Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
States and regulatory alternatives for achieving them. These obligations on sup-
pliers or distributors (commonly referred to as
) have sparked the
most debate, as a result of different positions regarding their characteristics and
impact in terms of cost and results.
“
white certi
cates
”
Box 3. Re
ections on energy ef
ciency obligation schemes (white certif-
icates) in Europe
An energy ef
ciency obligation system or
“
white certi
cate system
”
(when
trading with certi
ed savings is allowed) is a regulatory instrument that
obliges the parties in question (generally energy companies) to achieve a
certain degree of energy savings both in their own sector and elsewhere (other
industrial sectors, the residential or commercial sector, etc.). These savings
may be made by implementing various measures, which must be approved or
acknowledged in some way by the competent authority. Such systems
therefore require a way of verifying and measuring the effective implemen-
tation of measures leading to the speci
ed savings.
The pro
systems has risen as they have spread to
more countries. Frameworks of this kind are currently in place in Italy,
France, Denmark and the United Kingdom, and in the Belgian region of
Flanders. There are also plans for their implementation in Ireland and Poland.
There are still many unanswered questions as regards their effectiveness and
ef
le of
“
white certi
cate
”
ciency, given the limited experience in their application,
the lack of
transparency and the dif
culties encountered in comparing relatively complex
frameworks in very different commercial settings. These issues are developed
in greater detail in the section on analysis.
One important element to be taken into consideration when analysing white
certi
cate schemes is that they focus on the behaviour of the energy supplier
(or distributor) but not on that of the consumer. In this regard, investments
made by consumers (for example, improvements in insulation) do not nec-
essary have an impact on their awareness or behaviour as regards energy
savings. In fact, reducing the effective cost of energy (if ef
ciency is increased
after the measures) could lead to a
“
rebound effect
”
to some extent. How big
that
might be is still the object of considerable debate.
However, there is a degree of consensus that it is unlikely to be big enough to
mitigate the effect of the measure. The study by Greening, Greene and De
“
rebound effect
”
glio
[
16
], which reviews prior literature on the
-
ciency, does not overlook these problems but concludes that the effect is in any
case lower than one unit (i.e. it does not exceed the savings achieved),
meaning that energy ef
“
rebound effect
”
and energy ef
ciency is still a tool that can achieve positive results.
Moreover, analysis of the existing frameworks has failed to provide con-
clusive evidence that white certi
cate systems promote the implementation of
the most cost-effective and most ef
cient measures, or even that they meet the
requirement of
. This is partly because of the duration and
characteristics of the obligation periods and partly because of the type of
“
additionality
”
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