LED is a fast developing, promising technology, offering a wide range of potential uses. This report presents the status of existing LED pilot actions in Europe, analysing 106 LED test cases from 17 European countries. Projects from the public and commercial sectors form the focus of the report, with special attention devoted to the economics of LED projects. Reviewed test cases include the use of LED technology in traffic lights, street lights, bicycle paths, hotels and retail stores, as well as applications in historical buildings. Replaced technologies include high pressure sodium lamps, mercury vapour lamps, incandescent lamps and fluorescent tubes. The results of test cases demonstrate wide variation. Installations offer energy savings of 59% in average (savings range from 10% up to more than 90%), either compared to the original installation or to reference consumption. In many applications, LEDs are competitive (with payback time ranging from 2 to 10 years), yet a large number of projects are still in the trial phase. In these cases, economic aspects are relatively less relevant, and are often not even accounted for (as economic evaluation at this stage can even be a disadvantage). From the test cases reviewed, most successful applications, in terms of savings and economic considerations, are 1) replacement of incandescent light bulbs in traffic light systems, and 2) replacement of halogen spotlights in indoor applications. Main co-benefits of LED projects analysed include: low maintenance costs, improved lighting characteristics, good indoor and outdoor lighting quality, improved ambience and atmosphere (esp. for indoor lighting), no UV radiation, environmental benefits and improved security (road safety). On the other hand, some challenges to address include: improve the quality characteristics of LEDs and the quality of information and data provided by manufacturers/suppliers, and optimality of LED technology for existing street lighting systems (e.g., due to existing pole spacing). In order to fully utilise the energy saving potential of LED technology, careful evaluation of existing projects and exchange of information on good practices is necessary. Exploration of bottlenecks and risks is also an important task. Quality characteristics of LEDs, and quality of data provided by manufacturers, will remain the main challenges to penetration of the technology.

Electric vehicles are a mobility innovation that can help significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. However, increasing numbers of electric vehicles require the construction of a dense charging infrastructure with a sufficient number of chargers. Based on the identified requirements for existing electric vehicle users and potential new customers, the paper proposes a charging point model for an urban area equipped with a local transformer station and a sufficient number of low-power chargers. In particular, the model focuses on efficient use of chargers throughout the day, considering private rental of chargers paid by residents in the evening. The model uses an optimization method that compares the non-covered fixed costs due to unsold electricity to nonresidents and the annualized costs of building an additional transformer. The proposed optimal charging point solution was tested in a case study using real data capturing users’ habits and their arrivals in and departures from the car park. As our model results show, the great benefit of a park-and-ride car park equipped with chargers consists of a simple increase in car park efficiency, ensuring sufficient numbers of private charging lots, optimizing operating costs, and supporting the development of electromobility.

This paper assesses the main barriers that prevent economic energy efficiency potential from being realized. The main barriers discussed here include energy prices (and prices of technology), limited access to capital, lack of information, incorrect risk assessment (i.e. setting a discount rate), the principal-agent problem and transaction costs. Transaction costs are analyzed in greater detail, as they are one way or another related to all of the barriers mentioned here. Based on the analysis, there is a discussion of implications for effective policy making. These are specially needed for transaction costs, where the availability of empirical data is very limited.

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