Rebound Effects in the Context of Developing Country Efficiency

Technical Report · Wed Aug 30 04:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1377400· OSTI ID:1377400

de la Rue du Can, Stephane ^[1]; McNeil, Michael A. ^[1]; Leventis, Greg ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Energy efficiency-related “rebound effects” usually refer to the tendency of most consumers to increase their use of energy services in response to efficiency measures that have reduced their energy costs. This phenomenon is one reason why energy efficiency policies often result in lower energy savings than engineering-based estimates predict. Rebound effects have been the subject of intense debate in the field of energy efficiency policy for many years.1 In the past, the focus of this debate has been on the perceived loss of the expected energy savings and related benefits resulting from the rebound effects. However, more recently, there has been a growing recognition that policymakers need to consider the health, economic and other non-energy benefits that often result from the increase in energy services represented by user “rebound effects”. This is especially true in developing countries where basic energy service demands—such as lighting, heating, cooling, and refrigeration of food—are often not being met. As economic conditions improve and household incomes increase, demand for increased energy services (such as space conditioning and appliances) tends to rise rapidly. Improving energy efficiency reduces the amount of energy needed to produce one unit of energy service output (for example an hour of cooling at 21°C delivered for X vs Y kWh). Greater efficiency therefore often enables more rapid increased in energy services (and sometimes access), expanding the amount of services that can be provided by a fixed amount (or cost) of energy.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1377400
• Report Number(s): LBNL--1004377; ir:1004377
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION