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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Clemens Haftendorn; Claudia Kemfert; Franziska Holz |
| Abstract: | Because of economic growth and a strong increase in global energy demand the demand for fossil fuels and therefore also greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, although climate policy should lead to the opposite effect. The coal market is of special relevance as coal is available in many countries and often their first choice to meet energy demand. In this paper we assess possible interactions between climate policies and the global steam coal market. Possible market adjustments between demand centers through market effects are investigated with a numerical model of the global steam coal market until 2030: the "COALMOD-World" model. The COALMOD-World model is an equilibrium model that computes future trade flows, infrastructure investments and prices until 2030. We investigate three specific designs of climate policy: a unilateral European climate policy, an Indonesian export-limiting policy and a carbon capture and storage (CCS) fast-roll out policy in the broader context of climate policy and market constraints. We find that market adjustment effects in the coal market can have significant positive and negative impacts on the effectiveness of climate policies. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, future coal production, energy, numerical modeling, international trade |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1146&r=env |
| By: | Attavanich, Witsanu; McCarl, Bruce A.; Fuller, Stephen W.; Vedenov, Dmitry V.; Ahmedov, Zafarbek |
| Abstract: | This study was funded by the the University Transportation Center for Mobility, Texas Transportation Institute |
| Keywords: | Grain Transportation, Climate change and agriculture, Climate change and transportation, Land use change, Supply of grain, Demand for grain, Crop production patterns, Inland waterways, Mississippi River Basin, Climate change adaptation, Welfare distribution, Corn transportation, Soybeans transportation, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, C61, L91, L92, Q15, Q17, Q54, R14, R41, R13, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:109241&r=env |
| By: | Lehmann, Paul; Gawel, Erik |
| Abstract: | In virtually all EU Member States, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is complemented by support schemes for electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES-E). This policy mix has been subject to strong criticism. It is mainly argued that RES-E schemes contribute nothing to emissions reduction and undermine the cost-effectiveness of the EU ETS. Consequently, many scholars suggest the abolition of RES-E schemes. However, this conclusion rests on quite narrow and unrealistic assumptions about the design and performance of markets and policies. This article provides a systematic and comprehensive review and discussion of possible rationales for combining the EU ETS with RES-E support schemes. The first and most important reason may be restrictions to technology development and adoption. These may be attributed to the failure of markets as well as policies, and more generally to the path dependency in socio-technical systems. Under these conditions, RES-E schemes are required to reach sufficient levels of technology development. In addition, it is highlighted that in contrast to the EU ETS RES-E support schemes may provide benefits beyond mitigating climate change. -- |
| Keywords: | EU Emissions Trading System,market failure,path dependency,policy failure,policy mix,renewable energies,subsidies |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:52011&r=env |
| By: | Yallwe, Hagos Alem; Buscemi, Antonino |
| Abstract: | The paper summarized some theories and facts related to Environment, Energy and Economics. This work paper provides some highlights about the theoretical issues and facts regarding to environmental pollutions and its effect on economy and the importance of relying on other source energy to fulfil the increasing demand of power or electricity. Moreover, the paper also discussed by making comparison between industrialized and developing countries about their effect on environment and their capacity in producing nuclear energy and production level and also the link between environmental science and economics. This paper concluded that the industrialized countries are not fulfilling their commitments. About 7 Billion Metric Tons of carbon equivalent harmful greenhouse gases are omitted by industrialized countries every year and the share of U.S.A is 24% followed by Japan & Developed European Nations which accounts 26%. Whereas developing nations contributes 13% other than china. Currently only eight countries are known to have a nuclear weapons capability and sixty further nuclear power reactors are under construction, equivalent to 17% of existing capacity, while over 150 are firmly planned, equivalent to 46% of present capacity. Sixteen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity. From developed countries, France is the first country that gets around three quarters of its power from nuclear energy. Whereas most developing countries under design and some of them have small share as compared to industrialized countries. After the disaster in Japan, many countries have changed policies on the implementation of nuclear power plants. In addition, the Italian Parliament was suspended for one year, the work of approving projects on the production of energy through nuclear power plants. |
| Keywords: | Environment; Economics; Energy; |
| JEL: | A12 N5 N7 |
| Date: | 2011–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32216&r=env |
| By: | Thomas Cleff (Pforzheim University); Klaus Rennings (Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)) |
| Abstract: | In environmental policy first mover advantages for environmental technologies are often taken for granted. It is a popular view to see the state as a political entrepreneur who introduces a certain environmental policy instrument, e.g. feedin tariffs for renewable energies, and thus becomes the world market leader or the lead market for the respective technology. Against this background, this paper wants to find out if the idea of first mover advantages can be justified by theories and empirical evidence from industrial organization and business management studies. After a review of theoretical and empirical papers we see that first mover advantages are not confirmed by empirical evidence. Thereby the successful innovator is not necessarily the first but very often one of the early movers within the competition of different innovation designs. We show that the success of a timing strategy depends on country-specific lead market potentials, on market and technology characteristics and on the regime of the country-specific regulation. On this basis we derive options for environmental innovation strategies for firms under different circumstances of markets, technologies and regulations. We will see different implications for practical innovation management and innovation policy. |
| Keywords: | Lead markets, environmental innovation, first mover advantages,innovation strategies |
| JEL: | Q55 L60 O33 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp11-01&r=env |
| By: | Benjamin Dachis (C.D. Howe Institute); Jan Carr (Ontario Power Authority (retired)) |
| Abstract: | Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act subsidizes producers of renewable electricity by paying them far more for their output than the prevailing market price of electricity. Wind power receives a fixed electricity price of 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, and solar receives even larger amounts. This subsidy will result in additional costs to the average Ontario household of $310 per year; ostensibly designed to reduce emissions and create jobs, Ontario’s renewable electricity subsidy is an expensive way of meeting these goals. The drag of unnecessarily high electricity costs on the Ontario economy could be reduced if the province did not award any further subsidized contracts to renewable electricity generators. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth and Innovation, renewable energy, Province of Ontario, Canada, Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program, energy subsidies |
| JEL: | K10 K20 L10 L20 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:117&r=env |
| By: | André Betzer (University of Wuppertal); Markus Doumet (University of Mannheim); Ulf Rinne (IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how policy changes affect shareholder wealth in the context of environmental regulation. We exploit the unique and unexpected German reaction to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which involved the immediate shutdown of almost half of Germany’s nuclear reactors while safety checks were carried out, and a three-month moratorium on extending the lives of others. Using the event study methodology, our findings indicate a wealth transfer from nuclear energy companies to renewable energies companies in Germany. We moreover find that the joint market capitalization of these firms has decreased, but the amount of this combined decrease is small. Substantial heterogeneity in the shareholder wealth effects across European countries can be linked to different nuclear energy policies. The shareholder wealth of nuclear and conventional energy companies in the United States has been unaffected. |
| Keywords: | Electric Power, Nuclear Power, Green Economy, Earthquake, Tsunami, Event Study, Environment |
| JEL: | Q48 Q54 G38 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp11011&r=env |
| By: | Roland Olbrich (Department of Sustainability Sciences and Department of Economics, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany); Martin F. Quaas (Department of Economics, University of Kiel, Germany); Stefan Baumgaertner (Department of Sustainability Sciences and Department of Economics, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We empirically study personal norms of sustainability, conceptualized according to the normactivation theory and operationalized under the notion of strong ecological-economic sustainability, for commercial cattle farmers in semi-arid rangelands of Namibia, a system that is subject to extensive degradation. We characterize farmers’ personal norms, study their determinants, and analyze their impact on actual management based on the dual-preferences model. We find personal norms of sustainability that are heterogeneous across farmers, but vary little with socio-demographic or environmental characteristics. We find no evidence for a significant impact of personal norms on actual management behavior, which may be due to farmers not feeling capable for averting adverse long-term consequences of their management. This may contribute to the observed degradation of rangelands in Namibia. |
| Keywords: | commercial cattle farming, Namibia, norm-activation theory, personal norms, dual-preferences model, semi-arid rangelands, sustainability |
| JEL: | D63 Q12 Q57 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:209&r=env |
| By: | Hernando Ortego, Javier (Departamento de Análisis Económico: Teoría e Historia Económica (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the outline of the evolution of woodlands in Early Modern Age in the Tierra de Madrid. There were two different areas: the south and east, with an advanced process of deforestation at the late Middle Ages, and the north and west, where the main forest thickness was concentrated. In both of them, the spatial transformation processes (ploughing, deforestation), regulation (forest bylaws) and forms of exploitation are analyzed. Most of the woodlands were at first commons, but they experienced a gradual change in property and access rights, leading to their conversion to property of the municipality of Madrid (bienes de propios) or its integration into the Royal Forest of El Pardo. The resulting restriction of access to forest resources to neighbors caused the practice of poaching, a reflection of increasing social unrest. |
| Keywords: | forest history, forest bylaws, commons, landscape history |
| JEL: | N53 Q23 R14 R52 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpapeh:201104&r=env |
| By: | Cristian Barra (Università di Salerno); Sergio Destefanis (Università di Salerno, CELPE and CSEF); Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera (Università di Salerno) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the determination of cost efficiency in a sample of Italian small banks located in different geographical areas and including two great institutional categories: cooperative banks (CB’s) and other banks. We highlight the effect of environmental factors (asset quality, local GDP per capita) on banks’ performance, and provide novel evidence in favour of the “bad luck” hypothesis suggested by Berger and De Young (Journal of Banking and Finance, 1997). Local GDP per capita strongly affects the territorial differentials for technical efficiency, especially for CB’s. This can be easily rationalised, as current regulations hamper CB’s vis-à-vis other banks in their capability to diversify territorially. Our estimates provide us with a tentative quantitative measure of the costs of missing diversification, ranging between 2 and 7 percentage points. Correspondingly, our evidence suggests that there is potentially strong endogeneity in some currently available bank performance indicators. |
| Keywords: | Cooperative banks, Cost efficiency, Local shocks, Territorial diversification |
| JEL: | D24 G21 L89 |
| Date: | 2011–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:290&r=env |
| By: | Madrazo Madrazo, Santos (Departamento de Historia Moderna (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)); Hernando Ortego, Javier (Departamento de Análisis Económico: Teoría e Historia Económica (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)); Madrazo García de Lomana, Gonzalo (Departamento de Análisis Geográfico Regional y Geografía Física (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Madrid’s fuel demand on the near surrounding territory in the early modern period, both from an economic and an ecological viewpoint. Fuel supply (charcoal and timber) to Madrid required the raising of resources from a vast territory of inland Spain, and caused a process of specialization of forests in fuel extraction and commercialization. The economic structures of the villages of Castile adapted to the rising needs, and rural populations could take an active part in transportation of fuel and charcoal production. This paper also aims to define the area affected by the city’s charcoal production in order to analyze the ecological footprint in an organic economy. |
| Keywords: | energy history, ecological footprint, forest history, urban supply, preindustrial transport. |
| JEL: | N53 N73 Q41 R41 L73 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpapeh:201103&r=env |
| By: | Edgar Moreno Castillo |
| Abstract: | El presente artículo tuvo como objetivo comparar metodologías de análisis desde los sistemas complejos que involucraran elementos sociales y naturales en interacción entre sí y a diferentes escalas, para ser aplicadas en el estudio de proyectos forestales de captura de carbono. Este tipo de proyectos se denominan mecanismos de mitigación al cambio climático, clasificados dentro del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL) y los Mercados Voluntarios de Carbono (MVC), y despiertan especial interés por estudiar los beneficios que dejan a los “países en desarrollo”. Se realizó una revisión de trabajos que identificaran los posibles beneficios en proyectos MDL forestales y se analizaron a través de tres metodologías: Análisis y Desarrollo Institucional (IAD), Sistemas Socio Ecológicos (SSE) y Sistemas Co-evolutivos (SCE). El uso conjunto de estas metodologías contribuyó a entender mejor el tipo de interacciones y procesos emergentes que tienen los proyectos forestales, a su vez se identificaron características comunes entre metodologías y elementos de las interacciones en los proyectos relevantes para conseguir beneficios locales. Se concluyó que la implementación de proyectos forestales de captura de carbono requiere elementos institucionales, biofísicos y sociales para satisfacer múltiples intereses y su análisis requiere de metodologías que los reconozcan. Además, las metodologías estudiadas tienen suficientes elementos en común como para trabajarse de forma conjunta para representar los procesos de los proyectos forestales. Se identifica la necesidad de más investigación, ya sea metodológica o en la aplicación de modelos, particularmente la modelación basada en agentes. |
| Date: | 2011–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000178:008846&r=env |
| By: | Ricardo ROCHA; Hermes MARTINEZ |
| Abstract: | A partir de la información a escala municipal, de los cambios en las coberturas vegetales de las zonas con cultivos de coca, del Sistema de Monitoreo de Cultivos Ilícitos, se estima que la deforestación allí ocasionada correspondería a una quinta parte del total nacional en lo corrido de la primera década del siglo XXI. Además mediante econometría de panel y espacial se modela tanto la dinámica temporal como la geográfica de la deforestación, teniendo como determinantes la coca, el conflicto ambiental, la infraestructura y la vulnerabilidad a la coca de la población. |
| Date: | 2011–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000118:008856&r=env |