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on Energy Economics |
| By: | M. Cajias; F. Fürst; S. Bienert |
| Abstract: | The European Union introduced Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) in 2002 to all member states in order to enhance the environmental awareness in the real estate industry. EPCs act nowadays as a mandatory instrument in investment decisions when letting or selling new and particularly existing buildings. Empirical research across the member states has shown over the last years that energy conservation pays off as the financial benefits might exceed potential investment costs. Although Germany adopted a strict sustainability agenda to reach a carbon neutral stock by 2050, evidence about the potential energy premium in the housing market is scarce. In this paper we investigate the effect of energy performance measured by EPCs on asking rents in the German housing market based on a database involving more than 1,000,000 observations. We explore the relationship extensively between 2013 and 2014 using advanced semiparametric regression models and provide evidence of a substantial impact of energy savings on asking rents and thus on the buildings' performance. |
| Keywords: | Energy Performance; Epc; Generalized Additive Models; German Housing; Sustainability |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_284&r=all |
| By: | N.Hana Adi Maimun; J. Berry; S. McGreal; M. McCord |
| Abstract: | Following the Kyoto Protocol, energy efficiency in the property sector has become a growing concern and there has been an increasing policy focus on improving the environmental performance of dwellings. Whilst an emerging body of empirical research has identified price premiums associated with improved building energy efficiency, the relationship between energy performance and residential property remains under-researched, geographically diverse, and inhibited by a paucity of data. By developing a database and applying a hedonic pricing model, this research aims to establish whether there is a green premium associated with dwellings within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. The findings will contribute new knowledge for policy makers and practitioners in the property sector. |
| Keywords: | Belfast Metropolitan Area; Energy Efficiency; Hedonic Model; Housing Market; Sustainability |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_258&r=all |
| By: | C. D'Alpaos; M. Moretto |
| Abstract: | Purpose –Buildings energy efficiency is generally considered in terms of energy consumption, costs and GHG emissions reduction in line with the 2020 goals. It is commonly agreed that the greater the building energy efficiency, the greater the property market value. To increase energy efficiency, deep retrofitting was set in place and simultaneously photovoltaic power plants (PV) were installed, boosted through feed-in-tariffs that made them extremely attractive for both institutional and small private investors. Nonetheless Government incentives and regulations were not able to foster consumers to substantially change their energy consumption patterns. In this scenario overall cost-savings by PV-generation systems would only have a marginal impact on real estate market values, if the energy consumption pattern of the household does not match the most beneficial generation pattern and energy management is not properly performed. Aim of the paper is to investigate whether Smart Grids can increase market values due to higher production and consumption flexibility. Smart grids give de facto producers and consumers, the opportunity to be active in the market and strategically decide their optimal production/consumption pattern. We provide a model based on the real option theory to determine the value of this flexibility and the related market value increase. Design/Methodology/Approach – We model the homeowner decision to invest in a PV plant and connect to a Smart Grid. We determine the property potential market value increase due to the opportunity to perform active energy management given by smart grids and we compare this value increase to the PV plant value per se. To capture the value of managerial flexibility we implement a real option approach. Findings – The paper provides a theoretical framework to model the owner’s decision to invest in a PV plant, to be integrated in a smart grid, and determines the real estate market value increase. The greater the flexibility the greater the market value Research limitations/implications – Interesting policy implications might be driven from the model implementation. It might be derived the optimal mix between building energy retrofitting and energy market participation that increases property values in a smart grid scenario. Originality/values – The novelty of the paper lies in the attempt to define energy efficiency also in terms of flexible energy management and its implications in the energy market. |
| Keywords: | Investment Under Uncertainty; Real Estate Market Values; Real Options; Smart Grids |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_152&r=all |
| By: | Massimo Anna Alberini (University of Maryland,USA); Massimo Filippini (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we measure the energy efficiency in residential energy consumption using a panel dataset comprised of 40,246 observations from US households observed over 1997-2009. We fit a stochastic frontier model of the minimum input of energy needed to meet the level of energy services demanded by the household. This benchmarking exercise produces a transient and a persistent efficiency index for each household and each time period. We estimate that the US residential sector could save approximately 10% of its total energy consumption if it reduced persistent inefficiencies and 17% if it was able to eliminate transient inefficiencies. These figures are in line with the assessment by McKinsey (2008, 2009, 2013) and greater than those indicated by the Electric Power Research Institute (2009). They suggest that savings in energy use and associated emissions of greenhouse gases (and other pollutants) may benefit from both policy measures that attain short-run behavioral changes (e.g., nudges, social norms, display of real-time information about usage, and real-time pricing) as well measures aimed at the long run, such as energy-efficiency regulations, incentives on the purchase of high-efficiency equipment and incentives towards a change of habits in the use of the equipment. |
| Keywords: | US residential energy demand; efficiency and frontier analysis; Household data; CO2 emissions reductions |
| JEL: | D D2 Q Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:15-220&r=all |
| By: | B.(Tony) Ciochetti; M.Emre Camlibel |
| Abstract: | Buildings are responsible for more than a third of global energy consumption, and emit nearly 40% of all CO2 emissions. A small, but growing body of literature seeks to identify and isolate methods which may be employed in order to reduce the energy consumed in the operation of these structures. In this study, we develop a decision-making algorithm to mitigate the uncertainty of financial and environmental factors related to energy improvements of existing buildings, and how to efficiently allocate available funds in order to undertake such improvements. We develop a case study, in which forty two energy efficiency measures (EEM) are identified within the existing buildings of a University campus in Turkey. The operations of the buildings are analyzed, and energy consumption, energy costs and carbon emissions are measured. Costs and savings of these specific EEMs are calculated as are a number of their possible combinations. Of the more than four trillion possible combinations of energy improvement packages, the ones providing the greatest savings per unit of investment are computed for a range of limited investment budgets. This optimization problem is solved through the uses of both a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP), and a custom developed heuristics model. Our findings suggest that over the optimized investment curve, the most efficient use of EEM capital occurs withing a very tight range of allocation, providing the greatest returns in terms of energy savings, energy costs and carbon emission. Retrofitting of existing buildings with an optimized investment budget appears to be a viable investment strategy, providing yearly savings of 33% in energy use, 22% in energy cost and 23% in carbon emission. Our results show that a decision-maker can comfortably use a less sophisticated heuristics approach, which only minimally deviates from an exact MIP solution. Finally, we compare optimized solutions for retrofitting existing buildings against alternative investments of building new energy production plants and demolishing and re-constructing new buildings. In both cases retrofitting proved to be significantly more efficient in terms of investment cost, energy savings and CO2 reduction. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Emissions; Energy Efficiency Measures; Mixed Integer Programming; Sustainability |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_237&r=all |
| By: | Vasily Astrov (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Doris Hanzl-Weiss (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Sandra M. Leitner (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Olga Pindyuk (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Johannes Pöschl (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Robert Stehrer (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | Summary Environmental objectives of the EU and the widened energy price gap between the EU and the United States have recently given rise to concerns about the competitiveness of European manufacturing industries, particularly their energy-intensive branches. The study demonstrates that industrial end-user prices for gas and electricity in the EU have indeed gone up strongly relative to some of its main competitors, largely on account of the network costs component. At the same time, over the past two decades there have been marked advances in energy efficiency in response to energy price shocks. These advances have been driven primarily by technological improvements (although in the NMS a structural shift has also played a role), particularly in the case of electricity and in the long run. However, these did not fully offset the energy price increase, so that the energy cost shares have generally gone up. The study empirically demonstrates that this has had some detrimental effect on industrial competitiveness, although the latter has been generally overshadowed by the impact of other cost components such as labour costs. |
| Keywords: | energy sector, energy prices, energy costs, energy intensity, industrial competitiveness |
| JEL: | Q40 Q41 Q4 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:rpaper:rr:405&r=all |
| By: | E. Aydin; D. Brounen; N. Kok |
| Abstract: | The uncertainty regarding the financial return of energy efficiency (EE) investments may be a reason for households not to undertake profitable investments in energy efficiency. Therefore, it is important to identify the market value of energy efficiency in the housing sector. Previous literature provides some empirical evidence on the impact of energy efficiency on sale prices in the building sector. However, the most common methodological drawback of the evidence provided by the available literature is the potential bias that may arise due to the omission of unobserved dwelling characteristics that are correlated with the EE. In this study, using a large representative dataset from the Netherlands, we propose an instrumental variable approach in order to correctly identify the capitalization of energy efficiency in the housing market. We benefit from a continuous energy efficiency measure provided by Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), which enables us to estimate the elasticity of house price with respect to its energy efficiency. As well as including detailed dwelling characteristics in the hedonic model, we use an instrumental variable (IV) approach to deal with the potential omitted variable bias. The 1973-74 oil crisis, which created an exogenous discontinuity in the EE levels of the dwellings constructed before and after this date, and the evolution of building codes are used as instruments for energy efficiency. Our results indicate that the standard OLS estimates are downward biased. By using an IV approach, we find that as the energy efficiency level increases by 50 percent for an average dwelling, the value of the dwelling increases by around ten percent. In order to examine whether the value of EE increases by the disclosure of EPC, we create a common energy efficiency measure for certified and non-certified dwellings, which is based on actual energy consumption. Our findings do not suggest a larger capitalization rate for the dwellings that are transacted with EPCs. Finally, in order to examine the over-time variation in the capitalization of EE, we estimate the hedonic model for each year separately from 2003 to 2011. We document that the value of EE has doubled from 2003 to 2011, which might be partly explained by the increase of energy prices, the relative decrease in house prices. |
| Keywords: | Building Code; Energy Efficiency; Energy Label; House Price; Regression Discontinuity |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_1&r=all |
| By: | Giovanni Marin (IRCrES-CNR, Milano (Italy)); Alessandro Palma (IEFE-Bocconi, Milano (Italy)) |
| Abstract: | Traditional large appliances absorb a large share of residential electricity consumption and represent important targets of energy policy strategies aimed at achieving energy security. Despite being characterized by rather mature technologies, this group of appliances still offers large potential in terms of efficiency gains due to their pervasive diffusion. In this paper we analyse the electricity consumption of a set of four traditional ‘white goods’ in a panel of ten EU countries observed over 21 years (1990-2010), with the aim of disentangling the amount of technical efficiency from the overall energy saving. The technical efficiency trend is modelled through a set of technology components representing both the invention and adoption process by the means of specific patents weighted by production and bilateral import flows, which allows to overcome the rigid Stochastic Frontier framework in modelling the effect of technical change. Our results show that the derived energy demand and inefficiency trends are both related to changes in the amount of available technology embodied in energy efficient appliances. The effect is significant both in its domestic and international components and suggests an active role of innovation and trade policies for achieving efficiency targets which directly impact the amount of electricity consumed by households. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, technological diffusion, electrical appliances, stochastic frontier analysis, residential sector |
| JEL: | O33 Q55 Q41 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:1415&r=all |
| By: | I. Gostautas |
| Abstract: | The study investigates whether electricity consumption could be a valuable data supplement in analysing house value variations within the city. Electricity consumption is a proxy for economic and citizen activity, wealth, population size, density, and to a certain extent habits of the residents. In general, electricity could substitute many factors that are essential in real estate markets. The study investigates real estate market in London by employing a panel of electricity consumption and house price data of 32 boroughs from 2003 to 2014. The data enables to examine cross-sectional and temporal links using several panel models. Additionally, robustness of outcomes are tested. The findings indicate that there is a negative correlation between domestic electricity consumption and average house values, suggesting that owners of more expensive houses consumes less electricity. On the other hand, boroughs that consume more non domestic electricity are positively related with the average house values in the area, suggesting that homes are more expensive in more active areas. Electricity consumption could supplement data used in real estate market analysis. The electricity consumption data is precise, rapidly obtained, and could be gathered frequently without high cost, contrary to population and economic activity statistics. At the same time electricity consumption may help analyse the characteristics of an area that are difficult to quantify and expensive to collect. To the authors’ knowledge, there is no other study that investigates interconnection between electricity consumption and real estate market. By using the electricity consumption, house price trends could be quantified more precisely, thus producing a city profile that paints a more realistic picture for the market participants. |
| Keywords: | Electricity Consumption; House Prices; London, UK; Panel; Please Select Below |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_256&r=all |
| By: | A. Laitala |
| Abstract: | Nowadays relatively wide body of literature in the field of real estate handles the value of sustainability àand as a part of it, the value of energy efficiency. Most of this literature seems to be focusing on the issues of what kind of green value there possibly exists in the different real estate submarkets. Drivers of the green value have also been discussed and many factors have been argued like energy savings, rent premiums, enhanced brand images and decreased risk level. However, conceptualization of the green value has been discussed less and connection to value theory has been almost slurred. Hereby, questions like how subjective and objective nature of green value can be characterized, how they are interweaved and how subjective value perceptions drive the objective value in the market are paid less attention. Empirical part of the research is focusing on the value perceptions of energy efficiency benefits by different property market actors, like real estate owners and energy efficiency service providers. Opinions of the real estate valuers related to market functioning and regularities in this relation are mapped as well. Also the role of energy efficiency and energy performance certificates in the valuation practice is studied. Focus on the study is on commercial property market but also some notifications related to housing market are done. Research clarifies the elements of green value and decision making criteria for energy efficiency investments. Finally there is an attempt to model how green value in conceptual level have an impact on prices. As a summary paper clarifies the questions of what the green value is, why it is there and what is the impact mechanism on price. Practical implications of the results are related to value engineering highlighting investment analysis and possibly some contributions to enhanced valuation considerations can be provided as well. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency; Green Value; Real Estate Valuation |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_196&r=all |
| By: | P. Bonifaci; S. Copiello |
| Abstract: | In recent years the traditional models and tools used by the public sector to attract private capital into urban regeneration are in crisis, partly due to the economic situation. At the same time, new paradigms able to capture the interest of private subjects in regeneration are emerging. One of these, and perhaps the most interesting for its potential and the growing interest from the European Union, is the energy retrofit of existing buildings. According to some studies carried out at European and international level, the savings on energy bill and the increase of buildings market value not always seem to be able to justify a redevelopment intervention. A purely financial approach to existing buildings energy retrofit is thus not sufficient to define the convenience of such interventions, since stakeholders, social actors and their interests are multiple and often conflicting. Furthermore policies developed by the European Union are complex and have to deal with different issues such as environmental protection, fossil fuel dependence reduction and the incentive of the building sector. Therefore, present research aims to analyse the compliance between European energy policies and stakeholders' goals, using a multi-actor-multi-criteria approach in order to assess all the aspects that investors and public bodies take in account in an energy leads redevelopment project. The underlying assumption can be summarized as follow: in the framework of sustainability and social policies, the lower the conflict among actors, the greater the effectiveness of the measures. European policy measures are classified depending on their nature of economic incentives or command and control policies. Focusing on the Italian context, representatives of main stakeholders involved in energy retrofit projects are identified, asked to weight a common set of criteria (based on their specific objective) and then to evaluate the compliance between policy measures and their goals. The weighting of criteria and judgement among policy measures are based on the fuzzy set theory to model the stakeholders' subjectivity in the assessment. A cluster analysis allows identifying policy measures, and subsets of them, creating fewer conflicts among stakeholders. Results are then compared with the single judgements expressed by each stakeholder so as to analyse the relationship between goals optimization and conflict reduction, and to define a policies ranking based on their effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Buildings Energy Retrofit; European Energy Policies; Multi Actor Multi Criteria Analysis |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_51&r=all |
| By: | F.Y. Chen; J.H. Liang |
| Abstract: | Energy depletion and Ecological sustainability are two global-wide issues that most countries seriously concern about, and construction industry takes a big share of energy consumption and ecological damage. Therefore, the promotion of the green building gradually becomes the trend and leads the direction of national policy. The EEWH (Ecology, Energy Saving, Waste Reduction, Health),the Taiwanese green building labeling system, was established in 1999. This article exams the price effect of the green label with hedonic regression model in New Taipei City, and the result shows that the building certificated with EEWH gets 8% premium on average. Price premium varies at different levels of labels, and they are 14.3%, 2.7%, 4.8% and 8% for qualified, bronze, silver and gold levels. Low-priced areas have significantly higher premium of 16.8% comparing to the High-priced areas of 4.5%. In terms of space and location, the buildings in CBD obtain lower green premium than those in outskirts. We believe higher premium is seen in low-price outskirt area due to the extra marketing green labels have for these buildings. |
| Keywords: | Eewh Green Building Labeling System; Green Building; Hedonic Pricing Model; Taiwan |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_45&r=all |
| By: | N.D. Müller; A. Pfnür |
| Abstract: | The discussion about energy refurbishments is defined by high complexity. If house owners or policy makers have to identify appropriate energy standards for their buildings or the existing stock, various aspects of different disciplines (e.g. economics, ecology, building physics, architecture, ...) have their place and must taken into account. The amount of disciplinary studies on the effects of energetic retrofits grows steadily, and every discipline proofs their numbers continuously. Nevertheless, in disciplinary research, interdependencies between the various relevant aspects of the involved disciplines remain open. _This paper aims to reduce the complexity by creating transparency as well as to identify particularly efficient measures for the residential refurbishments. _In a case study on exemplary residential buildings, different measures of energetic retrofitting are analyzed in terms of their impact on various aspects, which are relevant to diverse disciplines (i.e. temperature effects, GWP, incremental costs for energy savings, ...). The identified effects show in detail the efficiency of different measures as well as their reciprocal interactions. Hence, the results provide both a guideline of beneficial measures of energetic refurbishments and a useful sequence order for house owners. Further, a transparent basis for policy implications about future levels of legal requirements for energy usage of buildings and funding instruments for energy reduction to each other. |
| Keywords: | Energetic Retrofit; Energy Efficiency Of Real Estate; Energy Policy For Real Estate; Green And Sustainable Building; Incremental Costs For Energy Savings |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_176&r=all |
| By: | V. Antoniucci; C. D'Alpaos; G. Marella |
| Abstract: | Purpose: The paper discusses energy saving policies implemented in Italy in the last ten years and shows their ineffectiveness in promoting innovation in new energy systems, such as Smart Grids.The economic fundamentals involved in energy consumption are investigated with specific reference to high rise – high density settlements and their prevalent building typology, i.e. tall buildings. The paper discusses how the energy demand and consumption of a single building can affect the energy trade-off of entire cities.Approach – We examine current local and national policies- for energy consumption reduction, then we discuss how Italian urban planning should adopt ad hoc regulation in order to pursue innovative systems of energy saving. We also - debate on the present absence of procedures to evaluate these policies’ effects on market demand in both new building construction and deep energy retrofit. Finally we argue the inadequacy of Italian national and local legislation in promoting Smart Grids as innovative systems of electric energy production, distribution and consumption.Findings – We represent the stat of art in the Italian legislation for energy saving and we offer a theoretical framework to verify the effectiveness of these measures. Furthermore we propose a new way to promote innovative systems of energy production for high density settlements. In this respect, due to technological and facility management characteristics tall buildings are an opportunity to experiment smart grids at neighborhood level. Beyond the construction engineering advances, we present how regulation should help to improve innovation.Research limitations/implications – The paper is mainly exploratory and identifies some issues for further research. Data on housing market demand related to public incentives must be collected to measure the effectiveness of local norms. Furthermore, selected case studies must be investigated to verify the energy demand at diverse urban density: this survey is preliminary to the definition of protocols for both technological and regulatory interventions.Originality/values – The paper is the first attempt in Italy to present the role of town planning norms in the promotion of Smart Grids and, in general, to match innovative distributed energy systems to legislation in planning. Furthermore the present contribution highlights the potential of specific building typologies, e.g. tall buildings, in the promotion of Smart Grids. |
| Keywords: | Energy Saving; Skyscrapers; Smart Grids; Sustainability; Urban Planning |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_122&r=all |
| By: | F. Fuerst; P. McAllister; A. Nanda; P. Wyatt |
| Abstract: | The aim of this research was to investigate the price effect of EPC ratings on the residential dwelling prices in Wales. It examined the capitalisation of energy efficiency ratings into house prices using two approaches. The first adopted a cross-sectional framework to investigate the effect of EPC band (and EPC rating) on a large sample of dwelling transactions. The second approach was based on a repeat-sales methodology to examine the impact of EPC band and rating on house price appreciation. A concern with hedonic price models is potential omitted variable bias. In the context of this study, dwellings in higher EPC bands may have been subject to unobserved improvements that enhance their quality as well as their energy performance. With this in mind, a series of robustness checks were undertaken, the main purpose of which was to restrict the sample to dwellings built relatively recently, and to exclude dwellings that are more likely to have been improved or that may be unusual in some way àdwellings that have been re-sold within a short period of time for example. |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_112&r=all |
| By: | Brita Bye; Taran Fæhn; Orvika Rosnes (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | While the introduction and reformation of climate policy instruments take place rapidly in Europe, the knowledge on how the instruments interact lags behind. In this paper we analyse different interpretations of the 2030 climate policy goals for residential energy efficiency and how they interact with targets for restricting CO2 emissions. We focus on Norway, whose climate and energy policies are integrated with those of the EU. As we account for investment costs of improving energy efficiency we find substantial welfare costs of energy efficiency policies, particularly when interacting with carbon pricing. Rebound effects within households are small, but economy-wide indirect rebound is significant because energy-intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) industries expand. As residential energy use consists mainly of carbon-free electricity, this expansion of EITE-industries leads to increased total CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | Carbon policies; Energy efficiency policies; General Equilibrium analysis; Rebound effects |
| JEL: | D58 Q43 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:817&r=all |
| By: | M. Surmann; W.A. Brunauer; S. Bienert |
| Abstract: | Despite the rising information about the ecological footprint and greenhouse gas externalities of corporates' activities only little is known about the energy efficiency of corporate real estate assets. When considering achievements from the past, such as significant reduction of carbon emissions and towards carbon accounting, the energy consumption of corporate real estate assets is of emerging interest within the sustainability strategy of corporations. On the contrary to residential and commercial buildings within the real estate industry accessibility to profound datasets for corporate assets in terms of energy performance is rather difficult. When employing a unique multi-national dataset of big-box wholesale buildings obtained from METRO Cash & Carry (MCC) the authors investigate the relationship between energy consumption, physical building characteristics and the potential impact of corporate management. The study analyzes the dataset with electricity and heat consumption in a panel regression to investigate expected higher levels of energy savings over time. All above insights about energy efficiency measures of corporate real estate assets within a special asset class we analyze the contribution of professional management towards a more efficient corporate environmental performance. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Emissions; Corporate real estate management; Energy Efficiency; Hedonic Effects; Sustainable Real Estate |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_147&r=all |
| By: | Karen Maguire (Oklahoma State University); Abdul Munasib (University of Georgia - Griffin) |
| Abstract: | Several papers have used panel data analyses to examine the effectiveness of U.S. state-level Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in promoting renewable capacity development, but the findings are inconclusive. Estimation of average treatment effects, however, can mask the fact that RPS policies across states are disparate and the treatment states are heterogeneous. We use the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) to conduct individual case studies of the early adopter states. Our findings indicate that the impact of RPS varied across states. We find Texas to be unique among these early adopters in that RPS in Texas has led to increased renewable capacity. |
| Keywords: | Renewable portfolio standard (RPS), renewable energy, electricity, synthetic control method (SCM) |
| JEL: | Q4 Q42 Q48 H7 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:okl:wpaper:1502&r=all |
| By: | Sebastian Just (Chair for Management Sciences and Energy Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the technical background, describes the market design and its development as well as summarizes the market results of the German system reserve capacity market and the balancing energy mechanism, which are the key tools for required balancing the of the electricity system. |
| Keywords: | system reserve capacity, balancing energy mechanism, German electricity market,market design |
| JEL: | Q40 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dui:wpaper:1506&r=all |
| By: | Marc Baudry |
| Abstract: | Renewable energy technologies are called to play a crucial role in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Since most of these technologies are immature, public policies provide for two types of support: technology push and market pull. The latter aims at creating demand for new technologies and at stimulating their diffusion. Nevertheless, due to the complex self-sustained dynamics of diffusion it is hard to determine whether newly installed capacities are imputable to the impulse effect of instruments at the beginning of the diffusion process or to the current support. The paper addresses this problem. A micro-founded model of technology diffusion is built to estimate the impact of the yearly average Return-on-Investment (RoI) on the yearly count of commissioned wind farms in six European countries over the last decade. A counter-factual analysis is carried out to assess the impact of policy instruments on the RoI and, indirectly, on diffusion. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; technology diffusion; wind power; market pull; technology push. |
| JEL: | O33 Q42 Q55 H23 C61 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2015-18&r=all |
| By: | Bahn, O (GERAD and Department of Decision Sciences, HEC Montreal); de Bruin, Kelly (CERE, Umeå University); Fertel, C (GERAD, HEC Montreal) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing our planet in the foreseeable future, yet, despite international environmental agreements, global GHG emissions are still increasing. In this context, adaptation measures are an alternative to mitigation efforts. These measures involve adjustments to economic or social structures to limit the impact of climate change without limiting climate change itself. To assess the interplay of adaptation and mitigation, we propose AD-MERGE, an integrated assessment model that includes both reactive ("flow") and proactive ("stock") adaptation strategies as well as several mitigation (energy) technologies. We find that adaptation delays but does not prevent the transition to clean energy systems (carbon capture and sequestration systems, nuclear, and renewables). Moreover, applying both strategies is more effective than using just one. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; Climate policy mix; Adaptation; Mitigation; Integrated assessment |
| JEL: | Q50 Q52 |
| Date: | 2015–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2015_008&r=all |
| By: | Doostan, Milad; Vatani, Behdad; Mohajeryami, Saeed |
| Abstract: | In this paper, a company, Evergreen Solar Inc., located in Massachusetts, which was manufacturing solar panels for the photovoltaics industry is investigated. The company filed for bankruptcy on year 2011, closed its factory in Massachusetts and relocated manufacturing to China. In this paper, first, an introduction to solar energy will be provided. A history of the company then will be discussed. Finally, by considering the company’s financial data, the market and industry involved as well as engineering aspects, the major reasons for the aforesaid bankruptcy will be examined. |
| Keywords: | Evergreen Solar Inc., solar panels, string ribbon technology, bankruptcy |
| JEL: | L2 |
| Date: | 2015–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66532&r=all |
| By: | P. Bélanger |
| Abstract: | Background – Photovoltaic (PV) panels are an important component of passive and positive energy buildings. The value of the PV depends on the price of the electricity and on the quantity of energy produced. PV investors does not want to maximize the quantity of energy produced but the cash flow generated by the electricity produced. Electricity prices are cyclical, so is they depends on the time of the days and on the day of the year. Electricity prices are different around the globe, so are solar radiation. The optimum combination of high price and high radiation is not easy to find. The best locations to install PV panel are locations where radiation and prices combination merge together to create the maximum value.Purpose – This paper intend to present a method that integrate weather data and market price dynamic in order to find the fundamental value of distributed PV production. In a second time, we use this approach to find the fundamental value of distributed PV production around the globe for 30 locations and 60 different climate readings.Design– We use standard weather data from two sources. These data source give information about the radiation available for each hour of the year. We use historical electricity price data and official authority forecast to forecast the future electricity price path. We then optimize the position of the PV panel in order to achieve the higher present value of the energy sold over the life cycle of the PV panel, including standard technology decay. This optimum positioning maximize the cash flow generated by PV panels and therefore should be considered as PV fundamental value.Results – As of now, results are preliminary but at the time of the conference, we will have the fundamental value for each location. We already know that some location among the best location are surprising.Limitations / implications – Electricity price data source quality are not the same for each jurisdiction. Future energy price is a combination of historical price, for the hourly price pattern, and official forecast, for growth rate path. Obviously the results are dependent on their reliability.Practical implications – Investors choice of investment and policy maker decision can be impacted by the results.Originality / Value – We analyze the fundamental value for a number of locations. Second, we analyze the robustness of the result obtain with different data sources. |
| Keywords: | Distributed Photovoltaic; Electricity Prices; Real Estate; Weather |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_186&r=all |
| By: | Mark Miller (University of Maryland, USA); Anna Alberini (University of Maryland, USA) |
| Abstract: | Price elasticity estimates of residential electricity demand vary widely across the economic literature. In this paper, we seek to explain these findings using three nationwide datasets – the American Housing Survey, Forms EIA-861, and the Residential Energy Consumption Survey – from the U.S. We examine the role of the sample period, level of aggregation, use of panel data, use of instrumental variables, and inclusion of housing characteristics and capital stock. Our findings suggest that price elasticities have remained relatively constant over time. Upon splitting our panel datasets into annual cross sections, we do observe a negative relationship between price elasticities and the price variance. Whether prices are rising or falling appears to have little effect on our estimates. We also find that aggregating our data generally produces lower price elasticity estimates, as does controlling for unit level fixed effects when using panel data. Addressing the endogeneity of price and/or measurement error in price with instrumental variables has a small but noticeable effect on the price elasticities. Finally, controlling for housing characteristics and capital stock produces a lower price elasticity. |
| Keywords: | residential electricity demand, price elasticity of demand, household-level data, rebound effect, energy demand forecast |
| JEL: | Q41 D12 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:15-223&r=all |
| By: | S. Thanos; M. Karmagianni; I. Hamilton |
| Abstract: | Prepayment meters are normally installed in the UK to address the risk of non-payment from overindebted households and the literature shows a discrepancy of higher energy prices in prepayment meters. This research seeks to understand the spatial aspect of this sorting process, where prepayment meters and higher energy prices are concentrated in the areas of higher fuel poverty. A corollary research question is whether this sorting affects aspects of the consumption of housing services with respect to structural and neighbourhood characteristic. State-of-the-art latent class discrete choice models (LCM) are employed on the choice of prepayment to standard payment meter. LCM approach identifies unobservable subgroups within the population and the housing stock, allowing better understanding the impact of exposure to patterns of multiple risks, as well as the antecedents and consequences of complex behaviours. Therefore, interventions can be tailored to target the subgroups that are affected most; in this case, households vulnerable to fuel poverty affected by market failures that lead to adverse self-selection. |
| Keywords: | Discrete Choice Models; Energy Prices; Fuel Poverty; Housing Services; Sorting |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_117&r=all |
| By: | Christoph Böhringer (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre & ZenTra); Markus Bortolamedi (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre) |
| Abstract: | Energy security ranks high on the policy agenda of many countries. To improve on energy security, governments undertake regulatory measures for promoting renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, or curbing carbon dioxide emissions. The impacts of such measures on energy security are typically monitored by means of so-called energy security indicators. In this paper, we show that the common use of wide-spread energy security indicators falls short of providing a meaningful metric. Regulatory measures to improve on energy security trigger ambiguous effects across energy security indicators. We conclude that a major pitfall of energy security indicators is the lack of a rigorous microeconomic foundation. |
| Keywords: | energy security, energy security indicators, computable general equilibrium analysis |
| JEL: | D58 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zen:wpaper:55&r=all |
| By: | M. McCord; J. McCord; P. Davis; M. Haran |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade, there has been an increasing policy focus on improving the environmental performance of the housing stock. Following the Kyoto Protocol, the reduction of energy consumption attributable to buildings is a key Government policy objective. The housing sector has therefore observed a paradigm shift with increasing emphasis on energy efficient housing becoming a new orthodoxy. A side effect of this has been the mandate for ‘compulsory’ Energy performance certificates (EPCs) as new laws are promulgated relating to the need to conform with energy performance levels. As from 2018, all properties with EPC levels F and G will not be ‘lettable’ and this is likely to be extended to properties for sale. With increasing utility costs to customers, purchasers and authorities are becoming increasingly concerned with the running cost of properties and whether property energy improvements will be capitalized into sale value. Indeed, how energy efficiency is valued in the residential property market in terms of resale or appraisal value is a growing concern (McNamara, 2008; Sayce et al., 2010). Notwithstanding this, the relationship between energy performance and property value remains nebulous, complex and under-researched. In Europe, few studies investigate the effect of energy performance rating on residential property value with limited information and research in the UK and Northern Ireland context. This research uses hedonic analysis to investigate the relationship between EPCs and property sale price within the Belfast housing market. The findings show that there is a positive statistically significant relationship – however, this is complex and subject to omitted variable bias and endogeneity problems. In addition, there appears to be a rural urban divide with regards to where policy should target. We further develop a multiplicative model (CAMA) to assess the energy performance of properties across NI using CO2 kg m2. The results show that introduction of a ‘green’ tax may indeed help foster behavioural change, but is in no way a panacea. |
| Keywords: | Energy Performance; Green Tax; Mass Appraisal |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_76&r=all |
| By: | Xiaoping He and David Reiner |
| Abstract: | Consumers’ activities play an important role in determining the extent to which any market may become competitive. Although energy prices and switching tariffs and suppliers become very salient politically over 2013-14 in the UK and the number and share of small suppliers increased dramatically over that period, relatively fewer customers switched suppliers in UK electricity and gas markets despite the potential for financial gains, suggesting that non-price factors may affect switching decisions. Using a unique nation-wide British survey, we investigate the determinants of consumers’ switching behavior in electricity and gas markets, by emphasizing the effects of individual attitudes towards energy issues as well as perception of switching cost and benefit. We find that the complexity of household energy tariffs, consumers’ lack of attention to issue of energy prices, expectation on the costs of switching process and lack of switching experience discourage switching. Political allegiance also appears to play a role as Labour Party voters are more likely to switch. Few demographic factors are found to affect the likelihood of switching. Higher education qualifications are related to increased activity in energy markets. Households paying by direct debit are more likely to switch than those paying by other ways. Financial hardship a household suffers does not matter for switching decisions, suggesting there is no clear relationship between switching and income. We conclude that policies which emphasize simplification of energy tariffs, increasing convenience of switching, improving consumers’ concerns about energy issues, improving consumers’ confidence to exercise switch are likely to increase consumer activity. |
| Keywords: | Energy markets; switching supplier; household behaviors; logit model |
| JEL: | C25 D21 Q49 R29 |
| Date: | 2015–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1525&r=all |
| By: | Mohajeryami, Saeed; Moghadasi, Seyedmahdi; Rahimi, Kaveh |
| Abstract: | Areva is a French multinational company, mainly known for its nuclear power activities. This Company is active in all parts of value chain of nuclear energy. After Fukushima disaster, this company faced a huge financial loss. This study investigates the reasons for the loss and how Areva could manage the loss better. Diversification, increasing the flexibility of its human resource management, not taking any unsafe bet after 2008 vulnerable global market, adopting more realistic and risk-averse approach for estimation of the cost of its nuclear projects are suggested as a preventive and corrective measures. |
| Keywords: | Areva, financial loss, nuclear energy |
| JEL: | L2 |
| Date: | 2015–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66587&r=all |
| By: | Lynch, Muireann Á.; Devine, Mel |
| Abstract: | Capacity remuneration mechanisms exist in many electricity markets. Capacity mechanism designs do not explicitly consider the effects of refurbishment of existing generation units in order to increase their reliability. This paper presents a mixed complementarity problem with endogenous probabilities to examine the impact of refurbishment on electricity prices and generation investment. Capacity payments are found to increase reliability when refurbishment is not possible, while capacity payments and reliability options yield similar results when refurbishment is possible. Final costs to consumers are similar under the two mechanisms with the exception of the initial case of overcapacity. |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp507&r=all |
| By: | Gilbert Kollenbach |
| Keywords: | Fossil Fuel, Renewable Energy, Capacity |
| JEL: | Q20 Q32 Q42 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sie:siegen:175-15&r=all |
| By: | Lynch, Muireann Á.; Di Cosmo, Valeria |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:resnot:rn2015/1/1&r=all |
| By: | Trotter, Ian Michael; Féres, José Gustavo; Bolkesjø, Torjus Folsland; de Hollanda, Lavínia Rocha |
| Abstract: | Long-term load forecasts are important for planning the development of the electric power infrastructure. We present a methodology for simulating ensembles of daily long-term load forecasts for Brazil under climate change scenarios. For certain applications, it is important to choose an ensemble approach in order to estimate the (conditional) probability distribution of the load. High temporal resolution is necessary in order to preserve key features of the electricity demand that are particularly important in the face of increasing penetration of intermittent renewable power generation. |
| Keywords: | long-term load forecast, electricity demand, climate change, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ufvdwp:208689&r=all |
| By: | Alexandre Gohin |
| Abstract: | We analyze two puzzling results released by the California Air Resource Board who recently revises its land use changes and greenhouse gas emissions induced by biofuels. First the absolute reduction in the US average soya biodiesel estimate is much greater than the reduction in the US average corn ethanol one. Second the EU canola biodiesel estimate is twice the US canola biodiesel one. We find that these two puzzling results are mostly explained by some weak initial economic data. In both cases, the underestimation of the oilmeal production values biases upwards the carbon emission estimates. We then recall that any economic analysis is only worth the quality of the supporting data. The current focus on unobserved elasticity values to assess biofuel impacts is not sufficient. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, land use changes, models, data |
| JEL: | Q11 Q57 C68 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201508&r=all |
| By: | Sebastien Pouliot (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)); Bruce A. Babcock (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)) |
| Abstract: | EPA's justification for proposing to reduce ethanol mandates is that the supply of ethanol that consumers will use is less than original mandates specified in the Renewable Fuels Standard. Using more straightforward language, EPA believes that consumer demand for ethanol is not high enough to meet the original targets. The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) pegs current US consumption of gasoline at about 137 billion gallons. Nearly all of this gasoline contains 10 percent ethanol (E10). Thus, as much as 13.7 billion gallons of ethanol can be consumed in E10. The original mandate for conventional biofuel (widely assumed to be corn ethanol) was supposed to increase to 15 billion gallons in 2016. This would require 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol consumption in gasoline-ethanol blends that contain more than 10 percent ethanol. The two blends that contain more than 10 percent ethanol approved for sale are E15 and E85. The number of stations that sell E15 is currently quite small, whereas almost 3,000 stations sell E85. Thus, EPA focuses on the contribution of potential E85 sales to make its claim that there is insufficient demand for ethanol to support a mandate of 15 billion gallons. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:15-bp54&r=all |
| By: | Vollaard, Ben (Tilburg University, TILEC) |
| Abstract: | The probability of conviction commonly varies across different circumstances due to imperfect monitoring. Evidence of whether and how offenders exploit gaps in monitoring provides insight into the process by which deterrence is produced. We present an empirical test of temporal displacement of illegal discharges of oil from shipping, a major source of ocean pollution, in response to a monitoring technology that features variation in the probability of conviction by time of day. After sunset and before sunrise, evidence collected using airborne radar day-round becomes contestable in court because the nature of an identified spot cannot be verified visually. Using data from surveillance flights<br/>above the Dutch part of the North Sea during 1992-2011, we only find evidence for temporal displacement after 1999, with further tightening of the regulations. By that time, the overall level of discharges had been reduced considerably, making the observed temporal displacement relatively small in absolute levels. |
| Keywords: | deterrence; pollution; environmentel crime |
| JEL: | K32 K42 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutil:6bbaaff7-4d6f-4c9e-987b-fd89aea7c235&r=all |
| By: | Vitaly Pershin (University of Navarra); Juan Carlos Molero (University of Navarra); Fernando Pérez de Gracia (University of Navarra) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between oil prices and exchange rates in three African countries using a Vector AutoRegressive (VAR) model. We use daily dataset on nominal exchange rates, oil prices and short term interbank interest rates from 01/12/2003 to 02/07/2014. The results suggest that the exchange rate of three selected countries displayed differing in the event of an oil price shock, not only before and after the oil peak of July of 2008, but also between each other, implying that no general rule can be made for net oil importing sub-Saharan countries, such as Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania. From our analysis we conclude that after an oil price peak, the Botswanan pula clearly appreciates against the US dollar, the Kenyan and Tanzanian shilling. |
| Keywords: | oil prices, exchange rates, African economies, VAR model. |
| JEL: | F31 F41 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:una:unccee:wp0115&r=all |
| By: | Bouoiyour, Jamal; Selmi, Refk |
| Abstract: | The present research seeks to address whether internet search drives oil market. For this purpose, we perform two analyses to empirically gauge the relevance of Google search Index as a measure of investors’ attention. Firstly, we test if extracting public moods oriented to crude oil using web contents, can help to predict crude oil. Secondly, we analyze the informational content of three oil events (OPEC cuts, 2008 global financial crisis and Libya war) in terms of their effects on the behavior of the crude oil. To achieve this goal, we intend to decompose the causality between attention and oil price into different time scales and frequencies using frequency domain causality test and nonlinear causality test-based wavelet. To ascertain the robustness of our results, we replicate the same testing procedure using another attention proxy which is the number of tweets. The paper decisively confirms that there is a short-run relationship between attention and crude oil. In addition, we show that world crude oil responding to oil events display sharp differentiation. If OPEC cuts had short- and medium-run causality and Libya war exhibits a short-term causality, the attention to global financial collapse had a longer time interval and a wider scale of influence. The first finding implies that internet search is a very practical way to compute investors’ attention that can help in predicting short-run fluctuations in the oil market. For the second outcome, different shock origins and distinct properties of oil events may be advanced as possible element of explanation that may exhibit different effects on crude oil. |
| Keywords: | Crude oil; oil events; investors’ attention; Google Trends; Twitter; time-frequency approaches. |
| JEL: | E3 E31 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66214&r=all |
| By: | Krista Predy (University of Calgary); Emilson Caputo Delfino Silva |
| Date: | 2015–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clg:wpaper:2015-21&r=all |
| By: | Richard G. Newell; Daniel Raimi |
| Abstract: | Oil and gas development associated with shale resources has increased substantially in the United States, with important implications for local governments. These governments tend to experience increased revenue from a variety of sources, such as severance taxes distributed by the state government, local property taxes and sales taxes, direct payments from oil and gas companies, and in-kind contributions from those companies. Local governments also tend to face increased demand for services such as road repairs due to heavy truck traffic and from population growth associated with the oil and gas sector. This paper describes the major oil- and gas related revenues and service demands (i.e., costs) that county and municipal governments have experienced in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming. Based on extensive interviews with officials in the most heavily affected parts of these states, along with analysis of financial data, it appears that most county and municipal governments have experienced net financial benefits, though some in western North Dakota and eastern Montana appear to have experienced net negative fiscal impacts. Some municipalities in rural Colorado and Wyoming also struggled to manage fiscal impacts during recent oil and gas booms, though these challenges faded as drilling activity slowed. |
| JEL: | H25 H71 H72 H76 Q32 Q33 Q41 Q43 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21542&r=all |
| By: | R. Santovito; A. Abiko; S. Bienert |
| Abstract: | Over the last decades, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have grown at an increasing rate, which is likely to continue on the long-term trend. These emissions must be significantly reduced to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As the world becomes more urbanized, cities stand at the forefront of efforts to achieve this goal. GHG emissions flow in and out of the administrative and geographical limits of a city, and interdisciplinary information is needed to pursue low-emission urban development strategies. Existing GHG inventory tools and procedures favor scaled-down estimations and direct emission sources. Policy makers cannot rely on scaled-down data from national GHG inventories to take action on a neighborhood level. As the geographic coverage of a GHG inventory gets smaller, emission activities that occur within the defined boundaries are intrinsically interconnected with ‘out-of-bound’ areas. In this case, accounting for emissions occurring outside a neighborhood is not an option, but a requirement. This paper presents a comparison among existing GHG emissions tools and methodologies, focusing on the problems that arise when using top-down Emissions factors to calculate indirect emissions. |
| Keywords: | Greehouse Gases; Inventory; Neighbourhood; Urban Sustainability |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_282&r=all |
| By: | Andor, Mark A.; Frondel, Manuel; Schmidt, Christoph M.; Simora, Michael; Sommer, Stephan |
| Abstract: | Öffentlichkeit und Politik müssen häufig den Eindruck gewinnen, dass Wirtschaftswissenschaftler bei zentralen wirtschaftspolitischen Fragen keine Einigkeit erzielen können. Dies gilt nicht zuletzt für die Umsetzung der Energiewende. Dieser Beitrag nutzt die öff entlich zugänglichen Stellungnahmen einschlägiger Forschungsinstitute, um durch die Identifikation von Bereichen des Konsens und Dissens unter Energieökonomen einen Kontrapunkt zu setzen. Wider Erwarten wird offenbar, dass auf wesentlichen Handlungsfeldern weitgehende Einigkeit besteht und somit klare Handlungsempfehlungen ausgesprochen werden können. |
| Keywords: | Strommarkt,Fördermodelle,Emissionshandel,Erneuerbare Energien,Verteilungseffekte,Netzausbau |
| JEL: | Q28 Q40 Q42 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwimat:91&r=all |
| By: | Kiula, Olga; Markandya, Anil; Ščasný, Milan; Menkyna Tsuchimoto, Fusako |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impacts of local emissions charges as well as a tax on CO2 for a small open economy. We do this to see the separate and collective impacts of these taxes so as to understand the effects of a system of environmental taxes that reflects something close to the full internalization of external effects in the case of air emissions. The analysis was carried out using a static CGE model, with unemployment, bottom-up abatement technologies and with sector- and fuel-specific emission coefficients. The model imposes environmental charges on several pollutants, as a result of which emissions can fall through three channels: reduced output of the polluting good, substitution between production factors, and increased end-of-pipe abatement activity. Such CGE modeling of both local and global pollutants, with a wide range of abatement options is one of the first of its kind. The analysis shows that a full internalization of air pollution externalities can result in modest overall welfare gains and the combination of local pollution taxes and CO2 taxes should be feasible. There are, however, differences in terms of employment and output impacts, depending on what combination of taxes are applied, which sectors are covered and how fiscal revenues are redistributed. |
| Keywords: | CGE modelling; Internalisation of external costs; Ancillary benefits; Carbon taxation; Air pollution charging |
| JEL: | D58 D62 H22 H23 Q52 |
| Date: | 2014–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66599&r=all |
| By: | Céline Guivarch (CIRED); Antonin Pottier (Mines ParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Recent papers have investigated with Integrated Assessment Models the possibility that climate damages bear on productivity growth and not on production, the traditional route that follows Nordhaus's work. According to these papers, damages on growth lead to a higher social cost of carbon (SCC). Here, we reconsider the evidence with the introduction of a measure of the amount of damages, to allow the comparison between alternative representations of damages. We build a simple climate-economy model and compare three damages specifications: quadratic damages on production, linear damages on growth and quadratic damages on growth. We show that when total damages are the same, the ranking of SCC between a model with damages on production and a model with damages on growth is not unequivocal. It depends on welfare parameters such as the utility discount rate or the elasticity of marginal social utility of consumption. The difference in SCC comes both from when damages occur and from their total amount. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, damages, social cost of carbon, growth |
| JEL: | Q54 Q51 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2015.15&r=all |
| By: | L. Chin |
| Abstract: | In Singapore, the retail sector is one of the highest consumers of energy per floor area, with tenants within a retail mall accounting for approximately 50 per cent of the building’s total energy consumption (BCA, 2013). This reflects the need to reduce the energy consumption of retail tenants to enhance the mall’s sustainability, and to lower the carbon footprint of the retail sector in Singapore. Going green has been adopted in many developed countries such as Australia, Europe, Canada, and USA. The aim is to encourage both landlords and tenants to minimize adverse environmental impact, and is widely known as a powerful mechanism to drive carbon dioxide savings in commercial properties. However, sustainable developments are a relatively new phenomenon in Singapore. This study examines how the implementation of sustainability practices and approaches can contribute to an increase in overall patronage to a mall, and if shopper characteristics such as their education levels and ethnicities will influence their perceptions on the need and benefits of sustainability in retail malls. The results obtained a sample of two malls found that most shoppers are more incentivized to increase patronage to malls with sustainability practices including the introduction of green leases. |
| Keywords: | Energy Conservation; Green Leases; Retail Malls; Singapore; Sustainable Developments |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2015–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2015_5&r=all |
| By: | Di Cosmo, Valeria |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of the Italian electricity price (PUN) in order to determine the major challenges this market is currently facing. The results suggest that the policy maker should be aware that the importance of market expectations is increasing (captured in the model by the forward electricity price) and this may be used to understand and forecast the dynamics of spot prices. Second, the positive link between fuel prices and the Italian electricity price may lead to a greater exposure of the Italian electricity price to fluctuations in the international fuel markets. However the results show that the risks associated with higher fuel prices are partially mitigated by the presence of wind generation installed in the system. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp511&r=all |
| By: | José M. Belbute (Department of Economics, University of Évora, Portugal); Alfredo Marvão Pereira (Department of Economics, The College of William and Mary) |
| Abstract: | We provide alternative reference forecasts for global CO2 emissions based on an ARFIMA model estimated with annual data from 1750 to 2013. These forecasts are free from additional assumptions on demographic and economic variables that are commonly used in reference forecasts, as they only rely on the properties of the underlying stochastic process for CO2emissions, as well as on all the observed information it incorporates. In this sense, these forecasts are more based on fundamentals. Our reference forecast suggests that in 2030, 2040 and 2050, in the absence of any structural changes of any type, CO2 would likely be at about 25%, 34% and 39.9% above 2010 emission levels, respectively. These values are clearly below the levels proposed by other reference scenarios available in the literature. This is important, as it suggests that the ongoing policy goals are actually within much closer reach than what is implied by the standard CO2reference emission scenarios. Having lower and more realistic reference emissions projections not only gives a truer assessment of the policy efforts that are needed, but also highlights the lower costs involved in mitigation efforts, thereby maximizing the likelihood of more widespread energy and environmental policy efforts. |
| Keywords: | Forecasting, reference scenario, CO2 emissions, long memory, ARFIMA |
| JEL: | C22 C53 O13 Q47 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:164&r=all |
| By: | Iwata, Kazuyuki; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | This study advocates a multi-dimensional urban planning strategy to help combat climate change under local—and not national—policies. However, the literature does not provide adequate guidance to local governments seeking to enhance urbanization and in turn reduce vehicular carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Therefore, this study sheds light on the effects of the following four urban planning instruments on vehicular CO2 emissions: urbanization promoting areas, urbanization control areas, urban planning taxes and property taxes. Using Japanese city-level data from 1990 to 2010, we find that the two urbanization area planning instruments and the urban planning taxes help lower emissions by increasing population density in low-density cities and that property taxes help reduce emissions in high-density cities. However, the increased population density associated with these instruments can lead to other negative outcomes, including increased traffic accidents, increased crime and a decrease in the facility condition index. City governments should consider complementary policies to mitigate such negative outcomes when employing planning instruments aiming to increase population density. |
| Keywords: | urbanization, population density, land use taxes, land use regulations, carbon dioxide emissions, multiple outcome |
| JEL: | Q58 R52 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66435&r=all |
| By: | Ambec, Stefan (Toulouse School of Economics (INRA-LERNA) and University of Gothenburg.); Coria, Jessica (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the interplay between policies aimed to control global and local pollution such as greenhouse gases and particulate matter. The two types of pollution interact in the abatement cost function of the polluting firms through economies or diseconomies of scope. They are regulated by distinct entities (global versus local), potentially with di¤erent instruments that are designed according to some specific agenda. We show that the choice of regulatory instrument and the timing of the regulations matter for efficiency. Emissions of local pollution are distorted if the local regulators anticipate that global pollution will later be regulated through emission caps. The regulation is too (not enough) stringent when abatement efforts exhibit economies (diseconomies) of scope. In contrast, we obtain e¢ ciency if the global pollutant is regulated by tax provided that the revenues from taxing emissions are redistributed to the local communities in a lump-sum way.<p> |
| Keywords: | environmental regulation; multiple-pollutants; policy spillovers; emission tax; emission standard; emissions trading |
| JEL: | D62 Q50 Q53 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0626&r=all |