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| 1 |
ID:
190617
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| Summary/Abstract |
Recent energy price spikes have led to increased energy poverty among low-income households living in inefficient homes. Accurate statistics on energy poverty help inform resource allocation and better target relief schemes and retrofit funds. Existing indicators are predominantly defined in terms of a headcount ratio – the share of population living below a certain threshold or poverty line. In this paper we draw from the literature on income poverty evaluation to argue that the use of more elaborate energy poverty gap indices can substantiate the design and monitoring of energy poverty policies, by not only considering incidence but also intensity and inequality of energy poverty across households. We demonstrate that the choice for a particular energy poverty (gap) indicator makes the implicit welfare choices of energy poverty policies explicit. We illustrate our arguments for the case of the Netherlands, using recently developed microdata statistics on energy poverty, and an imposed energy price shock. We show that spatial targeting of relief funds based on incidence would neglect the full depth of energy poverty deprivation. Finally, we argue that visualisation techniques from the income poverty literature help to comprehend different poverty orderings and draw comparisons between time periods, regions, and subgroups.
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| 2 |
ID:
190605
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| Summary/Abstract |
Recently, social tipping dynamics relevant to sustainability have become the subject of a growing literature. Numerous publications seek to bring the concept of tipping (back) from the natural to the social system and make important contributions to its conceptualization, definition, and constant refinement. Yet, and despite its wide array, the current literature has a blind spot: it does neither adequately integrate, conceptualize, nor measure the role of the political sphere and thus underestimates its importance for social tipping processes. This is the starting point of our contribution, which not only emphasizes the political dimension's relevance to the analysis of social tipping, but also proposes two main ways to integrate it into such analyses: by conceptualizing the political sphere either as a trigger of social tipping, or as an element that can tip itself. Moreover, to capture the complexity of the political sphere, namely the interaction between networks, actors, and processes, we suggest analysing the political sphere along its three elements: polity, politics, and policy. We illustrate the empirical benefit of these refinements by presenting a comparative case study of the nuclear phase-out in Germany and Switzerland.
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ID:
190629
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| Summary/Abstract |
California's landmark AB 32 legislation, enacted in 2006, tasked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with (1) ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 would not exceed the 1990 level, and (2) achieving the “maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”. CARB adopted a caps-and-standards framework for regulating emissions in energy sectors (electricity generation, industrial combustion, and transportation fuels). The regulations interpreted the statutory emissions limit in 2020 as a predetermined “target”, thus rendering the maximum-reduction mandate ineffectual. CARB's November 2022 Scoping Plan extends the same framework to implement California's new legislative directive (AB 1279) requiring achievement of “net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045”. The plan continues CARB's reliance on Cap-and-Trade, which establishes the minimum statutory requirement as a “target” and disincentivizes overcompliance by nullifying the environmental benefits of supplemental climate actions (the “waterbed effect”). To put California on track toward decarbonization at the scale and pace required for global climate stabilization, the legislature should institute a regulatory policy paradigm that accommodates and supports local and individual climate action, and which gives meaning and effect to the mandate requiring maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective emissions reductions.
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| 4 |
ID:
190589
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| Summary/Abstract |
The challenges of relying upon the Energy-Only Market (EOM) to remunerate power plants have been widely discussed. However virtually no empirical information is available showing what percentage of fixed costs have been recovered from the wholesale market alone in the European Union (EU). This paper presents the results of a detailed investigation into the cost recovery for thermal, nuclear, and renewable plants in France and Germany (representing 37% of the EU market) between 2005 and 2019. It shows that only second-generation nuclear plants recovered their full costs; the average level of cost recovery was 40% for combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGTs), 55% for coal plants, 30% for wind plants and 60% for utility-scale solar plants. As an alternative means of profitability determination the internal rate of return (IRR) was estimated. It was negative for CCGTs and wind plants; coal plants recorded a level of 2–3%, nuclear plants 7–8% and PV plants 0–2%, and should be compared with a typical utility cost of capital of 7%. The results are important for future market design and show that without changes, investment relying on the wholesale market alone in both renewable plants and dispatchable plants needed to accompany them will be difficult.
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| 5 |
ID:
190635
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| Summary/Abstract |
Driven from investments toward net zero transition global interest in fusion energy is growing. This policy perspective addresses challenges for its commercialization, given the potentially long timeframe to deployment and competing/complementary technologies. We focus on magnetically confined fusion power, specifically tokamaks, as the route to commercialization is clearer and there is some cost data available. For fusion to be competitive beyond 2040, costs will likely need to be at or below ∼$80–100/MWh at 2020 price. This will be hard to achieve for early fusion designs both small or large, for which modelling shows energy costs will be greater than $150/MWh even accounting for production learning. This is due to the low power availability from pulsed operation; frequent replacement of vessel components; and low efficiency power cycles. Technology improvements to improve both cycle efficiency and power availability, along with production standardization and long-life components, have the potential to reduce generation costs and enable magnetically confined fusion to be commercially viable. We therefore recommend focusing commercialization efforts on plants with higher thermal efficiency and potential for higher availability as these maximize the probability of fusion energy proving commercially viable. We also recommend that fusion energy be deployed within a proportionate regulatory regime that recognizes its relatively low radiological hazard. Finally, construction of fusion reactors should be planned in fleet/program terms, as commitment to constructing many units will be necessary for it to become commercially viable.
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| 6 |
ID:
190630
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| Summary/Abstract |
The relationship between green finance and energy efficiency is of great significance for China to solve the environmental pollution problems caused by excessive energy consumption and high carbon emissions. In this paper, the method of non-radial distance function (NDDF-DEA) is adopted to estimate the energy efficiency for 30 provinces in China. In addition, the spatial Durbin model is established based on provincial panel data from 2005 to 2019 in China to investigate the mechanisms for the impact of green finance on energy efficiency. Results show that with the characteristic of spatial dependence, the energy efficiency in China decreases with time. The green finance has spatial spillover effects, and can improve energy efficiencies in local and neighboring areas. In addition, Internet development and environmental regulation are important channels for green finance to further promote energy efficiency. Conclusions also indicate that the spatial spillover effect is positive in the eastern and western regions and negative in the central regions, proving the regional heterogeneity of spatial spillover effect for green finance. The empirical evidence and policy recommendations are provided in this paper to more rationally enhance the promotion impact of green finance on energy efficiency.
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| 7 |
ID:
190631
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| Summary/Abstract |
The importance of energy for States is fundamental. The proper functioning of production depends on energy security and energy policies. It is an object of geopolitics to control a region's production strategically. With the fight against climate change, green energy policies became relevant. In Latin America, the energy supply has various fossil and non-fossil fuels, primarily hydroelectric and alternative renewables. Energy demand is weak for EVs and mass transport vehicles. The energy matrix change process is led by China in Latin America, with a powerful presence through both credits and investments, both in renewable energy generation and the demand for EVs. Generally, she has invested the most money in energy in the world. Theoretically, there is a geopolitical issue as China has stepped into the US “backyard”. The result is that the energy matrix change has implications for domestic taxation, international trade, and inter-American relations. Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America has concentrated mainly on renewable energy since 2015, with strong resistance from the United States.
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| 8 |
ID:
190581
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| 9 |
ID:
190582
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| Summary/Abstract |
While high renewable electricity targets are feasible under current climatic conditions, planning the power sector from a long-term perspective requires great precaution, given the strong dependency of renewable energy potential on climate and potential future changes. Power balance optimization modelling is a powerful tool for adequate power system (contingency) planning, and informed decision making in future perspective. This is demonstrated based on a case study of Suriname, considering scenario simulations and impact assessments for the 2030–2040 time horizon, for multiple load and climate projections. The recently developed REVUB modelling approach is utilized, which facilitates hourly-to-multiannual simulations, the latter being important for inter-annual variability assessments, and key for climate impact studies. Our results show that Suriname has an optimized renewable electricity share potential ranging from 50% to 90% under the considered future scenarios based on complementary exploitation of hydro, wind and solar power resources.
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| 10 |
ID:
190611
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| Summary/Abstract |
We use a unique micro dataset from the period of 2014–2021 to evaluate China's Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation (PVPA) program. By employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that the community-based PVPA stations distributed in China are anti-poverty facilities that can reconcile equity and efficiency. The PVPA program not only significantly increases the total income of treated households, but also reduces the within-village inequality and encourages off-farm labor supply. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effect of PVPA is more substantial for households with a high dependency ratio and in villages where officials are well-educated. The benefit-cost ratio of a village-level PVPA station is greater than one, indicating that the community-based PVPA program is cost-effective.
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| 11 |
ID:
190613
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| Summary/Abstract |
We utilize a dataset that measures existing rooftop solar installations and classifies rooftops in terms of insolation, azimuth angle and pitch, shading, and size, from aerial imagery last updated in 2017. Analysis of these data reveals that rooftop solar adoption, defined as the number of buildings with existing photovoltaic (PV) installations divided by the total number of eligible buildings, was on average low (mean of 0.93% for 10,417 U.S. ZIP codes). Regarding potential electricity generation, fifteen states could meet their residential electricity demand if panels were placed on all suitable buildings. We conduct a linear regression analysis to elucidate factors that positively (insolation, retail electricity price, Democratic voting fraction, net metering, fraction of science or engineering degree holders) and negatively (fraction of business or education degree holders) correlate with solar adoption. The results suggest anticipated electricity cost savings as a strong motivator for PV adoption, particularly in majority Republican areas, underscoring the importance of programs such as net metering that directly compensate homeowners for generated electricity. Knowledge and installation cost, however, remain barriers. Knowledge campaigns regarding technical aspects of installation and maintenance, as well as increased and stable financial incentives, may stimulate further PV deployment.
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| 12 |
ID:
190634
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| Summary/Abstract |
This study brings a new perspective on the energy efficiency issue within the “catching-up territory” of Southern, Baltic, and Eastern European countries, where such analyses are missing. We create an original theory mix, combining theories of human capital, natural resource-based view, gender socialization, and upper echelons, to address three important research gaps: (i) the missing link regarding the effects of firm-specific human capital on energy efficiency; (ii) the interrelationship between energy efficiency and firms' innovativeness; and (iii) nonlinear relationships between firm-specific human capital, energy efficiency, and innovativeness. Moreover, we test whether energy efficiency has a mediating role within firms’ innovation processes. Our results confirm the key role experiences and skills play in energy efficiency and surprisingly refute the importance of gender diversity in this case. We also confirm the importance of environmental behaviour for innovativeness and reveal the mediating role of energy efficiency for process innovations. Finally, we propose several important implications for managers and policy makers.
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| 13 |
ID:
190621
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| Summary/Abstract |
This study explores the effects of economic complexity and energy security risk on measures of energy efficiency, namely energy intensity and carbon intensity, for a panel of the 25 top energy use countries. The empirical results from quantile regression analysis for the full panel of countries shows that an increase in economic complexity raises energy efficiency through lower energy intensity and carbon intensity. An increase in energy security risk raises energy intensity with the impact on carbon intensity varying across quantiles. Disaggregating the results between high-income and middle-income countries reveals there are clear differences in the impact of economic complexity and energy security risk on both energy intensity and carbon intensity. Finally, policy discussion and recommendations are provided in the context of the United Nations sustainable development goals.
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| 14 |
ID:
190619
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the effects of institutions and cultures on people's willingness to pay (WTP) for climate change policies by conducting a meta-regression analysis of 1501 WTP estimates retrieved from 224 studies conducted in 47 countries. The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of institutions and cultures, as well as other important factors, on WTP for combating climate change. The findings indicate that people in less-corrupt countries are more willing to contribute to tackling climate change, while societies that are characterised by greater indulgence and uncertainty avoidance extend less support towards mitigation and adaptation efforts. The types of climate change policies also appear to matter. Compared to the green electricity policy, WTP is higher for specific GHG reduction and energy-efficient vehicle policies and lower for agricultural adaptation policies. Policies directed towards latitudinal positions have a negative effect on WTP. These results imply that institutions and cultures are crucial in promoting the public acceptance of climate change policies.
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| 15 |
ID:
190595
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| Summary/Abstract |
This study empirically analyzes the price spikes that occurred in the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) market in January 2021 and draws energy policy implications from the results. The contributions of this research are as follows. First, we propose a novel structural model to capture electricity price spikes based on the buy and sell bid curves of the JEPX order book and incorporate the effect of LNG spot price fluctuations on the price of electricity. Second, the results of our empirical analysis show that the model can adequately capture the price spike in the JEPX market that occurred in January 2021. Third, the estimation of the model parameters shows that the natural gas spot price immediately shifts the price curve upward. As an important energy policy implication from the results, we propose that to manage the risk of electricity price spikes, the LNG effect on the market players’ bidding behavior, rather than the marginal cost of the supply curve, be considered; from this perspective, the LNG spot price, rather than the trend of the LNG price a few months earlier, must be monitored, and the institutional design of the JEPX market should take this into account.
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| 16 |
ID:
190622
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| Summary/Abstract |
Because the transportation sector relies heavily on fossil energy, especially petroleum, this sector has become one of the most challenging regarding a reduction of carbon emissions. However, because of the variability of regional development, the emission reduction pathways in the transportation sector vary from region to region. This study develops two sets of methods that consider only the energy factor and multiple other factors including energy (energy +), to evaluate and analyse the carbon reduction performance of China's provincial transportation sector, identify the provincial patterns of reducing carbon emissions and propose targeted pathways. The results show that there are obvious differences in energy-based and energy + -based carbon efficiency values across provinces, indicating that energy is an important element of carbon emission reduction in China's transportation sector, but factors such as the economic development level and structure and level of transportation infrastructure also have an important impact on carbon emission reduction. Both the “energy+“-based carbon efficiency and shadow price in the developed eastern provinces are higher than that of the central, western and north-eastern provinces. Considering the regional carbon shadow price and carbon efficiency, we found four different carbon peaking patterns for China's provincial transportation sector.
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| 17 |
ID:
190599
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| Summary/Abstract |
Energy efficiency at the firm level is determined by a series of complex and multifaceted factors related to firm-specific attributes and a firm's external environment. A weak institutional environment may exacerbate barriers to energy efficiency, sending interested firms in search of ways in which to signal their commitment to improving their energy usage. Paramount among these mechanisms is internationally recognized quality certification, which can both reward a firm for prior improvements and alert consumers about the quality of a firm's products. This paper examines the effect of quality certification on energy efficiency in a particularly low institutional quality environment, the four transition countries of Central Asia. Using firm-level data and controlling for other determinants of energy intensity, we find that firms that have quality certifications are indeed more efficient in their use of energy. Perhaps more importantly, we find that competition from the informal sector is also incredibly important to improved energy efficiency. The effect of certification also runs back to firm planning, as certified firms are more likely to focus on energy efficiency metrics rather than overall usage in planning for the future.
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| 18 |
ID:
190596
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| Summary/Abstract |
The recent surge in energy prices in Europe has prompted governments to introduce policy measures to support households and businesses. This paper uses the MATRIX model, a multi-sector and multi-agent macroeconomic model calibrated on the Euro Area, to analyse the economic and distributional effects of different macro-stabilization policies in response to energy price shocks. We find that, without policies, a surge in fossil fuel prices leads to higher inflation, lower GDP, and slow recovery. Generalized tax cuts and household subsidies have no significant effects, while firm subsidies promote a faster recovery at the expense of financial instability in the medium term, leading to a second slump. However, this second-round effect can be mitigated with proper fiscal-monetary policy coordination. If timely adopted, a government-funded energy tariff reduction is the most effective policy in mitigating GDP losses at relatively low public costs, particularly when coupled with an extra-profit tax on energy firms. Energy entrepreneurs benefit from rising fuel prices in all scenarios, but workers and downstream firms’ owners benefit more from energy tariff cuts and windfall profits tax.
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| 19 |
ID:
190588
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| Summary/Abstract |
Islands often suffer from structural handicaps and considerable energy problems, with the definition of relevant energy vulnerability metrics being both essential and challenging. On that basis, we argue that commonly used Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are not able to capture the special and diverse characteristics that describe different island regions. Against this backdrop, a flexible data-driven protocol is proposed, which is able to generate and also properly aggregate KPIs in a meaningful and explanatory way. The protocol's ability to assess vulnerability is evaluated using the area of the Aegean Sea in Greece, engaging the numerous non-interconnected island power systems of the region. Under this exercise, we use the generated KPIs to formulate new variables, using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The emerging principal components, which describe the energy vulnerability space, are associated with Resilience, Efficiency and Dependence and constitute the basis for computing the vulnerability metric. The components are also exploited for clustering the individual power systems into groups of different vulnerability status. Moreover, we put effort in assessing the sensitivity and adjustability of the proposed protocol as a regional-level policy tool and provide extensive discussion of the interrelations of the examined islands and their reflections on energy vulnerability.
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| 20 |
ID:
190610
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| Summary/Abstract |
Despite the consensus that green taxation is an effective way to accelerate the decarbonization of economies, few countries are implementing ambitious tax reforms. This is the case of diesel for transport in Spain. The arguments against boosting the diesel tax stressed its potential adverse effects on the economy and society, accusing it of being a regressive policy. In this paper, we shed light on the distributional impact of raising the excise tax on diesel to the same level as on gasoline for final consumers in Spain and various compensation schemes jointly designed with several stakeholders. The results confirm that raising the diesel tax without offsets would have slightly regressive effects and that rural and middle-income households would bear the brunt of the increase. However, the effects become progressive when the co-designed offsetting schemes are implemented. These findings may help decision-makers in achieving a just, acceptable, and politically viable energy transition.
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