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Securing energy efficiency as a high priority: scenarios for common appliance electricity consumption in Thailand

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Abstract

Between 1995 and 2008, Thailand’s energy efficiency programs produced an estimated total of 8,369 GWh/year energy savings and 1,471 MW avoided peak power. Despite these impressive saving figures, relatively little future scenario analysis is available to policy makers. Before the 2008 global financial crisis, electricity planners forecasted 5–6% long-term increases in demand. We explored options for efficiency improvements in Thailand’s residential sector, which consumes more than 20% of Thailand’s total electricity consumption of 150 TWh/year. We constructed baseline and efficient scenarios for the period 2006–2026, for air conditioners, refrigerators, fans, rice cookers, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. We drew on an appliance database maintained by Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s voluntary labeling program. For the five appliances modeled, the efficiency scenario results in total savings of 12% of baseline consumption after 10 years and 29% of baseline after 20 years. Approximately 80% of savings come from more stringent standards for air conditioners, including phasing out unregulated air conditioner sales within 6 years. Shifting appliance efficiency standards to current best-in-market levels within 6 years produces additional savings. We discuss institutional aspects of energy planning in Thailand that thus far have limited the consideration of energy efficiency as a high-priority resource.

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Notes

  1. One exception is a zero-interest loan program for air conditioners, which attracted little consumer interest, largely due to excessive paperwork requirements. Direct rebates (another option) face negative perceptions that they would unduly transfer wealth to more prosperous consumers.

  2. As an alternative, McNeil et al. (2006) modeled refrigerator survivorship using a probability function normally distributed around a mean lifetime of 15 years.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge contributions made by Charlie Heaps, Bundit Limeechokchai, staff in the Demand-Side Management Office, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Louis Lebel, and two anonymous reviewers. Funding support came from IUCN—the World Conservation Union; the Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience (funded by CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food); and from the Policy Research to Promote Development and Use of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Thailand project (funded by Thailand’s Energy Policy and Planning Office).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, P.O. Box 144, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand

    Tira Foran

  2. International Resources Group and Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Bangkok, Thailand

    Peter T. du Pont

  3. The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand

    Panom Parinya

  4. Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Nonthaburi, Thailand

    Napaporn Phumaraphand

Authors
  1. Tira Foran
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  2. Peter T. du Pont
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  3. Panom Parinya
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  4. Napaporn Phumaraphand
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tira Foran.

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Table 10 Demographic parameter estimates
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Foran, T., du Pont, P.T., Parinya, P. et al. Securing energy efficiency as a high priority: scenarios for common appliance electricity consumption in Thailand. Energy Efficiency 3, 347–364 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-009-9073-7

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