Market-based policies for demand side energy efficiency: A comparison of the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme and the United Kingdom's Energy Efficiency Commitment

摘要

Market-based policies to improve demand side energy efficiency are a comparatively new but increasingly popular approach to greenhouse gas abatement. The governments of New South Wales and the United Kingdom have both been enthusiastic adopters of market-based energy efficiency schemes. However, the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (NGAS) and the United Kingdom's Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) represent two contrasting approaches to bringing about improvements in demand side energy efficiency. By comparing the performance of these two schemes a number of tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the successful design of such schemes. In particular it is asserted that policy makers should exercise caution in designing "comprehensive" abatement schemes with energy efficiency objectives -NGAS and EEC performance suggests that targeted schemes will be more effective. .In particular these findings raise doubts over the perceived simplicity of market-based schemes, and the economics of demand side energy efficiency.