Analyzing the Effects of Car Sharing Services on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

This study examines the environmental impacts of roundtrip car sharing services by investigating transportation behavior. Car sharing should contribute to reduced greenhouse gas GHG emissions; however, such schemes include both positive and negative environmental effects, including: (1) reduced CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) from substituting private vehicle use for more fuel-efficient car sharing vehicles, (2) increased CO2e as car-less individuals switch from public transit to car sharing vehicles and (3) reduced CO2e due to fewer vehicles. This study examines the impacts of this modal shift on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using three types of models: a mixed logit model to analyze car sharing service preferences; a binary logit model to analyze whether individuals are willing to forgo vehicle ownership or planned purchases to use car sharing services; and a linear regression to determine how much private vehicle or public transportation use would be replaced by car sharing and the resulting effects on mobility. Total emissions from the current car sharing market equal 1,025,589.36 t CO2e/year. However, an increase in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to 50% of the number of gasoline-fuel stations would increase the probability of electric car sharing vehicle use, thereby reducing emissions by 655,773 t CO2e. This study shows that forgoing vehicle purchases does not offset the increased GHG emissions caused by the shift from public transportation or private vehicle use to car sharing

Economic impacts of carbon capture and storage on the steel industry-A hybrid energy system model incorporating technological change

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cannot be mitigated using other reduction options. However, the high cost of CCS raises doubts about its economic feasibility. This study analyzes CCS cost reduction and its macroeconomic effects and shows that CCS can be economically feasible in the long term. This study incorporates technology learning into a hybrid energy system model and investigates its impact on the economic feasibility of CCS in the Korean steel industry. The hybrid model integrates a bottom-up energy system model and a computable general equilibrium model and overcomes the limitations of employing independent models in exploring technology learning. According to the model, in 2050, the CCS unit cost decreases by 64% when the learning rate is 20%. Due to this cost reduction, the steel industry's additional capital and labor costs resulting from CCS adoption decrease by 60%. Moreover, although CCS adoption and diffusion reduce steel production, 60% of this production loss can be mitigated by CCS cost reduction. The cost reduction also helps to reduce the GDP loss resulting from CCS adoption by 0.3 %p.N

The environmental effects of the EU-MERCOSUR FTA in induced GHG emissions from LUCC and energy sectors

International audienceThe European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) reached an Association Agreement (AA) in June 2019 that aims to eliminate trade barriers and increase economic cooperation. While the deal has been greeted as a positive step for international trade, concerns have been raised about its potential environmental impacts, particularly with regards to GHG emissions from land use change (LULCC) and deforestation. This paper aims to explore the potential environmental impacts of the EU-MERCOSUR trade deal focusing on GHG emissions, by employing a two-step methodology. First the implementation Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, which uses the GTAP 10 LULC database to explore different trade policy scenarios. Second, GHG emissions are calculated using the GTAP’s emission factors for CO2 and Non-CO2 emissions data bases, and CO2 emissions from LULCC using GTAP EF model and matrices of land use change derived from the simulation results. The study finds that in the advanced scenario, which assumes a more extensive trade liberalization, global GHG emissions could rise by 0.31%. The increase is mainly due to the contribution of LULCC emissions, which account for 92% of the total increase. The study highlights the need for careful consideration of the potential environmental impacts of trade agreements, by comprehensively accounting LULCCand energy emissions

Trade-induced land-use transitions and greenhouse gas emissions: the case of the EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement

FNEGE 2, HCERES B, ABS 2International audienceCurrently, land use change (LUC) accounts for approximately 18.8% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, and up to 66% and 70% in Brazil and Paraguay respectively. However, owing to measurement difficulties, examining the effects of changing trade patterns is often overlooked in studies. This study aims to investigate the induced effects of LUC and their consequences concerning GHG emissions for the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. A multi-regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with an explicit land module is used to simulate the effects of the free trade agreement. GHG emissions are calculated for LUC, fossil energy CO2, and non-CO2 emissions to capture a wide range of sources and reveal their relative contributions. The study finds that as a more extensive liberalization scheme is implemented, the majority of global GHG emissions change are driven by LUC, consisting up to 89.9% of the total increase. These findings align with previous studies. Nonetheless, we argue that for Latin America, where LUC and deforestation are historical problems, careful consideration of LUC and agriculture GHG sources is necessary to address the potential environmental impacts of trade agreements

Ex-ante Evaluation of Economic Costs from Power Grid Blackout in South Korea

Abstract -South Korea is recently under serious situation in supplying electricity with enough power reserve. A single fault of power plant at a peak-load time may lead to a total blackout for whole area connected by a single electric grid and isolated from other grids. Despite of the seriousness of blackout, however, there are scarce studies with ex-ante analysis of the economic costs from blackout. In order to evocate the seriousness, we calculate the economic costs for both industrial and household sectors with using some survey data and statistical methodologies. As a result, total economic costs are 39.23 trillion KRW (35.83 trillion KRW for industrial sector, 3.40 trillion KRW for household sector)

Inconvenience cost of waste disposal behavior in South Korea

Pro-environmental activities, such as waste sorting, are considered inconveniencing; the higher the inconvenience, the more difficult it becomes to encourage active public participation. This study defines waste sorting behavior considering certain attributes and estimates the inconvenience costs associated with each attribute. The definition also considers how and when waste is disposed of as well as the hygiene of a disposal spot. We apply a conjoint analysis for data collection and latent class logit model to calculate the inconvenience costs. The model incorporates consumers' heterogeneity as a finite number of homogenous groups. The results show that the inconvenience cost for the hygiene of the disposal spot is generally higher than that of sorting itself; this tendency is strongest among young women. Moreover, older people report lower inconvenience costs than do younger ones. Further, some groups prefer manual sorting to an automated sorting service for food waste. Our findings offer policy implications considering such inconvenience costs. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This study is partially based on Inconvenience Cost of Pro-environmental Activity and its Policy Implications (RE2015-01) conducted by the Korea Environment Institute (KEI), and was funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment as Climate Change Correspondence R&D Program (2014001300001).OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:T201713723RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200001ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A080242CITE_RATE:2.965DEPT_NM:응용공학과EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YCONFIRM:

A point card system for public transport utilization in Korea

This study analyzes consumer preferences for a new incentive program based on a point card to promote green consumption; the study also examines the program’s impact on bus utilization in South Korea. An ex-ante analysis was conducted to examine how consumer behavior can be modified based on varying incentive levels of the point card system. In addition, the effect of the system on consumers’ public transport utilization and resulting CO2 emissions reductions are analyzed. The adoption probability of the point card is forecast at about 93%, and annual CO2 emissions are forecast to decrease by 610 kt CO2

Quantitative Analysis of Consumer Preferences of Windows Set in South Korea: The Role of Energy Efficiency Levels

The building sector is considered to be important for Korean energy issues as it accounts for approximately 20% of Korea’s final energy consumption. As one of Korea’s passive strategies in its emission reduction plan is reducing energy consumption through improvements in energy efficiency because the energy loss mostly occurs from window sets, this study aims to examine the preferences and role of the energy efficiency level of window sets in South Korea. Given that the lifespan of a building exceeds 20 years, a building’s energy efficiency significantly impacts accumulated energy savings. However, window sets affect not only energy efficiency, but also the interior appearance of the building; therefore, it is important to understand consumer preferences and to examine their effect on building energy reduction accordingly. Using a mixed logit model, this study analyzes window set preferences and energy savings. As a result, this study determines that consumers consider the energy efficiency level to be the second most important factor in determining window preference, following the cost of the window. In addition, this study found that the marginal willingness to pay for efficiency level 2 window sets compared to level 3 window sets is USD 1256. For level 1 window sets, this figure increases to USD 3140. Further, a scenario analysis is conducted to analyze the government incentive program’s effectiveness in encouraging consumers to purchasing higher energy efficiency more efficient products, and thus in promoting the eco-friendly consumption of in households. Taking into consideration of households’ willingness to pay and cost saving amount for using energy efficient window sets, the optimal value of government incentives of is found to be approximately USD 700 is found to be optimal

Effects of Market Reform on Facility Investment in Electric Power Industry: Panel Data Analysis of 27 Countries

In this study, we analyzed the effects of electricity market reform on investment in generation facilities. We used the data of 27 OECD member countries and considered ownership structure, horizontal and vertical unbundling, change of transaction method, and government regulation as explanatory variables for market reform. We used four regression models, in which we examined the effects of market reform on the capacity of generation facilities, supply reserve ratio, total investment, and base-load share, respectively. For each panel regression model, we performed a Hausman test to identify the model between random effect and fixed effect. Based on the estimation results, we found that electricity market reform has a negative effect on generation facilities in most countries. Both privatization and regulation have negative impacts on the generation facility and base-load share. On the other hand, the level of liberalization of transactions have positive effects on the generation facility, supply reserve ratio, and base-load share. The empirical analysis also showed that horizontal unbundling does not have a meaningful effect on investment, but vertical unbundling contributes to increasing the supply reserve ratio

The impact of technology learning and spillovers between emission-intensive industries on climate policy performance based on an industrial energy system model

Sustainable energy transition is garnering attention as a method to achieve emission reduction targets. In this transition, technology learning and spillovers, which are representative sources of technological change, have significant implications. Most previous studies focused on inter-country and inter-region spillovers, although spillovers can be observed at the various levels. This study develops the industrial energy system model, which explores learning and inter-industry spillovers at the technology level, and investigates learning and spillover effects on climate policy performance. The model reflects spillovers between industrial common technologies based on an iterative approach and describes the effects of learning and spillovers on technology characteristics, such as technology efficiency. The results describe that not only the speed of learning but also the existence of spillovers is important for sustainable industrial energy systems. Spillovers also help to mitigate industrial emissions with less subsidies for efficient technologies and affects the preference of industries for a carbon tax. The government should create an appropriate environment for efficiency improvements and their diffusion in industries. Moreover, a wider range of policy options is available if industries are more cooperative in diffusing their technology innovation.N