Searching for hidden costs: A technology-based approach to the energy efficiency gap in light-duty vehicles

Gloria Helfand, Michael McWilliams, Kevin Bolon, Lawrence Reichle, Mandy Sha, Amanda Smith and Robert Beach

Energy Policy, 2016, vol. 98, issue C, 590-606

Abstract: The benefit-cost analysis of standards to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) displays large net benefits from fuel savings for new vehicle buyers. This finding points to an energy efficiency gap: the energy-saving technology provided in private markets appears not to include all the technologies that produce net private benefits. The gap exists if the costs of energy-saving technologies are lower than the present value of fuel reductions, and “hidden costs” – undesirable aspects of the new technologies – do not exceed the net financial benefits. This study examines the existence of hidden costs in energy-saving technologies through a content analysis of auto reviews of model-year 2014 vehicles.

Keywords: Energy efficiency gap; Energy paradox; Light-duty vehicles; Content analysis; Vehicle fuel efficiency; Vehicle greenhouse gas standards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421516304803
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:98:y:2016:i:c:p:590-606

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.09.014

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().