42 research outputs found

    SO2 Allowance Trading: How Experience and Expectations Measure Up

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    The SO2 trading program has achieved reductions in emissions ahead of schedule, with allowance prices below the marginal costs that were anticipated for the program. This paper explores the experience with the program and proposes a taxonomy of reasons why allowance prices are low. The overarching reason is that the most costly investments to accommodate full emission reductions have been successfully delayed. Application of a discount rate to these long run marginal costs yields an estimate of allowance price close to that observed today. Several factors have contributed to the delay in bearing these costs, and helped to reduce their magnitude. One group of factors stems from market fundamentals, especially the cost of rail transport of low sulfur coal. A second group includes the influences of state and federal regulators. A third group includes distinctions from the "imagined" program compared to that which was actually been enacted.

    Changing Productivity in U.S. Petroleum Exploration and Development

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    This study analyzes sources of productivity change in petroleum exploration and development in the United States over the last ten years. There have been several major developments in the industry over the last decade that have led to dramatic reductions in the cost of finding and developing oil and natural gas resources. While some of the cost savings are organizational and institutional in nature, the most important changes are in the application of new technologies used to find and produce oil and gas: 3D seismology, horizontal drilling, and deepwater drilling. Not all the innovation is endogenous to the industry; some rests on outside advances (such as advances in high-speed computing that enabled 3D seismology), as well as learning-by-doing. The increased productivity of mature petroleum provinces like the U.S. helps to maintain competition in the world oil market as well as enhance domestic industry returns.

    Energia e stili di vita: il dibattito americano

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    Ricerca, nell'ambito del Programma "Futurama", sul dibattito in tema di energia e prospettive future, con riferimento al contesto americano.- Indice #5- Introduzione #7- Cap.I Implicazioni economiche dell'aumento dei prezzi dell'energia #10- Cap.II Effetti sociali dell'aumento dei prezzi dell'energia #39- Cap.III Implicazioni politiche dell'aumento dei prezzi dell'energia #58- Bibliografia #7

    A Meaningful U.S. Cap-and-Trade System to Address Climate Change

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    There is growing impetus for a domestic U.S. climate policy that can provide meaningful reductions in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. In this article, I propose and analyze a scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically feasible approach for the United States to reduce its contributions to the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. The proposal features an up-stream, economy-wide CO2 cap-and-trade system which implements a gradual trajectory of emissions reductions over time, and includes mechanisms to reduce cost uncertainty. I compare the proposed system with frequently discussed alternatives. In addition, I describe common objections to a cap-and-trade approach to the problem, and provide responses to these objections

    Changing Productivity in U.S. Petroleum Exploration and Development

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    This study analyzes sources of productivity change in petroleum exploration and development in the United States over the last ten years. There have been several major developments in the industry over the last decade that have led to dramatic reductions in the cost of finding and developing oil and natural gas resources. While some of the cost savings are organizational and institutional in nature, the most important changes are in the application of new technologies used to find and produce oil and gas: 3D seismology, horizontal drilling, and deepwater drilling. Not all the innovation is endogenous to the industry; some rests on outside advances (such as advances in high-speed computing that enabled 3D seismology), as well as learning-by-doing. The increased productivity of mature petroleum provinces like the U.S. helps to maintain competition in the world oil market as well as enhance domestic industry returns

    Editor's introduction

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