Grant to Study Regional Industry, Economic Resilience and Energy Consumption

The National Science Foundation has awarded a three year, $300,000 grant to understand how regional economic activities and energy use interact with each other. The effort is led by Georgia Tech School of Economics Assistant Professor Juan Moreno-Cruz with BBISS Director John Crittenden serving as Co-PI. The project is entitled, "Regional Industrial Structure, Economic Resilience and Energy Consumption: Comparative Evaluation, Historical Analysis and Pathway towards a More Sustainable Economy."

Current economic models that aim to understand how energy use and efficiency interact within a regional economy are geared towards a broad scale. They also don't account well for an unintended consequence that crops up when energy efficiency is in play, known as the "rebound effect." For example, energy use for lighting, as a percentage of total energy use, tends to increase as lighting technology becomes more efficient. This project will develop a model that introduces adjustments to comprehensively evaluate the economic impact of the rebound effect, as well as tailoring the model to a more regional scale. Understanding energy use and efficiency at a smaller scale will reveal how both energy efficiency and supply shocks effect a region's economic and energy resilience.