Residential Energy Demand in Austria and Resulting Effective Energy Policy Strategies

Reinhard Haas and Peter Biermayr, Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Energy Economics

Abstract

The influence of various parameters is investigated by end use using a sample of 500 Austrian households. The most effective energy policy strategies are derived.

This paper investigates the impact-parameters for residential energy demand in Austria by end-uses. In order to do this, a cross section analysis applying production functions and econometric models to a sample of approximately 400 Austrian households is conducted. The major focus of this paper is to determine how impact-parameters differ for various end uses like space heating, water heating and specific electric uses. Economic, technical and structural parameters are examined. The analysis is conducted step-by-step: (i) first only economic parameters are used; (ii) then the model is extended to include structural and technical parameters; (iii) finally dummy variables are included. The major results are: (i) rather high numbers for income elasticities for all analysed end-uses; (ii) high long term price elasticities for space heating and low price elasticities for specific electric uses. This analysis concludes that taxes, followed by standards, are the most important tool of energy policy for space heating whereas standards are most important for specific electric uses.