Policy Inducement Effects in Energy Efficiency Technologies. An Empirical Analysis of the Residential Sector - Green Energy and Efficiency: An Economic Perspective - page 199

2 Consumption Patterns and Innovation Dynamics
in Energy Ef ciency for the Residential Sector

2.1 Energy Consumption Trends and Energy-Growth
Decoupling

In the decades following the rst oil shock energy consumption trends have

changed substantially, due to several changes in energy policy and in consumption
behaviour, especially in the developed world. Decreases in energy and carbon
intensity can be detected in almost all sectors of the economy, and most strongly in
the manufacturing industries. A look at the last two decades (1990

2010) reveals
that there are some divergences, especially when the residential sector is consid-
ered. A comparison of indices taking 1990 as base year, using the ratio of total
energy consumption to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for selected OECD coun-
tries (Fig. 1 ) reveals that the average trend for OECD countries and the path for
three major energy consumers (Germany, Japan and the US) are continuously
decreasing over time, with the exception of Japan up to 2004. The residential sector
shows, on average, similar dynamics for OECD economies, with increasing values
for Japan and a less evident negative trend for Germany (Fig. 2 ). Index numbers
based on the ratio of energy consumption in the residential sector to

-

nal household
consumption expenditure reveal interesting differences from the previous overall
trend, with the divergence between Japan and the rest of OECD countries appearing
to be much wider.
This evidence provides an initial broad picture of cross-country speci

c features,
indicating that some countries have made less effort to improve EE in the residential
sector than in other sectors, while other countries have obtained particularly strong
EE gains in this sector. There may be several reasons for these divergences.
An initial explanation is provided by different levels of stringency in residential
sector EE policies adopted in OECD countries during the study period. Indeed, the
number of policies increases substantially after the year 2000 (see Sect. 3 ), with

Fig. 1 Energy intensity trends in the total economy, 1990 - 2010 (1990 = 100). Source own work
based on IEA [ 34 ], World Bank [ 79 ]