Lee Schipper

Residential energy use: an international perspective on long-term trends in Denmark, Norway and Sweden

Abstract This paper examines residential energy use in the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden, over the period 1973–1999. The paper uses a decomposition approach to investigate differences in residential energy demand structure and end-use intensities and discusses both differences in absolute levels of energy use and differences over time. Comparisons are also made to other countries that have been analysed in the IEA energy efficiency indicator project. The analysis shows that, in contrast to Denmark and Sweden, Norway saw a growth in total residential energy use between 1973 and 1999. This can be partially explained by the fact that Norway started from a lower per capita income level in the early 1970s but has since then enjoyed a rapid income growth that drove up house area and consequently put a pressure on energy use. But the analysis also shows that Denmark and Sweden achieved significant reductions of residential energy intensities between 1973 and 1990, while the reductions in Norway were negligible. After 1990, the picture changed; there was a strong decline in residential energy intensities in Norway and a high rate of energy savings compared to most other countries analysed by the IEA, while energy savings in Denmark and Sweden more or less came to a halt.

Evaluation of Emissions from New and In-Use Transit Buses in Mexico City, Mexico

The West Virginia University Transportable Heavy-Duty Emissions Testing Laboratory was used to evaluate exhaust emissions from nine transit buses from six separate manufacturers, as commissioned by the Mexico City, Mexico, Secretariat of the Environment. The vehicles included a hybrid-drive diesel bus, two buses with lean-burn spark-ignited compressed natural gas (CNG) engines, and six buses powered by conventional diesel engines. Vehicle testing weights (curb weight plus passenger weight) ranged from 26,996 Ib (12,256 kg) to 57,025 Ib (25,889 kg), and passenger capacities ranged from 85 to 161. Two driving cycles, the European Transient Cycle (ETC, also known as the FIGE transient cycle) and a new, three-mode Mexico City Schedule, were used to simulate in-use driving conditions during emissions measurements. Diesel fuels with three different sulfur concentrations (15, 150, and 350 ppm) were also examined, and the lowest-sulfur fuel (15 ppm) was not found to have an appreciable direct effect on emissions....

Cleaner buses for Mexico City, Mexico : From talk to reality

In the Mexico City, Mexico, metropolitan area (MCMA), particulate matter pollution is estimated to cause 4,000 excess deaths and the loss of 2.5 million days from work each year. Emissions from diesel-powered buses and trucks are a major source of this air pollution. This paper summarizes the results from a pilot project aimed at testing whether advanced pollution-reducing technologies for diesel trucks and buses currently in use in the United States and Europe will work on Mexican buses and under Mexico City operating conditions. Diesel engines are the workhorses of buses in MCMA and many other regions; operators, vehicle and engine makers, and fuel suppliers have waited for each other to offer improved technologies. In this pilot project, 20 working buses in the Red de Transporte de Pasajeros del Distrito Federal (the Mexico City Diesel Bus Company) fleet were retrofitted with emissions control equipment and fueled with ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD). Results from emissions testing demonstrate that...