Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan gradually shut down all its nuclear power plants, causing a countrywide power shortage. In response, the government launched large-scale energy-saving campaigns to reduce summer electricity consumption. Exploiting the electricity-saving targets across regions and over time, we show that the campaigns significantly increased mortality, particularly during extremely hot days. The impact is primarily driven by people using less air conditioning, as encouraged by the government. Nonpecuniary incentive explains around 80% of the reduction in electricity consumption, which eventually causes more deaths. Our findings suggest there exists a trade-off between energy saving and climate adaptation.

Keywords: Energy saving, Climate Change Adaptation,...[ Read more ]

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan gradually shut down all its nuclear power plants, causing a countrywide power shortage. In response, the government launched large-scale energy-saving campaigns to reduce summer electricity consumption. Exploiting the electricity-saving targets across regions and over time, we show that the campaigns significantly increased mortality, particularly during extremely hot days. The impact is primarily driven by people using less air conditioning, as encouraged by the government. Nonpecuniary incentive explains around 80% of the reduction in electricity consumption, which eventually causes more deaths. Our findings suggest there exists a trade-off between energy saving and climate adaptation.

Keywords: Energy saving, Climate Change Adaptation, Fukushima Accident, Extreme Weather JEL: Q48; Q54; O12; I1