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| 1 |
ID:
110437
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article challenges the notion that energy efficiency and 'clean' energy technologies can deliver sufficient degrees of climate change mitigation. By six arguments not widely recognized in the climate policy arena, we argue that unrealistic technology optimism exists in current climate change mitigation assessments, and, consequently, world energy and climate policy. The overarching theme of the arguments is that incomplete knowledge of indirect effects, and neglect of interactions between parts of physical and social sub-systems, systematically leads to overly optimistic assessments. Society must likely seek deeper changes in social and economic structures to preserve the climatic conditions to which the human civilization is adapted. We call for priority to be given to research evaluating aspects of mitigation in a broad, system-wide perspective.
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| 2 |
ID:
104946
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Change in home heating to more efficient and renewable systems is important for a sound climate policy. The present paper aims to identify potential interventions for the uptake of wood-pellet heating in Norway using an agent-based model (ABM). The theoretically based, empirically founded, agent-based simulation demonstrates that financial support, i.e., a stable wood-pellet price, and technical development, i.e., functional reliability improvement, have to be established all at the same time for a successful wood-pellet market to start. Furthermore, a soft intervention through persuading households to use environmentally beneficial heating system is not a promising driver for wood-pellet diffusion. Limitations and suggestions for future work are also discussed.
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| 3 |
ID:
137652
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Cumulative energy demand (CED) estimates from life cycle assessments (LCAs) are increasingly used to determine energy return on investment (EROI), but the difference in indicators can lead to a misclassification of energy flows in the assessment. The core idea of EROI is to measure the relation of energy diverted from society to make energy available to society. CED, on the other hand, includes forms of energy that are not appropriated by society, such as fugitive methane emissions from oil wells as well as losses of heating value of coal during transport and storage. Such energy forms should be excluded from EROI; failure to do so leads to results that are inconsistent with the intention of EROI and potentially misleading. We demonstrate how this problem is at least partially rectifiable by adopting consistent energy accounting, but also note that among the energy flows not appropriated by society occurring in CED, not all flows can easily be removed. Further, we point to inconsistencies in heating value assumptions in a widely used database that have misled analysts. Finally, we argue that the differential weighting of primary energy forms in published CED-based EROI work is unsubstantiated and should be reconsidered.
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| 4 |
ID:
097595
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2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In 2003, the high dependency on electric heating combined with the high electricity price prompted a significant number of Norwegian households to consider alternative heating systems. The government introduced economic support for wood pellet heating and heat pumps. In contrast to the fast growing heat pump market, this financial support has not resulted in a widespread adoption of wood pellet heating. This paper studies factors that influence the choice of heating system based on Norwegian households' perceptions. Electric heating, heat pump and wood pellet heating were compared, with a special focus on wood pellet heating. This study was conducted as a questionnaire survey on two independent samples. The first sample consisted of 188 randomly chosen Norwegian households, mainly using electric heating; the second sample consisted of 461 households using wood pellet heating. Our results show that socio-demographic factors, communication among households, the perceived importance of heating system attributes, and the applied decision strategy all influence the Norwegian homeowners. The significance of these factors differs between the two samples and the preferred type of anticipated future heating system. Strategies for possible interventions and policy initiatives are discussed.
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| 5 |
ID:
096740
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| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In 2003, the high dependency on electric heating combined with the high electricity price prompted a significant number of Norwegian households to consider alternative heating systems. The government introduced economic support for wood pellet heating and heat pumps. In contrast to the fast growing heat pump market, this financial support has not resulted in a widespread adoption of wood pellet heating. This paper studies factors that influence the choice of heating system based on Norwegian households' perceptions. Electric heating, heat pump and wood pellet heating were compared, with a special focus on wood pellet heating. This study was conducted as a questionnaire survey on two independent samples. The first sample consisted of 188 randomly chosen Norwegian households, mainly using electric heating; the second sample consisted of 461 households using wood pellet heating. Our results show that socio-demographic factors, communication among households, the perceived importance of heating system attributes, and the applied decision strategy all influence the Norwegian homeowners. The significance of these factors differs between the two samples and the preferred type of anticipated future heating system. Strategies for possible interventions and policy initiatives are discussed.
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