Exploring price effects on the residential water conservation technology diffusion process： a case study of Tianjin city

作     者：Junying CHU Hao WANG Can WANG 

作者机构：State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of River Basin Water CycleChina Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research Beijing 100038 China State Key Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKLESPC) School of Environment Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 China 

出 版 物：《Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering》 (环境科学与工程前沿（英文）)

年 卷 期：2013年第7卷第5期

页      面：688-698页

核心收录：

学科分类：082802[工学-农业水土工程] 08[工学] 0828[工学-农业工程] 09[农学] 0815[工学-水利工程] 0903[农学-农业资源与环境] 0835[工学-软件工程] 081202[工学-计算机软件与理论] 0812[工学-计算机科学与技术（可授工学、理学学位）] 

基　　金：国家自然科学基金 China Institute ofWater Resources and Hydropower Research Project 

主　　题：technology selection model optimization,water price scenario analysis consumer behavior 

摘      要：Reforms of the water pricing management system and the establishment of a flexible water pricing system are significant for cities in northern China to tackle their critical water issues. The WATAP （Water conserva- tion Technology Adoption Processes） model is developed in order to capture the water conservation technology adoption process under different price scenarios with disaggregate water demands down to the end use level. This model is explicitly characterized by the technological selection process under maximum marginal benefit assumption by different categories of households. In particular, when households need to purchase water devices in the provision market with the consideration of complex factors such as the life span, investment and operating costs of the device, as well as the regulated water price by the government. Applied to Tianjin city, four scenarios of water price evolutions for a long-term perspective （from year 2011 to 2030） are considered, including BAU （Business As Usual）, SP1 （Scenario of Price increase with constant annual rate）, SP2 （Scenario of Price increase every four years） and SP3 （Scenario of Price increase with affordable constraint）, considering many factors such as historic trends, affordability and incentives for conservation. Results show that on aggregate 2.3%, 11.0% and 18.2% of fresh water can be saved in the residential sector in scenario SP1, SP2 and SP3, respec- tively, compared with the BAU scenario in the year 2030. The water price signals can change the market shares of different water appliances, as well as the water end use structure of households, and ultimately improve water use efficiency. The WATAP model may potentially be a helpful tool to provide insights for policy makers on water conservation technology policy analysis and assessment.