One of the objectives of energy security is the uninterrupted physical availability of energy. However, there is limited information about how much is the cost of energy supply interruptions. This information is essential to optimize investment and operating decisions to prevent energy...

Although energy security is considered as an important objective of energy policy in many countries, there is limited information about the consequences and the economic impact of energy insecurity. Most of the literature on energy security has focused on the definition and indicators, and...

Buildings are an essential driver of current and future energy consumption and associated emissions with large energy-efficiency (EE) improvement potentials in both emerging and developed countries. Yet, especially in this sector, there are several and persistent barriers that prevent the...

Buildings are crucial to control present and future energy demand and, therefore, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. In this chapter we suggest that, due to a number of general and specific barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency in buildings, energy prices and...

Energy security is becoming an increasingly important issue in the energy domain. However, from an economic point of view, many questions related to energy security are still unclear: from its definition and the costs associated to insecurity, to the design of policies intended to reduce it. In...

During the last years, tourism has received increasing attention due to its environmental impacts. Particularly, the use of fossil energy has been considered as one of its major environmental problems and also one of the factors directly related to climatic change. Various studies have estimated...

Growing concerns about climate change and energy dependence are driving specific policies to support renewable or more efficient energy sources in many regions, particularly in the production of electricity. These policies have a non-negligible cost, and therefore a careful assessment of their...

Green tax reforms have become an important tool not only in protecting the environment but also in bringing about a more efficient tax system. However, reforms often imply accepting sacrifices in the short-run and bring about the risk of potential political opposition. Within this framework, the...

Household energy consumption, mostly due to residential heating, is a large component of energy demand in developed countries and thus a target for public policies aimed at reducing negative environmental effects and energy dependence. This paper uses detailed Spanish household micro data to...

Demand Response (DR) programs, which aim to reduce electricity consumption in times of high energy cost or network constraints by allowing customers to respond to price or quantity signals, are becoming very popular in many electricity systems, frequently associated to smart-grid developments....