Analyzing the factors that affect the energy efficiency of vehicles is crucial to the overall improvement of the environmental efficiency of the transport sector, one of the top polluting sectors at the global level. This study analyses the energy consumption rate (ECR) and driving range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and provides insight into the factors that affect their energy consumption by harnessing big data from real-world driving. The analysis relied on four data sources: (i) driving patterns collected from 741 drivers over a two-year period; (ii) drivers' characteristics; (iii) road type; (iv) weather conditions. The results of the analysis measure the mean ECR of BEVs at 0.183 kWh/km, underline a 34% increase in ECR and a 25% decrease in driving range in the winter with respect to the summer, and suggest the electricity tariff for BEVs to be cost efficient with respect to conventional ones. Moreover, the results of the analysis show that driving speed, acceleration and temperature have non-linear effects on the ECR, while season and precipitation level have a strong linear effect. The econometric model of the ECR of BEVs suggests that the optimal driving speed is between 45 and 56 km/h and the ideal temperature from an energy efficiency perspective is 14 °C. Clearly, the performance of BEVs highly depends on the driving environment, the driving patterns, and the weather conditions, and the findings from this study enlighten the consumers to be more informed and manufacturers to be more aware about the actual utilization of BEVs.

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Two identical open-ended contingent valuation surveys assessing willingness-topay for better protection against flooding were administered in 2005 and 2010 at the same site. The 2010 survey was administered to the same respondents as those interviewed in 2005 as well as to new participants. This experimental design allows us to separate the pure temporal dimension from the spatial and social dimensions of transferability, thereby permitting an investigation of the temporal reliability associated with a transfer of value estimates over a 5-year time horizon. Having isolated the pure effect of time, the design further allows assessing the social dimension of transferability.

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This paper estimates the impact of trypanosomiasis on crop‐livestock production, economic loss and poverty in Ethiopia. We use unique panel data to estimate how the disease affects livestock deaths, production costs and crop production. We then use these estimates to evaluate the disease's total economic loss and its implications on poverty in the study districts and the country. Estimates of the fixed effect regression models indicate that trypanosomiasis increases the value of livestock deaths by 33% and production costs by 63%. Crop production decreases by 14% when trypanosomiasis and oxen death coexist. We estimate that the direct economic loss is about US$58,300 per annum in the study districts. The estimated countrywide economic loss is about US$94 million per annum. Had the government prevented this economic loss and invested it in social protection programmes, it could have lifted about 9000 people in the study districts and about 200,000 people in the country above the national poverty line per annum. These findings indicate that trypanosomiasis remains a major production constraint. Controlling the disease appears to be pro‐poor, calling for more policy attention.

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