TITLE:
Bottom-Up Analysis of Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions, with Particular Emphasis on Human Capital Investment
AUTHORS:
Paula Castesana, Salvador Enrique Puliafito
KEYWORDS:
Carbon Emissions; Carbonization Index; Economic Growth; Energy Intensity Factor; Human Capital Investment
JOURNAL NAME:
Low Carbon Economy,
Vol.4 No.4A,
December
3,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Short-term and mid-term projections of
energy consumption and carbon emissions raise significant concern about the
availability of the necessary energy resources to meet the growing demand and
about the impact of emissions on global change. Different macroeconomic models
address this issue through global variables, such as gross domestic product,
production of goods and services, total population and natural resources
extraction. However, the relations among these variables are neither linear nor simple. In an attempt to base
said relations on a “bottom-up” perspective, the individual behavior of
representative agents of economy, in terms of energy consumption and related
carbon emissions, was studied, with particular emphasis on their investment in
human capital. It was found that a higher investment in human capital (e.g.,
education, research) was translated into a better distribution of consumption,
with a higher level of energy efficiency and a slight improvement in carbon
emissions intensity.