Forecasting the Fuel Consumption and Price for a Future Pandemic Outbreak: A Case Study in the USA under COVID-19
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The study by the authors presents a meticulous exploration of the changes in petroleum fuel consumption and price dynamics resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. By applying time-series forecasting models to historical data, the research investigates the impact of the pandemic and provides valuable insights into the stochastic and non-smooth pattern of fuel usage and cost. While the research contributes significantly to the understanding of pandemic-induced energy sector changes, some areas could be further improved to enhance the quality and reach of the study.
Improvements:
-> Expanded Context: While the study mentions the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy patterns, it could benefit from a broader discussion on the pandemic's overall influence on the energy sector.
-> Model Justification: A detailed explanation of why specific time-series forecasting models were selected and how they compare to other potential methods could strengthen the paper. This would also provide readers with a clearer understanding of the models' appropriateness for the data.
-> Unclear Connection with Monkeypox: The mention of monkeypox seems disconnected from the rest of the paper. The study could benefit from better clarifying the relevance of monkeypox to the analysis of fuel consumption and price trends during the COVID-19 pandemic.
-> Expanded Range of Exogenous Variables: The research mentions that more exogenous variables, such as production size and number of industries using petroleum fuel, could be included in the future. The authors should consider adding a preliminary exploration of how these variables could impact the model's results in the current research.
-> In-depth Analysis of Pandemic Period: The research could also delve deeper into the pandemic period. Breaking down the data into weekly, hourly, or half-hourly segments during this period could provide a more granular understanding of how the pandemic impacted fuel consumption and prices.
In conclusion, while the paper makes a substantial contribution to understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy sector, several aspects of the research could be enhanced to improve its impact and practical application.
Author Response
We genuinely thank the editors and reviewers for giving us the opportunity to submit a revision. We further appreciate very useful comments that we have received from the reviewers and believe they have truly helped us to significantly improve the quality of the manuscript. In what follows, we provide our responses to each of the reviewers’ comments.
Reviewer 1:
Improvements:
We sincerely thank the reviewer for the careful and insightful review of our manuscript. We have extracted concerns of the first reviewer from his/her response and will address them in what follows.
->1. Expanded Context: While the study mentions the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy patterns, it could benefit from a broader discussion on the pandemic's overall influence on the energy sector.
Response: Thanks for your great comment. We have added this sentence in Section 1 to the paper:
There has been a significant impact of pandemic on the energy sector. The outbreak leads to reduced demand for oil, which in turn causes a sharp decline in both oil prices and production levels.
-> 2. Model Justification: A detailed explanation of why specific time-series forecasting models were selected and how they compare to other potential methods could strengthen the paper. This would also provide readers with a clearer understanding of the models' appropriateness for the data.
Response: Thanks for your comment. Several traditional time series forecasting methods have been considered for predicting the price and consumption of energy. But there has been a limitation of traditional time series forecasting data to predict the unusual behavior by any pandemic. For example, conventional time series model such as ARIMA, exponential smoothing does not consider input explanatory variables but ARIMAX allows. Therefore, ARIMAX model has been chosen by incorporating the external variables.
-> 3. Unclear Connection with Monkeypox: The mention of monkeypox seems disconnected from the rest of the paper. The study could benefit from better clarifying the relevance of monkeypox to the analysis of fuel consumption and price trends during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Response: We highly appreciate your suggestion. We have used Monkeypox as an example of future pandemic in the Introduction Section. It may be other pandemics as well. There have not been any studies performed earlier on how energy can be impacted by monkeypox. We have added a sentence in the Introduction to clarify this.
-> 4. Expanded Range of Exogenous Variables: The research mentions that more exogenous variables, such as production size and number of industries using petroleum fuel, could be included in the future. The authors should consider adding a preliminary exploration of how these variables could impact the model's results in the current research.
Response: Thanks for your comment. We have added these sentences to the paper in Section …: Industrialization, characterized by the adoption of advanced equipment and techniques for producing both existing and new products, leads to increased industrial activity. This heightened industrial activity consumes more energy compared to traditional agricultural or manufacturing practices, suggesting that industrialization has a positive effect on energy intensity. Consequently, the size and number of industries have a significant influence on fuel consumption, which in turn affects the price of fuel.
->5. In-depth Analysis of Pandemic Period: The research could also delve deeper into the pandemic period. Breaking down the data into weekly, hourly, or half-hourly segments during this period could provide a more granular understanding of how the pandemic impacted fuel consumption and prices.
Response: Thank you for your great comment. The data collected from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) lacks availability of weekly, hourly, or half-hourly intervals, limiting the granularity of the data for this study.
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper briefly mentions variations in fuel consumption before and after the global event, but it lacks a comprehensive discussion of the findings from the studies cited. I suggest providing more details on the specific impacts observed, including the magnitude and duration of the decrease in fuel consumption.
The paper mentions Figure 25, which illustrates the change in fuel consumption under different scenarios. While the paper briefly describes the three scenarios, it lacks a comprehensive discussion and interpretation of the observed patterns. I suggest providing a detailed analysis of the curves, including how each scenario aligns with the observed data and the implications of the different impacts considered.
I suggest expanding on the practical implications of the research. How will the findings assist designated authorities in energy planning and distribution under different pandemic scenarios?
Author Response
The paper briefly mentions variations in fuel consumption before and after the global event, but it lacks a comprehensive discussion of the findings from the studies cited. I suggest providing more details on the specific impacts observed, including the magnitude and duration of the decrease in fuel consumption.
Response: Thanks for your comment. The details about the magnitude and duration of fuel consumption and price are discussed in Section 2.3 and 3.3 with numeric data. We have highlighted it in the paper.
The paper mentions Figure 25, which illustrates the change in fuel consumption under different scenarios. While the paper briefly describes the three scenarios, it lacks a comprehensive discussion and interpretation of the observed patterns. I suggest providing a detailed analysis of the curves, including how each scenario aligns with the observed data and the implications of the different impacts considered.
Response: We thank the reviewer for this important comment. We have added the below explanation to the Section 6.2.
The consideration of "overall impact" takes into account various periodic events, such as peak production time, seasonality, and institutional operations, as well as any sudden and unexpected situations. While the impact of these abrupt situations may not be as dominant compared to other regular factors, they are still taken into account to provide a comprehensive assessment. Indeed, when focusing solely on the pandemic, the curve shape of energy consumption experiences a sudden decline, thereby omitting the usual data patterns influenced by other regular factors. By isolating the impact of the pandemic, the analysis may overlook the typical influences on energy consumption patterns caused by other factors.
I suggest expanding on the practical implications of the research. How will the findings assist designated authorities in energy planning and distribution under different pandemic scenarios?
Response: We highly appreciate your comment. We have added the following explanation to the Conclusion Section.
The pandemic has much more impact on fuel prices than consumption. The article will help to predict a basic assessment of future year fuel consumption and cost in both cases of the presence or absence of any pandemic. A pandemic or any outbreak results in a much more volatile and stochastic pattern in energy trends. The analysis can be further extended and modified by including more exogenous variables, such as production size, number of industries using petroleum fuel, and more breakdown of the pandemic period: weekly, hourly, and half-hourly. Also, the study can be further expanded by analyzing it based on the industrial and domestic sectors using various stochastic models. This approach would help differentiate the impact of the pandemic on energy consumption and costs within these specific territories. By employing different models, a more nuanced understanding of how the pandemic affects energy patterns can be achieved.
The findings of the study will provide valuable insights for designated authorities involved in energy planning and distribution, particularly under different pandemic scenarios. By understanding the impact of the pandemic on energy consumption and costs, authorities can develop more robust strategies and contingency plans. These findings can help them effectively allocate energy resources, optimize distribution networks, and make informed decisions regarding energy infrastructure investments. The study's insights can aid authorities in adapting their plans and policies to ensure reliable and resilient energy systems, considering the potential disruptions caused by pandemics or similar events.
Reviewer 3 Report
Manuscript No.: sustainability-2479166
Manuscript title: Forecasting the Fuel Consumption and Price for Future Pandemic Outbreak: A case study in the USA under COVID-19
The study is within the scope of Sustainability Journal
Decision: Minor corrections
Review comments
1- Add numerical results to abstract.
2- Highlight the novelty of your article in abstract. Why should anyone read it? What new it introduces?
3- The novelty of the work must be clearly addressed and discussed, compare your research with existing research findings and highlight novelty
4- The main objective of the work must be written on the clearer and more concise way at the end of introduction section
5- Compare your results with others from other countries in Europe and China.
6- Conclusion section is missing some perspective related to the future research work, quantify main research findings
7- References are missing in some strong statements
8- Renew your reference list we are today in 2023.
9- Add citations to the host journal.
Minor revision for English language is needed.
Author Response
Response: We truly thank the reviewer for the constructive comments on our work. We have prepared dedicated responses to the reviewer’s comments.
- Add numerical results to abstract.
Response: Thank you for your great comment. We have added numerical results to the abstract.
“The best forecasting method for fuel consumption is ETS with 799.59 RMSE, and the best method for fuel price is ARIMA with 4.67 RMSE.”
2- Highlight the novelty of your article in abstract. Why should anyone read it? What new it introduces?
3- The novelty of the work must be clearly addressed and discussed, compare your research with existing research findings and highlight novelty
Response: We appreciate you for your great comment. We have added the novelty to both abstract and Introduction.
“The novelty of the article will assist to explore the potential energy demand in terms of cost and consumption of fuel during any pandemic period considering the associated abnormalities.”
4- The main objective of the work must be written on the clearer and more concise way at the end of introduction section
Response: Thank you for the comment. To address this concern, we have added the following paragraph to the Introduction Section.
“The main objective of this study is the demand analysis and forecasting of consumption and cost during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the new demand and behavioral and cultural changes. By analyzing these factors, the study aims to provide insights into how the pandemic has influenced energy consumption and cost, allowing for more accurate demand forecasting and informed decision-making in the energy sector. The study will evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as an external variable on the performance of the forecast model. This analysis will enable the identification of any anomalies that may arise if a similar pandemic occurs in the future. Moreover, it will assist to differentiate the regular forecasting of fuel price and consumption from the pandemic impact which can be utilized by designated authority for energy plan and distribution depending on different scenarios.”
5- Compare your results with others from other countries in Europe and China.
Response: Thanks for the comment. We would like to emphasize that the scope of this work is the impact of pandemic (e.g., COVID-19) on energy price and demand in the US.
6- Conclusion section is missing some perspective related to the future research work, quantify main research findings
Response: Thanks for your great comment. We have added the future line of our research in Lines ….-… in page … in the Colculsion Section. The following sentences have been added to the manuscript and highlighted in blue.
“The pandemic has much more impact on fuel prices than consumption. This study predicts a fuel consumption and cost in both cases of the presence or absence of any pandemic. A pandemic or any outbreak results in a much more volatile and stochastic pattern in energy trends. The analysis can be further extended and modified by including more exogenous variables, such as production size, number of industries using petroleum fuel, and more breakdown of the pandemic period: weekly, hourly and half-hourly. Also, the study can be further analyzed based on the industrial and domestic sectors using different stochastic models to differentiate the pandemic impact on energy. For the future study, we plan to compare our results with other countries such as Europ and China. More advanced machine learning algorithms for prediction can be used for future research directions. ”
7- References are missing in some strong statements
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have carefully checked the references. References 20 and 21 have been added.
8- Renew your reference list we are today in 2023.
Response: Thanks for your comment. Reference 9 has been added to describe the fuel consumption until 2023.
9- Add citations to the host journal.
Response: Thanks for your comment. Reference 11 has been added from host journal.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Paper can be accepted now.
