Three essays on the economic analysis of energy efficiency

Abstract

The thesis is structured in three independent essays, with the energy intensity and energy efficiency as a common thread. Each paper aims to contribute to the academic literature. However they also aim to contribute to the current energy policy and economic debate. The analysis has managerial implications and are allpolicy relevant. Chapter 1 focuses on the analysis of the energy intensity change. We have applied the proposed decomposition to the analysis of the evolution of energy intensity in Spanish manufacturing over the period 1999-2007 by using regional and industry leve! data. Broadly, our findings confirm that the technical progress, the change in the input mix and the improvement in the leve! of technical energy efficiency are the factors that have contributed to reduce the energy intensity in most manufacturing industries throughout the analyzed period. By contrast, the increase in the scale of operations and the change in the regional distribution of production have acted as energy intensity increasing forces within most industries. Chapter 2 focuses on the analysis of energy costs and business competitiveness. In this paper,we conduct an energy cost-based benchmarking exercise at firm level. We apply and extend the cost frontier approach based on the Konüs framework proposed by Grifell and Lovell (2015), to the interfirm comparison of energy costs. Basically, we decampase the energy cost gap between two firms,the gap being the difference between the energy cost of a benchmarking producer and the energy cost of a target firm in the sample. Chapter 3 focuses on the consequences that an improvement of the energy productivity has for the Spanish economy. To that effect, we formulate a computable general equilibrium (CGE} model to study the economy-wide effects of an increase of energy efficiency in the Spanish economy. Our model describes an open economy, disaggregated into 27 production sectors. The simulations consist in improving the productivity of energy-related inputs. Specifically, it is simulated a reduction of the use of 4 energy intermediate inputs (electricity, gas, oil refining and coal) by unity of output produced. We simulate a number of alternative scenarios and model specifications in order to estimate the rebound effect across sectors and energy types, as well as the impact on economic growth and employment.