The effectiveness of energy efficiency improvement in a developing country: Rebound effect of residential electricity use in South Korea

The government of South Korea considers an energy efficiency improvement policy an effective economic measure for climate change like many other governments. But it is unaware of any ‘rebound effect’, the unexpected result of energy efficiency improvement. So the rebound effect of residential electr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy policy 2007-11, Vol.35 (11), p.5622-5629
Main Author: Jin, Sang-Hyeon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Appliances
Applied sciences
Backfire effect
Condoms
Developing countries
Economic data
Effectiveness studies
Electric energy
Electric power
Electricity
Energy
Energy consumption
Energy economics
Energy efficiency
Energy policy
Exact sciences and technology
General, economic and professional studies
Home remedies
Household economics
Innovation
Price decomposition method
Price elasticity
Prices
South Korea
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Summary:The government of South Korea considers an energy efficiency improvement policy an effective economic measure for climate change like many other governments. But it is unaware of any ‘rebound effect’, the unexpected result of energy efficiency improvement. So the rebound effect of residential electricity use in South Korea was estimated using two different scales in this paper. At the macro level, the rebound effect was estimated indirectly by using price elasticity, and at the micro level, the rebound effect of individual home appliances was estimated directly by using a non-linear relationship between energy efficiency and energy use. At the macro level, the long- and short-term results of rebound effect were estimated at 30% and 38%, respectively. Also at the micro level, the rebound effect of air conditioners was 57–70%; while refrigerators showed only a composite of rebound and income effects. Finally, there was no backfire effect, and efficiency improvement brought energy reduction. In conclusion, these suggest that rebound effect is an important factor that the government of South Korea must consider when planning its energy efficiency improvement policy.
ISSN:0301-4215
1873-6777
DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2007.05.028