Three Essays On Us Renewable Energy Policies

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Three Essays on U.S. Renewable Energy Policies

Author : Shen Liu
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (967 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on U.S. Renewable Energy Policies by : Shen Liu

Download or read book Three Essays on U.S. Renewable Energy Policies written by Shen Liu and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study investigates three issues on U.S. renewable energy markets. The primary objective is to describe how U.S. renewable energy policies affect solar photovoltaic (PV) and biodiesel industries. The first essay develops and estimates an analytical framework for assessing the optimal solar energy subsidy, which takes into account the environment, health, employment, and electricity accessibility benefits. Results indicate that an optimal subsidy is positively affected by the marginal external benefit. Calibrating the model, using published elasticities, yields estimates of the optimal solar energy subsidy equaling to approximately $0.02 per kilowatt hour when employment effects are omitted. The estimated optimal subsidy is in line with many current state feed-in-tariff rates, giving support to these initiatives aimed at fostering solar energy production. The second essay examines price volatility spillovers among U.S. crude oil, diesel, biodiesel, and soybeans based on weekly prices from 2007 to 2014. A univariate EGARCH model along with a DCC-MGARCH model are employed. The univariate EGARCH model provides evidence of double-directional price-volatility spillovers between biodiesel and soybean markets and between crude oil and biodiesel markets. Further there exists unidirectional price-volatility spillovers from the crude oil market to the soybean market and from the diesel market to the biodiesel market. The DCC-MGARCH model indicates time-varying conditional correlations among markets and the pairwise conditional correlations fluctuated from 2008 to 2009. The third essay investigates the effect of Poisson type policy jumps on biodiesel investment through the theory of investment under uncertainty. The analysis considers the probability of a policy being implemented if it is not in effect and the probability of it being withdrawn if it is in effect. As an application, the policy switching regime of the discontinuous federal tax credit of $1.00 per gallon on biodiesel is modeled as a Poisson jump process. Results support that time inconsistent government policies do lead to market uncertainty. The analysis reveals a pronounced negative impact on the decisions to invest in a biodiesel refinery.

Three Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Its Effects on Fossil Fuel Generation in Electricity Markets

Author : Eric Bowen
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 85 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (947 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Its Effects on Fossil Fuel Generation in Electricity Markets by : Eric Bowen

Download or read book Three Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Its Effects on Fossil Fuel Generation in Electricity Markets written by Eric Bowen and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Renewable Energy Deployment in the Electricity Sector

Author : Miriam Lydia Fischlein
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781244786233
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (862 download)

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Book Synopsis Renewable Energy Deployment in the Electricity Sector by : Miriam Lydia Fischlein

Download or read book Renewable Energy Deployment in the Electricity Sector written by Miriam Lydia Fischlein and published by . This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to the large environmental impact of the electric energy sector, evaluating the policy instruments employed in this arena is a particularly pressing issue. In the United States, state policy is a major driver of sustainable energy development and provides a unique opportunity to conduct comparative policy research. Thirty-two states have implemented a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), a policy instrument that mandates renewable resource use. Although similar on the surface, these policies present staggering variation in the design elements they incorporate.This dissertation investigates patterns of policy design, scope and outcomes of RPS, contributing to the literature on policy design and effectiveness, and expanding the empirical knowledge of state sustainable energy policies. The first essay presents an in-depth state-by-state analysis of RPS design elements, complemented by the development of a policy classification scheme. Examining RPS design under the angle of stringency of goals, discretion in means, and strength of the enforcement regime introduces a measure of comparability. It highlights that a rigid focus on singular measures of policy strength and broad policy types detracts from understanding the impact of individual design features.The second essay underlines this argument, relating RPS design characteristics quantitatively to policy response. The results show that both more stringent goals and, to some extent, increased discretion in means are associated with higher policy response. The research design used is innovative, in that it accounts for the full complexity of RPS, while measuring outcomes at the level the policy targets (retail sales).The final essay concentrates on a single design attribute, policy scope. Focusing on a sector currently excluded from most state sustainable energy policies - consumer-owned utilities - it assesses future policy scenarios for their inclusion. To remediate the complete lack of emissions data on consumer-owned utilities, it develops for the first time a method to estimate the carbon intensity of electricity sales from this sector. Based on these estimates, future carbon management scenarios are developed for the inclusion of consumer-owned utilities in renewable policies, including interaction with energy efficiency policies

Sustainable Energy and the States

Author : Dianne Rahm
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476610398
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

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Book Synopsis Sustainable Energy and the States by : Dianne Rahm

Download or read book Sustainable Energy and the States written by Dianne Rahm and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-11-18 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With America's dependence on fossil fuels painfully apparent due to world events and the resultant sharply rising gas prices, the search for renewable energy sources has never been more important. Still, the quest for sustainable energy is far from new. Since passage of the National Energy Act of 1978, states and the federal government have encouraged technological advances designed to make the United States self-sufficient when it comes to energy production. Government incentives and global-minded policymakers encourage development of alternative energy sources. While addressing the national issues of global climate change and energy security, the idea of sustainable energy must also find a way to appeal to an increasingly competitive market. Through nine case studies, this volume explores the roles which politics, market forces and leadership play as barriers or facilitators in the development of sustainable energy sources. Beginning with an overview of energy-related programs and legislation including the National Energy Act of 1978 and the Energy Policy acts of 1992 and 2005, the book discusses the various financial programs and policy mechanisms used by the states. Each of the nine essays examines sustainable energy development within a particular state or region. The importance of the political climate, the impact of free markets and the value of effective leadership with regard to this particular technological development remains a common thread. Topics such as the perceived effectiveness of state and federal governmental efforts and prevalent attitudes regarding renewable energy are also discussed. Each essay includes an in-depth bibliography with many website resources to encourage further research. Statistical tables are also provided. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Three Essays on Energy Economics and Policy

Author : Zhi Li
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (943 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on Energy Economics and Policy by : Zhi Li

Download or read book Three Essays on Energy Economics and Policy written by Zhi Li and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many changes are needed to shift the economy from business as usual to a sustainable track in both developed and developing countries. Technology innovation, especially related to clean energy and energy efficient, is needed to meet the requirement of such economy shift, and is receiving considerable and increasing attention. Governments have applied large numbers of energy and environmental policies to stimulate the clean energy innovations and support the development of related industries. Hence, it is important and necessary to better understand and assess the impact of policy instruments and key factors in the clean energy sector.My dissertation include three studies related to the clean energy technologies and the industry development. Several conclusions are drawn. First, by investigating the effect of "innovating-by-implementing" in the context of the US LEED building program, I find that implementation experience of utilizing energy efficient technologies in building construction and renovation makes important contribution to innovations in energy efficient building technologies. The second study examines the impact of a specific industry policy -- export restriction on raw materials -- on rare earth downstream industries, which is related to a lot of clean energy products. The result suggests that China's REEs export restriction policies have worked effectively as an industrial policy to induce FDIs and technology transfer by foreign downstream firms and promote domestic downstream industries. The third study analyzes the US innovation related to REEs technologies in the context of innovation system, and it shows that the US has lost its leadership in downstream innovation in REEs, in response to the removal of upstream producers in the innovation system.

Three Essays on the Diffusion of Clean Energy Technologies

Author : Yueming Qiu
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (86 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on the Diffusion of Clean Energy Technologies by : Yueming Qiu

Download or read book Three Essays on the Diffusion of Clean Energy Technologies written by Yueming Qiu and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to the pressing challenges from climate change and energy security, clean energy technologies have been widely regarded as providing important channels to reduce carbon emissions and to alleviate the reliance on fossil fuels. It is imperative to analyze the underlying dynamics and mechanisms of the diffusion of clean energy technologies, to identify key factors influencing the diffusion and to evaluate the impacts from the diffusion process. This dissertation empirically analyzes the diffusion of wind energy and energy efficient building technologies, using China and U.S. as examples. Chapter 1 introduces clean energy technologies as well as the key mechanisms, entities and issues involved in the diffusion of these technologies. Chapter 2 quantifies the effect of technology acquisition mechanisms -- purchasing production licenses from foreign manufacturers, joint design with foreign design firms, joint ventures and domestic R & D -- on wind turbine manufacturers 's technology levels (as measured by turbine size, in MW). It also examines the impacts of government policies and manufacturers' business diversification on technology levels. The results from econometric modeling studies indicate that technology acquisition mechanisms are statistically significant factors in influencing both technology upgrading and catch-up. In Chapter 3, learning by doing and learning by searching rates of wind energy in China are quantified. The two types of learning investigated are associated with about 4% price reduction per doubling of installed capacity, providing an estimate of the evolution of the price of wind power, a technology widely used in other markets, which in China has benefited from technology leapfrogging, established supply chains, and operational experience in other countries. This chapter also identifies that wind turbine manufacturing localization and wind farm economies of scale are significantly associated with reductions in the price of wind power in China. Chapter 4 discusses the rebound effects of energy efficiency. A key ongoing debate on energy efficiency is about the extent of the rebound effects: does greater efficiency lead to higher or lower energy use than there would have been without those improvements? Chapter 4 analyzes the rebound effects of energy efficiency in the commercial building sector. Chapter 4 builds a structural model of a building's decision to adopt an energy efficient building technology and subsequent energy demand. The results show that energy efficient technologies save energy after rebound effects. This gives quantitative argument for government to promote the diffusion of energy efficient technologies.

Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Economics

Author : Anna Ebers
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (928 download)

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Book Synopsis Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Economics by : Anna Ebers

Download or read book Essays on Renewable Energy Policy and Economics written by Anna Ebers and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Three Essays on the Links Between Agriculture and Energy Policies in the U.S..

Author : Jarrett Whistance
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 126 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (872 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on the Links Between Agriculture and Energy Policies in the U.S.. by : Jarrett Whistance

Download or read book Three Essays on the Links Between Agriculture and Energy Policies in the U.S.. written by Jarrett Whistance and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first essay develops and applies a structural, partial equilibrium model of United States biomass supply and demand. The aim is to examine the biomass price and expenditure effects of domestic biofuel policies. The results indicate that the cellulosic biofuel sub-mandate alone could increase biomass prices by an average of 50% to 100% over the baseline values. Biomass expenditures by sectors competing with biofuel producers increase by an average of 26% relative to the baseline suggesting those sectors cannot fully shift away from biomass energy sources. A sensitivity analysis focusing on supply response indicates that the results are not very sensitive to the supply elasticity. This study contributes to the literature by providing policymakers and other energy policy stakeholders with a forward looking analysis of potential policy effects on the U.S. biomass market. The second essay develops a similar type of model applied toward the domestic and international petroleum and petroleum products markets as well as the domestic biofuel market and the domestic light-duty vehicle sector. The goal is to investigate the impact of CAFE standards and alternative-fuel vehicle production incentives on the biofuel market and RFS compliance, in particular. The results suggest that holding CAFE standards at the 2010 level could significantly reduce the blendwall problem in the U.S. ethanol market. Furthermore, the alternative fuel production incentives appear to have only minimal effects. However, there is much uncertainty surrounding the appropriate level of automaker response to those incentives, and a sensitivity analysis indicates the model is fairly sensitive to the assumed level of response. The third essay highlights a few of the theories put forth regarding the expected price behavior of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). The theories are tested both observationally and empirically with a dataset containing daily RIN price observations going back to January 2009. The behavior does not always match expectations, although the exact causes remain uncertain. In addition, the information provided by RIN prices is used to test the implications of a binding renewable fuel standard (RFS) versus a non-binding RFS on the ethanol-gasoline price relationship. Cointegration tests provide some evidence that the relationship between conventional ethanol and gasoline prices at the wholesale level is weaker in the presence of a binding RFS.

An Econometric Study of Public Policy Applied to Renewable Energy, Economic Growth and Taxation

Author : Jehu A. Mette
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (132 download)

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Book Synopsis An Econometric Study of Public Policy Applied to Renewable Energy, Economic Growth and Taxation by : Jehu A. Mette

Download or read book An Econometric Study of Public Policy Applied to Renewable Energy, Economic Growth and Taxation written by Jehu A. Mette and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation consists of three essays on public policy related to renewable energy, economic growth and tax policy. Each chapter is implemented with a different econometric method to investigate the policy question of interest. The first chapter studies the effect of renewable energy utilization on many food price categories in relation to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The second chapter investigates the link between public education expenditures and long term economic growth in the context of countries' institutional quality, while the third chapter focuses on the impact of the 2012 Kansas tax reform on state employment across industries. The first essay, co-authored with Dr. Bebonchu Atems, examines the link between renewable energy consumption and consumer food prices in recent years. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 increased the amount of biofuel that must be mixed with commercial gasoline sold in the U.S. to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 further increased this requirement to 36 billion gallons by 2022. This increase in the production and consumption of biofuels, in particular, and renewable energy sources, in general, may compel farmers to divert significant quantities of cropland away from food and feed crops, which, in turn may lead to a rise in crop prices, feed prices, meat and poultry prices, and hence, overall food prices. Employing structural vector autoregression (SVAR) models and monthly U.S. data for the period 1974:01 to 2019:12, this paper examines, empirically, the impact of renewable energy consumption on food prices. We find, in general, that renewable energy shocks have no significant impact on food prices. For the period since the passage of the Energy Policy Act, however, shocks to biomass and wind energy consumption raise food prices significantly and persistently. In the second econometric essay, co-authored with Dr. William Blankenau, we utilize panel and cross-sectional data to explore the link between education spending and long run growth among countries with different institutional quality. The economics literature suggests that education spending and strong institutions both positively affect economic growth. However, their combined effect has received considerably less attention. To explore this, we derive a growth regression from an endogenous growth model constructed to map the link between education spending, institutional quality and growth outcomes. It would be natural to expect that the marginal effect of education spending increases with strong institutions. Our results suggest that education spending and strong institutions instead operate as substitutes in generating growth, especially in rich and developing countries. The explanation could be that growth can arise from better skills due to higher education spending or from enhanced economic activity due to stronger institutions. This relationship could suggest a certain redundancy, especially when countries with high institutional quality also invest substantially in education spending. We emphasize that the implication is not that one is less important or has a negative effect on growth. In the third essay, which is co-authored with Dr. Ross Milton, we revisit the impact of one of the largest state tax reforms in history. In 2012, the state of Kansas eliminated taxation for business income and lowered marginal tax rates on other personal income sources. Contrary to predictions of the new legislation's proponents, prior work has established that the tax reform had no significant impact on the aggregate state employment or real economic activity. In this study, we ask whether the effect was the same for high pass-through industries and other sub-samples of interest to policymakers. Overall, we find no aggregate employment increase, but rather, job losses in a few industry groups. We find that even after excluding the aircraft manufacturing, the oil and energy industries as well as the agricultural sector, the aggregate state employment did not increase. We further test whether industries with a high concentration of pass-through employment experienced more job gains. We fi nd that while a positive link exists between high pass-through concentration and job gains, the link is never significant regardless of time horizons or specifications while income re-characterization cannot be ruled out.

Multilevel Governmental Efforts for Energy Efficiency

Author : Taekyoung Lim
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 149 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis Multilevel Governmental Efforts for Energy Efficiency by : Taekyoung Lim

Download or read book Multilevel Governmental Efforts for Energy Efficiency written by Taekyoung Lim and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation consists of three essays studying the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in the energy policy field. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of ARRA funds, spent as temporary funding, on the change of energy efficiency policies, jobs, and technologies. The first essay examined variation in local level energy-efficiency grants and corresponding initiatives from American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in the United States. The analysis was based upon a hurdle model of counts of energy-efficiency grants received by 348 local governments that received these grants from 2009 to 2013, as well as 348 matched local governments that did not receive such funds. City-level characteristics including amount of federal financial support, per capita income, signaling of preferences for sustainability policies, manufacturing and political influences were shown to be empirically important determinants of variation in local energy-efficiency initiatives. The evidence suggested that all else held equal, the $21.8 billion in ARRA funds expended with the intent of promoting the diffusion of local energy-efficiency programs and policies successfully led to this end. The second essay examined the impact of the ARRA funds allocated through an intergovernmental grant provision under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) of the Department of Energy. The purpose of the second essay was to evaluate the effectiveness of the large-scale federal ARRA grant provision implemented under the EERE on job creation related to energy efficiency and renewable energy at the sub-national level. In doing so, it focuses on whether federal ARRA investments, designed to spur the U.S. economy through establishing an innovative energy technologies in intergovernmental grant programs for state and local government, effectively achieved their stated objectives of increasing job. Using the first difference regression model with instrumental variables, the second essay examined the effects of federal ARRA expenditures on job creation in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors from 2005 to 2015. The evidence suggests that all else held equal, the ARRA funds, implemented through the intergovernmental grant programs, successfully led to job creation in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors . The evidence suggested that ARRA funds led to a productive cumulative return on job creation in energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors during the period of ARRA. The third essay analyzed whether federal ARRA investments, designed to spur new energy technologies in grant programs for state and local government, effectively achieved their stated objectives. The analysis was based upon a first difference regression model with instrumental variables. This essay examined the effects of federal ARRA expenditures on innovation activities in energy technologies from 2005 to 2015. The evidence suggests that all else held equal, the ARRA funds, implemented under the decentralized networks, successfully stimulated innovative activities in energy technologies. Results also showed that ARRA funds led to productive cumulative return on innovation activities toward alternative energy technologies and energy conservation technologies during the ARRA period.

Essays on the Economics of Renewable Energy Policy

Author : Michaela Unteutsch
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (885 download)

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Book Synopsis Essays on the Economics of Renewable Energy Policy by : Michaela Unteutsch

Download or read book Essays on the Economics of Renewable Energy Policy written by Michaela Unteutsch and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Three Essays on Empirical Analysis of United States Electricity Markets

Author : Suman Gautam
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (94 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays on Empirical Analysis of United States Electricity Markets by : Suman Gautam

Download or read book Three Essays on Empirical Analysis of United States Electricity Markets written by Suman Gautam and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Dissertation, three independent studies analyze the impact of recent changes in both supply and demand sides of the U.S. electricity sector. Below is a brief description of three essays. I. Coal Plant's Response to Renewable Portfolio StandardsRenewable Portfolio standards require load-serving entities to purchase a given percentage of their electricity sales from eligible renewable energy technologies. This study analyzes the impact of RPS on the coal utilization by coal plants of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland (PJM) electricity market. We develop a panel dataset of 259 unique PJM coal-fired utility plants' integrating their fuel purchases with state-level RPS energy mandates, electricity prices, and fuel prices from 2001 to 2011, covering both pre-RPS and post-RPS era. Since selection of RPS policies may be non-random, we employ a two-step Heckit model to control for states' decision to adopt an RPS and choose yearly RPS levels. The results show that a percentage point increase in state's yearly energy target increases the average plant's coal purchase by 45 thousand tons. These results are approximately consistent across selection-corrected models. The analysis showing the positive impact of RPS yearly targets on PJM coal plants' coal purchases suggests a few things. There are fewer coal plants operating at the margin. Moreover, RPS yearly energy targets are fairly low at present; they are scheduled to increase considerably in coming years. Renewable Portfolio Standards may decrease the amount of fuel utilized by coal plants when RPS mandates increase in future. II. Residential Customers Response to Critical Peak Events of Electricity: Green Mountain Power ExperienceDemand response (DR) programs, usually through peak pricing and incentive-based approaches, can encourage customers to reduce or shift consumption during peak periods. This benefits utilities by lowering short-run generation costs and reducing the need for some long-run peak-driven investments. This paper analyzes the impact of Vermont's Green Mountain Power's (GMP) emergency DR programs on residential customers' electricity consumption during a two-year pilot study program in 2012--2013. The 3,735 single-home residents of Central Vermont area were separated into six treatment groups and two control groups resulting into 26 million hourly load observations during the period of the study. Our analysis shows that incentive-based demand response programs have statistically significant impacts on reducing peak load. Specifically, CPR rates reduced peak load usage 6% to 7.7% and CPP rates reduced peak load between 6.8% and 10.3% during critical peak events. Moreover, on average, IHD-equipped participants' monthly energy consumption was 2.0% to 5.3% lower than the monthly energy usage of non-IHD customers. However, none of the CP rate and IHD treatments induced a persistent response across multiple critical events and none of the treatment groups exhibited a consistent response to critical peak events. Based on our evaluation of GMP's DR programs during 2012 and 2013, neither critical peak pricing nor rebates are themselves sufficient to substitute for new capacity to meet resource adequacy requirements.III. Analysis of Load and Price patterns in the U.S. Electricity SectorThe study analyzes hourly electricity loads and marginal costs of electric entities with of extreme value theory (EVT), a concept widely used in the financial sector. For each year's hourly data of balancing authorities and utilities, we fit generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution and estimate the parameters of the distribution with an aim of comparing how these parameters have changed over time and market regions. We also account for the time dependencies, seasonalities, and near-time clustering present in the electricity markets -- both for electricity load and prices -- with the help of autoregressive conditional hetereskedastic models. The results show that the distributions of hourly load and lambda values are fat tailed. Hourly lambda values have more extreme values generating fatter tails than hourly electricity load. We also show that extreme tail quantiles estimated with the GEV parameters at different percentile levels are comparable with the percentiles of actual observations.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Author : Bill Gates
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0385546149
Total Pages : 201 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (855 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by : Bill Gates

Download or read book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster written by Bill Gates and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

Essays on Environmental Policy in Energy Markets

Author : Judson Paul Boomhower
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 143 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (972 download)

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Book Synopsis Essays on Environmental Policy in Energy Markets by : Judson Paul Boomhower

Download or read book Essays on Environmental Policy in Energy Markets written by Judson Paul Boomhower and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Producing and consuming energy involves costly environmental externalities, which are addressed through a wide range of public policy interventions. This dissertation examines three economic questions that are important to environmental regulation in energy. The first chapter measures the effect of bankruptcy protection on industry structure and environmental outcomes in oil and gas extraction. The second chapter measures additionality in an appliance replacement rebate program. Finally, the third chapter focuses on the environmental impacts of subsidizing electricity production from forest-derived biomass fuels. The first chapter measures the incentive effect of limited liability. When liability is limited by bankruptcy, theory says that firms will take excessive environmental and public health risks. In the long run, this ``judgment-proof problem'' may increase the share of small producers, even when there are economies of scale. I use quasi-experimental variation in liability exposure to measure the effects of bankruptcy protection on industry structure and environmental outcomes in oil and gas extraction. Using firm-level data on the universe of Texas oil and gas producers, I examine the introduction of an insurance mandate that reduced firms' ability to avoid liability through bankruptcy. The policy was introduced via a quasi-randomized rollout, which allows me to cleanly identify its effects on industry structure. The insurance requirement pushed about 6% of producers out of the market immediately. The exiting firms were primarily small and were more likely to have poor environmental records. Among firms that remained in business, the bond requirement reduced oil production among the smallest 80% of firms by about 4% on average, which is consistent with increased internalization of environmental costs. Production by the largest 20% of firms, which account for the majority of total production, was unaffected. Finally, environmental outcomes, including those related to groundwater contamination, also improved sharply. These results suggest that incomplete internalization of environmental and safety costs due to bankruptcy protection is an important determinant of industry structure and safety effort in hazardous industries, with significant welfare consequences. The second chapter focuses on the importance of a regulator's inability to distinguish between households responding to a subsidy, and households doing what they would also have done in the absence of policy. Economists have long argued that many recipients of energy-efficiency subsidies may be ``non-additional, '' getting paid to do what they would have done anyway. Demonstrating this empirically has been difficult, however, because of endogeneity concerns and other challenges. In this paper we use a regression discontinuity analysis to examine participation in a large-scale residential energy-efficiency program. Comparing behavior just on either side of several eligibility thresholds, we find that program participation increases with larger subsidy amounts, but that most households would have participated even with much lower subsidy amounts. The large fraction of inframarginal participants means that the larger subsidy amounts are almost certainly not cost-effective. Moreover, the results imply that about half of all participants would have adopted the energy-efficient technology even with no subsidy whatsoever. Finally, the third chapter addresses consequences of renewable energy subsidies in other markets. Electricity generated from logging residues provides a large and growing share of US renewable electricity generation. Much of the low-value wood used by biomass power plants might otherwise be left in the field. This increased harvest can negatively affect forest health. I investigate the supply of woody biomass fuel in Maine using a 15-year panel of prices and quantities for whole tree wood chips. I find that doubling the price of woody biomass increases harvest by about 64%. I also find that coal prices are a major determinant of woody biomass harvest. This suggests that environmental policies that raise the price of coal will affect forest health.

Three Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy

Author : Emma Hutchinson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Three Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy by : Emma Hutchinson

Download or read book Three Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy written by Emma Hutchinson and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Production Efficiencies of U.S. Electric Generation Plants

Author : Melissa Kate Lynes
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis Production Efficiencies of U.S. Electric Generation Plants by : Melissa Kate Lynes

Download or read book Production Efficiencies of U.S. Electric Generation Plants written by Melissa Kate Lynes and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last few decades there has been a shift in electricity production in the U.S. Renewable energy sources are becoming more widely used. In addition, electric generation plants that use coal inputs are more heavily regulated than a couple decades ago. This shift in electricity production was brought on by changes in federal policy - a desire for electricity produced in the U.S. which led to policies being adopted that encourage the use of renewable energy. The change in production practices due to policies may have led to changes in the productivity of electric generation plants. Multiple studies have examined the most efficient electric generation plants using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. This study builds on past research to answer three questions: 1) Does the level of aggregation of fuel input variables affect the plant efficiency scores and how does the efficiency of renewable energy input compare to nonrenewable energy inputs; 2) Are policies geared toward directly or indirectly reducing greenhouse gas emissions affecting the production efficiencies of greenhouse gas emitting electric generation plants; and 3) Do renewable energy policies and the use of intermittent energy sources (i.e. wind and solar) affect the productivity growth of electric generation plants. All three analysis, presented in three essays, use U.S. plant level data obtained from the Energy Information Administration to answer these questions. The first two essays use DEA to determine the pure technical, overall technical, and scale efficiencies of electric generation plants. The third essay uses DEA within the Malmquist index to assess the change in productivity over time. Results indicate that the level of aggregation does matter particularly for scale efficiency. This implies that valuable information is likely lost when fuel inputs are aggregated together. Policies directly focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions may improve the production efficiencies of greenhouse gas emitting electric generation plants. However, renewable energy policies do not have an effect on productivity growth. Renewable energy inputs are found to be as efficient if not more efficient than traditional energy sources.

THREE ESSAYS ON BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
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Book Synopsis THREE ESSAYS ON BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES by :

Download or read book THREE ESSAYS ON BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract : Bioenergy, a renewable form of low carbon or carbon neutral energy, can be used to address issues including climate change and energy security. Given these benefits, many national governments have introduced policies promoting bioenergy consumption and production. Because bioenergy projects are generally constructed in and around rural communities, they have social, economic, and environmental impacts on those communities. The objectives of this dissertation are to increase understanding of how community members perceive local bioenergy project impacts and analyzing the roles played by bioenergy policies in the development and outcomes of a jatropha-based biodiesel project in Yucatan, Mexico and woody biomass power production in Wisconsin, USA. This dissertation has five chapters including introductory and concluding chapters. The other three chapters consist of three peer reviewed journal manuscripts. The first two contain results from qualitative interviews conducted in Mexican and USA communities proximate to recent bioenergy projects. The interviews were designed to understand how the community members perceived the projects and their socioecological impacts. The third article analyzes bioenergy policies related to the jatropha and woody biomass power projects discussed in Chapters Two and Three. The findings show that community members had mixed views about the projects; they generally appreciated increased local job opportunities, but had concerns about environmental impacts, particularly in Wisconsin, USA. Analysis of relevant Mexican and US bioenergy policies shows policy gaps that likely contributed to project failure. The results of this work can help improve future public and private bioenergy policy that better protects values at multiple spatial scales.