a Standard Measure of EROI for Energy Businesses as Whole Systems

A more objective method for measuring the energy needs of businesses, System Energy Assessment (SEA), identifies the natural boundaries of businesses as self-managing net-energy systems, of controlled and self-managing parts. The method is demonstrated using a model Wind Farm case study, and applied to defining a true physical measure of its energy productivity for society (EROI-S), the global ratio of energy produced to energy cost. The traceable needs of business technology are combined with assignable energy needs for all other operating services. That serves to correct a large natural gap in energy use information. Current methods count traceable energy receipts for technology use. Self-managing services employed by businesses outsource their own energy needs to operate, and leave no records to trace. Those uncounted energy demands are often 80% of the total embodied energy of business end products. The scale of this "dark energy" was discovered from differing global accounts, and corrected so the average energy cost per dollar for businesses would equal the world average energy use per dollar of GDP. Presently the energy needs of paid services that outsource their own energy needs are counted for lack of information to be "0". Our default assumption is to treat them as "average". The result is to assign total energy use and impacts to the demand for energy services, for a "Scope 4" GHG assessment level. Counting only the energy uses of technology understates the energy needs of business services, as if services were more energy efficient than technology. The result confirms a similar finding by Hall et. al. in 1981 [9]. We use exhaustive search for what a business needs to operate as a whole, locating a natural physical boundary for its working parts, to define businesses as physical rather than statistical subjects of science. :measurement, natural systemsComment: 33 pages, 15 figures, accepted as part of pending special issue on EROI organized by Charlie Hall for Sustainability (MDPI

Price Responsiveness of Residential Demand for Natural Gas in the United States

While price responsiveness of residential demand for natural gas has important implications on resource planning and energy modelling, its estimates from prior studies are very diverse. Applying panel data analysis and five parametric specifications to monthly data for the lower 48 states in 1990–2019, we estimate own-price elasticities of residential demand for natural gas in the United States (US). Using results from cross-section dependence (CD) test, panel unit root tests, panel time-series estimators, and rolling-window analysis, we document: (1) the statistically significant (p-value ≤ 0.05) static own-price elasticity estimates are −0.271 to −0.486, short-run −0.238 to −0.555 and long-run −0.323 to −0.796; (2) these estimates vary by elasticity type, sample period, parametric specification, treatment of CD and assumption of partial adjustment; (3) erroneously ignoring the highly significant (p-value < 0.01) CD shrinks the size of these estimates that vary seasonally, regionally, and nonlinearly over time; and (4) residential natural gas shortage costs decline with the size of own-price elasticity estimates. These findings suggest that achieving deep decarbonization may require strategies that do not rely solely on prices, such as energy efficiency standards and demand-side-management programs. Demand response programs may prove useful for managing natural gas shortages

The Window Market in Texas: Opportunities for Energy Savings and Demand Reduction

The use of high performance windows represents a promising opportunity to reduce energy consumption and summer electrical demand in homes and commercial buildings in Texas and neighboring states. While low-e glass coatings and other energy efficiency features have become standard features in windows in states with building energy codes, their sales in the Texas market remain limited. This paper presents findings from a pilot energy efficiency program sponsored by American Electric Power Company (AEP). The Texas Window Initiative (TWI) has conducted over 160 on-site training sessions for hardware store sales personnel and builders across the AEP service areas in Texas over the past two years. Companion promotional activities have also been completed. The past one and a half years have witnessed a very significant increase in the market penetration of energy efficient windows in the AEP service area; from about 2.5% of total window sales in early 2000 to roughly 25% (according to preliminary data) by the end of 2001.1 Some of this increase is attributable to TWI's activities, although other factors may be responsible for a portion of this increase as well. The market for windows in Texas is described. TWI's approach to promoting energy efficient windows is reviewed. Initial impact estimates from TWI's activities are presented. The technical potential for energy savings and utility peak demand reduction from the installation of energy efficient windows in Texas is presented. The paper also provides some speculation on how the window market might be impacted by the adoption of building energy codes in Texas

Reducing energy demand: a review of issues, challenges and approaches

Most commentators expect improved energy efficiency and reduced energy demand to provide the dominant contribution to tackling global climate change. But at the global level, the correlation between increased wealth and increased energy consumption is very strong and the impact of policies to reduce energy demand is both limited and contested. Different academic disciplines approach energy demand reduction in different ways: emphasising some mechanisms and neglecting others, being more or less optimistic about the potential for reducing energy demand and providing insights that are more or less useful for policymakers. This article provides an overview of the main issues and challenges associated with energy demand reduction, summarises how this challenge is ‘framed’ by key academic disciplines, indicates how these can provide complementary insights for policymakers and argues that a ‘sociotechnical’ perspective can provide a deeper understanding of the nature of this challenge and the processes through which it can be achieved. The article integrates ideas from the natural sciences, economics, psychology, innovation studies and sociology but does not give equal weight to each. It argues that reducing energy demand will prove more difficult than is commonly assumed and current approaches will be insufficient to deliver the transformation required

Comparing sustainable consumption patterns across product sectors.

In this paper, we present findings from two qualitative studies where we explored sustainable consumption practices through examining consumers' information search and decision-making processes for recent purchases of five categories of goods/services: fast moving consumer goods (such as foodstuffs and household products), white goods (such as fridges and washing machines), small electrical products (such as TVs and computers), green energy tariffs (such as electricity from renewable sources) and tourism (such as flights). This research has provided us with a set of rich data which explores the nature and extent of sustainable consumption practices across different product sectors. A comparative analysis has allowed us to draw out patterns of consumer behaviour for different product and service types. Our findings suggest that even the same green consumer will not use the same information sources or decision-making criteria, consider the same options or focus on the same industry actors, for products in different sectors. However, we have identified some degree of consistency in purchases within sectors. We present these sector-specific patterns of consumer behaviour and highlight differences in the criteria utilized and the research norms in each sector

Current Issues in Time-Series Analysis for the Energy-Growth Nexus; Asymmetries and Nonlinearities Case Study: Pakistan

This paper investigates the asymmetric impact of energy consumption on economic growth by including oil prices, capital and labour as additional determinants in production function. In doing so, the non-linear ARDL bounds testing approach is applied for the period of 1985QI-2016QIV. The empirical evidence confirms the presence of symmetric and asymmetric cointegration between energy consumption, oil prices, capital, labour and economic growth over the period of 1985QI-2016QIV. Furthermore, rise in energy consumption (positive shock) adds to economic growth via stimulating economic activity and energy consumption negative shock retards economic growth insignificantly. Rise (positive shock) and fall (negative shock) in oil prices decline and stimulate economic growth. Capital and labor affect economic growth positively and negative by positive and negative shocks in capital and labor. The empirical findings open new insights for policy makers for long-run and sustainable economic development