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Technology Adoption and Aggregate Energy Efficiency

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  • Pizer, William A.
  • Harrington, Winston
  • Kopp, Raymond J.
  • Morgenstern, Richard D.
  • Shih, Jhih-Shyang

Abstract

Improved technology is often cited as a means to alter the otherwise difficult trade-off between the economic burden of regulation and environmental damage. Focusing on energy-saving technologies that mitigate the threat of climate change, we find that both energy prices and financial health influence technology adoption among a sample of industrial plants in four heavily polluting sectors. Based on a model linking technology adoption to growth in aggregate efficiency, we estimate that a doubling of energy prices, after raising the growth rate to 2.1%, would require slightly more than 50 years to generate a 50% improvement in aggregate efficiency relative to the baseline forecast.

Suggested Citation

  • Pizer, William A. & Harrington, Winston & Kopp, Raymond J. & Morgenstern, Richard D. & Shih, Jhih-Shyang, 2002. "Technology Adoption and Aggregate Energy Efficiency," Discussion Papers 10616, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:rffdps:10616
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.10616
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    Cited by:

    1. Spyros Arvanitis & Marius Ley, 2013. "Factors Determining the Adoption of Energy-Saving Technologies in Swiss Firms: An Analysis Based on Micro Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 389-417, March.
    2. Joshua Linn, 2008. "Energy Prices and the Adoption of Energy-Saving Technology," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(533), pages 1986-2012, November.
    3. Popp, David & Newell, Richard G. & Jaffe, Adam B., 2010. "Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 873-937, Elsevier.
    4. Åsa L�fgren & Markus Wr�ke & Tomas Hagberg & Susanna Roth, 2014. "Why the EU ETS needs reforming: an empirical analysis of the impact on company investments," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 537-558, September.
    5. Adam B. Jaffe & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2000. "Technological Change and the Environment," NBER Working Papers 7970, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Clara Inés Pardo Martínez, 2010. "Investments and Energy Efficiency in Colombian Manufacturing Industries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 21(6), pages 545-562, October.
    7. Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca, 2010. "Is there a relationship between public expenditures in energy R&D and carbon emissions per GDP? An empirical investigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5600-5613, October.
    8. Lawrence, Akvile & Karlsson, Magnus & Nehler, Therese & Thollander, Patrik, 2019. "Effects of monetary investment, payback time and firm characteristics on electricity saving in energy-intensive industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 499-512.
    9. Liu, Xianbing & Niu, Dongjie & Bao, Cunkuan & Suk, Sunhee & Sudo, Kinichi, 2013. "Affordability of energy cost increases for companies due to market-based climate policies: A survey in Taicang, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1464-1476.
    10. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2014. "The influence of energy prices on adoption of clean technologies and recycling: Evidence from European SMEs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 246-257.
    11. Kounetas, Kostas & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2008. "The energy efficiency paradox revisited through a partial observability approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2517-2536, September.
    12. Löfgren, Åsa & Wråke, Markus & Hagberg, Tomas & Roth, Susanna, 2013. "The Effect of EU-ETS on Swedish Industry's Investment in Carbon Mitigating Technologies," Working Papers in Economics 565, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    13. Spyros Arvanitis & Marius Christian Ley, 2010. "Factors Determining the Adoption of Energy-saving Technologies in Swiss Firms," KOF Working papers 10-257, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    14. Nyga-Łukaszewska Honorata, 2016. "Selected Issues in Innovation in the Energy Industry. The Case of Poland," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 50(1), pages 100-112, June.
    15. Bonilla, David, 2007. "Fuel Price Changes and the Adoption of Cogeneration in the U.K. and Netherlands," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(7), pages 59-71.
    16. Jaffe, Adam B. & Newell, Richard G. & Stavins, Robert N., 2003. "Chapter 11 Technological change and the environment," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 11, pages 461-516, Elsevier.
    17. Liu, Xianbing & Fan, Yongbin & Li, Chen, 2016. "Carbon pricing for low carbon technology diffusion: A survey analysis of China's cement industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 73-86.
    18. Felix Groba & Barbara Breitschopf, 2013. "Impact of Renewable Energy Policy and Use on Innovation: A Literature Review," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1318, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    19. Bonilla, Jorge & Coria, Jessica & Mohlin, Kristina & Sterner, Thomas, 2014. "Diffusion of NOx abatement technologies in Sweden," Working Papers in Economics 585, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    20. Damien Dussaux, 2020. "The joint effects of energy prices and carbon taxes on environmental and economic performance: Evidence from the French manufacturing sector," OECD Environment Working Papers 154, OECD Publishing.
    21. Lawrence, Akvile & Karlsson, Magnus & Thollander, Patrik, 2018. "Effects of firm characteristics and energy management for improving energy efficiency in the pulp and paper industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 825-835.
    22. Stefan Schleicher & Claudia Kettner & Angela Köppl & Barbara Anzinger & Bernhard Cemper & Andreas Türk & Andreas Karner, 2011. "Analysis of Options to Move Beyond 20 Percent Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions. Background and Evaluation of Impact Documents," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 41607.
    23. Hammar, Henrik & Löfgren, Åsa, 2010. "Explaining adoption of end of pipe solutions and clean technologies--Determinants of firms' investments for reducing emissions to air in four sectors in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3644-3651, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies;

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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