Luis Mundaca

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Verified

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• PhD in Industrial Environmental Economics
• Professor at Lund University

Policymakers and scientists are paying increasing attention to how social norms can promote pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable energy use. We contribute to this field by experimenting with and assessing the impacts of social norms on low-carbon mobility options. Taking Sweden as a case study, we develop two complementary randomised control...

Combined with concerns about climate change, air pollution and human health, the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the use of and policy interest in active transport (AT) modes, namely cycling and walking. However, we note a high degree of uncertainty and lack of assessments addressing the economic benefits of AT policies; particularly when they are us...

This paper is an attempt to provide new perspectives on green energy defaults (GED) that promote the purchase of renewable energy electricity (RE e ) among consumers. We aim to complement existing studies and improve the understanding of GED, particularly when they are less, or unexpectedly, effective. To that end, we run a randomized controlled ex...

On‐bill financing (OBF) schemes have been welcomed as innovative mechanisms for encouraging the adoption of low‐carbon energy technologies. Yet while the potential effects of these schemes have received growing attention, less is known about their actual performance. Departing from New Institutional Economics and insights from Behavioral Economics,...

Non-technical summary This study addresses the challenge of climate change by exploring how psychological qualities and meditation practices may influence pro-environmental behavior among decision-makers, by surveying 185 participants. The research found that meditation practices and compassion toward others are linked to more pro-environmental act...

The COP 15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity emphasised the need to monitor, evaluate, and disclose the risks and dependencies of financial institutions on biodiversity. In the light of this context, our paper focuses specifically on banks and is framed by the following overarching question: to what extent have banks identified, integrat...

Hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users encompass individuals who are physically difficult to reach, underserved, or challenging to engage and motivate in demand-side energy programmes. Given a mix of societal challenges (e.g. inequity, energy poverty, decarbonisation, the COVID-19 pandemic), HTR energy users are receiving increasing attention. However, t...

Recent research suggests that mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion relate to inner transformative qualities/capacities and intermediary factors that can support increased pro-environmental behavior and attitudes across individual, collective, organizational, and system levels. However, current insights focus on the individual level, are res...

Responding effectively to climate change requires an understanding of what shapes people’s individual and collective sense of agency and responsibility towards the future. It also requires transforming this understanding into political engagement to support systems change. Based on a national representative survey in Sweden (N = 1,237), this resear...

Behavioural insights are increasingly shaping the design, implementation and evaluation of energy policies. This Special Issue aims to broaden and strengthen the evidence base, and policy value of behavioural insights in the context of sustainable energy use. It showcases a plethora of behavioural issues that can help to improve our understanding o...

Although there are many technological solutions and policy approaches for transitioning to a fossil-free society, effective action is still lacking. We need a new way to address the issue, one that inspires and attracts the widest possible group of society. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to explore citizens' political agency in i...

Climate change is an increasing threat to sustainable development worldwide. However, the dominant incremental policy approaches have not generated action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth that is needed. This is largely due to the fact that climate change has historically been framed as a purely external, technical challenge. There is an u...

This article presents a critical assessment of 40 years of research that may be brought under the umbrella of energy efficiency, spanning different aggregations and domains—from individual producing and consuming agents to economy-wide effects to the role of innovation to the influence of policy. After 40 years of research, energy efficiency initia...

The paper aims to identify and analyse potential legal avenues for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies (FFS) in the European Union (EU) using State aid rules. Our analysis reveals that the EU State aid rules would allow the European Commission to effectively target and monitor a vast number of FFS. From a policy perspective, the requirements for noti...

Energy efficiency (EE) program administrators and policy makers have long encouraged the adoption of efficient technologies and conservation practices across all energy users and sectors. Energy users who haven’t yet participated in efficiency and conservation programs despite ongoing outreach are often referred to as “Hard-to-Reach” (HTR). These i...

The paper aims to identify and analyse potential legal avenues for phasing out fossil fuels in the European Union using EU State aid rules. Our analysis of the EU's legal framework reveals that the EU State aid rules would allow the European Commission to effectively target and monitor fossil fuel subsidies. In particular, the requirements for noti...

Technological and policy solutions for transitioning to a fossil-free society exist, many countries could afford the transition, and rational arguments for rapid climate action abound. Yet effective action is still lacking. Dominant policy approaches have failed to generate action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth needed to avoid potentiall...

The report at hand is an outcome of the BE-USE project , which aims to analyse sustainable urban sharing initiatives from a behavioural economics perspective. The objective is to improve the knowledge about cognitive, motivational and contextual factors that can have impact on decision-making processes and choices in urban sharing initiatives. Expe...

Energy efficiency (EE) program administrators and policy makers have long encouraged the adoption of efficient technologies and conservation practices across all energy users and sectors. Energy users who haven’t yet participated in efficiency and conservation programs despite ongoing outreach are often referred to as “Hard-to-Reach” (HTR). These i...

(1) If policy-makers and businesses are to encourage consumers to participate in circular consumption systems, knowledge is needed about what motivates consumers to choose different disposal options. This paper aims to shed light on what motivates consumers to engage in circular home textile disposal practices. (2) Quantitative data was collected t...

Within the context of a sharing economy, the BE-USE project2 aims to develop behavioural economics experiments that test, examine and generate policy recommendations to advance sustainable urban initiatives. It aims to increase the understanding of cognitive, motivational and contextual factors affecting decision-making processes and choices in urb...

Solar PV capacity in Sweden has grown considerably in the last years, however and despite techno-economic potential, its share in the power mix remains rather marginal. There are growing claims about economic and non-monetary factors driving the (non-)adoption of solar PV, but quantitative evidence about potential adopters is rather limited. Our st...

The paper aims to identify and analyze potential legal avenues for phasing out fossil fuels in the European Union using EU State aid rules. Our analysis of the EU’s legal framework reveals that the EU State aid rules would allow the European Commission to effectively target and monitor fossil fuel subsidies. In particular, the requirements for noti...

IPCC’s 2018 Special Report is a stark and bracing reminder of climate threats. Yet literature, reportage, and public discourse reflect imbalanced risk and opportunity. Climate science often understates changes’ speed and nonlinearity, but Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and similar studies often understate realistic mitigation options. Since ∼2...

Existing knowledge suggests that people's willingness to pay (WTP) for climate change mitigation depends not only on personal characteristics but also on the payment vehicle (PV) that is used to elicit WTP. The aim of this research is to investigate policy-relevant differences in WTP between different PVs to support the design of carbon pricing mec...

Increasing attention is being paid to the Paris Climate Agreement and the impacts of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) intended to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. However, the nature and evolution of existing policy mixes that underlie NDCs remain poorly understood. This critical issue has emerged from the outcomes of the Talanoa Dialogue...

With the dual challenges of reducing emissions from fossil fuels and providing access to clean and affordable energy, there is an imperative for a transition to a low carbon energy system. The transition must take into consideration questions of energy justice to ensure that policies, plans and programmes guarantee fair and equitable access to reso...

This chapter discusses how the global economy and socio-technical and socio-ecological systems can transition to 1.5°C-consistent pathways and adapt to warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In the context of systemic transitions, the chapter assesses adaptation and mitigation options, including carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and potential so...

The Paris Climate Agreement defined an ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. This has triggered research on stringent emission reduction targets and corresponding mitigation pathways across energy economy and societal systems. Driven by methodological considerations, supply side and carbon dioxide removal options...

Since 2010, the Chilean government has backed a progressive increase of non-conventional renewable energies sources (NCRES) to put forward the country's energy independence from fossil fuels, and therefore from imports, and to reduce its CO2 emissions. The analysis of the final energy consumption changes via a structural decomposition analysis, bas...

The aim of this paper is to critically analyse so-called ‘successful’ low-carbon energy transitions under the energy justice magnifying glass. We focus on two case studies that have been arguably referred to as successful local energy transitions in the literature: Samsø (Denmark) and Feldheim (Germany). The study examines community perspectives an...

This paper examines the relationship between loss aversion and consumer behaviour in a non-price policy intervention that followed the installation of smart meter (SM) technology. Drawing upon insights from behavioural economics, we propose that consumers underestimate potential gains and overestimate potential financial losses resulting from elect...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the effectiveness of real-time feedback technology in the Swedish residential sector. We take the '100Koll' service provided by one the largest energy companies in Sweden as a case study. Based on an intervention group (i.e. people using the service) of 1 753 households, a survey was carried out to explo...

For programs that aim to promote forest conservation and poverty alleviation, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the participation of indigenous communities is essential to meet program goals. Using Ostrom's theory of collective action for common pool resource management, we evaluated the institutions gove...

The win-win opportunities connected to green growth are appealing to academics and policy makers alike, but empirical evaluations about the effectiveness of green growth policies are still scattered. Taking South Korea as case study, which set up a highly ambitious green growth program in 2009, our research casts light on the extent to which the Ko...

This paper provides a production and consumption-based empirical macroeconomic-climate assessment of Sweden’s CO2 emissions. The core methodology is based on three complementary quantitative methods, namely energy-economy-environment indicators, econometric analyses, and a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) sectoral model. Based on the latest avail...

The purpose of this paper is to examine how behavioural biases affect consumers' response to energy-use information provided through smart meters (SM). We take insights from behavioural economics and carry out two real-life experiments with SMs and electricity users. The experiments were conducted in Copenhagen (Denmark) to identify and assess the...

The paper provides a comprehensive empirical assessment of American stimulus policies aimed at renewable energy (RE) technologies. We use an indicator-based methodology to assess progress with respect to energy, environmental and socio-economic issues resulting from RE stimulus programs linked to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and revi...

In order to tap the energy saving and climate mitigation potential of the building sector, transaction costs of implementing energy efficient technologies need to be better understood and ultimately reduced. The objective of this paper is to identify and analyze the nature and scale of transaction costs resulting from the application of the passive...

The 2008–2009 global financial crisis triggered 'Green Energy Economy' (GEE) policy packages to stimulate green growth in many countries. China soon became a leader and, supported by its 11 th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010), devoted approximately one-third of its US$ 647 billion stimulus package to green energy technologies. Since then, numerous policy...

As people and countries around the world wrestle with options to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mitigation efforts must accelerate faster than ever if we want to stabilize the atmospheric GHG concentration at 450 ppm CO2-equivalents. Economic incentives for achieving this stabilization target have received much attention. However, the effec...

The global financial crisis and green energy There is growing consensus that our traditional economic system has led to significant loss of natural capital, disturbed our climate system, and triggered social inequalities. The recent global financial crisis, opened up for the concepts of 'Green Economic Growth', the 'Low-Carbon Economy', and a 'New...

New Zealand is often seen as a leader when it comes to environmental policies, but it needs to do much more to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

New Zealand is often seen as a leader when it comes to environmental policies, but it needs to do much more to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Using the latest available data, this brief article attempts to provide the first regional decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. Covering eight regions of the world, determinants are estimated in relative and absolute terms for the period 1971-2010. We take the 2010 global surge in CO2 emissions as an entry point for the ana...

The New Zealand emissions trading scheme (NZ ETS) is one of the first national-level GHG trading schemes outside Europe. It is also unique in its design and comprehensive sectoral coverage, including forestry. This paper provides an ex-post-assessment of market behavior in the NZ ETS in its first phase (2008-2012). Findings are based on quantitativ...

Transaction costs (TCs) must be taken into account when assessing the performance of policy instruments that create markets for the diffusion and commercialization of low-carbon technologies (LCTs). However, there are no comprehensive studies on the development and application of transaction cost analysis to LCTs. In this meta-analysis, a wide-rang...

This paper provides an ex-post assessment of the climate and energy policy developments in Chile emerging from a neoliberal economic model, during the period 1971–2007. First, correlation and regression analyses were performed to analyse historical CO2 emissions as a product of demographic, economic and energy-wide drivers. Then I estimate indicato...

The New Zealand emissions trading scheme (NZ ETS) is one of the first national-level GHG trading schemes outside Europe. It is also unique in its design and comprehensive sectoral coverage, including forestry. This paper provides an ex-post-assessment of market behavior in the NZ ETS in its first phase (2008–2012). Findings are based on quantitativ...

Following the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, ‘green energy economy’ packages have been implemented to stimulate sustainable economic growth in several Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Clearly focused on the energy sector, these packages typically include energy-efficiency policy measures and aim to encour...

The chapter examines the integrated Nordic power market and its linkages to renewable energy technology (RET) deployment for power production. It has two purposes. First, it aims to improve the understanding of the expansion of the Nordic power market and integration and deployment of RET. Secondly, it takes lessons from the Nordic experience that...

The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the literature on the economics of public policy interventions in relation externalities. The chapter presents some theoretical constructs and evaluates the potential contribution of market-based instruments, either by avoiding negative externalities or boosting positive ones. The author takes the top...

The growing complexities of energy systems, environmental problems, and technology markets are driving and testing most energy-economy models to their limits. To further advance bottom-up models from a multidisciplinary energy efficiency policy evaluation perspective, we review and critically analyze bottom-up energy-economy models and correspondin...

Energy efficiency ex-ante policy evaluation is commonly, but not exclusively, concerned with the simulation and modelling of policy instruments and resulting technological change. Using the residential sector as case study, the paper provides a meta-analysis of models and modelling exercises and scrutinise their relevance for the field of energy ef...

Recent years have witnessed regained political momentum on energy efficiency and interest in establishing markets is growing. As a result, Tradable White Certificate (TWC) schemes of differing design have been implemented in Great Britain, Italy and France. Much attention is being paid to justifying and evaluating such schemes. In this paper, we de...

The purpose of this research project, commissioned by the Swedish Environmental protection Agency, is to increase the knowledge about critical (pre)conditions for effective technology oriented treaties. The study has addressed the promotion of technology transfer in two areas: 1) Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, with a focus upon tech...

Recent developments in European energy policy reveal an increasing interest in implementing the so-called ‘Tradable White Certificate’ (TWC) schemes to improve energy efficiency. Based on three evaluation criteria (cost-effectiveness, environmental effectiveness and distributional equity) this paper analyses the implications of implementing a Europ...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of market behaviour under ‘Tradable White Certificate’ (TWC) schemes. It focuses on the entire set of ‘flexibilities’ granted to obliged parties to meet a mandatory energy-saving target cost-effectively, i.e. range eligible measures, eligible end-use sectors, banking provision, market engagement of non-obli...

This doctoral thesis explores the implications of establishing tradable certificate schemes for improving energy efficiency (so-called ‘Tradable White Certificate’ [TWC] schemes). Carrying out different case studies, a set of complementary evaluation methods is applied in conducting ex-ante and ex-post evaluation studies. To analyse the attributes...

In this paper, we analyze the experiences gained from tradable green certificate (TGC) schemes and extract some policy lessons that can lead to a successful design of a market-based approach for energy efficiency improvement, alias tradable white certificate schemes. We use tradable green certificate schemes existing in the Netherlands and Sweden a...

This paper analyses the nature and scale of transaction costs (TCs) borne by obliged parties under a “Tradable White Certificate” (TWC) scheme. Taking the first phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC1) in Great Britain as a case study, several sources of TCs were considered, such as search for information, persuasion of customers, negotiati...

This paper identifies the nature and scale of transaction costs (TCs) under different policy instruments aimed to increase energy efficiency. It analyses three cases: a) GHG-driven initiatives, b) tradable “White Certificate” (TWC) schemes –taking the Energy Efficiency Commitment in Great Britain as a case study-, and c) energy efficiency audits gi...

During the transition to a market economy, many countries with a planned economy in Central and Eastern Europe face similar challenges when the established socio-economic systems and infrastructures deemed inefficient in a market economy. Also new issues are being raised by the trends of globalization and the vision of sustainable development. In t...

The “White and Green” Project completed under the EU SAVE Programme reviewed policies and measures to promote energy efficiency, which involved analysing the experience with instruments that are already implemented, and assessing innovative instruments that are proposed. In particular, the practicability of using “White Certificates” (energy effici...

This article analyses existing small-scale wind farms located in India as hypothetical projects implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It addresses them from three different viewpoints (sustainable development, financial feasibility and institutional conditions), focusing mostly on identifying the smallest capacities and lowest pe...

This article analyses existing small-scale wind farms located in India as hypothetical projects implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It addresses them from three different viewpoints (sustainable development, financial feasibility and institutional conditions), focusing mostly on identifying the smallest capacities and lowest pe...

Using the Systems of Innovation (SI) as analytical approach, we address how Green Certificate Schemes (GCSs) and White Certificate Schemes (WCSs) can influence innovation processes that aim at increasing the usage of renewable energy technologies and achieve greater energy efficiency respectively. By looking at some of the activities (e.g. competen...