Assessing the Strength and Effectiveness of Renewable Electricity Feed-in Tariffs in European Union Countries

In the last two decades, feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have emerged as two of the most popular policies for supporting renewable electricity (RES-E) generation in the developed world. A few studies have assessed their effectiveness, but most do not account for policy design features and market characteristics that influence policy strength. In this paper, we employ 1992-2008 panel data to conduct the first analysis of the effectiveness of FIT policies in promoting solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind power development in 26 European Union countries. We develop a new indicator for FIT strength that captures variability in tariff size, contract duration, digression rate, electricity price, and electricity generation cost to estimate the resulting return on investment. We then regress this indicator on added RES-E capacity using a fixed effects specification. We find that FIT policies have driven solar PV and onshore wind capacity development in the EU. However, this effect is overstated without controls for country characteristics and may be concealed without accounting for the unique design of each policy. We provide empirical evidence that the interaction of policy design and market dynamics are more important determinants of RES-E development than policy enactment alone.Renewable energy, Feed-in tariff, Panel data models

Struggle for the Presidency: The 2000 presidential election - Why the winners were successful and the losers were not

In 2000, the incumbent party lost the presidential election for the first time, although the pre-election environment strongly favored the incumbent party. Bill Clinton’s Vice President Albert Gore and the son of the 41st US-President, George W. Bush, fought for the electorate for several months. Both, Bush and Gore, succeeded their party competitors John McCain and Bill Bradley, respectively. The longest and most expensive race in the history of US-elections ended up in a Supreme Court decision. The paper’s aim is to pass the election campaigns in review, to check the background, and to find answers to the question of why George W. Bush was elected 43rd President of the United States. The analysis deals with numerous aspects. Beginning with the primaries and caucuses, the paper continues with the rules of the game, the campaign strategies, the debates, and the media coverage. Among others, it tackles the “videostyles”, the Conventions and the selection of the running mates. Of the five pivotal elements two of them come out in favor of Gore. Six crucial advantages of Bush against Gore decide the race and answer the main question, which was stated before.Im Jahr 2000 verlor zum ersten Mal der Kandidat der zuvor regierenden Partei, obwohl die ökonomischen, sowie weltpolitischen Rahmenbedingungen diesen stark favorisierten. Bill Clintons Vizepräsident Albert Gore und der Sohn des 41. US-Präsidenten George W. Bush hatten ueber Monate um die Gunst der Wählerschaft gerungen. Beide setzten sich in den parteiinternen Vorwahlen gegen ihre Herausforderer John McCain bzw. Bill Bradley durch. Der längste und teuerste US-Wahlkampf aller Zeiten sollte sein Ende jedoch erst vor dem Supreme Court finden. Anspruch dieser Arbeit ist es, die beiden Wahlkampagnen Revue passieren zu lassen, hinter die Fassaden des US-amerikanischen Wahlsystems zu blicken und schließlich die Frage zu beantworten, warum George W. Bush zum 43. Präsident der USA gewählt wurde. Die Analyse behandelt zahlreiche Aspekte der Kampagnen. Angefangen mit den Vorwahlen, ueber die Regeln des Wahlsystems, die Strategien, die Debatten und die Berichterstattung bis hin zu „videostyles“, der Organisation der „Conventions“ sowie der Wahl der „Running Mates.“ Fuenf fuer die Dynamik des Wahlkampfes entscheidende Momente kristallisieren sich dabei heraus, von denen Gore zumindest zwei fuer sich entscheiden konnte. Es werden sich sechs zentrale Vorteile der Kampagne des Republikaners gegenueber der des Demokratischen Vizepräsidenten ergeben, die schließlich die eingangs gestellte Frage beantworten

International Labor Rights and the Decent Work Agenda

This paper’s aim is to examine the reasons why the United States of America refuse to ratify international labor standards. Taking Utilitarian Liberalism as the appropriate approach tackling domestic-international entanglements, Robert D. Putnam’s Two-Level Game Theory clearly bears some explanatory value. In short, the US faces domestic constrains not to adopt the ILO conventions at the international level. Other states, backed by International Organizations, effectively push forward the Decent Work Agenda. This tempted persuasion to shift the US domestic table from abroad is analyzed within the work’s second step. However, due to clashing interests, future challenges occur. A broad range of theoretical approaches, reaching from Putnam (1988), Atkinson and Coleman (1989), to Global Social Policy, represented by Bob Deacon (2007) are thoroughly addressed throughout the occasional paper.Mit zunehmender Globalisierung - und angesichts der aktuellen Finanzkrise vermehrt - wird der Ruf nach einer „Zähmung“ der Weltwirtschaft immer lauter. Einer der Forderungen bezieht sich auf die sozial- und arbeitspolitischen Verwerfungen; Internationale Sozialpolitik ist daher ein politisches Handlungsfeld im Entstehen und mit einer hohen Dynamik. In Bezug auf die Probleme und normativ-politischen Kontexte aktualisiert Internationale Sozialpolitik durchaus einen Teil der klassischen Wohlfahrtsstaats-Debatten. Es geht auch hier um Sicherheit, Gerechtigkeit, Fairness – ja teilweise sogar um „Dekommodifizierung“ (Esping-Andersen) und um Grenzen der Ausbeutung der Ware Arbeitskraft. Im Bezug auf die Instrumente und Akteure spielt sich allerdings das Meiste jenseits des nationalen Wohlfahrtsstaats, in den weiten Räumen der internationalen Beziehungen ab. Das Beispiel der „Decent-Work-Agenda“ zeigt, dass zudem weniger Geld als Steuerungs-, Transfer- und Kompensationsmedium im Vordergrund steht, sondern ansatzweise rechtliche und vor allem ethische Normen. Relevante Akteure bilden hier Vertreter aus dem breiten Spektrum an Non-Governmental Organisations im UN-System. Gleichwohl lassen sich Erkenntnisse aus der Forschung über den Wohlfahrtsstaat mit Ergebnissen der Internationalen Beziehungen kombinieren; hier dominiert der Rückgriff auf die klassischen Ansätze zur Erklärung internationaler Politiken. Gleichwohl zeigt sich damit auch ein integratives Feld für die Politikwissenschaft, das Aktualität, politische und praktische Relevanz verbindet

Shale Gas vs. Coal

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the environmental impacts of shale gas, conventional gas and coal on air, water, and land in the United States. These factors decisively affect the quality of life (public health and safety) as well as local and global environmental protection. Comparing various lifecycle assessments, this paper will suggest that a shift from coal to shale gas would benefit public health, the safety of workers, local environmental protection, water consumption, and the land surface. Most likely, shale gas also comes with a smaller GHG footprint than coal. However, shale gas extraction can affect water safety. This paper also discusses related aspects that exemplify how shale gas can be more beneficial in the short and long term. First, there are technical solutions readily available to fix the most crucial problems of shale gas extraction, such as methane leakages and other geo-hazards. Second, shale gas is best equipped to smoothen the transition to an age of renewable energy. Finally, this paper will recommend tighter regulations

BRIC by BRIC : Governance and Energy Security in Developing Countries

Security of energy supply is a top priority of policymakers around the globe, especially in countries of the economically emerging world. This paper's aim is to investigate the link between the mode of governance in four developing countries and the way policies to secure energy supply are established. The paper looks at the four "BRIC" countries, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These countries are experiencing rapid economic growth and poverty alleviation but differ in their modes of governance. The four BRIC countries provide a window into the particular relationship between governance and energy security policy in developing countries. From a theoretical stance, a public choice model is applied to energy policies to develop hypotheses relating the similarities and differences of incentive schemes between democratic and authoritarian governments to predict policy outcomes. We hypothesize that authoritarian regimes seek control and the capability to reward and repress social groups by providing public goods, such as energy supply. In the first empirical step, the current energy economic performance is examined by focussing on domestically available resources, de-concentration and decentralization of the supply side and energy development indices. Doing so, the paper modifies the Kaya Identity to figure out the drivers of energy demand. Furthermore, the paper introduces some metrics such as the Herfindahl-Hirschman-Index (HHI) to measure degrees of concentration and centralization and radar-charts to illustrate the metrics graphically. According to our calculation, Russia's electricity generation park is geographically most centralized. China and Russia have the largest plants by mean output and show the lowest degree of concentration. Referring to indicators, ranging from electricity distribution losses, access to electricity, to the consumption to production ratio, and others, the research finds China to have the most secure energy supply among the BRIC countries, while India performs poorly. Energy policies to foster supply security are compared in the paper's second empirical part. It includes systematic in-depth analyses of the government-driven utilization of National Oil Companies (NOCs) and the construction processes of hydroelectric dams. China seems to be able to exclude social, political and environmental costs, prioritizing economic growth over other objectives. This allows Chinese power plants to be built in a faster and in a cheaper way. Finally, evidence is provided that authoritarian systems tend to utilize NOCs for their political purpose. The paper concludes that there is a significant relation between the mode of governance and the way energy supply is secured. As the rest of the developing world industrializes, investigating the BRIC countries now, during their period of transition, provides clues into how other developing countries might respond to the challenges of securing the supply of energy

The Water-Energy Nexus of Hydraulic Fracturing: A Global Hydrologic Analysis for Shale Oil and Gas Extraction

Shale deposits are globally abundant and widespread. Extraction of shale oil and shale gas is generally performed through water-intensive hydraulic fracturing. Despite recent work on its environmental impacts, it remains unclear where and to what extent shale resource extraction could compete with other water needs. Here we consider the global distribution of known shale deposits suitable for oil and gas extraction and develop a water balance model to quantify their impacts on local water availability for other human uses and ecosystem functions. We find that 31–44% of the world's shale deposits are located in areas where water stress would either emerge or be exacerbated as a result of shale oil or gas extraction; 20% of shale deposits are in areas affected by groundwater depletion and 30% in irrigated land. In these regions shale oil and shale gas production would likely compete for local water resources with agriculture, environmental flows, and other water needs. By adopting a hydrologic perspective that considers water availability and demand together, decision makers and local communities can better understand the water and food security implications of shale resource development