Global redistribution of income and household energy footprints: a computational thought experiment

IF 4.6 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Global Sustainability Pub Date : 2021-01-15 DOI:10.1017/sus.2021.1
Y. Oswald, J. Steinberger, D. Ivanova, J. Millward-Hopkins
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引用次数: 34

Abstract

Non-technical summary Global income inequality and energy consumption inequality are related. High-income households consume more energy than low-income ones, and for different purposes. Here, we explore the global household energy consumption implications of global income redistribution. We show that global income inequality shapes not only inequalities of energy consumption but the quantity and composition of overall energy demand. Our results call for the inclusion of income distribution into energy system models, as well as into energy and climate policy. Technical summary Despite a rapidly growing number of studies on the relationship between inequality and energy, there is little research estimating the effect of income redistribution on energy demand. We contribute to this debate by proposing a simple but granular and data-driven model of the global income distribution and of global household energy consumption. We isolate the effect of income distribution on household energy consumption and move beyond the assumption of aggregate income–energy elasticities. First, we model expenditure as a function of income. Second, we determine budget shares of expenditure for a variety of products and services by employing product-granular income elasticities of demand. Subsequently, we apply consumption-based final energy intensities to product and services to obtain energy footprint accounts. Testing variants of the global income distribution, we find that the ‘energy costs’ of equity are small. Equitable and inequitable distributions of income, however, entail distinct structural change in energy system terms. In an equitable world, fewer people live in energy poverty and more energy is consumed for subsistence and necessities, instead of luxury and transport. Social media summary Equality in global income shifts household energy footprints towards subsistence, while inequality shifts them towards transport and luxury.
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全球收入再分配和家庭能源足迹:一个计算思维实验
非技术性摘要全球收入不平等和能源消费不平等是相关的。高收入家庭比低收入家庭消耗更多的能源,用于不同的目的。在这里,我们探讨了全球收入再分配对全球家庭能源消费的影响。我们表明,全球收入不平等不仅影响能源消费的不平等,还影响整体能源需求的数量和构成。我们的研究结果呼吁将收入分配纳入能源系统模型,以及能源和气候政策。技术摘要尽管关于不平等与能源之间关系的研究数量迅速增加,但很少有研究估计收入再分配对能源需求的影响。我们提出了一个简单但精细的全球收入分配和全球家庭能源消费数据驱动模型,为这场辩论做出了贡献。我们孤立了收入分配对家庭能源消费的影响,并超越了总收入-能源弹性的假设。首先,我们将支出建模为收入的函数。其次,我们通过使用需求的产品细粒度收入弹性来确定各种产品和服务的预算支出份额。随后,我们将基于消费的最终能源强度应用于产品和服务,以获得能源足迹账户。通过测试全球收入分配的变体,我们发现股权的“能源成本”很小。然而,收入分配的公平和不公平导致能源系统发生明显的结构性变化。在一个公平的世界里,生活在能源贫困中的人越来越少,生活和必需品消耗的能源越来越多,而不是奢侈品和交通工具。社交媒体摘要全球收入平等使家庭能源足迹转向生存,而不平等则使其转向交通和奢侈品。
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来源期刊
Global Sustainability
Global Sustainability Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
CiteScore
10.90
自引率
3.60%
发文量
19
审稿时长
17 weeks
期刊最新文献
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