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| 1 |
ID:
191354
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| Summary/Abstract |
Replacing conventional cars and trucks with battery electric vehicles requires a rapid expansion of fast-charging infrastructure. However, private sector charging infrastructure investments are delayed by unfavorable project economics and uncertainty in future demand. Prior research has addressed the former using standard net present value (NPV) methods, but neglected the latter. To address this gap, this paper introduces a real options model of charging investments, which quantifies the option value of delaying investment under uncertainty. We use this model to assess the implications of optionality in a representative case. Our analysis provides indicative estimates of how investment timing is impacted by alternative policy options: grants, long-term contracts, demand charge re-design, and Zero Emission Vehicle standards. We estimate that if grant subsidies are informed by a traditional NPV analysis, firms would delay investing by more than 5 years. Perhaps surprisingly, even low levels of risk incentivize long delays. We find that policies targeting optionality are substantially more cost-effective than the traditionally used grants. Specifically, we calculate that long-term contracts for differences can trigger immediate investments at a cost 68% lower than grants. A simpler but relatively cost-effective alternative is to introduce a phase-out schedule for grants to discourage investment delays.
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| 2 |
ID:
191352
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| Summary/Abstract |
Carbon emissions and pollutant emissions have gradually been considered in the performance evaluation of local officials to tackle the dual challenges China faces in climate change and environmental pollution, while existing literature ignores that they are separately constrained in intensity and absolute caps, thus may actually evaluated in different ways. With the data of 239 prefecture-level cities of China in 2006–2019, our paper empirically investigates how carbon and pollutant emissions differentially affect political promotion of local officials in the same performance evaluation system. The results demonstrate that pollutant emissions mainly act as a negative moderator in the dominating economic promotion tournament, while the negative impact of carbon emissions tends to work in a standalone way and is still weaker than the role of economic performance. Moreover, this diversified performance evaluation mostly took effect when it was practically implemented since 2014, and would be largely weakened for the officials come from the upper-level government. This paper helps understand how China flexibly achieves the trade-off among economic, environmental and climate targets with diversified policy tools, and can be valuable reference for other transition economies to tackle similar dilemma.
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| 3 |
ID:
191345
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| Summary/Abstract |
Despite the paramount importance of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly affordable and sustainable energy (i.e., SDG-7), the existing literature largely overlooked the household welfare gains associated with biogas. Using survey data from 971 Pakistani rural households, we employed probit regression to estimate the determinants of biogas production technology (BGPT) adoption and propensity score matching to predict the household welfare contributions of BGPT. Our results indicate that (i) a positive shock to formal and informal credit borrowing increases the likelihood of BGPT adoption by agricultural households, with informal credit borrowing showing twice the influence of formal credit. (ii) Agricultural households perceive the BGPT as a cost-ineffective solution; however, households’ aesthetic preferences are neutral in BGPT adoption. Regarding the household welfare perspectives of biogas adoption, (iii) adopter households have reduced fuel collection time and additional labor time and exhibit larger crop gains and organic food supply than nonadopters. (iv) BGPT-adopting households are likely to spend less on healthcare, indicating a lower likelihood of falling ill. Finally, (v) adopters are less likely to harm the environment as they use less firewood and fossil fuels. Based on empirical results, our policy implications contribute to multiple SDGs.
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| 4 |
ID:
191350
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| Summary/Abstract |
To encourage sustainable actions in the transportation sector, energy scenarios play a critical role in defining public policies. Possible scenarios for the technological distribution of light vehicles in 2050 were discussed to decarbonize the Brazilian transportation sector. These scenarios included internal combustion vehicles utilizing ethanol, gasoline hybrid vehicles, and battery-electric vehicles. An emissions minimization algorithm was proposed to identify potential decarbonization scenarios, considering fleet growth conditions obtained from national databases and Brazilian electric generation mix projections. The target was to achieve a 58% reduction in emissions by 2050. A 10% level of battery electric vehicle integration, combined with the widespread use of ethanol as a fuel source for internal combustion vehicles, could achieve the 58% reduction target. This highlights the importance of biofuels in low-carbon policies. Increasing the efficiency of the ethanol production chain could bring the decarbonization target up to 77%. The maximum sustainable share of electric vehicles in the Brazilian electric mix was 38%, indicating favorable scenarios for increasing the use of electric vehicles. The study highlights the potential for reducing emissions in the transportation sector using biofuels and electric vehicles, as well as the importance of optimizing the production chain of biofuels to maximize their efficiency.
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| 5 |
ID:
191361
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| Summary/Abstract |
We examine the relationship between cash flow and investment in the US energy sector from 1988 to 2020. Our analysis incorporates firms’ financial constraints and the type of energy production in which they are engaged, distinguishing between brown and green generation. Our findings reveal a positive relationship between investment and cash flow for green energy firms, which behave similarly to constrained energy firms. While traditional brown energy firms tend to use higher cash flow to increase dividend payments and repurchase equity, green and constrained firms use it to repay debt and to fund investment. Our results suggest that policies aimed at strengthening the linkages between financial intermediaries and green firms could unlock cash flow resources for investment and innovation, facilitating the scaling up of operations during the energy transition. To ensure the sustainability of the transition, it is critical to reduce the reliance of green energy firms on internally generated cash flow, which is subject to volatility and cyclical macroeconomic conditions.
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| 6 |
ID:
191356
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| Summary/Abstract |
Identifying cities’ characteristics of urban-rural overall carbon intensity imbalance is significant for the formulation and implementation of emission mitigation policies. However, existing literature focused more attention on residential sectors, ignoring other important activity sectors’ emissions. Thus, this paper estimated China’s city-level urban and rural overall carbon intensities based on all activity sectors defined by EDGAR. Subsequently, we discussed the drivers from the perspective of urban expansion. The results show that (1) China’s activity sectors in rural areas presented higher carbon intensity than those in urban areas during urban land expansion, which was mainly caused by higher rural carbon emissions density and worse rural technological level; (2) Among cities, rural areas in some developed mega cities (e.g., Shanghai and Beijing) achieved lower carbon intensity than urban areas, while those in many developing cities still suffered from worse low-carbon economy. Carbon emissions density and technological gap were typically responsible for the worse situations of those developing cities’ rural areas; (3) based on impulse responses, an increase in urban-rural technology gap significantly reduced rural areas’ carbon intensity and urban-rural carbon intensity gap in lagged periods. Especially, China’s eastern region’s urban-rural technology gap made significant contributions to improving rural technological level.
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| 7 |
ID:
191341
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| Summary/Abstract |
Microgrids could improve grid reliability and resiliency, while decentralizing, decarbonizing, and democratizing electricity provision. Recent federal and state level policies and investments have sought to encourage their development. Yet, little research has been done to understand how communities respond to microgrid proposals. We conducted case studies of community response to four different community microgrid proposals in the U.S. – two successful (Hot Springs, NC; Panton, VT) and two unsuccessful (Albany, NY; Carson, CA) – examining relevant media coverage and policy documents (n = 533) and conducting semi-structured interviews with active stakeholders (n = 28). Findings suggest that community leaders and local citizens initially viewed microgrids favorably, particularly those utilizing renewable energy as their primary generation source. Backup generation via fossil fuel sources appeared less problematic. Utility-backed proposals providing multiple component benefits in addition to resiliency – such as peak shaving and/or cost savings for utilities and transmission owners – proved more successful than those proposed by other entities without such benefits. Early, sustained, and responsive community engagement by the developer was also critical to project success – and will likely only become more so as microgrids scale up (both in numbers and size) and touch multiple stakeholders.
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| 8 |
ID:
191359
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| Summary/Abstract |
This work focuses on comparing the Brazilian first distributed energy net-metering policy, instituted by Normative Resolution (NR) nº 482/2012, and the new system, instituted by Federal Law 14,300/2022. A review of the development of international distributed energy regulation is presented, along with a review of the impacts caused to distribution grids because of distributed energy systems. A set of equations is presented to compare the energy billing for consumers under the old and the new Brazilian policies. Using the indication of the amount of energy the consumers are inclined to produce to reduce their bill, the PV energy production scenarios for five different low voltage distribution grids in Brazil are simulated. The simulations indicate that an increase in the power injection into the Brazilian distribution grids could lead to transformer overload and end-of- line overvoltage. The investment cost and loss of revenues from the installation of PV systems are also compared between different regulations scenarios, showing better revenues but also greater investment required for utilities under the new regulation. One of the main conclusions is that new Brazilian policy is reducing the loss of revenue in distributed energy, however, there is a risk for misplaced investments in the distribution grid.
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| 9 |
ID:
191364
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| Summary/Abstract |
Electric vehicles are proposed to be desirable alternative to address the challenge of air pollution caused by the traditional automobile vehicles. In this research, the authors proposed and examined a conceptual model by utilizing the theoretical bases of Construal Level Theory, Norm Activation Model, and Theory of Planned Behavior to understand the renting intentions of consumers towards electric vehicles. Specifically, we examined the role of consideration for future consequences, environmental protection attitude, personal norms, environmental subjective norms and perceived functional quality on renting intentions of consumers. We examine the model with the survey data obtained from 395 respondents. From the analysis it was discovered that consideration for future consequences was positively linked to environmental protection attitude, perceived functional quality, personal norms and environmental subjective norms. Environmental subjective norms and personal norms were found as significant predictors of renting intentions. Whereas, the effects of environmental protection attitude and perceived functional quality on renting intentions were insignificant. The relationship between renting intentions on willingness to pay premium price was positive and significant. The moderating role of greenwashing intentions was not found to be significant. Lastly, we explicate the academic and managerial implications related to renting of electric vehicles.
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| 10 |
ID:
191331
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| Summary/Abstract |
A step change is needed in the deployment of renewable energy if the triple challenge of ensuring climate change mitigation, energy security, and energy affordability is to be met. Yet, social acceptance of infrastructure projects and policies remains a key concern. While there has been decades of fruitful research on the social acceptance of wind energy and other renewables, much of the extant research is cross-sectional in nature, failing to capture the important dynamic processes that can make or break renewable energy projects. This paper introduces a Special Issue of Energy Policy which focusses on the neglected topic of the dynamics of social acceptance of renewable energy, drawing on contributions made at an international research conference held in St. Gallen (Switzerland) in June 2022. In addition to introducing these papers and drawing out common themes, we also seek to offer some conceptual clarity on the issue of dynamics in social acceptance, taking into account the influence of time, power, and scale in shaping decision-making processes. We conclude by highlighting a number of avenues of potential future research.
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| 11 |
ID:
191358
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| Summary/Abstract |
The nuclear power plants (NPPs) worldwide operating for more than 30 years have reached over 50% of the total and have entered the deterioration stage in earnest. Thus, the requirement and demand for NPP decommissioning technology are expected to continue to increase in the future. The primary purpose of this research is to estimate the national willingness to pay (WTP) for the development of NPP decommissioning technology. To this end, we used the contingent valuation method with survey data from 1,028 Korean respondents. It was found that 812 out of 1,028 respondents were willing to pay for the development of NPP decommissioning technology. The mean WTP was estimated at KRW 14173.86 (USD 10.87), and it was also found that respondents with a higher level of knowledge of NPP decommissioning had higher WTPs. The analysis shows that additional policies and projects to boost public acceptance of NPP decommissioning must be preempted to achieve a suitable level of social consensus to promote the development of NPP decommissioning technology in Korea.
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| 12 |
ID:
191351
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| Summary/Abstract |
Company carbon information disclosure (CID) has attracted increased attention in the context of global climate change and CO2 emissions reduction. Existing CID projects have seldom included consistent carbon information evaluation standards for assessing companies’ carbon performance, causing uncertainty in their effects on CO2 emissions reduction. A sharp regression discontinuity design is developed in this study, and the effects and mechanism of the carbon efficiency label (CEL) are investigated as the first CID project with consistent evaluation standards in China. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with managers of 19 companies to interpret the empirical results. We find that the CEL substantially reduced CO2 emissions from high-carbon-intensity companies of heavily regulated industries, such as the cement and chemical fiber industries. This result suggests that the CEL may address the problem of “whipping the fast and hardworking” in industrial-level environmental regulations. The reason is that the consistent evaluation standards of the CEL enable the accurate assessment of companies’ carbon information, preventing asymmetric information between government and companies. Additionally, the CEL’s deterrent effect is an important mechanism for CO2 emissions reduction. An essential factor affecting the CEL’s deterrent effect is the desire of companies to maintain dispositional legitimacy for administrative approval of energy and environmental assessments.
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| 13 |
ID:
191360
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| Summary/Abstract |
Since 2015, China has embarked on a new round of reforms to further promote marketization of the power sector. The present study evaluates this reform by exploring its impact on energy efficiency in China using a novel integrated approach. First, to distinguish the heterogeneous impacts of the reform on energy production and consumption sectors, this study identifies energy efficiency into production efficiency and utilization efficiency based on the super-efficiency network slacks-based measure–data envelopment analysis (SBM–DEA) with an undesirable output. Thereafter, we identify the impact of the reform on energy production and utilization efficiencies by applying a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) method. We find that the energy efficiency of most provinces of China is relatively low, and energy production efficiency is generally lower than energy utilization efficiency. Although energy efficiencies of most provinces show an upward trend after 2015, the efficiency gap across provinces has increased over time. Moreover, the market reform has no significant impact on energy production efficiency. However, the reform significantly improves energy utilization efficiency, and this effect is sustainable after the reform. The study findings extend our understanding of the effects of the reform and suggests that this reform introduces heterogeneity in the energy sector. This study also holds significant policy implications for furthering the power system reform and narrowing the energy efficiency gap across regions in China.
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| 14 |
ID:
191357
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| Summary/Abstract |
The carbon emissions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) through FDI are causing a shift in the emissions burden and threatening mitigation targets. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the FDI stock, greenfield FDI, and M&As on carbon emissions of MNEs from 2005 to 2016 via quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) network analysis. Through QAP network analysis, we study the FDI-carbon emissions linkage considering the interactions among agents. The results show that the “high-income region to low-income region” mode is gradually becoming the driving force in the global carbon flow, producing lots of carbon emissions with a lower investment. The investments in this mode are dirtier. Second, financial institutions have become the key emitters of global carbon emissions through FDI. This investment model makes global carbon transfer indirect and concealed. Third, the significance of the impacts of the three forms of FDI on the carbon emissions of MNEs is positive, which confirms the pollution haven effect. The greatest contributor is the FDI stock, which comes from historical investments in high-income regions. Greenfield FDI is more influential than M&As in both high- and low-income regions. This paper is a valuable reference for understanding the environmental effects of FDI.
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| 15 |
ID:
191346
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| Summary/Abstract |
The effect of various policies on electric vehicle (EV) adoption has garnered increasing interest. However, most existing studies primarily focus on the direct effects, neglecting an in-depth exploration of the underlying mechanisms and their magnitudes. Drawing upon the perspective of social psychology regarding material possessions, this study examines the mediating role of psychosocial value, an individual’s mental mechanism, between three types of incentive policies (financial incentives, information provision, and convenience policies) and consumers’ intentions to purchase EVs. Additionally, we analyse the moderating effect of family EV ownership on the relationship between incentive policies and psychosocial value. Based on a survey of 402 respondents in China, our findings indicate that all three types of incentive policies positively influence consumers’ intention to purchase EVs. Moreover, psychosocial value mediates the relationship between incentive policies and purchase intention. Among the three types of incentives, the financial incentive policy holds the least importance in enhancing psychosocial value and purchase intention, while the convenience policy is deemed the most influential. Furthermore, the relationship between incentive policies and psychosocial value is stronger for families without EV ownership. Finally, we provide implications and suggestions for future research.
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| 16 |
ID:
191347
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| Summary/Abstract |
The reduction of energy poverty plays an important role in achieving three of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action. This article contributes to the literature through its integrated application of economic and engineering approaches to energy poverty assessment. The article develops an energy poverty assessment approach centred on four steps: (i) descriptive statistics; (ii) Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI); (iii) energy ladder; and (iv) econometric assessment. The approach is applied to a large data sample for rural and urban areas of Colombia and results show correlations between income level, socioeconomic status, choice of cooking energy source and education level. The correlations are analysed with data from before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The energy poverty assessment approach can be applied in developed and developing countries by researchers and experts creating knowledge for policymakers. From the Colombian case it is established that energy policy should target advancing even further along the energy ladder towards clean, affordable, and safe energy combined with appropriate renewable energy sources.
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| 17 |
ID:
191332
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| Summary/Abstract |
Fossil fuel-related energy crises continue to threaten energy security and create problems for the transition to low-carbon energy. This study estimates the effects of coal-to-gas policies on natural gas consumption in various regions in China using the two-way fixed-effects multi-period difference in differences method and the staggered difference in differences method. We also measure the policy implementation intensity using textual analysis methods. Using daily data on natural gas consumption, the regression discontinuity design in time method is applied to explore the causality between coal-to-gas policies and natural gas shortages. The main results are as follows: coal-to-gas policies significantly boost yearly average natural gas consumption. A heterogeneity analysis shows townships, rural, and county are the focus of policy implementation. Investments in natural gas utilities and increased gas utilization are the main channels for increasing natural gas demand. While coal-to-gas policies cause natural gas shortages during the heating season, additional pipeline networks, liquefied natural gas receiving station and gas storage depots could improve the stability of supplies and reduce the impact of peak-to-trough differences. The article demonstrates for the first time that radical energy transition policies are one of the main causes of the energy crisis, providing a crucial foundation for national energy and environmental policies, and having some implications for the global energy transition process.
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| 18 |
ID:
191349
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| Summary/Abstract |
The debate over transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables often focuses on the trade-offs between fossil fuels' economic benefits and the environmental benefits of renewable energy. However, most of the extant literature has focused on the willingness to pay to increase or decrease reliance on a single, specific energy source. We implement a choice experiment in New Mexico focusing on tradeoffs between energy choice, employment, and greenhouse gas emissions within a policy context, controlling for heterogeneity across respondent groups. We find jobs are important across respondents. We also find statistically significant differences in respondent preferences for energy types based on geographic proximity to fossil fuel production and opinion about anthropogenic climate change. In many cases, preference impacts are asymmetric across respondent groups. This suggests that an energy policy with majority support may require a portfolio approach, resulting in an intricate design.
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| 19 |
ID:
191333
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper studies the economic and regulatory conditions for the implementation of large-scale projects of production and transport of green hydrogen from North Africa to Europe. The EU has shown a remarkable interest in importing hydrogen from North Africa, to reach climate commitments while compensating for the reduction of gas imports from the Russian Federation. The idea to import green hydrogen from North Africa stems from the potentially low costs of production thanks to the abundance of solar energy and land in desertic areas, and to existing export infrastructure. The paper analyses the cases of Egypt and Algeria and finds that Algeria has a potential cost advantage in transporting green hydrogen to Europe thanks to an overcapacity in its existing gas infrastructure, which could be repurposed. By contrast, Egypt is more competitive in the generation of renewable power, a key input of green hydrogen, thanks to a regulation that attracts investments. Overall, both countries are cost competitive in a similar way, although production of renewable energy is still insufficient to make export infrastructure to Europe viable. Based on their regulatory and political economy differences, the paper suggests ways for the EU to adopt a differentiated approach of cooperation with Egypt and Algeria, which suits their strategic and commercial interests and contributes to boosting their production and transport potential.
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| 20 |
ID:
191363
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| Summary/Abstract |
Agrivoltaic systems harmonize agriculture and solar energy to mitigate land use competition, strengthen agricultural viability and resilience, and enhance solar development practice. Innovations in agrivoltaics has gained traction globally yet exist in niche-application and early adoption stages in the U.S. While initial research has emphasized technical and economic performance, critical questions remain about stakeholder adoption, social acceptance, and the role of policymakers. To better define the socio-political landscape for agrivoltaic development, we leverage qualitative interviews with U.S. solar professionals. We articulate key sets of drivers and challenges of industry adoption and their interactions. The findings suggest that overcoming the challenges impeding U.S. solar industry adoption of agrivoltaics will require robust market mechanisms that stimulate price improvements as well as coordinated, cross-sector learning processes, research, and regulation. We maintain that socio-political adaptations, coupled with techno-economic advances in price and performance, may constitute the key improvements of the development landscape for agrivoltaics in the U.S. Multi-stakeholder considerations and the co-evolution of technology, practice, and regulation are discussed in the context of developing the enabling framework conditions to progress agrivoltaics from niche-innovation to mainstream markets.
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