Energy Systems Analysis and Modelling towards Decarbonisation

The Paris Agreement establishes a process to combine Nationally Determined Contributions with the long-term goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 °C or even to 1.5 °C. Responding to this challenge, EU and non-EU countries are preparing national and regional low-emission strategies outlining clean energy-transition pathways. The aim of this book is to provide rigorous quantitative assessment of the challenges, impacts and opportunities induced by ambitious low-emission pathways. It aims to explore how deep emission reductions can be achieved in all energy supply and demand sectors, exploring the interplay between mitigation options, including energy efficiency, renewable energy uptake and electrification, for decarbonising inflexible end-uses such as mobility and heating. The high expansion of renewable energy poses high technical and economic challenges regarding system configuration and market organisation, requiring the development of new options such as batteries, prosumers, grid expansion, chemical storage through power-to-X and new tariff setting methods. The uptake of disruptive mitigation options (hydrogen, CCUS, clean e-fuels) as well as carbon dioxide removal (BECCS, direct air capture, etc.) may also be required in the case of net-zero emission targets, but raises market, regulatory and financial challenges. This book assesses low-emission strategies at the national and global level and their implications for energy-system development, technology uptake, energy-system costs and the socioeconomic and industrial impacts of low-emission transitions

Commercial energy efficiency and the environment

The production and use of energy create serious, extensive environmental affects at every level, in every country, argue the authors. That impact may be more serious in developing than in developed countries as developing countries depend more on natural resources and lack the economic strength to withstand environmental consequences. At the same time, a reliable energy supply is vital to economic growth and development. Energy consumption and economic growth have been somewhat delinked at high income levels, but increased energy consumption (especially of electricity) is inevitable with higher GDP. Greater energy efficiency in developing countries and Eastern Europe is a high-priority way to mitigate the harm to the environment of growing energy consumption, say the authors. They outline four advantages of greater energy efficiency. It requires measures that are in the economic self-interest of those regions. Political obstacles make these measures difficult, but there are well-established techniques for addressing concerns about low-income consumers (such as direct income support or life-line rates). It will help conserve the world supply of nonrenewable (especially fossil) fuels. It will encourage appropriate fuel switching. It addresses every level of concern, up to the global effects of global warming. Any strategy to make energy use and production more efficient must rely more extensively than before on markets that are allowed to function with less government interference. The crucial components of such a straetegy (also crucial to economic development generally) are: more domestic and external competition; the gradual elimination of energy pricing distortions; the reduction of macroeconomic and sectoral distortions (for example, in foreign exchange and credit markets); the reform of energy supply enterprises - reducing state interference, providing more financial autonomy and a greater role for the private sector; consumer incentives to select more efficient lights, space heating, and so on. The authors are not convinced of the need for nonmarket approaches beyond those geared to correct externalities, provide essential information, support basic research and development, and possibly promote pilot projects. They also conclude that a government is far more likely to take action to reduce an environmental externality if it captures benefits within its own national boundaries that exceed the cost of the action. Reducing the large difference between energy prices and economic costs in developing countries and Eastern Europe is a more immediate issue than carbon taxes. The developed countries, say the authors, have an indispensable role to play in improving energy efficiency in the developing countries and Eastern Europe. They can encourage the flow of efficient technology, they can increase conventional aid, and they must accept a greater share of the burden of protecting the global commonalities.Energy and Environment,Environmental Economics&Policies,Energy Demand,Transport and Environment,Power&Energy Conversion

Experience with Carbon Taxes and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Systems

Carbon taxes and emissions trading systems (ETSs) to limit emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are increasingly common. At the end of 2015, 17 GHG ETSs were operational in 55 jurisdictions, and 18 jurisdictions collected at least one carbon tax. This paper assesses the performance of carbon taxes and ETSs with respect to environmental effectiveness (reduction of emissions regulated by the instrument), cost-effectiveness (marginal abatement cost), economic efficiency, public finance, and administrative issues. Data on emissions subject to carbon taxes are rarely reported. We estimate the taxed emissions for 17 taxes in 12 jurisdictions from 1991 through the end of 2015. All 17 taxes have reduced emissions relative to business-as-usual. Six of the jurisdictions actually reduced emissions, although in at least three of those jurisdictions the reductions appear to be due to other policies. The small sizes of reduction in almost all 17 cases are partially due to the low tax rates; the modest and uncertain changes in tax rates over time; and the limited response of taxed sources, such as fossil fuels, to price changes. Actual emissions declined for at least six of 10 ETSs. Other policies and developments, such as the 2009 recession, contributed to the reductions, but estimates of the share of the reduction attributable to the instrument are rare. All of the ETSs have accumulated banks of surplus allowances and most have implemented measures to reduce these banks. On average, the marginal cost of compliance is substantially lower for ETSs than carbon taxes. ETS experience has been shared bilaterally and via dedicated institutions. As a result, most ETSs have increased the share of allowances auctioned; adopted declining emissions caps; specified future caps and floor prices several years into the future; shifted to benchmarking for free allowance allocations to emissions-intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) sources; reduced accessibility to foreign offset credits; and established market stability reserves. By contrast, there is little evidence of shared learning and virtually no change to the design of carbon taxes. We found no jurisdiction that routinely tracks the taxed emissions. Very few jurisdictions regularly assess the effectiveness of the tax in achieving emission reductions. Additionally, adjustments to the tax rate often are unpredictable after an introductory period of three to five years. Both instruments reduce emissions, but ETSs have performed better than carbon taxes on the principal criteria of environmental effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Many jurisdictions have implemented both a carbon tax and a GHG ETS, and every jurisdiction that has adopted either instrument has also implemented other policies. More research is needed to improve the design of both instruments and their interaction with non-market-based carbon policies because the use of multiple instruments produces complex interactive and distributional effects. While economically inefficient, market-based policies should be supplemented by non-market-based policies to ensure sustained political support

Regulatory limitations and global stakeholder mapping of carbon capture and storage technology – a legal and multi-level perspective analysis

Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology (CCS) is propounded as one of the key bridging technologies and temporary abatement measure in the battle against climate change. Not only is it based on well-established technology, used and improved upon for decades in the fossil fuels industry, but it also has the potential to remove vast quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere giving much needed alleviation away from climate tipping points. Despite these advantages, CCS has been slow to start and easy to stall, with financial risk and uncertainty, lack of regulatory cohesion and a disjointed policy mix all playing a part in impeding its commercialization. Systems Thinking and Transition Theory in particular have been widely adopted as methodologies which have the potential to elucidate the barriers to development in socio-technical systems of the likes of CCS. Using one such theory - Multi-Level Perspective Analysis - as an analytical framework, an in-depth investigation was performed of both the ‘Niche’ and ‘Regime’ of CCS. This was undertaken through a comprehensive legal and regulatory analysis and a global survey of 604 stakeholders involved in research and development throughout the technology chain. The combined examination of the legal and stakeholder system boundaries is used to set the ‘chessboard’ and ‘pieces’ upon which further analysis of the ‘combinations’ of moves open to CCS will be revealed. In essence, the regulatory and stakeholder configurations, which most lend themselves to CCS technology development, are explored and elucidated. This is done with the aim to address the knowledge gaps in the legal and regulatory requirements necessary for implementing CCS on a wider scale, as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2005).Open Acces

Opportunities and risks for CO2 intense sectors in Turkey

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit organization holding the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world. Over 3,000 organizations in some 60 countries now disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, water management and climate change strategies through CDP, in order that they can set reduction targets and make performance improvements. This data is gathered on behalf of institutional investors, purchasing organizations and government bodies, then, made available to CDP signatories for integration into business and policy decision-making. Since its formation in 2000, CDP has become the gold standard for carbon disclosure methodology and process, providing essential climate change data to the global market place. Since the beginning of the year 2010, Turkey is included in Carbon Disclosure Project with the support of Akbank and Ernst & Young-Turkey. The project is managed and controlled by Sabanci University Corporate Governance Forum, which has become a centre of expertise on corporate disclosure over the years. 50 companies, which constitute the Istanbul Stock Exchange’s ISE-50 index, have been invited by CDP Turkey in the year of 2010 to disclose climate change related information,10 of those companies responded to CDP’s invitation and presented their carbon emission levels and risk management strategies to international investors through the CDP platform. Additionally one company joined the CDP voluntarily. In the year 2011, the invitation is extended to 100 companies constituting Istanbul Stock Exchange’s ISE-100 index. A total of 17 ISE 100 companies responded to CDP, including two ISE 100 firms whose international parent companies answered the questionnaire on their behalf. In addition, there are three voluntary responses outside the ISE 100 sample, which increased the number of direct CDP responses from Turkish companies to 20. In 2012, CDP Turkey aims to enlarge its scope to cover both listed and non-listed firms in carbon intense industries through voluntary disclosure in collaboration with sector organizations. This report discusses the conditions in CO2 intense sectors of Turkey, in terms of market conditions, current & potential regulatory risks and opportunities. The first sections of the report elaborate on comparative GHG emission trends in Turkey. The second section lays down leading firms in the largest industries and the most CO2 intensive sectors in Turkey. The third section draws attention to the market dynamics in carbon intense industries. And the last section, points out risks and potential opportunities for those industries, including EC legislation and initiatives to transform consumption and production patterns

Transnational trafficking networks of end-of-life vehicles and e-waste

Based on case studies and interviews, it appears that the transnational trafficking of various waste types follows distinct paths. However, this information only provides a partial view of the global waste trafficking network, as it has never been studied by combining all the known illegal flows of different waste types. To address this gap, we analysed data from the Basel Convention National Reports to reconstruct networks of countries that engaged in illegal exchanges of end-of-life vehicles, e-waste, or both between 2016 and 2019. Our findings suggest that the structure of these networks and the countries involved in the trafficking vary depending on the waste type, with some similarities. While there are a few reciprocal ties, illegal end-of-life vehicles and e-waste typically move in one direction between countries. Most illegal flows occur from the Global North to the Global South, but trafficking also takes place within each of these regions

3rd Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Association of Energy Economics & 5th Meeting of Environmental and Energy Economics

The 3rd Annual Conference of the Portuguese Association of Energy Economics – APEEN and the International Meeting on Energy and Environmental Economics – ME3 took place on the 18-19 October 2018 in Braga, Portugal. The event was hosted by the Universidade do Minho and gathered the contributions of specialists in Energy and Environmental Economics to enrich the debate about the many issues raised by the management of resources and waste. The main topic was Managing Resources and Waste: challenges for Energy and Environmental Economics beyond 2030. ​Natural resources are the keystone in environmental and energy economics. Nowadays, resource management cannot ignore waste, traditionally seen as a by-product of consumption and production decisions, but increasingly recognized as a source of energy or as new type of resource

Carbon Capture; Transport and Storage in Europe: A Problematic Energy Bridge to Nowhere?

This paper is a follow up of the SECURE-project, financed by the European Commission to study “Security of Energy Considering its Uncertainties, Risks and Economic Implications”. It addresses the perspectives of, and the obstacles to a CCTS-roll out, as stipulated in some of the scenarios. Our main hypothesis is that given the substantial technical and institutional uncertainties, the lack of a clear political commitment, and the available alternatives of low-carbon technologies, CCTS is unlikely to play an important role in the future energy mix; it is even less likely to be an “energy bridge” into a low-carbon energy futureCarbon Capture, Transport, Storage