Housing and Transportation Issues in Beijing
This project uses an existing large survey dataset to study housing and transportation issues in Beijing. The study is conducted together with Josh Linn, Lunyu Xie, and Jintao Xu.
Energy
The Consortium for Energy Economics and Policy in China
RFF’s Center for Energy Economics and Policy (CEEP) has partnered with institutions in China to create a new collaboration dedicated to improving energy policy in China: the Consortium for Energy Economics and Policy in China (CEEPIC).
Economy Wide Impact of the Electricity Sector in Ethiopia
As a result of growing demand for electricity and recognizing the critical role played by the energy sector in the economic growth and development process, the Government of Ethiopia has already embarked on large scale hydroelectricity projects in view of developing renewable and sustainable energy sources. The goal of this project is to contribute to the fulfillment of these efforts in expanding modern energy access and reducing energy poverty through accelerating the growth of the economy.
Household energy conservation in Kenya
Kenya is a rapidly growing country, with energy demands increasing annually. Over-reliance on biomass energy within households has resulted in adverse environmental effects. Forest cover has fallen to 6%, and as a result, water levels in rivers and dams have also fallen leading to an inconsistent electricity supply. This study seeks to explore energy conservation in Kenya using quantitative methods and an established data set.
Adoption of solar energy in Kenya
Although African countries’ GHG emissions are comparatively low, the effects of climate change are still widespread and a reduction in emissions is crucial. In a bid to reduce emissions, there has been a shift towards renewable energy such as wind, hydro-electric and of course, solar energy in Kenya. This study will explore adoption of solar technology in Kenyan households using quantitative methods.
Profitability and Economy-wide Impact of Biofuel Investments in Ethiopia
Given the volatility of world oil prices and the recent all time high, which increased their popularity, bio-fuels have received a great deal of attention globally. The central questions of interest include whether this will have a positive or a negative impact on smallholder farmers and people living in rural areas, as more agricultural land will be used for biofuels production? And what is the effect of these large scale biofuels investments on growth and poverty reduction endeavors of poor countries?
Dynamics of rural fuel demand: a two-period model for Ethiopia
Most of the studies so far/literature on rural fuel demand and supply, in general, and those on Ethiopia, in particular, are apparently static, with no time dimension.
Urban energy transition and technology adoption: the case of Tigrai, northern Ethiopia
Deforestation in Ethiopia has resulted in growing fuel scarcity and higher firewood prices in urban centers. Urban centers have long been dependent on the rural hinterlands for their fuel. The use of biofuels of rural origin covers about 90% of the urban fuel use. The dependence of urban centers on their rural hinterlands has aggravated the deforestation. One response to reducing the pressure of urban centers on their rural hinterlands could be through substitutions between or switching from one fuel to another, i.e., through energy transition. For example, through substituting away or switching from fuelwood to electricity. Electricity as cooking fuel is cleaner and do not cause deforestation.
CPRs, Land Tenure, Compliance, Enforcement and Corruption: South African Case Studies
Using what amounts to a field experiment we analyse whether the electricity consumption patterns of consumers are altered by the experience of blackouts and the exposure to Eskom’s communication. Secondly; we analyse bargaining experiments focussed on disputes concerning conservation-land owned by the South African National Defence Force and the conservation agencies.
Magnitude and Distribution of Electricity and Water Subsidies for Households in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In Addis Ababa, an increasing block tariff has been used to calculate households’ monthly bills for electricity and water services. This study estimates the magnitudes of the combined water and electricity subsidies received by households with private connections to the electricity grid and piped water network in 2016, and it evaluates the distribution of these subsidies among wealth groups.
Using electricity prices to curb industrial pollution
In this study, we show that changes in electricity prices in China have significant environmental consequences through its effect on industrial pollution emissions concentrations. To investigate this relationship, we pair a novel dataset of hourly smokestack-level pollutant emissions of industrial plants in Anhui, China with changes in hourly electricity prices. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) regression model, we find that pollution emissions from these plants have an inverse relationship with electricity prices.
Temperature effects on mortality and household adaptation: Evidence from China
This paper examines the effects of extreme temperatures on mortality rates, using random year-to-year variation in temperature based on county-level panel data from China. The analysis finds a robust, U-shaped relationship between temperature and mortality rates, indicating that extremely cold or hot temperatures lead to excess deaths. The heat-related (cold-related) effect is 3.5 times (3.2 times) as large as previous findings that used U.S. data, and it is especially large for the elderly population, mainly due to excess deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases. Applying these results to climate change predictions from Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model shows that by 2061–2080 the annual mortality rate is likely to increase by 14.2% if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise throughout the 21st century, the estimated health cost of which is around 0.98 trillion Chinese Yuan per year.
Costos Económicos de las Externalidades Ambientales del fracking: un análisis de metaregresión y algunas implicaciones para Colombia
La cuantificación monetaria de las externalidades ambientales derivadas de la explotación de hidrocarburos no convencionales que utiliza la técnica de fracturación hidráulica o fracking muestra una alta variabilidad pues sus costos no están unívocamente determinados. En este documento desarrollamos un análisis de metarregresión sobre los posibles efectos económicos atribuibles a la proximidad de entornos que puedan verse afectados ambientalmente por el fracking.
Fuel saving strategies in the Andes: Long-term impacts for Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.
Crude oil exports and imports play a crucial role in the trade balance of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. These countries are looking into fossil fuel saving measures as a way to deal with increasing demands and decreasing oil production rates. However, studies about the long-term effects of these measures is lacking.
Forward contracts in electricity markets and capacity investment: A simulation study
This simulation study analyzes the effect of the introduction of forward markets to mitigate cyclical price behavior in electricity markets from a dynamic extended Cobweb model. We pay particular attention to the effect of lags in investment decisions and the effect of not fully replacing retired capacity in electricity markets. In line with previous research, the introduction of forward markets decreases price variability in comparison to a spot market.
Implicaciones de política del Acuerdo de París en la planeación del sistema eléctrico de Colombia
Este documento analiza la incidencia de la política climática internacional en la planeación y el desarrollo del sistema eléctrico de Colombia. Particularmente, estudia las implicaciones que tendría el cumplimiento de las contribuciones nacionalmente determinadas (NDC) presentadas en el Acuerdo de Paris sobre el Sistema Interconectado Nacional.
The Shale Gas Boom in the US: Productivity Shocks and Price Responsiveness
Many studies have been focusing on the impact of the shale gas boom on our society, but the reverse relationship is not well documented. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of oil and gas prices on shale gas drilling activities. We analyze the well-level production data from all major producing shale gas plays in the United States (US) and identify a major productivity shock in 2009. We then estimate the price elasticity of shale gas drilling using the econometric methods. Our results show that the oil price elasticity increases from insignificant in the pilot stage (2000–2008) to 1.1 (significant) in the expansion stage (2009–2016), and the gas price elasticity increases from insignificant in the pilot stage to 0.6 (significant) in the expansion stage.
Environment or food: Modeling future land use patterns of miscanthus for bioenergy using fine scale data
Using fine-scale panel data and an
Are renewable energy subsidies in Nepal reaching the poor?
The Government of Nepal has been providing subsidies to promote biogas technology since the 1970s and
The consequences of increasing block tariffs on the distribution of residential electricity subsidies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
This study evaluates the distribution of electricity subsidies to residential customers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016 that results from the current increasing block tariff (IBT) structure. Customer billing data supplied by the electricity utility were matched with socioeconomic information collected from a survey of 987 households, and used with a utility-specific estimate of the costs of electricity service to estimate household-specific subsidies.
Imperfect market, emissions trading scheme, and technology adoption: A case study of an energy-intensive sector
It is widely accepted that the firms included in an emissions trading scheme (ETS) come mostly from oligopolistic industries.
Does Urbanization Increase Residential Energy Use? Evidence from the Chinese Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2012
China’s rapid urbanization and increasing energy use are accompanied by deteriorating environmental quality. Understanding the structure of energy use is necessary to address these environmental effects. We investigate how urbanization affects residential energy use, using data from the Chinese Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2012 (CRECS 2012) to compare the energy consumption of urban and rural households and identify the factors influencing the differences.
The changes in coal intensity of electricity generation in Chinese coal-fired power plants
In recent years, the coal intensity of electricity generation and its change rate over time has varied significantly across
Assessment of Local content and local community participation policies
Most of the current developmental projects in Tanzania on natural resources has been established basing on their national/macro-economic impacts and environmental impacts with little attention to the understanding of the nature/ways of lives of the local community. We understand that lately there has been a movement of resource rich countries to incorporate local content component in their policies so that local people can really benefit from the sector.
The power of nudging: Using feedback, competition and responsibility assignment to save electricity in a non-residential setting
We use behavioural insights to design nudges, leveraging social comparison and assignment of responsibility, aimed at reducing electricity consumption in a large provincial government office building with 24 floors, a total of 1008 occupants. Results from a randomized control trial show that floors participating in a treatment with inter-floor competitions and tips reduced energy consumption by 9%, while those that also included floor-wise “energy advocates” reduced energy consumption by 14% over a period of 5 months.
Cost of Power Outages for Manufacturing Firms in Ethiopia:A Stated Preference Study
Having a reliable supply of electricity is essential for the operation of any firm. In most developing countries, however, electricity supply is highly unreliable. In this study, we estimate the cost of power outages for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, using a stated preference survey. We find that the willingness to pay, and thus the cost of power outages, is substantial. The estimated willingness to pay for a reduction of one power outage corresponds to a tariff increase of 16 percent.
Household Solar Adoption in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
The astounding scope of the global energy poverty challenge has motivated many organizations to
Adaptation Plan for the energy sector: participative methods for developing countries
Adaptation Plan for the energy sector: participative methods for developing countries
Construction of a Chilean Energy Matrix Portraying Energy Source Substitution: A System Dynamics Approach
The energy matrix is a useful tool for understanding the trends of production and consumption in a country and for evaluating long-term energy policies. This paper presents a behavioral simulation model of the evolution of Chile’s energy matrix.
Uncertainty and the long-term adequacy of supply: Simulations of capacity mechanisms in electricity markets
Deregulation in electricity markets has changed the conditions for maintaining long-term adequacy of supply. Particularly in the last decade, security of supply has become a major issue for policymakers due to a number of changes in technology, especially the introduction of renewables, where regulators have introduced capacity mechanisms. In this paper, we focus on the use of two different capacity mechanisms: procurement for long-term strategic reserves contracting, and centralized auctioning for capacity contracts.
Towards long-term economic welfare in deregulated electricity markets: Testing capacity mechanisms in an experimental setting
A number of mechanisms have been suggested for capacity adequacy.
The prospects for small Hydropower in Colombia
Small hydropower (SHP) has existed for more than a century in Colombia, and is gaining reserved interest as an option to mitigating climate change. In this paper we investigate the prospects for SHP in Colombia based on an analysis of economies-of-scale and learning-by-doing effects. We created an inventory of SHP plants realized in Colombia between 1900 and 2013, and focused on grid-connected SHP stations only. In the economies-of-scale part of our analysis we considered all SHP plants with a capacity lower than 20 MW.
Spatial Distribution of Coal-Fired Power Plants in China
Coal has fueled China's rapid growth in recent decades, but it also severely pollutes the air and causes many health issues. The magnitude of the health damage caused by air pollution depends on the location of emission sources. In this paper, we look into the spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants, which are the major emission sources in China, and investigate the determining factors behind the distribution.
Are renewable energy policies climate friendly? The role of capacity constraints and market power
This paper studies the impacts of renewable energy support policies on energy prices, fossil fuel supply and thus carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Such supports are climate friendly if the renewables are already competitive against fossil fuels. But if the renewables are not yet competitive, the climate change impacts are often ambiguous and are sensitive to capacity constraints of renewables production and to the fossil fuel market structure. If the renewables
Determinants of enterprises use of energy efficient technologies: Evidence from urban Ethiopia
This paper examines the determinants of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ adoption of energy efficiency practices and technologies, using cross-sectional data of 8174 randomly selected enterprises from ten major urban areas of Ethiopia. For identification, the study relys on a generalized ordered probit model. The findings reveal that, as the size of the enterprise becomes larger, it is more likely the enterprise will undertake energy efficient practices and technologies.
Unveiling the Energy Saving Role of Banking Performance in Sub-Sahara Africa
This article examines the effect of commercial bank performance on an indicator of energy efficiency (i.e. energy intensity) while controlling for the mediating effect of political institution. To achieve this goal, the study develops a theoretical model based on the neoclassical theory of the firm that links energy efficiency to bank sector development, and a unique bank-based data by Andrianova et al. (2015) for 43 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1998 to 2012.
Land for food or power? Risk governance of dams and family farms in Southwest Ethiopia
This study use the concepts of riskscapes and risk governance to analyze the tensions between land use for food (farms) and energy (dams) in South West Ethiopia. It analyzes the linkage between risk perception, risk assessment and risk management for local and non-local actors. The study distinguish, after empirical analysis, as main riskscapes the riskscapes of landlessness, food and energy insecurity and siltation.
Profitability of Bioethanol production: The Case of Ethiopia
This research investigates the profitability of bioethanol production in Africa, taking Ethiopia as a case in point, and suggests an oil price threshold beyond which biofuels may be profitable. Specifically, the study analyzes the viability of producing bioethanol from molasses in the context of Ethiopia, using data from a biofuels investment survey by EEPFE/EDRI in 2010. The study draw on investment theory as underlying conceptual framework and employ unit cost analysis for the empirical analysis.
The impact of microhydroelectricity on household welfare indicators
The use of small-scale off-grid renewable energy for rural electrification is now seen as part of the sustainable energy solutions. The expectation from such small-scale investment is that it can meet the basic energy needs of a household and subsequently improve someaspects of household welfare. However, these stated benefits remain largely hypothetical because there are data and methodological challenges in existing literature attempting to isolate such impact.
Driving forces for households' adoption of improved cooking stoves in rural Tanzania
With increasingly improved cooking stoves (ICS) that aim to reduce fuelwood consumption by forest-dependent households, more evidence of what drives households to adopt ICS is needed. Using data from a representative sample (N=271) of households in a rural part of eastern Tanzania, we estimated a mixed logit model to take into account the limitations of the standard multinomial logit model and relaxed the restrictive assumption of the conditional logit model.
Fuel savings, cooking time and user satisfaction with improved biomass cookstoves
Continued high reliance on traditional biomass fuels and stoves in developing countries gives rise to several human health, environmental, and livelihood issues. However solid data on the performance of improved biomass cooking stoves remains scarce. This paper provides controlled cooking test (CCT) evidence on fuel savings from a promising improved biomass cooking stove in Ethiopia. The stove is called Mirt(meaning “best” in Amharic), and is used to bake injera, the staple food in much of Ethiopia. Injera preparation accounts for about half the primary energy consumed in the country.
Determinants of Enterprises’ Use of Energy Efficient Technologies
This study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 8174 micro, small and medium enterprises from ten major urban areas in Ethiopia to study the determinants of the enterprises’ adoption of energy efficiency practices and technologies. For identification, we rely on a generalized ordered probit model. The findings reveal that, as the size of the enterprise becomes larger, it is more likely the enterprise will undertake energy efficient practices and technologies.
The Impact of Micro Hydroelectricity on Household Welfare Indicators
The use of small-scale off-grid renewable energy for rural electrification is now seen as one sustainable energy solution. The expectations from such small-scale investment include meeting basic household energy needs and thereby improving some aspects of household welfare. However, these stated benefits remain largely hypothetical because there are data and methodological challenges in existing literature attempting to isolate such impacts. This paper uses field data from micro hydro schemes in Kenya and a propensity score matching technique to demonstrate such an impact.
Collective forest tenure reform and household energy consumption: A case study in Yunnan Province, China
The recent Collective Forest Tenure Reform in China has started the process of devolving forest management rights from village collectives to households since 2003. In this paper, we study the impact of the reform on rural energy consumption. Devolving forest tenure improves farmers' access to forest products on their newly acquired forestland, and is therefore expected to increase farmers' fuelwood consumption. The reform also allows farmers to adopt some revenue-enhancing forest technologies which may lead to energy switching in farmer households.
Evaluating Rural Electrification: Illustrating Research Gaps with the Case of Bhutan
Electrification, especially rural electrification (RE), is a core component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a major focal point of the global development community. Despite this focus, more than one billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity, and electrification growth rates are not keeping pace with population growth. In this paper, we posit that lack of progress is partly driven by a misalignment between academic research and energy planners’ and policy makers’ needs.
Chinese Local Residents’ Attitudes toward Shale Gas Exploitation: The Role of Energy Poverty, Environmental Awareness, and Benefit and Risk Perceptions
This study investigates Chinese local residents’ attitudes toward shale gas exploitation through an interview of 730 local residents in two counties of Sichuan Province (Weiyuan County and Gong County) and explores the determinants of their support or opposition. It is the first study in China to explore local residents’ attitudes, and we comprehensively identify underlying factors accounting for such attitudes, including energy poverty, environmental awareness, and risk and benefit perceptions.
Sustainable energy topics: an overview from Central America
The Economics and Environment for Development Program (EEfD) carry out a review of policy relevant documents and countries initiatives on environment and development topics in Central America. The policy review addresses the issue of sustainable energy from two different perspectives. One approach considers energy in its broad spectrum and as a national sector of relevance, while the other one focuses on the relevance of implementing sustainable energies under a climate change context (EEfD 2016)1.
Impacts of rural electrification revisited – the African context
The investment requirements to achieve the United Nations’ universal electricity access goal by 2030 are estimated at 640 billion USD. The assumption underlying this goal is that electrification contributes to poverty alleviation in many regards. In recent years, a body of literature has emerged that widely confirms this positive poverty impact assumption. Most of these studies, however, are based on data from Asia and Latin America. This paper challenges the transferability of impact findings in the literature to the African context.
How do People in Rural India Perceive Improved Stoves and Clean Fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion.
Explaining environmental health behaviors: Evidence from rural India on the influence of discount rates
The authors examine whether high personal discount rates help explain why and which households in developing countries under-invest in seemingly low-cost options to avert environmental health threats, including bednets, clean cooking fuels, individual household latrines, water treatment and handwashing. First, the authors elicit personal discount rates by combining a simple randomized experiment with detailed surveys of over 10,000 rural households in Maharashtra, India. Personal discount rates are lower for women, for better-off households, and for households who can access formal credit.