Organised VAT fraud: features, magnitude, policy perspectives

The European Union’s VAT system has become vulnerable to organised fraud schemes. In recent years, these schemes, undergoing a change in structure, have affected services and imports of goods from third countries and may also have shifted trade in goods among EU countries. Within the EU-27, organised VAT fraud is estimated to amount to between €20 billion and €35 billion a year. The EU institutions and Member States have put forward several measures to tackle this problem, although some of these have placed a disproportionate burden on businesses. The article shows that need to maximise the effectiveness of anti-VAT-fraud strategy cannot be separated from a broad view of the problem and of the functioning of the VAT system as a whole. A drastic change in the VAT system might provide a robust defence against fraud but produce uncertain effects. Enhancing risk management and exchange of good practices is essential. Technology-based solutions appear to be a pragmatic and politically feasible approach to new challenges, with good prospects of success.VAT, tax evasion, fraud

Geoengineering: A war on climate change?

Geoengineering; specifically Solar Radiation Management ; has been proposed to effect rapid influence over the Earth’s climate system in order to counteract Anthropogenic Global Warming. This poses near-term to long-term governance challenges; some of which are within the planning horizon of current political administrations. Previous discussions of governance of SRM have focused primarily on two scenarios: an isolated “Greenfinger” individual; or state; acting independently ; versus more consensual; internationalist approaches. I argue that these models represent a very limited sub-set of plausible deployment scenarios. To generate a range of alternative models; I offer a short; relatively unstructured discussion of a range of different types of warfare – each with an analogous SRM deployment regime

Can Power from Space Compete?

Satellite solar power (SSP) has been suggested as an alternative to terrestrial energy resources for electricity generation. In this study, we consider the market for electricity from the present to 2020, roughly the year when many experts expect SSP to be technically achievable. We identify several key challenges for SSP in competing with conventional electricity generation in developed and developing countries, discuss the role of market and economic analysis as technical development of SSP continues during the coming years, and suggest future research directions to improve understanding of the potential economic viability of SSP.

Solar Energy, Utilities, and Fairness

This Article analyzes the primary fairness arguments that utilities are leveling against net metering programs and electricity rate designs as rooftop solar energy expands across the country. By categorizing and more thoroughly evaluating these arguments, this Article seeks to enhance the dialogue between utilities, legislators, state regulators, and the solar energy industry over how to best orchestrate the nation’s shift toward more sustainable electricity strategies. Part II of this Article describes how net metering programs and other factors are spurring dramatic growth in distributed solar energy generation in the United States and how utilities are increasingly lobbying for policy changes that would slow this trend. Part III highlights the conspicuous role that simple fairness arguments are playing in utilities’ campaigns against distributed energy-friendly policies. Part III also describes research by Professor Steven Shavell and Professor Louis Kaplow that questions the propriety of fairness arguments in policy analysis. Shavell and Kaplow argue that claims of unfairness can be counterproductive distractions in the formulation of policy and thus recommend that decision-makers thoroughly examine fairness-based arguments before allowing them to shape legislative, regulatory, or judicial decisions. Part IV of this Article seeks to apply these scholars’ approach, analyzing fairness-based arguments against net metering and existing rate designs as they relate to three distinct groups: (i) utility customers who have no solar panels, (ii) utility customers with low incomes, and (iii) utilities themselves. This Article ultimately argues that general appeals to fairness are detrimental in policy debates involving distributed solar energy. Shunning fairness arguments in favor of clearer, more specific arguments would benefit decision-makers as they search for solutions to the complex policy challenges associated with transitioning to a more sustainable electricity system

Who Regulates the Smart Grid?: FERC\u27s Authority Over Demand Response Compensation in Wholesale Electricity Markets.

This Article argues that Order 745 is both justified under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and important to ensure the transition to a clean energy future. A challenge to Order 745, Electric Power Supply Association v. FERC, is currently pending in the D.C. Circuit. This Article contends that Order 745 should be upheld against this challenge because it fits within FERC\u27s broad authority to regulate the wholesale power markets

Who Regulates the Smart Grid? : FERC\u27s Authority Over Demand Response Compensation in Wholesale Electricity Markets

This Article argues that Order 745 is both justified under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and important to ensure the transition to a clean energy future. A challenge to Order 745, Electric Power Supply Association v. FERC, is currently pending in the D.C. Circuit. This Article contends that Order 745 should be upheld against this challenge because it fits within FERC’s broad authority to regulate the wholesale power markets

PERSPECTIVES ON THE PROSUMER ROLE IN THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SYSTEM

Climate change and the ever-growing demand for energy are pushing us to find new ways to manage energy production, distribution, and consumption. This energy transition is enabled, for example, by the digitalization, decentralization, and democratization of the energy system. The energy system is already transitioning from fossil-fuel and large power-plant–based generation toward a flexible system based on renewable energy sources. Traditional transmission grids are being replaced by smart grids enabled by digitalization that facilitate bi-directional flows of information and energy. At the consumption end, smart energy meters, energy monitoring devices and applications, and renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic and battery storages empower energy consumers to evolve into prosumers: the producers and consumers of energy. These prosumers, also referred to as active consumers and energy citizens, are envisioned to play an important role in the sustainable energy system in the future. While the energy prosumer role has gained more research attention during the past few years, plenty of gaps in completely understanding energy prosumerism still remain. This research focuses on studying the prosumer role in the sustainable energy system. I study the enablers and activities of energy prosumers and explore how the growing number of prosumers may influence the socio-technical energy transition. The research presents two main perspectives on prosumerism; it explores both the micro and macro-level influences on the energy prosumers. The main research fields of this study are sustainability transitions, innovation studies, and policy. Based on theory and literature review, a novel research framework synthesizing the theoretical concepts and earlier research related to prosumers is introduced. From the methodology viewpoint, a pragmatic research approach and mixed methods are used to explore the enablers for prosumerism as well as prosumer activities and their impact on the ongoing energy transition. The research results are displayed in the form of six articles published in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences. The first two articles make propositions about the prosumer role as part of the changing socio-technical energy and innovation system. The next two articles focus on understanding the micro-level impact on the energy prosumers and examine the producer–consumer, in particular, as a co-developer of energy-related innovations. The remaining two articles address the impact of macro-level policies on prosumers. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of the energy prosumer role in the future sustainable energy system. Theoretical contributions are related to the novel research framework that combines the concepts from the socio-technical multi-level perspective, innovation studies, and policy research as well as offers a more pragmatic framework for inquiry in the context of the changing energy system to observe the prosumer role therein. A specific theoretical contribution is made to the technology acceptance model that is tested in the context of external policy influence. Furthermore, the research contributes to innovation studies and especially to the field of user-centric innovations by bringing new results for understanding the factors behind end users’ collaboration interests. Practical contributions of the study are related to the understanding of the micro-foundations of prosumer interests toward innovation co-creation activities. Practitioners benefit from evidence concerning the differences between consumers and prosumers, which may help them in designing products and services for these different categories. This improved understanding is necessary, for example, to accelerate the diffusion of renewable energy technologies that is crucial for the sustainability transition. Policy- makers may benefit from the findings related to the policy analysis that combines and compares different prosumer activities with policy mixes and calls for a more holistic and systemic approach for the development of the prosumer related policies. While prosumer research has increased during the past decade, many future research avenues for the topic exist. For example, more research on prosumer role as part of the sustainability transition can help in designing better policies as well as products and services for consumers and prosumers. Moreover, systemic activities, such as those related to the integration of electric vehicle smart charging into the power system combined with other prosumer activities, offer opportunities for researchers. Furthermore, research concerning novel prosumer-centric business models, for instance related to energy communities, is needed to accelerate the diffusion of sustainable technology solutions. -- Ilmastomuutos ja kasvava energian kysyntä ajavat meidät etsimään uusia tapoja hallita energian tuotantoa, jakelua ja kulutusta. Energiajärjestelmä onkin jo siirtymässä fossiilisten polttoaineiden ja suurten voimalaitosten tuotannosta uusiutuviin energialähteisiin perustuvaan joustavaan järjestelmään. Sähköverkot on transformoitu digitalisoinnin mahdollistamana älykkäiksi Smart Grid -verkoiksi, jotka pystyvät siirtämään sekä energiaa että dataa molempiin suuntiin tuotannon ja kulutuksen välillä. Kulutuspäässä älykkäät energiamittarit, seurantalaitteet ja - sovellukset sekä uusiutuvien energialähteiden teknologiat, kuten aurinkosähkö ja akkuvarasto, antavat energiankuluttajille mahdollisuuden kehittyä prosumereiksi eli energian tuottaja-kuluttajiksi (engl. prosumer = producer-consumer). Prosumereilla, joihin viitataan myös nimillä ”aktiivinen kuluttaja” ja “energiakansalainen”, on tulevaisuudessa tärkeä rooli kestävässä energiajärjestelmässä. Vaikka prosumerit ovat saaneet lisää huomiota tutkimuksessa viime vuosina, energia prosumerismin ymmärtämisessä on vielä paljon aukkoja. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy selvittämään prosumerien roolia osana kestävää energiajärjestelmää ja sen murrosta. Tutkin prosumereihin liittyviä mahdollistajia, prosumerien toimintaa osana energiajärjestelmää sekä vaikutuksia kestävän kehityksen energiamurrokseen. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan monialainen, yhdistäen innovaatiotutkimusta, transitiotutkimusta ja myös jossain määrin politiikantutkimusta. Tässä pragmaattisessa tutkimuksessa käytetään sekä kvantitatiivisia että laadullisia tutkimusmetodeja. Tutkimuksen tulokset esitetään liitteenä olevien kuuden vertaisarvioidun konferenssi ja -journaaliartikkelin avulla. Ensimmäiset kaksi artikkelia esittävät propositioita prosumerin roolista osana muuttuvaa sosio-teknistä energia- ja innovaatiopelikenttää. Seuraavat kaksi artikkelia keskittyvät ymmärtämään mikrotason vaikutusta näihin toimijoihin ja tutkivat erityisesti energiaan liittyvien innovaatioiden yhteiskehittämistä. Lopuksi kaksi artikkelia käsittelevät makrotason politiikkatoimien vaikutusta prosumereihin. Tutkimuksen pääkontribuutio on ymmärryksen lisääminen kuluttajan muuttuvasta roolista osana energiajärjestelmää. Teoriakontribuutiot kytkeytyvät uusiin tapoihin yhdistää keskeisiä teorioita kestävän kehityksen transitiotutkimuksesta, innovaatiotutkimuksesta sekä politiikan tutkimuksesta. Käytännön elämään vaikuttavat kontribuutiot liittyvät empiirisiin tutkimustuloksiin esimerkiksi tavallisten kuluttajien ja prosumereiden eroista. Tietämyksen lisääminen auttaa teknologia- ja palveluyrityksiä suunnittelemaan tuotteita ja palveluita, jotka sopivat erilaisiin tarpeisiin, joka voi edelleen auttaa nopeuttamaan uusiutuvaan energiaan liittyvien innovaatioiden leviämistä ja siten edistää kestävää kehitystä. Prosumer -tutkimuksessa on edelleen paljon tilaa uudelle tieteenharjoitukselle. Esimerkiksi energiayhteisöt ovat yleistymässä ja tutkimus niiden roolista osana energiajärjestelmää on vasta käynnistynyt. Tutkimalla energiayhteisöjä pystytään lisäämään ymmärrystä niiden vaikutuksesta esimerkiksi sähköverkkoon ja lainsäädäntöön. Toisaalta myös yksittäisten aktiviteettien ja ajureiden tutkimuksessa on vielä paljon mahdollisuuksia. Esimerkiksi systeemiset ja integroidut ratkaisut, kuten sähköautojen käyttäminen osana kysyntäjoustoa, tarjoavat hyviä tutkimusaiheita. Lisäksi erityisesti uudet liiketoimintamallit liittyen prosumereihin ja energiayhteisöihin kaipaavat selkeyttämistä ja kokeiluja sekä regulaation muunnoksia

Policy, Geospatial, and Market Factors in Solar Energy: a Gestalt Approach

abstract: Our dependence on fossil fuels is driving anthropogenic climate change. Solar energy is the most abundant and cleanest alternative to fossil fuels, but its practicability is influenced by a complex interplay of factors (policy, geospatial, and market) and scales (global, national, urban). This thesis provides a holistic evaluation of these factors and scales with the goal of improving our understanding of the mechanisms and challenges of transitioning to solar energy. This analysis used geospatial, demographic, policy, legislative record, environmental, and industry data, plus a series of semi-structured, in-person interviews. Methods included geostatistical calculation, statistical linear regression and multivariate modeling, and qualitative inductive analysis. The results reveal valuable insights at each scale, but moreover a gestalt model across the factors and scales draws out a larger pattern at play of the transmutational weighting and increasing complexity of interplay as the level of analysis cascades down through the three geographic scales.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Sustainability 201