November 20th, 2024, at Waseda University
On November 20th, 2024, the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS) and RIEEM successfully held the Research Seminar on Transdisciplinary Perspectives Toward Environmental Sustainability, titled "Energy Substitution, Biased Technical Change, and the Economy-Wide Energy Rebound: A Comparison of the US and Japan."
We were honored to host Professor Dr. Rainer Klump from Goethe University Frankfurt, House of Finance, and Faculty of Economics and Business, who shared his insightful study on the energy bias in long-term technical progress and the rebound effect in the US and Japan.
This year, the seminar was conducted in a hybrid format, with 13 attendees participating in person and 5 joining online. Participants included both faculty members and students from Waseda University, as well as participants from Avignon University, Nagoya University and Kyoto University.
The seminar began with opening remarks by the organizer, Professor Toshi H. Arimura from Waseda University. Following the opening remarks, Professor Dr. Rainer Klump presented his research. His study focused on the challenges of decoupling economic growth from energy demand, the slow pace of energy-saving technological progress in the long-term and the significant economy-wide rebound effect observed in the US and Japan.
Prof. Klump's presentation highlighted key findings, including that energy input and primary factor inputs are strong complements in both countries, with technology generally biased toward energy savings. He found rebound effect in these two countries is essentially driven by the energy substitution effect, with estimated magnitudes to be 39.2% for the US and 41.9% for Japan. as well as the long-term deceleration in energy-biased technical progress, with Japan exhibiting a slower pace compared to the US. His research also examined phases of energy-biased technical progress and provided insights into Japan's prolonged low-growth experience in the 1990s.
After the presentation, an engaging discussion ensued. Mrs. Aline Mortha raised a question regarding the source of the rebound in emissions, specifically whether it originated from the industrial or household sector. Professor Arimura also contributed follow-up questions to deepen the discussion. Co-author Julian Salg from Goethe University Frankfurt later joined the discussion, providing further perspectives.
We thank Professor Dr. Rainer Klump, Professor Arimura, and all participants for making this seminar an enriching event that fostered important discussions on environmental sustainability and energy economics
