The Boom of Electricity Demand in the Residential Sector in the Developing World and the Potential for Energy Efficiency
With the emergence of China as the world's largest energy consumer, the awareness of developing country energy consumption has risen. According to common economic scenarios, the rest of the developing world will probably see an economic expansion as well. With this growth will surely come continued rapid growth in energy demand. This paper explores the dynamics of that demand growth for electricity in the residential sector and the realistic potential for coping with it through efficiency. In 2000, only 66% of developing world households had access to electricity. Appliance ownership rates remain low, but with better access to electricity and a higher income one can expect that households will see their electricity consumption rise significantly. This paper forecasts developing country appliance growth using econometric modeling. Products considered explicitly - refrigerators, air conditioners, lighting, washing machines, fans, televisions, stand-by power, water heating and space heating - represent the bulk of household electricity consumption in developing countries. The resulting diffusion model determines the trend and dynamics of demand growth at a level of detail not accessible by models of a more aggregate nature. In addition, the paper presents scenarios for reducing residential consumption through cost-effective and/or best practice efficiency measures defined at the product level. The research takes advantage of an analytical framework developed by LBNL (BUENAS) which integrates end use technology parameters into demand forecasting and stock accounting to produce detailed efficiency scenarios, which allows for a realistic assessment of efficiency opportunities at the national or regional level. The past decades have seen some of the developing world moving towards a standard of living previously reserved for industrialized countries. Rapid economic development, combined with large populations has led to first China and now India to emerging as 'energy giants', a phenomenon that is expected to continue, accelerate and spread to other countries. This paper explores the potential for slowing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector in developing countries and evaluates the potential of energy savings and emissions mitigation through market transformation programs such as, but not limited to Energy Efficiency Standards and Labeling (EES&L). The bottom-up methodology used allows one to identify which end uses and regions have the greatest potential for savings.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Environmental Energy Technologies Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 971503
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-2329E; TRN: US201004%%182
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ACEEE - American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer Study
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AIR CONDITIONERS
APPLIANCES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DIFFUSION
ECONOMETRICS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMICS
ELECTRICITY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY DEMAND
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS
GREENHOUSE GASES
HOUSEHOLDS
INCOME
MITIGATION
REFRIGERATORS
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
SIMULATION
SPACE HEATING
STANDARD OF LIVING
TRANSFORMATIONS
WASHING
WATER HEATING