Essays on energy economicsconsumption, growth and power systems modeling

Laburpena

In the recent era, energy has become a strategic asset for all sectors of society. It is essential for business, transport, industry, engineering, medicine, and sports, among many others. The production and use of energy strongly influence many aspects of the economic and political decision-making, as it is considered one of the most influential factors driving economic growth and emissions. As a consequence, energy policy has focused on identifying all those aspects in the field requiring some type of intervention (e.g., improving energy efficiency or reducing CO2 emissions) and developing the most appropriate measures to address such aspects. However, the relationships between energy, economy, efficiency and governance are very complex and encompass different areas of knowledge, so there are still many challenges to be addressed. This thesis analyzes four of them throughout three chapters using a multidisciplinary approach that combines the most up-to-date techniques from economics and engineering. The first chapter analyzes the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth, and the role of energy governance driving such relationship. Although there are numerous studies addressing this issue, the lack of adequate metrics to control for double causality between both variables and to measure energy governance has led to a multitude of mutually contradictory findings. To properly assess this relationship, this chapter starts by constructing the first quantitative energy governance index representative for a set of 32 OECD countries between 2000 and 2015. This index draws upon an extensive theoretical framework and assesses more than 1800 energy regulations. The indicator is used in an instrumental variable approach to assess the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. The second chapter uses the aforementioned energy governance index to improve the measurement of energy efficiency in a panel of developed countries using stochastic frontier approaches. It also contributes to estimate the impact of energy governance on energy efficiency in the set of countries. Finally, the third chapter provides a two-stage optimization framework designed with a twofold purpose. First, by drawing on a case study focused on the case of island power systems, it helps to analyze how certain elements that make up energy governance (e.g., budget allocation, regulations, energy plans) may affect compliance with energy policy targets. Second, this optimization framework is also intended to assist in the long-term energy planning decisions, contributing in this way to the improvement of energy strategic and action plans and, eventually, to energy governance.