Income, resources, and electricity mix

This paper presents evidence on a national-level electricity ladder which sees countries transition toward coal and natural gas, and finally nuclear power and modern renewables such as wind power, for their electricity needs as they develop. The extent to which countries climb the electricity ladder is dependent on energy endowments. The results imply that the environmental implications of economic development differ in countries with different energy resource endowments. An effective global carbon mitigation strategy will require developing countries to leapfrog the middle rungs of the electricity ladder.economic development, electricity mix, energy, substitution, transition

Gasoline prices and road fatalities: international evidence

This study utilizes data for 144 countries from 1991 to 2010 to present the first international estimates of the gasoline price elasticity of road fatalities. We instrument each country’s gasoline price with that country’s oil reserves and the yearly international crude oil price to address potential endogeneity concerns. Our findings suggest that the average reduction in road fatalities resulting from a 10% increase in the gasoline pump price is in the order of 3%–6%. Around 35,000 road deaths per year could be avoided by the removal of global fuel subsidies

Do output contractions trigger democratic change?

Does faster economic growth increase pressure for democratic change, or reduce it? Using data for 154 countries for the period 1963-2007, we examine the short-run relationship between economic growth and moves toward and away from greater democracy. To address the potential endogeneity of economic growth, we use variation in precipitation, temperatures, and commodity prices as instruments for a country’s rate of economic growth. Our results indicate that more rapid economic growth reduces the short-run likelihood of institutional change toward democracy. Output contractions due to adverse weather shocks appear to have a particularly important impact on the timing of democratic change.economic growth, democratization, weather, commodity prices

Do Output Contractions Trigger Democratic Change?

Does faster economic growth increase pressure for democratic change, or reduce it? Using data for 154 countries for the period 1963-2007, we examine the short-run relationship between economic growth and moves toward and away from greater democracy. To address the potential endogeneity of economic growth, we use variation in precipitation, temperatures, and commodity prices as instruments for a country’s rate of economic growth. Our results indicate that more rapid economic growth reduces the short-run likelihood of institutional change toward democracy. Output contractions due to adverse weather shocks appear to have a particularly important impact on the timing of democratic change.weather, democratization, economic growth, commodity prices

Some consequences of intense electromagnetic wave injection into space plasmas

The future possibility of actively testing the current understanding of how energetic particles may be accelerated in space or dumped from the radiation belts using intense electromagnetic energy from ground based antennas is discussed. The ground source of radiation is merely a convenience. A space station source for radiation that does not have to pass through the atmosphere and lower ionosphere, is an attractive alternative. The text is divided into two main sections addressing the possibilities of: (1) accelerating electrons to fill selected flux tubes above the Kennel-Petscheck limit for stably trapped fluxes, and (2) using an Alfven maser to cause rapid depletion of energetic protons or electrons from the radiation belts

Understanding the energy-GDP elasticity: a sectoral approach

This paper uses per capita data for 132 countries over 1960–2010 to estimate elasticities of sectoral energy use with respect to national gross domestic product (GDP). We estimate models in both levels and growth rates and use our estimates to sectorally decompose the aggregate energy-GDP elasticity. Our estimates show that residential energy use is very inelastic to GDP if primary solid biofuels are counted in energy use tallies, especially at low income levels. Residential use of electricity is more tightly linked to GDP, as is energy use by the transportation, industrial, and services sectors. Agriculture typically accounts for a small share of energy use and has a modest energy-GDP elasticity. The aggregate energy-GDP elasticity tends to be higher for countries at higher income levels, in large part because traditional use of primary solid biofuels is less important. Gasoline prices, winter temperature, population, and land area are among other factors influencing sectoral energy use

Gasoline prices, gasoline consumption, and new-vehicle fuel economy: evidence for a large sample of countries

Countries differ considerably in terms of the price drivers pay for gasoline. This paper uses data for 132 countries for the period 1995–2008 to investigate the implications of these differences for the consumption of gasoline for road transport. To address the potential for simultaneity bias,we use both a country's oil reserves and the international crude oil price as instruments for a country's average gasoline pump price. We obtain estimates of the long-run price elasticity of gasoline demand of between −0.2 and −0.5. Using newly available data for a sub-sample of 43 countries, we also find that higher gasoline prices induce consumers to substitute to vehicles that aremore fuel-efficient, with an estimated elasticity of+0.2. Despite the small size of our elasticity estimates, there is considerable scope for low-price countries to achieve gasoline savings and vehicle fuel economy improvements via reducing gasoline subsidies and/or increasing gasoline taxes.Funding was received from the ANU Research School of Asia and the Pacific

The price and income elasticities of natural gas demand: International evidence

Natural gas contributes a growing share of the world's energy mix. In this paper we use national-level data for a sample of 44 countries to estimate the price and income elasticities of natural gas demand. We present both single-equation results and results instrumenting natural gas prices with proved natural gas reserves. Our instrument includes both domestic reserves and distance-weighted reserves in other countries. We obtain estimates of the average long-run price elasticity of natural gas demand of around −1.25 and of the average long-run income elasticity of natural gas demand of +1 and higher. We also present separate estimates for final natural gas demand by industry and households

Fuel prices and road deaths in Australia

After years of general progress in reducing Australia’s road death toll, road deaths increased in 2015 and 2016, reaching 1293 per annum. These were also years of relatively cheap fuel following the dramatic decline in the world oil price in late 2014. This study uses monthly data to model the number of road deaths in Australia. Our estimates suggest that low fuel prices have contributed to knocking Australia off track for meeting its 2020 road safety target. The paper also provides a discussion of other factors that may have contributed to the rise in Australia’s road death toll.Australian Research Council (DE160100750

Ionization of hydrogen atoms by electron impact at 1eV, 0.5eV and 0.3eV above threshold

We present here triple differential cross sections for ionization of hydrogen atoms by electron impact at 1eV, 0.5eV and 0.3eV energy above threshold, calculated in the hyperspherical partial wave theory. The results are in very good agreement with the available semiclassical results of Deb and Crothers \cite{DC02} for these energies. With this, we are able to demonstrate that the hyperspherical partial wave theory yields good cross sections from 30 eV \cite{DPC03} down to near threshold for equal energy sharing kinematics.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figure