Moving towards a More Sustainable World : four Essays on Renewable Energy, Emissions Trading, and Environmental Behaviour

Reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions is essential to fight climate change. In addition, private consumption patterns have effects on emissions and the sustainable use of natural resources. This thesis examines the effect of certain environmental policies on Swedish industries and its greenhouse gas emissions, and also analyses household consumption patterns of environmental goods. The EU emission trading system (ETS) is a market-based instrument to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its effectiveness is under constant scrutiny, in particular since regulatory changes of the third phase are expected to have larger impacts on carbon emissions. An empirical study is conducted to evaluate the effect of the different phases of the EU emission trading system on firms’ carbon emissions and, on their low-carbon innovation activity. Results indicate that low-carbon patenting and environmental and air-related investments in firms regulated by the emission trading system have increased over time, but emissions did not decrease. Swedish firms regulated by the ETS showed better economic indicators during the first phase. When the ETS was introduced, Sweden already had in place an energy policy with the goal to increase renewable energy capacities. It is analysed whether the combination of these two systems results in counterproductive price signals. The results suggest that this is not the case. Sustainable consumption patterns must complement sustainable production. Therefore, the thesis also studies the relation of households’ green consumption and behaviour patterns, and finds that households’ willingness to pay for environmental goods in different domains tend to be complements whereas behaviours tend to be substitutes

Evaluating urban traffic planning schemes in their effect on air quality: A policy comparison between Stockholm’s congestion charges and Berlin’s low emission zone.

Despite the large theoretical corpus on approaches to dealing with negative externalities of road transport, there is a remarkable lack of connection to practically implemented road transport schemes. This thesis gives two implemented road transport management systems, the congestion charging scheme as introduced in Stockholm and the low emission zone as introduced in Berlin, their place in the literature on negative externalities in road use. The need for a more differentiated evaluation and valuation of their effects on air quality is discussed by comparing analyses of air quality developments in the two cities, and by suggesting a life satisfaction approach to environmental quality in the analysis of the effectiveness of environmental transport schemes. The evaluation is then related to possibilities to ascertain public support. I find that integrated planning schemes, like the congestion charging scheme, that address transport demand over various channels and incentivize road users to change their travel behavior in the long run, promise higher improvements of air quality than single-minded schemes like the low emission zones

Green behavioral (in)consistencies: are pro-environmental behaviors in different domains substitutes or complements?

Households’ consumption patterns and behaviors have profound influence on natural resources and environmental quality. This paper explores whether environmental behaviors and willingness to pay (WTP) in the household domains transport, energy consumption and water consumption are substitutes or complements. Using a cross-country data set from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Survey on Environmental Attitudes and Behavior from 2008, a random-effects (ordered) probit model is used to answer this question for the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Italy, and South Korea. It is found that in most countries, actual environmental behaviors are substitutes, while WTP for environmental public goods in different domains is mostly complementary. Grounding in these results, policies aiming to encourage overall environmentally friendly lifestyles should therefore be all-encompassing of several public domains, instead of individual ones, to avoid the risk of negative spillovers

Green Behavioural (In)consistencies: Are Pro-environmental Behaviours in Different Domains Substitutes or Complements?

Households' consumption patterns and behaviors have profound influence on natural resources and environmental quality. This paper explores whether environmentalbehaviors and willingness to pay (WTP) in the household domains transport, energyconsumption and water consumption are substitutes or complements. Using a crosscountry data set from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentSurvey on Environmental Attitudes and Behavior from 2008, a random-effects(ordered) probit model is used to answer this question for the following countries:Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Italy, and South Korea. It is found that in mostcountries, actual environmental behaviors are substitutes, while WTP for environmental public goods in different domains is mostly complementary. Grounding in theseresults, policies aiming to encourage overall environmentally friendly lifestyles shouldtherefore be all-encompassing of several public domains, instead of individual ones, toavoid the risk of negative spillovers

Nociception in Chicken Embryos, Part II: Embryonal Development of Electroencephalic Neuronal Activity <i>In Ovo</i> as a Prerequisite for Nociception

Chicken culling has been forbidden in Germany since 2022; male/female selection and male elimination must be brought to an embryonic status prior to the onset of nociception. The present study evaluated the ontogenetic point at which noxious stimuli could potentially be perceived/processed in the brain in ovo. EEG recordings from randomized hyperpallial brain sites were recorded in ovo and noxious stimuli were applied. Temporal and spectral analyses of the EEG were performed. The onset of physiological neuronal signals could be determined at developmental day 13. ERP/ERSP/ITC analysis did not reveal phase-locked nociceptive responses. Although no central nociceptive responses were documented, adequate EEG responses to noxious stimuli from other brain areas cannot be excluded. The extreme stress impact on the embryo during the recording may overwrite the perception of noniceptive stimuli. The results suggest developmental day 13 as the earliest embryonal stage being able to receive and process nociceptive stimuli

Nociception in Chicken Embryos, Part III: Analysis of Movements before and after Application of a Noxious Stimulus

Many potentially noxious interventions are performed on chicken embryos in research and in the poultry industry. It is therefore essential and in the interest of animal welfare to be able to precisely define the point at which a chicken embryo is capable of nociception in ovo. The present part III of a comprehensive study examined the movements of developing chicken embryos with the aim of identifying behavioral responses to a noxious stimulus. For this purpose, a noxious mechanical stimulus and a control stimulus were applied in a randomized order. The recorded movements of the embryos were evaluated using the markerless pose estimation software DeepLabCut and manual observations. After the application of the mechanical stimulus, a significant increase in beak movement was identified in 15- to 18-day-old embryos. In younger embryos, no behavioral changes related to the noxious stimulus were observed. The presented results indicate that noxious mechanical stimuli at the beak base evoke a nocifensive reaction in chicken embryos starting at embryonic day 15