The Impact of Government Policy on Private Car Ownership in Ireland

We construct a model of the stock of private cars in the Republic of Ireland. The model distinguishes cars by fuel, engine size and age. The modelled car stock is built up from a long history of data on sales, and calibrated to recent data on actual stock. We complement the data on the number of cars with data on fuel efficiency and distance driven – which together give fuel use and emissions – and the costs of purchase, ownership and use. We use the model to project the car stock from 2010 to 2025. The following results emerge. The 2009 reform of the vehicle registration and motor tax has led to a dramatic shift from petrol to diesel cars. Fuel efficiency has improved and will improve further as a result, but because diesel cars are heavier, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced but not substantially so. The projected emissions in 2020 are roughly the same as in 2007. In a second set of simulations, we impose the government targets for electrification of transport. As all-electric vehicles are likely to displace small, efficient, and little-driven petrol cars, the effect on carbon dioxide emissions is minimal. We also consider the scrappage scheme, which has little effect as it applies to a small fraction of the car stock only,

How impact fees and local planning regulation can influence deployment of telecoms infrastructure

This paper examines how local government planning regulations and charges affect the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. We explore the economic rationale for local government regulation of such infrastructure, which we suggest should be based on managing negative externalities. Using data from Ireland, we find that the observed geographical pattern of impact fees is inconsistent with the economic rationale for them. A simple econometric model of the number of telecoms masts in each country also suggests that the level of impact fees is negatively associated with mast deployment. This paper also examines other regulatory factors that affect the provision of new infrastructure. We find wide regional variation in these regulations but are unableto quantify their impact on infrastructure provision. Such regulatory complexity places extra compliance burdens on private operators, which may in turn distort the level and regional pattern of network investment. We suggest further regional harmonisation of development policy towards telecoms infrastructure to avoid exacerbating regional disparities in rollout of services. --Land use regulation,telecommunications infrastructure investment,impact fees

The HERMES model of the Irish Energy Sector. ESRI WP396. July 2011

In Ireland, the energy sector has undergone significant change in the last forty years. In this period, there has been a significant increase in the demand for energy. This increase has been driven by economic and demographic factors. Although the current deep recession has quelled the upward trend in the demand for energy, a future economic recovery will bring these issues back into focus. This paper documents a model of the Irish energy sector which relates energy demand to real economic variables. As part of the HERMES macro-economic model this model of the energy sector has, for a number of years, been used to forecast energy demand. However, the energy model itself can be considered in isolation from the MERMES macro-economic model and this paper gives details of its specification

The Impact of Tax Reform on New Car Purchases in Ireland. ESRI WP349. July 2010

We examine the impact of recent tax reforms in Ireland on private car transport and its greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon tax was introduced on fuels, and purchase (vehicle registration) and ownership (motor) taxes were switched from engine size to potential emissions. We use a demographic model of the car stock (by age, size, and fuel) and a car purchase model that reflects the heterogeneous distribution of mileage and usage costs across various engine sizes. The model shows a dramatic shift from petrol to diesel cars, particularly for large engines. The same pattern is observed in the latest data on car sales. This has a substantial impact on tax revenue as car owners shift to the lower tax rates. The tax burden has shifted from car ownership to car use, and that the overall tax burden on private car transport falls. As diesel engines are more fuel efficient than petrol engines, carbon dioxide emissions fall modestly or, if we consider the rebound effect of travel costs on mileage, minimally. From the perspective of the revenue, the costs per tonne of carbon dioxide avoided are (very) high

The Impact of Climate Policy on Private Car Ownership in Ireland. ESRI WP342. April 2010

We construct a model of the stock of private cars in the Republic of Ireland. The model distinguishes cars by fuel, engine size and age. The modelled car stock is build up from a long history of data on sales, and calibrated to recent data on actual stock. We complement the data on the number of cars with data on fuel efficiency and distance driven – which together give fuel use and emissions – and the costs of purchase, ownership and use. We use the model to project the car stock from 2010 to 2025. The following results emerge. The 2009 reform of the vehicle registration and motor tax has lead to a dramatic shift from petrol to diesel cars. Fuel efficiency has improved and will improve further as a result, but because diesel cars are heavier, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced but not substantially so. The projected emissions in 2020 are roughly the same as in 2007. In a second set of simulations, we impose the government targets for electrification of transport. As all-electric vehicles are likely to displace small, efficient, and little-driven petrol cars, the effect on carbon dioxide emissions is minimal. We also consider the scrappage scheme, which has little effect as it applies to a small fraction of the car stock only

How impact fees and local planning regulation can influence deployment of telecoms infrastructure. ESRI WP401, August 2011

This paper examines how local government planning regulations and charges affect the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. We explore the economic rationale for local government regulation of such infrastructure, which we suggest should be based on managing negative externalities. Using data from Ireland, we find that the observed geographical pattern of impact fees is inconsistent with the economic rationale for them. A simple econometric model of the number of telecoms masts in each county also suggests that the level of impact fees is negatively associated with mast deployment. This paper also examines other regulatory factors that affect the provision of new infrastructure. We find wide regional variation in these regulations but are unable to quantify their impact on infrastructure provision. Such regulatory complexity places extra compliance burdens on private operators, which may in turn distort the level and regional pattern of network investment. We suggest further regional harmonisation of development policy towards telecoms infrastructure to avoid exacerbating regional disparities in rollout of services

Faint High Latitude Carbon Stars Discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Methods and Initial Results

We report the discovery of 39 Faint High Latitude Carbon Stars (FHLCs) from Sloan Digital Sky Survey commissioning data. The objects, each selected photometrically and verified spectroscopically, range over 16.6 < r* < 20.0, and show a diversity of temperatures as judged by both colors and NaD line strengths. At the completion of the Sloan Survey, there will be many hundred homogeneously selected and observed FHLCs in this sample. We present proper motion measures for each object, indicating that the sample is a mixture of extremely distant (>100 kpc) halo giant stars, useful for constraining halo dynamics, plus members of the recently-recognized exotic class of very nearby dwarf carbon (dC) stars. Motions, and thus dC classification, are inferred for 40-50 percent of the sample, depending on the level of statistical significance invoked. The new list of dC stars presented here, although selected from only a small fraction of the final SDSS, doubles the number of such objects found by all previous methods. (Abstract abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 124, Sep. 2002, 40 pages, 7 figures, AASTeX v5.

An Initial Survey of White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

An initial assessment is made of white dwarf and hot subdwarf stars observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In a small area of sky (190 square degrees), observed much like the full survey will be, 269 white dwarfs and 56 hot subdwarfs are identified spectroscopically where only 44 white dwarfs and 5 hot subdwarfs were known previously. Most are ordinary DA (hydrogen atmosphere) and DB (helium) types. In addition, in the full survey to date, a number of WDs have been found with uncommon spectral types. Among these are blue DQ stars displaying lines of atomic carbon; red DQ stars showing molecular bands of C_2 with a wide variety of strengths; DZ stars where Ca and occasionally Mg, Na, and/or Fe lines are detected; and magnetic WDs with a wide range of magnetic field strengths in DA, DB, DQ, and (probably) DZ spectral types. Photometry alone allows identification of stars hotter than 12000 K, and the density of these stars for 15<g<20 is found to be ~2.2 deg^{-2} at Galactic latitudes 29-62 deg. Spectra are obtained for roughly half of these hot stars. The spectra show that, for 15<g<17, 40% of hot stars are WDs and the fraction of WDs rises to ~90% at g=20. The remainder are hot sdB and sdO stars.Comment: Accepted for AJ; 43 pages, including 12 figures and 5 table

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Characterization of M,L and T dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

An extensive sample of M, L and T dwarfs identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has been compiled. The sample of 718 dwarfs includes 677 new objects (629 M dwarfs, 48 L dwarfs) together with 41 that have been previously published. All new objects and some of the previously published ones have new optical spectra obtained either with the SDSS spectrographs or with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m ARC telescope. Spectral types and SDSS colors are available for all objects; approximately 35% also have near-infrared magnitudes measured by 2MASS or on the Mauna Kea system. We use this sample to characterize the color--spectral type and color--color relations of late type dwarfs in the SDSS filters, and to derive spectroscopic and photometric parallax relations for use in future studies of the luminosity and mass functions based on SDSS data. We find that the (i*-z*) and (i*-J) colors provide good spectral type and absolute magnitude (M_i*) estimates for M and L dwarfs. Our distance estimates for the current sample indicate that SDSS is finding early M dwarfs out to about 1.5 kpc, L dwarfs to approximately 100 pc and T dwarfs to near 20 pc. The T dwarf photometric data show large scatter and are therefore less reliable for spectral type and distance estimation.Comment: 46 pages, 14 figures (24 pages of figures), Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa