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...

The debate seems to be well settled among economists in that the best policy instrument to reduce carbon emissions is a carbon tax. However and surprisingly, most of these discussions have taken place in a firstbest setting. We think instead that second-best settings should be incorporated to...

The sharp increase in energy prices and growing concern on environmental issues, among other things, are behind the renewed interest in energy demand estimation. However, there is sparce academic literature that takes the real situation of energy suppliers into account: high quality but...

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...

Spain faces a complex situation regarding its climate change policies. On the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions have shown an important increase since 1990, being far from the Kyoto commitments. On the other hand, Spain is likely to suffer important impacts from climate change. However, there...

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...

Energy efficiency and conservation are major factors in the reduction of environmental impact of the energy sector, particularly with regard to climate change. Energy efficiency also contributes to reducing external dependence and vulnerabilities in the energy domain. In this paper we discuss...

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...

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...