National Bureau of Economic Research

Both August and September this year have witnessed a fall in diesel usage

Grassroot campaign to convert producers into consumers

Diesel and petrol consumption rise during the month

Nippon India Consumption fund has been a consistent outperformer across market cycles

Performance, portfolio composition and downside protection are three reasons that work for Mirae Asset Great Consumer Fund

In creating energy-efficient cities, India will do well to model its development on its own age-old techniques, says Durganand Balsavar

Indian cotton prices have come down by 12-15% due to the ongoing lockdown and fears that the country’s cotton consumption will reduce, resulting in more carry-forward stocks by September 2020, officials of the Cotton Association of India (CAI) said on Tuesday.

The telcos have also said the government should direct video streaming platforms  to offer only standard definition (SD) and not high definition (HD) content for the time being so as not to choke the bandwidth.  

At present, people are choosing to access cash through the BC channel rather than going to branches where they will come in contact with other people or to ATMs which are not being sanitised.

According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), with data through June 30, 2013, renewable energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, hydropower, geothermal, solar, and wind) provided 9.81 percent of U.S. energy consumption and 11.82 percent of domestic energy production for the first half of 2013.

The Hungarian standard VAT rate is 27.0%, which is above the OECD average. The average VAT/GST¹ standard rate in the OECD was 19.3% as of 1 January 2019. The previous standard VAT rate in Hungary was 25% in 2011. It changed to the current level in 2012. Hungary applies reduced VAT rates of 5% and 18% to a number of goods and services.

The Icelandic standard VAT rate is 24.0%, which is above the OECD average. The average VAT/GST¹ standard rate in the OECD was 19.3% as of 1 January 2019. The previous standard VAT rate in Iceland was 25.5% in 2014. It changed to the current level in 2015. Iceland applies reduced VAT rates of 0% and 11% to a number of goods and services.

The tax burden in Luxembourg increased by 0.8 percentage points from 38.5% to 39.3% in 2013. The corresponding figure for the OECD average was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 33.7% to 34.1%. Luxembourg’s standard VAT rate is 15%, which is below the OECD average. The average VAT/GST standard rate in the OECD was 19.1% on 1 January 2014.

Consumers only occasionally choose to buy sustainable products. At the same time these consumers say in surveys that sustainability is important to them, and that the government should promote sustainable consumption. This study takes a closer look at public support for sustainable consumption and the associated dilemmas, with the help of a behavioural economics experiment of group decisions.

The German standard VAT rate is 19.0%, which is close to the OECD average. The average VAT/GST¹ standard rate in the OECD was 19.3% as of 1 January 2019. The previous standard VAT rate in Germany was 16% in 2006. It changed to the current level in 2007. Germany applies a reduced rate of 7% to a number of goods and services.

India's fuel consumption fell almost 46 per cent in April as all petroleum products, except LPG, saw massive demand erosion following the nationwide lockdown that halted economic activity and travel. The demand, which showed signs of pick up in the last 10 days of April after the government allowed resumption of economic activity beyond the urban municipal limit, is likely to rebound in second half of May as more areas are opened. India's fuel consumption fell 45.8 per cent to 9.929 million tonnes in April, down from 18.32 million tonnes fuel consumed in the same month a year back, according to official data released by the petroleum ministry. Fuel consumption during March, when travel restrictions began to be imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, stood at 16.08 million tonnes. Petrol sales were down 60.43 per cent to 9,73,000 tonnes in April. The demand for the fuel had fallen 64 per cent in first half of the month, but there was some pick up in sales after reopening of some ...

Petrol sales were down 60.43 per cent to 9,73,000 tonnes in April

Efficient sample delivery is an essential aspect of serial crystallography at both synchrotrons and X-ray free-electron lasers. Rastering fixed target chips through the X-ray beam is an efficient method for serial delivery from the perspectives of both sample consumption and beam time usage. Here, an approach for loading fixed targets using acoustic drop ejection is presented that does not compromise crystal quality, can reduce sample consumption by more than an order of magnitude and allows serial diffraction to be collected from a larger proportion of the crystals in the slurry.

Serial crystallography has enabled the study of complex biological questions through the determination of biomolecular structures at room temperature using low X-ray doses. Furthermore, it has enabled the study of protein dynamics by the capture of atomically resolved and time-resolved molecular movies. However, the study of many biologically relevant targets is still severely hindered by high sample consumption and lengthy data-collection times. By combining serial synchrotron crystallography (SSX) with 3D printing, a new experimental platform has been created that tackles these challenges. An affordable 3D-printed, X-ray-compatible microfluidic device (3D-MiXD) is reported that allows data to be collected from protein microcrystals in a 3D flow with very high hit and indexing rates, while keeping the sample consumption low. The miniaturized 3D-MiXD can be rapidly installed into virtually any synchrotron beamline with only minimal adjustments. This efficient collection scheme in combination with its mixing geometry paves the way for recording molecular movies at synchrotrons by mixing-triggered millisecond time-resolved SSX.

A new Spanish study has highlighted current developments in the tourism sector that have significant implications for water supply and demand, but are barely addressed in recent land use policies. The findings indicate that any tourist destination that is to follow the ???quality tourist??? model will have an increased water demand in domestic residential areas, which is one of the biggest threats to sustainable water management.

The amount of land and ocean that a country uses in order to produce food and other commodities, or its land or ocean ‘footprint’, increases by over a third for each doubling of income, new research shows. Thus, as nations become richer, and lifestyles become more affluent, pressure on natural resources increases.

Promoting the personal benefits of sustainable consumption, such as more free time and less stress, could play an important role in encouraging more sustainable living, according to a recent study. The researchers interviewed people who lived greener lifestyles and found that self-interest influenced their decision to consume less and buy sustainable products.

Providing information to consumers on the environmental and social impacts of their food purchases could help change their consumption choices, research from Norway suggests. In a psychological study, researchers noted an increase in the number of organic and fair trade products bought per week when participating consumers were informed of the products’ benefits for the environment and the wellbeing of producers.

The amount of land and ocean that a country uses in order to produce food and other commodities, or its land or ocean ‘footprint’, increases by over a third for each doubling of income, new research shows. Thus, as nations become richer, and lifestyles become more affluent, pressure on natural resources increases.

A new analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Swiss household consumption reveals a large difference between the best and worst households – which range between the equivalent of 5 to 17 tons of CO2 per capita per year. It suggests GHG reductions are possible if more households adopt similar consumption patterns to those with the lowest emissions.

Vehicle fuel economy has markedly improved, but there are other factors that influence fuel consumption and transport emissions, according to new research on the EU, USA and Japan. Changes in vehicle size and power also play a role indicating that, if fuel prices do not keep rising, policy focus may need to shift to managing vehicle use.

Although low-income households consume less energy than wealthier households, they are still keen to learn how to save energy, for both economic and environmental reasons. This is the conclusion of a recent Swedish study which explored the energy-related behaviour of residents on low incomes. It provides insights which could help inform energy-awareness campaigns targeted at this section of the population.

Eco-innovations which help prevent the production of waste are explored in a recent German study. It considers the drivers and barriers to the uptake of material efficiency measures in businesses, green procurement and product leasing schemes.

Electricity consumption fell by 22–27% in low-income households participating in an energy-efficiency programme in Cyprus, France, Malta and Spain, reports a new study. Participants were provided with a range of tools and information to help them curb their energy use, including smart meters and customised reports. The results confirm the value of tailoring information to specific demographic groups.

Interactions between population growth, consumption and the use of natural products and services have created an unsustainable pressure on the environment. New research has provided a detailed investigation into the relationships between these three trends, providing insight into how to alleviate these pressures. It concludes they cannot be addressed by market mechanisms or technological advances alone.

An inventory of carbon footprints has been developed for 177 regions across 27 EU Member States. The map is the first to quantify greenhouse gas emissions associated with household consumption across the EU. It reveals significant regional differences based on income, household size and urban versus rural living.

Vehicle fuel economy has markedly improved, but there are other factors that influence fuel consumption and transport emissions, according to new research on the EU, USA and Japan. Changes in vehicle size and power also play a role indicating that, if fuel prices do not keep rising, policy focus may need to shift to managing vehicle use.

Different European regions have very different diets and environmental conditions, meaning their water consumption varies widely. Despite this, switching to vegetarian diets in keeping with regional variation would substantially reduce water consumption in all areas, a new study concludes. Where people choose to eat meat, adopting a healthy diet low in oils and sugar will also reduce water consumption, although to a lesser degree.

Renewable energy plays an important role in economic development, according to a recent study which investigated the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption in Europe.

EU integration may have led to more sustainable consumption patterns in new Member States (NMS) during 1995-2007, according to researchers from Lithuania. Their study indicates that, during this period in new Member States, a smaller share of household expenditure was spent on ‘essential’, but more environmentally-damaging items, such as food, drink and housing, and a larger share on ‘luxurious’, but less environmentally damaging, items.

Informing consumers about their energy use and giving advice on how it can be improved can result in lower public energy consumption, new research suggests. However, if such information campaigns are based solely on monetary savings they are not effective, the study concludes.

A new economic tool designed to encourage sustainable production and consumption has been proposed in a recent study. To ensure that the environmental impact of products is reflected in their cost, the authors of the research recommend a system of green value added tax (VAT) based on life cycle assessment (LCA).

Researchers have developed a new tool to help policymakers access and use data regarding the environmental impacts of consumption and production. Using the EUREAPA tool, decision makers can analyse data from a range of perspectives and create scenarios to understand the implications of changes in consumption and production.

Improving the efficiency of industries and products has not led to overall reductions in the consumption of goods and services, a new study has found. The research looked at the historical relationship between efficiency improvements and resource consumption across 10 different activities, including electricity generation and passenger air travel. However, shorter decade-long periods, where efficiency improvements outpaced resource consumption, suggested that legislation and price pressures could be effective at reducing resource consumption.

A recent study highlights the need to consider water consumption when evaluating low-carbon energy production systems, such as biofuels and solar photovoltaic systems, for use in transportation.

Monitors in showers, which display how much water is being used and sound an alarm when a limit is reached, have significantly cut water consumption in household trials. The immediate feedback from the alarm monitor made consumers more aware of their behaviour, which they could then modify.

A new Spanish study has highlighted current developments in the tourism sector that have significant implications for water supply and demand, but are barely addressed in recent land use policies. The findings indicate that any tourist destination that is to follow the ‘quality tourist’ model will have an increased water demand in domestic residential areas, which is one of the biggest threats to sustainable water management.

Energy production uses large quantities of water and, in turn, water provision requires considerable amounts of energy. A new study has investigated the interconnection between water and energy, the ‘water-energy nexus’, in Spain and found that 5.8% of total electricity consumption is for water-use and 25% of water withdrawals are for energy generation.

The global sea level is rising, yet only part of that rise can be attributed to the effects of climate change. New research has calculated that human impacts on terrestrial water storage make up around 42% of total sea level rise, in particular, the extraction of groundwater that eventually makes its way to the ocean.