Estimating the Direct Rebound Effect in the Residential Energy Sector: An Application in Spain - Green Energy and Efficiency: An Economic Perspective - page 166

ve sections. Besides the introduction, Sect. 2 describes
the methodology used. Section 3 describes the data used in estimating the direct
rebound effect. Section 4 presents the results obtained. Finally, Sect. 5 interprets the
results and sets out the main conclusions reached.

The chapter comprises

2 Methodology

2.1 The Direct Rebound Effect Theory

Sorrell and Dimitropoulos [ 14 ] describe a household as a system which uses energy
(E), capital, time and other resources to produce a set of services for its members,
such as heating, safety, protection, luxury and others. Such systems are charac-
terised by their energy ef

ciency, i.e. by their ability to transform incoming energy

into nal services. The energy ef ciency, ε , can be de ned as follows:

S
E ;

e ¼ ð 1 Þ

where S is the useful work of the system, which is the unit of measurement of the
services produced. It must be pointed out that the same service can have more than
one useful work measurement; for example, residential heating could be measured
in terms of the surface area of the dwelling or the number of individuals to whom
the services provided.
The elasticity of energy consumption with respect to energy ef ciency, g e ðÞ ;

can be expressed as follows:

g e ðÞ ¼ o E

e
E :

ð 2 Þ

o e

By substituting ( 1 ) into ( 2 ), one obtains:

g e ðÞ ¼ g e ðÞ 1 ð 3 Þ

;

where, g e ðÞ is the demand ef ciency elasticity of useful work as well as the term

that de nes the direct rebound effect. From ( 3 ) it can be observed that if the direct

rebound effect is zero, an increase in energy efciency results in an equivalent
decrease in energy demand.
To determine the sign of the rebound effect, demand costs must be analysed. If the
only signi

cant cost is that of energy then the cost of useful work is de ned as follows:

P E
e ;

P S ¼ ð 4 Þ