Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Renewable Energies: Research Trends, Gaps and the Challenge of Improving Participation

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on

The global increase in renewable energy initiatives has been followed by the need to include the social impact of any project as a core element. Significant challenges for renewable energy development include uncertainty in assessing social impacts at local scales, participation and social acceptance. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches have been widely used in energy planning to address these challenges. This article reviews how social criteria and participation mechanisms have been incorporated into decision-making processes for renewable energy projects.

Energy, Policy Design

Cooler rooms on a hotter planet? Household coping strategies, climate change, and air conditioning usage in rural China

Submitted by Hang Yin on
EfD Authors:

Ownership and usage of air conditioners (AC) have increased dramatically in the past few decades as global warming and the increasing occurrence of extreme hot weather have become major concerns. However, there is a lack of household-level studies on the effect of climate change on AC energy consumption and usage patterns, especially for developing countries, which have great potential for AC adoption and usage.

Climate Change, Energy

Coal taxation reform in China and its distributional effects on residential consumers

Submitted by Hang Yin on

There is an ongoing reform in coal taxation in China, from a quantity-based to a price-based approach. While the coal tax could play an important role in resource conservation and air pollution reduction, its distributional effect is not well studied. This paper investigates the distributional effect of China's coal taxes on households before and after the reform. We find that about 30 percent of rural households and six percent of urban households are directly affected by the coal taxes, and that the directly affected households tend to be poor.

Energy, Policy Design

Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative?

Submitted by Tanay Ray Bhatt on
EfD Authors:

Every year after the rice harvest, some 2.5 million farmers in northwest India burn the remaining stubble to prepare their fields for the subsequent wheat crop. Crop residue burning causes massive air pollution affecting millions of people across the Indo-Gangetic Plains. We examine different tillage practices to provide urgently needed empirical evidence on how profitable it is for farmers to adopt no-burn technologies, especially the ‘Happy Seeder’ (HS) which is capable of sowing wheat directly into large amounts of crop residue.

Energy

Gender and Entrepreneurship in the Renewable Energy Sector of Rwanda

Submitted by Tali Hoffman on

Until recently, women have not been seen as having the potential for entrepreneurial success. Yet women’s engagement in the energy sector could substantially improve energy access for those most underserved. This article examines the role of women as energy entrepreneurs from the perspective of gender inequality within the energy industry.

Energy

Female microenterprise creation and business models for private sector distribution of low-cost off-grid LED lighting: Multiple Randomized Experiments

Submitted by Tali Hoffman on

Over 1.3bn people worldwide lack access to modern energy. In Africa alone 600m remain off-grid, 400m live in extreme poverty, and both numbers are expected to grow since grid expansion and economic growth are not predicted to keep pace with population growth. In addition, almost 6 million children under 5 die each year from preventable diseases, preliminary research suggesting that the primary causes are respiratory infections, and smoke from traditional lighting.

Energy, Experiments