Energy Studies Review

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON INCOME AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN BANGLADESH

Md. Mahmudul Alam et al. — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:33:29 PST

This study investigates the inter-temporal causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Bangladesh during the period 1971-2007. This issue is of fundamental importance for the developing economy of Bangladesh. We use the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration tests to explore the dynamic relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Bangladesh. We apply newly developed methods based on simulations that are robust to the violation of statistical assumptions especially when the sample size is small as is the case in this paper. The interesting results of the paper are that unidirectional causality runs from energy consumption to economic growth in Bangladesh and then restrictions on the use of energy could lead to a reduction in economic growth. There is a convergence process in the long-run dynamics of energy use to real GDP so that any shock in energy adjusts with real GDP by 2-2.5 year. The growth hypothesis suggests that energy consumption plays an important role in economic growth in Bangladesh.

ELECTRICITY SPOT TRADING IN GERMANY: PRICE FORMATION AND CONVERGENCE

Christian Growitsch et al. — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:33:28 PST

This paper analyses the price developments between the European Energy Exchange EEX and OTC wholesale spot markets in Germany using a linear state space model based on Kalman filter analysis. Our results suggest increasingly integrated German wholesale spot markets for electricity. The results remain the same when correcting for the influence of the introduction of the emissions allowance trading.

THE EFFECT OF HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS ON TOTAL AND PEAK ELECTRICITY USE IN SUMMER

Guy Newsham et al. — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:20:59 PST

We analyzed hourly electricity use data from households in southern Ontario, Canada (N=284) for which we also had survey data on some household characteristics. Dependent variables were total annual electricity use, summer use, summer use during on-peak hours defined by the local time-of-use tariff, use during the 1% of highest systemwide demand hours in summer, and the correlation between household demand and systemwide demand during summer on-peak hours. Results show, as expected, that larger houses with more occupants tend to use more electricity during all periods. However, in the very highest demand periods in the summer, ownership of a central air conditioner is the most important predictor of energy use. This suggests that utilities wishing to reduce systemwide peak usage should focus their summer demand reduction programs on houses with central air conditioners. The impending roll-out of advanced metering infrastructure in North America will facilitate this kind of analysis in many other jurisdictions in the future.

HOW DOES INFORMATION PROVISION AFFECT RESIDENTIAL ENERGY CONSERVATION? EVIDENCE FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Isamu Matsukawa — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:13:12 PST

This paper attempts to measure the benefits of information about efficient usage of electric appliances consumers receive through energy conservation, using data from a Japanese experiment. In the experiment, households could easily obtain information on how to achieve efficient usage of electric appliances through a display installed at their residence. The data were used to estimate a utility-consistent, discrete−continuous model of display usage and electricity demand. Full information maximum likelihood estimates of a translog indirect utility function and electricity cost share function indicate that information provision contributed to energy conservation and to welfare improvements of consumers in the experiment.