Three essays on the direct rebound effect

Abstract

In this thesis, we provide three empirical essays on the direct rebound effect. The direct rebound effect can be defined as how the efficiency of an energy source conversion device affects the consumption of the energy service it provides. However, our focus is also to study if the efficiency of an energy source conversion device affects the consumption of others substitutes or complementary energy services which is provided by an alternative energy source conversion device. Under certain assumptions, a suitable proxy for the direct rebound effect is the own-price elasticity of demand the energy source of the energy service considered. Therefore, in each essay we provide the shares of the energy services per energy source to show which energy services would be more affected by our estimation of the direct rebound. In the first chapter, we estimate the magnitude of the direct rebound effect for electricity for households in Spain, considering the energy services provided by natural gas and diesel oil. Here, the energy services provided by natural gas and diesel oil affect the energy services provided by electricity with a complementary relationship. Moreover, as the empirical evidence of the direct rebound effect for developing countries is scarce, in the second chapter, we estimate the magnitude of the direct rebound effect, for two income groups, for electricity for households in Paraguay, considering the energy services provided by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Here, we find again empirical evidence suggesting a relationship between energy services through the efficiency of their energy source conversion devices. Thus, the energy services provided by LPG affect the electricity consumption with a substitute relationship in non-low-income households, and affect electricity consumption with a complementary relationship in low-income households. In the third chapter, we estimate the magnitude of the direct rebound effect for natural gas for households in Spain, considering the energy services provided by electricity and diesel oil. Here, as in the previous two chapters, there is a significant relationship between energy services. Thus, the energy services provided by electricity affect natural gas consumption with a complementary relationship in the short-run and with a substitute relationship in the long-run. The energy services provided by diesel oil affect natural gas consumption with a substitute relationship in both short- and long-run. In this chapter, we also provide an updated set of assumptions for estimating the direct rebound effect through price elasticities given the relationship between energy services through the efficiency of their energy source conversion devices. We also find that, if the goal is to reduce natural gas consumption, it will be more effective to increase the efficiency of the energy services provided by electricity and diesel oil than to increase the efficiency of the energy services provided by natural gas. Here, we find a magnitude of the direct rebound between 79% and 89% in the short-run and between 42% and 64% in the long-run. This decreasing magnitude of the direct rebound effect for natural gas can be due to the fact that electricity can be a substitute of natural gas in the long-run and natural gas consumption seems to be an inferior good.

Date of Award	17 Apr 2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Emilio Padilla Rosa (Director) & Jaume Freire Gonzalez (Director)