The Everyday Life Context of Increasing Energy Demands: Time Use Survey Data in a Decomposition Analysis

Jalas, Mikko

doi:10.1162/1088198054084644

Cited by 57 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…If there is no change or even increasing need for household consumption, no positive rebound effect based on consumption-as-usual is possible. Relevant household resources include: Spielmann et al 2008;Jalas 2005). Some goods like a TV, musical instrument, or soccer ball can use time; however, this is not determined by the product but only by the user.…”

Section: Methods To Integrate Rebound Effects Into Comparative Iso-lcamentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumption-as-usual instead of ceteris paribus assumption for demand

Girod

Haan

Scholz

2010

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Background, aims, and scope Life cycle assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040 standard (ISO-LCA) is applied to assess the environmental impact per functional unit of new or modified products. However, new or modified products can also induce demand changes-socalled rebound effects. If overall environmental impact is of interest, there is a need to assess the potential magnitude of such rebound effects and to allow recommendations on how to mitigate these effects. To do so, this study proposes to complement the constant demand assumption (implicitly assumed by the ISO-LCA), commonly known as the ceteris paribus assumption, with a consumption-as-usual assumption allowing a systematic stepwise inclusion of rebound effects. Materials and methods We base our results on a formal description of household consumption. To indicate the relevance of the proposed integration of rebound effects, different comparative LCAs are reviewed and the concept is applied to mobility as illustrative examples. Results Based on a description of household demand and consumption feedback loops, we propose the consumptionas-usual concept, which in contrast to the constant demand assumption assumes that (1) the use of household resources for consumption does not change and (2) preferences remain the same. Household resources for example are purchasing power (we assume that households do not work less), time, and living space. We outline how this concept allows integrating potential rebound effects into ISO-LCA by considering three different cases of reallocating freed household resources. To illustrate the use of the consumption-as-usual concept, we draw implications for different comparative LCAs from the literature and illustrate cases with income and time rebound for different personal travel modes. Discussion The consumption-as-usual concept is applicable to a broad range of product modifications and allows an important complementation of the LCA regarding rebound effects. For products with various changes in the need for household resources, the assessment becomes however a challenging task. The limits of the consumption-as-usual concept are mainly given by its two underlying assumptions. Therefore, new or modified products with the potential to change consumer preferences or even the amount of household resources used for consumption go beyond this concept. Conclusions The integration of rebound effects is feasible for many comparative LCAs. It helps in increasing the reliability of the assessment of overall environmental impact reduction through new or modified products. In addition, a basis is provided with which to mitigate rebound effects and give appropriate recommendations to product users. Recommendations and perspectives Potential rebound effects should be included in LCA in order to guide consumers and policy towards sustainable consumption. We recommend the consumption-as-usual concept for this purpose. To predict rebound effects under consumption as usual instead of outlining potential amplitudes, further research on househo...

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Section: Methods To Integrate Rebound Effects Into Comparative Iso-lcamentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumption-as-usual instead of ceteris paribus assumption for demand

Girod

Haan

Scholz

2010

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…New product solutions can have enabling effects, and what they enable consumers to do can be critical for the environmental impact. This has been indicated by the research on the timerebound effect, both in transportation research and by Jalas (2002Jalas ( , 2005 and Perrels (2002). In this area, there is room for fruitful collaboration among those who work on sustainable production and those who work on sustainable consumption.…”

Section: Rebound Phenomena Related To Sustainable Consumption and Promentioning

confidence: 84%

Consumption and the Rebound Effect: An Industrial Ecology Perspective

Hertwich

2005

J of Industrial Ecology

475

256

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SummaryMeasures taken to protect the environment often have other, unintended effects on society. One concern is that changed behavior may offset part of the environmental gain, something that has variously been labeled "take-back" or "rebound. " In energy economics, the rebound effect encompasses both the behavioral and systems responses to cost reductions of energy services as a result of energy efficiency measures. From an industrial ecology perspective, we are concerned about more than just energy use. Any given efficiency measure has several types of environmental impacts. Changes in the various impact indicators are not necessarily in the same direction. Both co-benefits and negative side effects of measures directed to solve one type of problem have been identified. Environment is often a free input, so that a price-based rebound effect is not expected, but other indirect effects not connected to the price, such as spillover of environmental behavior, also occur. If the costs and impact of products that are already environmentally friendly are reduced, the "rebound" can be in the opposite, desired direction. Furthermore, I identify technical spillover effects. Hence a number of related effects, often producing positive results, are not as well understood. Household environmental impact assessments and eco-efficiency assessments take into account the rebound effect, but they do not necessarily take into account these other effects. The analysis hence indicates that the current focus on the rebound effect is too narrow and needs to be extended to cover co-benefits, negative side effects, and spillover effects. Keywordsbackfire effect co-benefits energy economics rebound effect spillover effect sustainable consumption

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“…Beyond what has been shown so far, the project 'UTE-Urban Time and Energy' works on the development of a model linking energy use with time use in Vienna. We owe much knowledge on this to Mikko Jalas (Jalas 2005) and Angela Druckman et al (2012), who performed similar research in Finland and the UK. We are developing a computer model on time and energy use of households in Vienna.…”

Section: Sustainable City and Quality Of Life: Next Stepsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Planning, Residential Decisions and Energy Use in Vienna

2016

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Urban planning must address both a changing urban population size and increasing sustainability issues in terms of providing good socioeconomic and environmental living conditions. Households play a major role in that they are affected by urban planning decisions but are partly responsible for the environmental performance (e.g., energy use) of a city. Here, we present an agent-based decision model of the city of Vienna, the capital of Austria, with a population of approximately 1.7 million. The model results are used to assess the spatial patterns of energy use caused by different household types. The outcomes show that changes in households' preferences regarding the presence of nearby green areas have the most important impact on the distribution of households across the smallscaled city area. Additionally, the results demonstrate the importance of the distribution of different household types regarding spatial patterns of energy use.

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The Everyday Life Context of Increasing Energy Demands: Time Use Survey Data in a Decomposition Analysis

Cited by 57 publications

References 27 publications

Consumption-as-usual instead of ceteris paribus assumption for demand

Consumption-as-usual instead of ceteris paribus assumption for demand

Consumption and the Rebound Effect: An Industrial Ecology Perspective

Planning, Residential Decisions and Energy Use in Vienna

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