Energy Efficiency最新文献

In 2024, the National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme (NABERS) celebrated 25 years since the launch of its first rating in 1999. This paper provides an overview of the scheme’s development and operation as well as showing data trends gathered from NABERS energy ratings. NABERS is one of few rating schemes internationally that focusses entirely on the measured in-use performance of existing buildings rather than design features. Buildings are rated based on their performance (e.g. energy use, water use from bills) relative to empirically derived benchmarks for an equivalent median building. NABERS also has a Commitment Agreement process for new buildings, which enables new building projects to commit to a post-construction NABERS rating. In the financial year 2023–24, NABERS certified 2228 office buildings in Australia, covering over 24 million m² of office space. Over the life of the program, more than 4200 unique office buildings have been rated, representing the majority of the office sector in Australia. NABERS has catalysed significant improvements in operational energy efficiency in the office and shopping centre sectors via a combination of market-based and regulatory drivers. NABERS ratings are mandatory for office buildings seeking to sell or lease spaces greater than 1000m². The success of NABERS is based on its simplicity, quality and relatively low cost, all of which make it well suited to the property industry. It has supported the commoditization of energy efficiency performance between building owners and tenants, and between portfolios and shareholders. In sectors where such market-based motivators are absent, however, NABERS has been less successful and further work is required to achieve uptake and efficiency improvements. Government-led procurement requirements and mandatory disclosure appear to be the most obvious drivers that could improve performance in these sectors.

The European Union’s revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) obliges certain enterprises to conduct an energy audit or introduce an energy management system. This political instrument is expected to contribute to achieving the energy saving targets set by the European Union. However, the lack of comparable data in EU Member States complicates evaluations of its impact. A comparative analysis based on a collaboration between energy agencies from ten Member States shows different collection practices and varying availability of data on enterprises reporting an energy audit or energy management system. This indicates the need for harmonisation and standardisation of reporting processes and data collection to inform policy making. Furthermore, the analysis shows varying interpretations across Member States regarding the indicators on energy audits to be reported in their National Energy and Climate Progress Reports (NECPRs). To ensure good data quality in the NECPR database, the European Environment Agency should adopt guidelines and clear definitions for these indicators. The NECPR indicators proposed in this paper can serve as a basis for the European Commission to update reporting indicators under the revised EED. Moreover, Member States could agree to further harmonise their monitoring practices, including collecting and sharing data supplementary to the indicators reported via the NECPR. This paper suggests that they agree on a basic data set collected through their national procedures to monitor the energy audit and energy management system obligation under the EED. This paper proposes indicators for a basic data set to enable valuable impact analyses of this obligation.

Despite the pressing need to accelerate renewable energy consumption (RE/REC) to achieve universal energy access and climate goals, the critical role of women as primary energy users remains underexplored in contemporary literature and energy policy. This study investigates the relationship between women’s empowerment (WE) and renewable energy consumption in Ghana, a focal point in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique based on annual time-series data from 1980 to 2020, we find that women's socio-economic and political empowerment positively influence REC in both the short and long run but the effect is significant with the former. Additionally, GDP per capita, foreign direct investment, and human capital enhance REC, whereas urbanization exerts a negative effect. We also use Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) to support our findings. Further analysis using Granger Causality test shows a unidirectional link from WE to REC. Finally, we use a novel Kernel-based Regularized Least Squares (KRLS) approach to show that REC increases at higher levels of WE. The study recommends implementing gender-sensitive financing, supporting women-led renewable energy enterprises, and enhancing female participation in energy governance to leverage WE for sustainable energy transitions in Ghana.

Energy Efficiency (EE) and Energy demand reduction (EDR) policies are crucial for addressing both energy security and climate change. However, despite their strategic importance, they often face significant barriers, including institutional resistance, limited funding, and short-term political priorities that tend to overlook long-term efficiency gains. This study utilizes fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) to model the factors influencing EE/EDR policy effectiveness across European countries. To capture the importance and interrelation of factors predefined from the literature, expert knowledge was leveraged through interviews with European energy agency representatives. Qualitative expert assessments were then transformed into numerical values, generating weighted causal matrices. Centrality measures subsequently identified key factors within an aggregated European model. Results revealed six pivotal factors: continuous financial support, favourable regulatory frameworks, consumer engagement, ease of implementation, long-term policy mandates, and support from industry and stakeholders. Scenario analysis explored the impact of three policy interventions: increased market actor support, weakened monitoring frameworks and increased energy literacy for end-consumers. The results of the interventions indicated that isolated interventions had limited impact on overall EE/EDR system outcomes, underscoring its complexity. However, consumer literacy initiatives mitigated negative behavioural effects, such as rebound effects and misaligned targeting, while weakened monitoring frameworks diminished policy coherence and increased redundancies. These findings reinforce the need for long-term policy stability, regulatory clarity, and robust end-user engagement. A systems-based approach, accounting for interdependencies and system dynamics, is crucial for effective EE/EDR policy design, as isolated interventions are insufficient.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the security and sustainability of energy supply have been seriously highlighted. Approximately 90% of an urban context is residential buildings that demand a large amount of heating energy; therefore, predicting energy consumption is essential for successful energy supply and decision-making. This study aims to evaluate machine learning models for predicting the heating energy consumption for residential buildings in a cold climate, focusing on natural gas consumption for space heating and domestic hot water. Linking the building’s physical characteristics to socio-cultural and occupant behavioral characteristics, a novel dataset was developed in which 44 independent relevant variables were analyzed. The results indicate that XGBoost achieved the best performance with an MAE of 2.00, MSE of 2.61, RMSE of 1.61, and R2 of 0.90, followed by RF with an MAE of 1.32, MSE of 2.59, RMSE of 1.61, and R2 of 0.89, while ANN and LR showed lower performance. The feature importance analysis method identified the key variables significantly affecting heating energy consumption; therefore, among the building physics variables, space heating system (HVAC), total unit area, conditioned unit area, building age, and type of thermal insulation were the most effective predictors. Accordingly, among the socio-cultural and occupant behaviors, blocking the cooler channel in the cold seasons was the most effective variable. These findings can guide energy policymakers in designing sustainable heating strategies and assist architects and residents in optimizing energy use for cost savings and efficiency in cold climates.

The ‘Federal Funding Scheme for Energy and Resource Efficiency in the Economy’ (EEE) is a key programme supporting German companies in their transition to climate neutrality. The multi-measure programme funds various technologies through different funding modules, including technology-open funding. This paper presents results from five evaluation rounds (2019–2023) for the first time, extending the empirical basis on funding scheme evaluations for industrial energy efficiency. The methodological framework consists of quantitative and qualitative key performance indicators (KPIs) categorized by core evaluation areas. Particular attention is paid to the results on greenhouse gas savings and funding efficiency. As a second focus, recommendations from the evaluation for future energy and resource efficiency programmes are outlined. The KPI analysis reveals no substantial need for structural revisions: With 2.9 billion euros in funding, the EEE supported 9.7 billion euros in investments from 2019 to 2023. It achieved calculated annual gross GHG savings of nearly 7 million tonnes of CO₂-eq. The evaluation also offers key insights: Establishing a streamlined target system with realistic objectives is important to avoid trade-offs between multiple aims. A stable funding environment, short processing times and clear guidelines support accessibility. Considering evaluation requirements during programme design can enhance data quality for ex-post analyses. Reaching underrepresented groups can be enhanced by engaging multipliers, using new communication channels, and offering targeted support for SMEs. Finally, the evaluation shows that while a technology-open funding approach supports significant savings, technology-focused funding promotes broader engagement and future funding opportunities, underscoring the validity of both approaches in the funding landscape.