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ID: 149912

Energy efficiency consultants as change agents? examining the reasons for EECs’ limited success / Feser, Daniel; Runst, Petrik

Feser, Daniel	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Residential energy consumption has been increasingly singled out by public policies as a key area for potential emission reduction. The public implementation of energy efficiency consultants (EECs) as change agents aims at the diffusion of innovation in residential building efficiency and overcoming information asymmetries in the construction sector. However, the success of these measures has been described as low. We conducted a case study involving 17 in-depth expert interviews to examine the causes of this failure in the case of Germany. In Germany, EECs are organized in a certification scheme which is prerequisite to participate in the publicly funded subsidy system. This analysis has important implications for EECs in general and hence other European countries pursuing such policies. We show that information asymmetries (ex-ante/ex-post) in the ECC market lead to a low willingness to pay. Certification of EECs does not suffice to overcome information asymmetries. We also identify a mismatch between EECs and customer incentives. As top-down policies have failed to facilitate a viable EEC market, we recommend a greater role for private and private-public networks, the cutting of EEC subsidies and a closer alignment between climate policy goals and home owners’ economic efficiency considerations.

Key Words

Asymmetric Information ; Labeling ; Energy Audits ; Credence Goods ; Change Agents

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ID: 183039

German eco tax and its impact on CO2 emissions / Runst, Petrik; Höhle, David

Runst, Petrik	Journal Article
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Many countries have only recently introduced carbon taxation to reduce emissions and the time series data for evaluating these policies is not available yet. We use the introduction of fossil taxes in the German transportation sector to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental taxation. We employ synthetic control methods in the quantitative section of our analysis. The results indicate that the carbon price increase by about 66 €/t CO2 led to a considerable decline of transport emissions by 0.2–0.35 t per person and year. We also show that the sales share of diesel cars quickly increases after the reform, whereas the fuel efficiency of non-diesel cars increases with a three-year time lag. Most importantly, a qualitative analysis of a German car manufacturer's business reports also suggests that the tax triggered an improvement in engine technology.

Key Words

Carbon Emissions ; Transport Sector ; Carbon Taxation

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