Economic impact of alternative policy measures implemented on the energy activities of the Catalan production system: an input-output analysis

The aim of the paper is to analyse the economic impact of alternative policies implemented on the energy activities of the Catalan production system. Specifically, we analyse the effects of a tax on intermediate energy uses, a reduction in the final production of energy, and a reduction in intermediate energy uses. The methodology involves two versions of the input-output price model: a competitive price formulation and a mark-up price formulation. The input-output price framework will make it possible to evaluate how the alternative measures modify production prices, consumption prices, private welfare, and intermediate energy uses. The empirical application is for the Catalan economy and uses economic data for the year 2001.

Rethinking economy-wide rebound measures: an unbiased proposal

In spite of having been first introduced in the last half of the ninetieth century, the debate about the possible rebound effects from energy efficiency improvements is still an open question in the economic literature. This paper contributes to the existing research on this issue proposing an unbiased measure for economy-wide rebound effects. The novelty of this economy-wide rebound measure stems from the fact that not only actual energy savings but also potential energy savings are quantified under general equilibrium conditions. Our findings indicate that the use of engineering savings instead of general equilibrium potential savings downward biases economy-wide rebound effects and upward-biases backfire effects. The discrepancies between the traditional indicator and our proposed measure are analysed in the context of the Spanish economy.

Measures of ionicity of alkaline-earth oxides from the analysis of ab initio cluster wave functions

We present an analysis of the M-O chemical bonding in the binary oxides MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, and Al2O3 based on ab initio wave functions. The model used to represent the local environment of a metal cation in the bulk oxide is an MO6 cluster which also includes the effect of the lattice Madelung potential. The analysis of the wave functions for these clusters leads to the conclusion that all the alkaline-earth oxides must be regarded as highly ionic oxides; however, the ionic character of the oxides decreases as one goes from MgO, almost perfectly ionic, to BaO. In Al2O3 the ionic character is further reduced; however, even in this case, the departure from the ideal, fully ionic, model of Al3+ is not exceptionally large. These conclusions are based on three measures, a decomposition of the Mq+-Oq- interaction energy, the number of electrons associated to the oxygen ions as obtained from a projection operator technique, and the analysis of the cation core-level binding energies. The increasing covalent character along the series MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO is discussed in view of the existing theoretical models and experimental data.

Assessing the environmental impact of water consumption by energy crops grown in Spain

The environmental impact of the water consumption of four typical crop rotations grown in Spain, including energy crops, was analyzed and compared against Spanish agricultural and natural reference situations. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used for the assessment of the potential environmental impact of blue water (withdrawal from water bodies) and green water (uptake of soil moisture) consumption. The latter has so far been disregarded in LCA. To account for green water, two approaches have been applied: the first accounts for the difference in green water demand of the crops and a reference situation. The second is a green water scarcity index, which measures the fraction of the soil-water plant consumption to the available green water. Our results show that, if the aim is to minimize the environmental impacts of water consumption, the energy crop rotations assessed in this study were most suitable in basins in the northeast of Spain. In contrast, the energy crops grown in basins in the southeast of Spain were associated with the greatest environmental impacts. Further research into the integration of quantitative green water assessment in LCA is crucial in studies of systems with a high dependence on green water resources.

The International Distribution of Energy Intensities: some synthetic results

The paper examines the international distribution of energy intensities as a conventional proxy indicator of energy efficiency and sustainability in the consumption of resources, by employing some descriptive tools from the analysis of inequality and polarization. The analysis specifically focuses on the following points: firstly, inequalities are evaluated synthetically based on diverse summary measures and Lorenz curves; secondly, different factorial decompositions are undertaken that assist in investigating some explanatory factors (weighting factors, multiplicative factors and decomposition by groups); and thirdly, an analysis is made of the polarization of intensities when groups of countries are defined endogenously and exogenously. The results obtained have significant implications from both academic and political perspectives.

Energy intensity in road freight transport of heavy goods vehicles in Spain

This paper examines the factors that have influenced the energy intensity of the Spanish road freight transport of heavy goods vehicles over the period 1996–2012. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the factors behind the energy intensity change of road freight and also to inform the design of measures to improve energy efficiency in road freight transport. The paper uses both annual single-period and chained multi-period multiplicative LMDI-II decomposition analysis. The results suggest that the decrease in the energy intensity of Spanish road freight in the period is explained by the change in the real energy intensity index (lower energy consumption per tonne-kilometre transported), which is partially offset by the behaviour of the structural index (greater share in freight transport of those commodities the transportation of which is more energy intensive). The change in energy intensity is analysed in more depth by quantifying the contribution of each commodity through the attribution of changes in Divisia indices.

Energy policies for rural electrification: a social multi-criteria evaluation approach

In this article, a real-world case- study is presented with two general objectives: to give a clear and simple illustrative example of application of social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) in the field of rural renewable energy policies, and to help in understanding to what extent and under which circumstances solar energy is suitable for electrifying isolated farmhouses. In this sense, this study might offer public decision- makers some insight on the conditions that favour the diffusion of renewable energy, in order to help them to design more effective energy policies for rural communities.

Methodological note about the determination of key sectors in final energy consumption: a preliminary approach to the Spanish case

In this paper we analyze the determination of "key" sectors in the final energy consumption. We approach this issue from an input-output perspective and we design a methodology based on the elasticities of the demands of final energy consumption. As an exercise, we apply the proposed methodology to the Spanish economy. The analysis allows us to indicate the greater or lesser relevance of the different sectors in the consumption of final energy, pointing out which sectors deserve greater attention in the Spanish case and showing the implications for energy policy.

Classes of measures generated by capacities

"Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt."

Distortion of Hausdorff measures and improved Painlevé removability for quasiregular mappings

"Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt."

The Impact of prevention measures and organisational factors on occupational injuries

This paper analyses the impact of a series of managerial and organisational factors on occupational injuries. These consist of occupational safety measures, as regards both the intensity and the orientation of risk prevention in companies, and the adoption of certain work organisation practices, quality management and the use of flexible production technologies. We estimate a negative binomial regression based on a sample of 213 Spanish industrial establishments, defining a constant random parameter to take account of non-observable heterogeneity. Our results show that occupational safety measures, the intensive use of quality management tools and the empowerment of workers all help to reduce the number of injuries. We have also confirmed the presence of synergies between the organisational factors analysed and the development of an occupational safety strategy featuring participation and the extension of prevention to all levels of the organisation.

A Comparison of polarization measures

This paper provides a systematic classification of the different measures of polarization based on their properties. Together with the axioms proposed in Duclos, Esteban and Ray (2004) and in Wang and Tsui (2000) we consider three additional properties. We examine which properties are common to all indices and which set them apart.

EU foreign policy towards Georgia: just for energy?

The paper analyses how the EU foreign policy towards Georgia changed after the Rose Revolution, reaching greater levels of involvement and assistance. It is argued that the pro-western and reformist new government in Georgia triggered a new orientation in the EU foreign policy towards the country based on a logic of appropriateness, that is EU´s values, in addition to energy interests. Comparative analysis in the Southern-Caucasus and other Eastern-European countries shows how reformist and pro-EU governments receive more EU support and assistance. This does not mean that material interest do not play an important role. However, the EU seems to be coherent with its values when regarding the European neighbourhood.

Characterisation of neutron spectra in mixed high energy fields in lineal accelerators: response functions validation

Actualment, la resposta de la majoria d’instrumentació operacional i dels dosímetres personals utilitzats en radioprotecció per a la dosimetria neutrònica és altament dependent de l’energia dels espectres neutrònics a analitzar, especialment amb camps neutrònics amb una important component intermitja. En conseqüència, la interpretació de les lectures d’aquests aparells es complicada si no es té un coneixement previ de la distribució espectral de la fluència neutrònica en els punts d’interès. El Grup de Física de les Radiacions de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (GFR-UAB) ha desenvolupat en els últims anys un espectròmetre de neutrons basat en un Sistema d’Esferes Bonner (BSS) amb un contador proporcional d’3He com a detector actiu. Els principals avantatges dels espectròmetres de neutrons per BSS són: la seva resposta isotròpica, la possibilitat de discriminar la component neutrònica de la gamma en camps mixtos, i la seva alta sensibilitat neutrònica als nivells de dosi analitzats. Amb aquestes característiques, els espectròmetres neutrònics per BSS compleixen amb els estándards de les últimes recomanacions de la ICRP i poden ser utilitzats també en el camp de la dosimetria neutrònica per a la mesura de dosis en el rang d’energia que va dels tèrmics fins als 20 MeV, en nou ordres de magnitud. En el marc de la col•laboració entre el GFR - UAB i el Laboratorio Nazionale di Frascati – Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNF-INFN), ha tingut lloc una experiència comparativa d’espectrometria per BSS amb els feixos quasi monoenergètics de 2.5 MeV i 14 MeV del Fast Neutron Generator de l’ENEA. En l’exercici s’ha determinat l’espectre neutrònic a diferents distàncies del blanc de l’accelerador, aprofitant el codi FRUIT recentment desenvolupat pel grup LNF. Els resultats obtinguts mostren una bona coherència entre els dos espectròmetres i les dades mesurades i simulades.