<i>’Increasing energy-efficiency is important because it offers the prospect of partly solving our climate change and energy security problems without pain. This book sheds further light on the issue, focusing on energy-extensive economic activities which, by sheer volume, collectively use a substantial amount of energy. That simple fact alone makes this book worthwhile, but there are many other gems.’</i><br />- Richard Tol, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Ireland <p></p>
<i>’This book rightly focuses on energy efficiency for the less energy-intensive sectors of our economy. In many industrialized countries the share of these sectors is growing, yet little attention is paid to energy, either by companies themselves, or by policy-makers or scientists. While focusing mainly on experiences in the Netherlands, this book makes an excellent contribution to the study of these sectors and, most importantly, initiates more comprehensive multi-disciplinary analyses.’</i><br />-Ernst Worrell, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
The authors pay considerable attention to empirical research on the determinants of energy-saving investment including uncertainty, energy-price volatility and subsidies. They also discuss the role of energy modeling in policy design and the potential effect of energy policies on technology diffusion in energy-extensive sectors.
Written from a multi-disciplinary perspective, this book will appeal to academics and graduates in the areas of energy-saving technologies, energy economics and natural resource economics as well as policy makers - particularly those in energy policy.
Contributors: K. Blok, H.L.F. de Groot, R.J.G.M. Florax, M. Harmelink, G.W. Hunter, S. Joosen, M.J. Koetse, P. Mulder, M.K. Patel, A. Ramirez, W.J.H. van Groenendaal, D.P. van Soest, H.R.J. Vollebergh