|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Coulomb, R.; Henriet, F. |
| Abstract: | Among technological options to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Carbon Capture and Storage technology (CCS) seems particularly promising. This technology allows to keep on extracting polluting fossil fuels without drastically increasing CO2 atmospheric concentration. We examine here a two-sector model with two primary energy resources, a polluting exhaustible resource and an expensive carbon-free renewable resource, in which an environmental regulation is imposed through a cap on the atmospheric carbon stock. We assume that only the emissions from one sector can be captured. Previous literature, based on one-sector models in which all emissions are capturable, finds that CCS technology should not be used before the threshold has been reached. We find that, when technical constraints make it impossible to capture emissions from both sectors, this result does not always hold. CCS technology should be used before the ceiling is reached if non capturable emissions are large enough. In that case, we find that energy prices paths must differ between sectors reflecting the difference of social cost of the resource according to its use. Numerical exercise shows that the initial carbon tax should equal 52$/t CO2 and that using CCS before the ceiling is optimal. |
| Keywords: | Nonrenewable Resources, Externalities, Carbon Capture. |
| JEL: | Q31 Q38 Q41 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:322&r=env |
| By: | Junko Mochizuki (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa); ZhongXiang Zhang (East-West Center); |
| Abstract: | China’s emerging standing in the world demands a major rethinking of its diplomatic strategies. Given its population size, geographical scale, economic power and military presence, China is poised to play a larger political role in the twenty-first century, and is thus perceived by the international community to have greater capacities, capabilities and responsibilities. At the same time, environmental stresses caused by China’s energy and resources demands have become increasingly evident in recent years, urging China to cultivate delicate diplomatic relations with its neighbors and strategic partners. Tensions have been seen in areas such as transboundary air pollution, cross-border water resources management and resources exploitation, and more recently in global issues such as climate change. As the Chinese leadership begins to embrace the identity of a responsible developing country, it is becoming apparent that while unabated resources demands and environmental deterioration may pose a great threat to environmental security, a shared sense of urgency could foster enhanced cooperation. For China to move beyond existing and probable diplomatic tensions, a greater attention to domestic and regional environmental security will no doubt be necessary. This article explores such interrelations among domestic, regional and global environmental securities and China’s diplomacy, and suggests possible means by which China could contribute to strengthening global environmental security. |
| JEL: | Q25 Q34 Q48 Q42 Q53 Q54 Q56 Q58 O13 P28 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ewc:wpaper:wp116&r=env |
| By: | Yazhen Gong |
| Abstract: | Paying developing countries for carbon sequestration is a vital component of climate change mitigation. If appropriately designed, these payments can also transfer income to poor villagers, which can help achieve the goals of long-term sustainability for the carbon sequestration project and of poverty reduction. Using data on reforestation and a survey of village stakeholders, this paper made an assessment whether or not the world's first CDM forest-based carbon sequestration project implemented in China could simultaneously reach its environmental and developmental objectives. Although the Guangxi project is widely heralded as a model CDM project, still less than half of the project land remain unforested at the time of surveys conducted in September of 2007. The survey revealed one major cause to relatively low participation to the carbon project, highlights the important role of social capital in this initiative. |
| Keywords: | CDM, China |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:tpaper:tp201010t2&r=env |
| By: | Ishikawa, Jota; Kiyono, Kazuharu; Yomogida, Morihiro |
| Abstract: | We develop a two-country (North and South), two-good, general equilibrium model of international trade in goods and explore the effects of domestic and international emission trading under free trade in goods. Whereas domestic emission trading in North may result in carbon leakage by expanding South窶冱 production of the emission-intensive good, international emission trading may induce North to expand the production of the emission-intensive good by importing emission permits. Emission trading may deteriorate global environment. North窶冱 (South窶冱) emission trading may not benefit South (North). International emission trading improves global efficiency but may not benefit both countries. |
| Keywords: | global warming, emission quota, emission trading, carbon leakage, Kyoto Protocol |
| JEL: | F18 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:ccesdp:41&r=env |
| By: | Frank Jotzo (Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | This paper identifies principles for carbon pricing that could attract a broad based and durable societal consensus in Australia. It applies these principles to a phased carbon pricing architecture as put forward by Australia's Multi-Party Committee on Climate Change, namely a government determined (fixed) carbon price transitioning to emissions trading. Linking to international carbon markets decouples Australia's domestic carbon price from its national emissions target, allowing significant net national emissions reductions with manageable transitional impacts. A fixed price in the near term can end costly delays to carbon pricing while dealing with uncertainties about Australia's target and international markets. A strategy is outlined to manage international uncertainties and to accommodate the multiple goals of domestic constituencies, while achieving efficiency and effectiveness. First, ensure the medium term carbon price is high enough to for emissions to begin to trend down in the next few years, recognising that investment decisions are shaped by current expectations about future prices. Second, set the initial price at a level that gives confidence that short run impacts will be manageable, given other transitional assistance. Third, ensure that wider policy settings do not compromise incentives for reducing emissions, and make the scheme robust in the face of competing claims for carbon revenue and lobbying efforts. For Australian carbon pricing policy, these principles suggest the carbon price may need to rise rapidly over the course of the decade, to double or more compared to starting prices that are currently in the Australian discussion. Payments of carbon pricing revenue to industry may need to be limited to create more room for income tax cuts, possibly by means of an overall cap and accelerated phase-out of industry assistance. Forestry and agricultural offsets can be supported through the scheme, but at the cost of fiscal revenue. |
| Keywords: | Q54, Q58, D72, A13, Q01 |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1104&r=env |
| By: | Luca Di Corato (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences); Michele Moretto (Università di Padova); Sergio Vergalli (Università di Brescia) |
| Abstract: | In this paper stochastic dynamic programming is used to investigate habitat conservation by a multitude of landholders under uncertainty about the value of environmental services and irreversible development. We study land conversion under competition on the market for agricultural products when voluntary and mandatory measures are combined by the Government to induce adequate participation in a conservation plan. We analytically determine the impact of uncertainty and optimal policy conversion dynamics and discuss different policy scenarios on the basis of the relative long-run expected rate of deforestation. Finally, some numerical simulations are provided to illustrate our findings. |
| Keywords: | optimal stopping, deforestation, payments for environmental services, Natural Resources Management. |
| JEL: | C61 D81 Q24 Q58 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0122&r=env |
| By: | Kanittha Tambunlertchai (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | Thailand, like many developing nations, is facing a wide range of environmental challenges, many of which are caused by industrial pollution. The country has found that traditional command and control legislation is not effectively tackling this problem. It is therefore promoting various voluntary environmental programmes as a way for businesses to improve their environmental performance. To provide more information on the effectiveness of this approach, and to see how to maximize its impact, this study has assessed the implementation of one of the most popular voluntary environmental schemes, ISO 14001. This study finds that firms sign up to ISO 14001 for a number of reasons, the most important being the impetus provided by their management policies, the need to boost corporate image and the desire to socially responsible. The study proposes a number of policies to help firms to adopt the voluntary scheme. These include providing financial incentives and helping firms with training and provision of information and technical advice. |
| Keywords: | pollution, ISO 14001, Thailand |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2010071&r=env |
| By: | Michael Hanemann; Xavier Labandeira; María L. Loureiro |
| Abstract: | Spain faces a complex situation regarding its climate change policies. Since 1990, Spain’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have increased far beyond the Kyoto commitments. Moreover, Spain is likely to suffer significant adverse impacts from climate change. However, there has been little action to reduce GHG emissions, particularly in the area of energy prices. Although the Spanish public generally shows great concern about climate change, it has traditionally opposed price increases for energy. In this paper we offer an explanation of this paradox, and we provide a possible strategy for policy design. We find that Spanish households favor reducing GHG emissions from electricity production and would be willing to pay for this if it promotes new, greener technologies and if it eventually lowers the cost of those technologies in the future. This finding emerges from a contingent valuation survey which also provides a rich set of information on households’ attitudes regarding various policy options for reducing GHG gases. |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2011-06&r=env |
| By: | Matthew A. Cole (Department of Economics, University of Birmingham, UK); Robert J.R. Elliott (Department of Economics, University of Birmingham, UK); Toshihiro Okubo (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of firms shifting stages of their production processes overseas. In this paper we investigate whether firms outsource the dirtier stages of production to minimise domestic environmental regulation costs – a process broadly consistent with the pollution haven hypothesis. We develop a theoretical model of environmental outsourcing that focuses on the roles played by firm size and productivity, transport costs and environmental regulations. We test the model's predictions using a firm-level data set for Japan and do find evidence of an 'environmental outsourcing' effect. |
| Keywords: | Environmental regulations, trade, outsourcing, outsourcing, firm-level. |
| JEL: | F18 L51 L60 Q56 R3 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2011-12&r=env |
| By: | Kanittha Tambunlertchai (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | Thailand, like many developing nations, is facing a wide range of environmental challenges, many of which are caused by industrial pollution. The country has found that traditional command and control legislation is not effectively tackling this problem. It is therefore promoting various voluntary environmental programmes as a way for businesses to improve their environmental performance. To provide more information on the effectiveness of this approach, and to see how to maximize its impact, this study has assessed the implementation of one of the most popular voluntary environmental schemes, ISO 14001. This study finds that firms sign up to ISO 14001 for a number of reasons, the most important being the impetus provided by their management policies, the need to boost corporate image and the desire to socially responsible. The study proposes a number of policies to help firms to adopt the voluntary scheme. These include providing financial incentives and helping firms with training and provision of information and technical advice. |
| Keywords: | pollution, ISO 14001, Thailand |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2010071&r=env |
| By: | Scarlett, Lynn (Resources for the Future); Boyd, James W. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The study describes existing federal policies that permit or promote ecosystem services analysis, management, investments, and markets. Our survey discusses: 1) current programs that stimulate or support the measurement of ecosystem services; 2) existing federal drivers of ecosystem services analysis; and 3) programs that stimulate investment in ecosystem services. Understanding existing capacity is important to federal and other leaders who see opportunities for environmental policy innovations—such as payments, markets, and management practices—based on ecological wealth and services. |
| Keywords: | ecosystem services, natural capital, ecosystem-based management |
| Date: | 2011–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-13&r=env |
| By: | Feyes, Jonas (Swedish Environmental Research Inst.); Cole, Scott (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics); Hasselström, Linus (Enveco Environmental Economics Consultancy Ltd.) |
| Abstract: | As vessel traffic in the Baltic increases, in particular oil transports from Russia to the international market, so too does the risk of oil spills which above the environmental impacts impose costs on society including direct costs, market costs and non-market costs (e.g., losses in welfare from a damaged environment not easily valued in a market). While financial compensation addresses direct and market costs, environmental compensation (compensatory restoration) offsets welfare declines from the loss of resources or the services they provide. Although a clear international system for recovering environmental restoration costs from oil spills is still un-established, the EU's Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) from 2007 introduces a number of useful terms and concepts that may be applicable in the Baltic context. The European Commission (EC) funded development of the REMEDE Toolkit to help Member States carry out the ELD requirements. The Toolkit provides a useful framework for assessing non-market costs associated with oil spill damages by defining the types of ecological losses suffered by the public and providing interdisciplinary methods for scaling resource-based compensation projects whose cost should be incurred by the responsible polluter(s). This paper suggests that the ELD concepts and REMEDE methods could be transferred to the Baltic to help authorities recover environmental restoration costs from responsible polluters. We illustrate application of REMEDE-like concepts and methods to oil spill damages in the context of US regulations and the UN Compensation Commission and discuss the legal acceptance of these methods. The fact that the ELD cannot legally be invoked to address an oil spill in Europe should not preclude a discussion about how these relatively new European legal concepts, including the REMEDE methodology, could be used to establish a more consistent, transparent, and replicable framework for damage assessment in the sensitive marine environment of the Baltic Sea. |
| Keywords: | Equivalency Analysis; Baltic Sea; environmental valuation; Environmental Liability Directive; environmental compensation |
| JEL: | Q38 Q51 Q53 Q57 |
| Date: | 2011–03–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2011_005&r=env |
| By: | Dang Viet Quang (Department of Land Use Economcs in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim) |
| Abstract: | Vietnam, like most developing countries across Southeast Asia, has boosted farm outputs by introducing new crops, production methods and other agricultural innovations. Unfortunately, this process has increased soil erosion and water pollution and caused many other environmental problems. This study looks at the environmental trade-offs that are involved in upgrading people's livelihoods through agricultural improvement. It also investigates how the negative impacts of such changes can be mitigated. The study provides details of how agricultural innovations have harmed the environment. It shows that a land tax policy could be used to reduce these environmental problems. Such a tax, however, will have a negative impact on farmers' livelihoods. Hence, this policy will be strongly resisted given that the North West Region has the highest poverty rate in Vietnam. The study therefore recommends that farmers should be helped to implement sustainable animal husbandry innovations so that their standard of living is not unduly affected. |
| Keywords: | crops, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2010112&r=env |
| By: | Dang Viet Quang (Department of Land Use Economcs in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim) |
| Abstract: | Vietnam, like most developing countries across Southeast Asia, has boosted farm outputs by introducing new crops, production methods and other agricultural innovations. Unfortunately, this process has increased soil erosion and water pollution and caused may other environmental problems. This study has assessed this situation. It looks at the environmental trade off that are involved in upgrading people's livelihoods through agricultural improvement. It also investigates how the negative impacts of such changes can be mitigated. This study provides details of how agricultural innovations have harmed the environment. It shows that a land tax policy could be used to reduce these environmental problems. Such a tax, however, will have a negative impact on farmers' livelihoods. Hence, this policy will be strongly resisted given that the North West Region has the highest poverty rate in Vietnam. The study therefore recommends that farmers should be helped to implement sustainable animal husbandry innovations so that their standard of living is not unduly affected. |
| Keywords: | crops, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2010112&r=env |
| By: | Zanxin Wang (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University); Yin Lu (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University); Siguang Li (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University) |
| Abstract: | As in many countries, policy makers in China see biofuel as a potentially important part of the move to a sustainable, post-oil economy. To contribute to this important energy debate, this study looks at the economics and environmental performance of one potential bio-fuel crop: Jatropha curcas L (JCL). This study shows that given current technology levels and management practices, the production of JCL biodiesel is not economically feasible. However, it also shows that JCL biodiesel has excellent performance from both an environmental and energy production point of view. Moreover, it is clear that, if JCL seed yields can be improved, then biodiesel made from the plant would be economically feasible to produce. |
| Keywords: | biodiesel, China |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2010061&r=env |
| By: | A. Myrick Freeman III (William D. Shipman Professor of Economics Emeritus, Bowdoin College) |
| Abstract: | In May, 2009, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report titled "Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services" (U.S. EPA, 2009). I was a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board's Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services (C-VPESS) that produced the Report. In this paper, I will try to clarify what we mean by the terms "ecosystem services," "value," and "the wealth of nature." I will also try to see what lessons can be drawn from the C-VPESS Report and the 5 years of Committee deliberations that lie behind it and what conclusions and implications this work has for EEPSEA researchers working in the field of the economics of natural resources. |
| Keywords: | ecosystem |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:tpaper:sp201007s2&r=env |
| By: | Liu Li (College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology); Li Bin |
| Abstract: | In recent years, Chinese policy makers have tried to balance development in different regions of the country by relocating industrial production from prosperous zones to less developed areas. However, this type of industrial relocation is usually accompanied by the transfer of pollution problems. To shed more light on the costs and benefits of this important policy tool, this study looks at the relocation of ceramics production from one region of Guangdong Province to another. The study finds that the transfer of some ceramics production from populous Foshan to less densely populated Qingyuan would be an effective way of reducing the overall negative effect of the industry's air pollution. However, the study underlines the importance of using effective pollution-abatement technology. It recommends that such technology should be implemented in Foshan and in any new ceramics factories in Qingyuan. It finds that the value of the health benefits produced by installing this technology will greatly exceed the cost of putting the technology in place. |
| Keywords: | pollution, China |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2010081&r=env |
| By: | Frankel, Jeffrey A. (Harvard University); Bosetti, Valentina (FEEM, Milan) |
| Abstract: | A new climate change treaty must plug three gaps: the absence of emission targets extending far into the future, the absence of participation by the United States, China, and other developing countries, and the absence of reason to expect compliance. To be politically acceptable, it must obey certain constraints regarding country-by-country economic costs. We offer a framework to assign quantitative emission allocations, across countries, one budget period at a time. The two-part plan: (i) China and other developing countries accept targets at BAU in the coming budget period, the same period in which the US first agrees to cuts below BAU; (ii) all countries are asked in the future to make further cuts in accordance with a formula which sums a Progressive Reductions Factor, Latecomer Catch-up Factor, and Gradual Equalization Factor. An earlier proposal for specific parameter values in the formulas achieved the environmental goal that CO2 concentrations plateau at 500 ppm by 2100. It obeyed our political constraints: keeping the economic cost for every country below thresholds of Y=1% of income in Present Discounted Value, and X=5% of income in the worst period. In this paper we attain a concentration goal of 460 ppm CO2, but only by loosening political constraints. |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp11-016&r=env |
| By: | Zanxin Wang (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University); Yin Lu (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University); Siguang Li (Institute of Population, Resource and Environmental Economics, Yunnan University) |
| Abstract: | As in many countries, policy makers in China see biofuel as a potentially important part of the move to a sustainable, post-oil economy. To contribute to this important energy debate, this study looks at the economic and environmental performance of one potential bio-fuel crop: Jatropha curcas L (JCL). The study shows that, given current technology levels and management practices, the production of JCL biodiesel is not economically feasible. However, it also shows that JCL biodiesel has excellent performance from both an environmental and energy production point of view. Moreover, it is clear that, if JCL seed yields can be improved, then biodiesel made from the plant would be economically feasible to produce. With this in mind, the report outlines a number of initiatives that could be pursued to make JCL biodiesel an effective part of China's overall energy policy. These include providing grants and other funding to optimise the JCL biodiesel production process. |
| Keywords: | biodiesel, China |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2010061&r=env |
| By: | Eric Knight (Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK); Nicholas Howarth (Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) |
| Abstract: | Much academic attention has been paid to the role of carbon pricing in developing a market-led response to low carbon energy innovation. Taking an evolutionary economics perspective this paper makes the case as to why price mechanisms alone are insufficient to support new energy technologies coming to market. In doing so, we set out the unique investment barriers in the clean energy space. For guidance on possible approaches to non-carbon price based policies that seek to tackle these barriers we turn to case studies from Asia, a region which has experienced a strong uptake in climate policy in recent years. |
| JEL: | Q48 Q42 Q55 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1102&r=env |
| By: | Rodelio Subade (University of the Philippines in the Visayas); Evelyn Jugado (University of the Philippines in the Visayas) |
| Abstract: | A Self-Administered-Contingent Valuation Method (SA-CVM) survey was used to determine the non-use values or willingness to pay (WTP) of San Jose, Antique and Kalibo, Aklan respondents on conserving endangered species and habitats of Northwest Panay Peninsula National Park (NWPPNP). The study examined two payment vehicles as regards their potential for soliciting people's WTP and possible financing source for conservation: electric bill surcharge and the annual community tax collected by the local government treasury. The study found that people have high level of awareness of the importance of endangered species conservation but when compared with other environmental concerns, it was perceived as of less priority. When asked for specific (monetary) commitment or WTP to conserve NWPPNP, the majority was unwilling or non-committal. Results also revealed to a low and flat WTP curve, "yea" saying, and some bias toward a certain denomination. Based on the dichotomous choice CVM survey, results confirm the low WTP of respondents since only up to 14 percent were willing to pay for the hypothesized conservation fund for NWPPNP's endangered species and habitats. This is almost the same proportion as those who were willing to pay through either of the payment vehicle groupings. The main motivations for their WTP were bequest and use values. On the other hand, the survivor function estimates of mean WTP showed that the average respondent was willing to pay as contribution to the conservation fund amounts ranging from PhP 122 to PhP 176 per year. These WTP estimates can collect a modest social WTP of PhP 2.7-3.9 million, which is not sufficient to cover the opportunity costs of conservation. Thus, sourcing conservation funds for NWPPNP should go beyond the local residents. |
| Keywords: | Self-administered-contingent valuation method survey, Willingness to pay (WTP), Northwest Panay Peninsula National Park (NWPPNP), non-use values, denominational bias, yea saying |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:tpaper:tp201010t1&r=env |
| By: | D. Dragone; L. Lambertini; A. Palestini |
| Abstract: | We investigate the possibility of using public firms to regulate polluting emissions in a Cournot oligopoly where production takes place at constant returns to scale and entails a negative environmental externality. We model the problem as a differential game and investigate (i) the Cournot-Nash game among profit-seeking firms; (ii) the Markov Perfect Nash equilibrium under social planning, where the industry output is entirely controlled by a benevolent planner aiming at the maximisation of social welfare; and (iii) the Markov Perfect Nash equilibrium in a mixed setup where at least one firm is public, while the others remain profit-seeking agents. Our analysis identifies the conditions whereby having a mixed market as a regulatory instrument suffices to drive the industry to the same output, externality and social welfare as under planning, both along the optimal path and in steady state. |
| JEL: | C73 D43 D62 L13 L32 Q50 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp738&r=env |
| By: | Bhadranie Thoradeniya (Division of Civil Engineering Technology, Institute of Technology, University of Moratuwa) |
| Abstract: | The general practice adopted in river development projects is to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of a proposal, given certain conditions. However, the social and environmental impacts are usually limited to the project area, mainly focusing on the people affected by the project. Past experiences have shown that this practice leads to stakeholder dissatisfaction, resulting to conflicts among stakeholders sharing the resource. The stakeholders' lack of knowledge about the technical, economic, and environmental dimensions of their resource uses usually hampers their rational decision making process, especially in situations where there are conflicts for scarce resources. To enhance the stakeholders' knowledge about the above dimensions of their resource use, this study applied the 'Educated Trade-off' framework for a proposed development project in the Ma Oya river basin in Sri Lanka. |
| Keywords: | trade-off analysis framework, Sri Lanka |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:tpaper:tp201007t1&r=env |
| By: | Hugh Saddler (Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the domestic energy policies of industrialised states and, in particular, those states which have been at the forefront in applying neo-liberal policies to the reform and restructuring of their energy supply industries. It examines the interactions between the neo-liberal and climate change mitigation agendas, as they have been applied to energy policy, and the consequences these interactions are having for energy security, which is a core objective of energy policy for all states. A case study approach is taken using the United Kingdom and Australia as examples. The overall conclusion is that if states set themselves ambitious emissions reduction goals they will need to make radical changes to their energy systems, which, in the absence of decisive policy action, are likely to be deleterious to domestic energy security. By contrast, modest reduction goals will not require far-reaching energy system changes and will pose little threat to energy security, but will also do little to mitigate climate change. |
| JEL: | Q48 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1101&r=env |
| By: | Johanna Reichenbach; Till Requate |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of learning by doing, learning spill-overs, and imperfect competition in a model with two types of electricity producers, an oligopolistic sector of polluting fossil-fuel utilities and a competitive fringe of non-polluting generators of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E). Furthermore we consider an upstream industry of RES-E equipment producers engaged in learning by doing. We show that a first-best policy requires two instruments, a tax in the fossil-fuel sector and an output subsidy for RES-E equipment producers. We then study second-best-optimal feed-in tariffs that are paid to the generators of RES-E. By means of simulations we calculate the welfare loss of a second-best-optimal feed-in-tariff policy and analyze how market structure impacts on second-best-optimal feed-in tariffs |
| Keywords: | feed-in tariffs; environmental subsidies; learning by doing; spill-overs; market structure |
| JEL: | Q42 L13 O38 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1689&r=env |
| By: | Mia Amalia (Environmental Management and Development Program, Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Poor air quality in Indonesia's capital city is having a significant impact on residents' health and there is an urgent need to introduce new initiatives to deal with the problem. To help justify investment in such new strategies, a recent EEPSEA study has looked at the value that citizens in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA) place on pollution reduction policies for the transportation sector. The study shows that, although many residents are mistrustful of the government's ability to clean up the city's air, they do place a significant value on clean air. Households in the JMA are willing to pay up to USD 66.51 per annum over a three-year period. Nonetheless, on average, respondents in the JMA were willing to pay Rp 584,333 (USD 66.51), Rp 558,000 (USD 63.51) and Rp 579,333 (USD 65.94) per household per annum over a three-year period for the implementation of the improved public transport policy (TS), the vehicle restriction policy (RD), and the old-vehicle reduction strategy (RO), respectively. These policies would make a significant positive improvement to both Jakarta's air quality and to the health of its citizens. |
| Keywords: | pollution, Indonesia |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2010111&r=env |
| By: | Liu Li (College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology); Li Bin (College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, Chinese policy makers have tried to balance development in different regions of the country by relocating industrial production from prosperous zones to less developed areas. However, this type of industrial relocation is usually accompanied by the transfer of pollution problems. To shed more light on the costs and benefits of this important policy tool, this study looks at the relocation of ceramics production from one region of Guangdong Province to another. This study analyzing a series of different industrial relocation scenarios, the study teams finds that the transfer of some ceramics production from populous Foshan to the less densely populated Qingyuan would be an effective way of reducing the overall negative effects of the industry's air pollution. However, the study underlines the importance of using effective pollution-abatement technology and recommends that such technology should be implemented in Foshan and in any new ceramics factories in Qingyuan. It finds that the value of the health benefits produced by installing this technology will greatly exceed the cost of putting the technology in place. |
| Keywords: | pollution, China |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2010081&r=env |
| By: | Carl GAIGNÉ (INRA, French National Institute for Agricultural Research (France)); Stéphane Riou (UMR CNRS 5824 GATE Lyon-Saint-Etienne, Université de Saint-Etienne (France)); Jacques-François THISSE (CORE, Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Université du Luxembourg, CEPR, and RIEB, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | There is a large consensus among international institutions and national governments to favor urban-containment policies - the compact city - as a way to improve the ecological performance of the urban system. This approach overlooks a fundamental fact: what matters for the ecological outcome of cities is the mix between the level of population density and the global pattern of activities. As expected, when both the intercity and intraurban distributions of activities are given, a higher population density makes cities more environmentally friendly. However, once we account for the fact that cities may be either monocentric or polycentric as well as for the possible relocation of activities between cities, the relationship between population density and the ecological performance of cities appears to be much more involved. Indeed, because changes in population density affect land rents and wages, firms and workers are incited to relocate, thus leading to new commuting and shipping patterns. We show that policies favoring the decentralization of jobs may be more environmentally desirable. |
| Keywords: | greenhouse gas, commuting costs, transport costs, cities; urbancontainment policy |
| JEL: | D61 F12 Q54 Q58 R12 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2011-15&r=env |
| By: | Alessandro Tavoni (Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics); Astrid Dannenberg (Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany); Giorgos Kallis (ICTA, Universidad Autonoma de Barcleona); Andreas Lšschel (Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany) |
| Abstract: | International efforts to provide global public goods often face the challenges of coordinating national contributions and distributing costs equitably in the face of uncertainty, inequality, and free-riding incentives. In an experimental setting, we distribute endowments unequally among a group of people who can reach a fixed target sum through successive money contributions, knowing that if they fail they will lose all their remaining money with 50% probability. We find that inequality reduces the prospects of reaching the target, but that communication increases success dramatically. Successful groups tend to eliminate inequality over the course of the game, with rich players signalling willingness to redistribute early on. Our results suggest that coordinative institutions and early redistribution from richer to poorer nations may widen our window of opportunity to avoid global climate calamity. |
| JEL: | Q54 C92 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1103&r=env |
| By: | Mia Amalia (Environmental Management and Development Program, Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Poor air quality in Indonesia's capital city is having a significant impact on residents' health and there is an urgent need to introduce new initiatives to deal with the problem. To help justify investment in such new strategies, this study has looked at the value that citizens in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA) place on pollution reduction policies for the transportation sector. The study shows that, although many residents are mistrustful of the government's ability to clean up the city's air, the do place a significant value on clean air. Households in the JMA are, on average, willing to pay up to USD 66.51 per annum over three-year period for the implementation of three new environmentally-beneficial transportation policies. These policies would make a significant positive improvement to both Jakarta's air quality and to the health of its citizens. The study uses the choice modeling approach in its assessment. The study carefully crafted the questionnaire to suit local conditions (a population with low literacy and have high dependency on oral than written communication) which are typical in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | pollution, Indonesia |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2010111&r=env |
| By: | Frederick L. Joutz; Gail Cohen; Prakash Loungani |
| Abstract: | We present evidence on one facet of energy security in OECD economies - the extent of diversification in sources of oil and natural gas supplies. Viewed from the perspective of the energy-importing countries as a whole, there has not been much change in diversification in oil supplies over the last decade, but diversification in sources of natural gas supplies has increased steadily. We document the cross-country heterogeneity in the extent of diversification. We also show how the extent of diversification changes if account is taken of the political risk attached to suppliers; the size of the importing country; and transportation risk. |
| Keywords: | Consumption , Cross country analysis , Energy sector , Exports , Imports , Natural gas , OECD , Oil , Risk management , Supply elasticity , |
| Date: | 2011–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:11/39&r=env |