Employment Impacts of EU Biofuels Policy: Combining Bottom-up Technology Information and Sectoral Market Simulations in an Input-output Framework

This paper analyses the employment consequences of policies aimed to support biofuels in the European Union. The promotion of biofuel use has been advocated as a means to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions originating from transport activities on the one hand, and to reduce dependence on imported oil and thereby increase security of the European energy supply on the other hand. The employment impacts of increasing biofuels shares are calculated by taking into account a set of elements comprising the demand for capital goods required to produce biofuels, the additional demand for agricultural feedstock, higher fuel prices or reduced household budget in the case of price subsidisation, price effects ensuing from a hypothetical world oil price reduction linked to substitution in the EU market, and price impacts on agro-food commodities. The calculations refer to scenarios for the year 2020 targets as set out by the recent Renewable Energy Roadmap. Employment effects are assessed in an input-output framework taking into account bottom-up technology information to specify biofuels activities and linked to partial equilibrium models for the agricultural and energy sectors. The simulations suggest that biofuels targets on the order of 10-15% could be achieved without adverse net employment effects. -- In diesem Papier werden die Beschäftigungswirkungen der Förderung von Biokraftstoffen in der Europäischen Union untersucht. Die Förderung von Biokraftstoffen wird mit der nachhaltigen Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen, der Reduktion von Treibhausgasemissionen im Transportsektor und der Verminderung der Erdölabhängigkeit und damit einhergehender erhöhter Energiesicherheit in Europa begründet. Bei der Quantifizierung der Beschäftigungseffekte der Biokraftstoffförderung in Europa wurden verschiedene Effekte berücksichtigt: gesteigerte Nachfrage nach Agrarerzeugnissen und Kapitalgütern zu Herstellung von Biokraftstoffen, höhere Kraftstoffpreise, Preisrückgänge auf dem Rohölmarkt infolge der Substitutionseffekte des Biokraftstoffeinsatzes und Preissteigerungen bei Agrarprodukten und Lebensmitteln. Dazu wird ein Input-Output Modell um die Biokraftstofferzeugung erweitert und mit Partialmodellen des Agrar- und Energiesektors gekoppelt. Als besonders wichtige Faktoren für potentielle Beschäftigungseffekte haben sich die Entwicklung einer auf den Weltmärkten führenden EU Biokraftstoffindustrie und der abschwächende Effekte der Biokraftstoffe auf den Ölpreis erwiesen. Die Simulationen legen nahe, dass sich die verschiedenen positiven und negativen Effekte weitgehend kompensieren und ein Biokraftstoffanteil von 10 ? 15 Prozent ohne signifikant negative Beschäftigungseffekte erzielt werden kann.Biofuels,Input-output,Employment

Employment impacts of EU biofuels policy : Combining bottom-up technology information and sectoral market simulations in an input-output framework

This paper analyses the employment consequences of policies aimed to support biofuels in the European Union. The promotion of biofuel use has been advocated as a means to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions originating from transport activities on the one hand, and to reduce dependence on imported oil and thereby increase security of the European energy supply on the other hand. The employment impacts of increasing biofuels shares are calculated by taking into account a set of elements comprising the demand for capital goods required to produce biofuels, the additional demand for agricultural feedstock, higher fuel prices or reduced household budget in the case of price subsidisation, price effects ensuing from a hypothetical world oil price reduction linked to substitution in the EU market, and price impacts on agro-food commodities. The calculations refer to scenarios for the year 2020 targets as set out by the recent Renewable Energy Roadmap. Employment effects are assessed in an input-output framework taking into account bottom-up technology information to specify biofuels activities and linked to partial equilibrium models for the agricultural and energy sectors. The simulations suggest that biofuels targets on the order of 10-15% could be achieved without adverse net employment effects

Photophysical and photochemical applications of femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy

The aim of this paper is to provide the main pieces of information concerning the application of transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy with sub-picosecond laser pulses. A description of the experimental apparatus and of some detection schemes are included together with the most common mathematical formulas utilized to analyze the signals. The results, recently obtained in our laboratory and presented here, concern the investigation of the excited state dynamics of simple molecular systems. Examples of the measurements of the relaxation processes occurring in the lowest excited states of some aromatic molecules will be discussed in order to show the potentiality of the technique

Economic impacts of EU clean air policies assessed in a CGE framework

This paper assesses the macroeconomic and sectoral impacts of the “Clean Air Policy Package” proposed by the European Commission in December 2013. The analysis incorporates both the expenditures necessary to implement the policy by 2030 and the resulting positive feedback effects on human health and crop production. A decomposition analysis identifies the important drivers of the macroeconomic impacts. We show that while expenditure on pollution abatement is a cost for the abating sectors, it also generates an increased demand for the sectors that produce the goods required for pollution abatement. Moreover, we find that positive feedback effects, particularly those related to health can offset the resource costs associated to the clean air policy and result in positive macroeconomic impacts for the economy of the European Union

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Waste Incineration: Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document (BREF) for Waste Incineration is part of a series of documents presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review and – where necessary – update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions (the Directive). This document ispublished by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. The BREF for Waste Incineration covers the disposal or recovery of waste in waste incineration plants and waste co-incineration plants, and the disposal or recovery of waste involving the treatment of slags and/or bottom ashes from the incineration of waste. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the waste incineration (WI) sector include emissions to air, emissions to water, and the efficiency of the recovery of energy and of materials from the waste. Chapter 1 provides general information on the WI sector. Chapter 2 provides information on the common processes and general techniques that are applied across the WI sector for: the pre-treatment, storage and handling of different types of waste; the thermal treatment; energy recovery; flue-gas cleaning; waste water treatment; and the treatment of solid residues. Chapter 3 reports the current ranges of the emission and consumption levels reported in the WI sector. Techniques to consider in the determination of BAT (i.e. techniques that are widely applied in the WI sector) are reported in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents the BAT conclusions as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive. Chapter 6 presents information on 'emerging techniques' as defined in Article 3(14) of the Directive. Chapter 7 contains concluding remarks and recommendations for future work.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Large Combustion Plants. Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The BAT Reference Document (BREF) for Large Combustion Plants is part of a series of documents presenting the results of an exchange of information between the EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review, and -where necessary- update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for Large Combustion Plants concerns the following activities specified in Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU: - 1.1: Combustion of fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input of 50 MW or more, only when this activity takes place in combustion plants with a total rated thermal input of 50 MW or more. - 1.4: Gasification of coal or other fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input of 20 MW or more, only when this activity is directly associated to a combustion plant. - 5.2: Disposal or recovery of waste in waste co-incineration plants for non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 3 tonnes per hour or for hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 10 tonnes per day, only when this activity takes place in combustion plants covered under 1.1 above. In particular, this document covers upstream and downstream activities directly associated with the aforementioned activities including the emission prevention and control techniques applied. The fuels considered in this document are any solid, liquid and/or gaseous combustible material including: - solid fuels (e.g. coal, lignite, peat); - biomass (as defined in Article 3(31) of Directive 2010/75/EU); - liquid fuels (e.g. heavy fuel oil and gas oil); - gaseous fuels (e.g. natural gas, hydrogen-containing gas and syngas); - industry-specific fuels (e.g. by-products from the chemical and iron and steel industries); - waste except mixed municipal waste as defined in Article 3(39) and except other waste listed in Article 42(2)(a)(ii) and (iii) of Directive 2010/75/EU. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the Large Combustion Plants sector are the emissions to air of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride and fluoride, organic compounds, dust, and metals including mercury; emissions to water resulting especially from the use of wet abatement techniques for the removal of sulphur dioxide from the flue gases; resource efficiency and especially energy efficiency. This BREF contains 12 Chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the Large Combustion Plants industrial sector and on the industrial processes used within this sector. Chapter 3 provides data and general information concerning the environmental performance of installations within the sector in terms of water consumption, the generation of waste and general techniques used within this sector. It also describes in more detail the general techniques to prevent or, where this is not practicable, to reduce the environmental impact of installations in this sector that were considered in determining the BAT. Chapters 4 to 9 provide the following information given below on specific combustion processes (gasification, combustion of solid fuel, combustion of liquid fuel, combustion of gaseous fuel, multi-fuel combustion and waste co-incineration). Chapter 10 presents the BAT conclusions as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive. Chapter 11 presents information on 'emerging techniques' as defined in Article 3(14) of the Directive. Concluding remarks and recommendations for future work are presented in Chapter 12.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Feebate and Scrappage Policy Instruments - Environmental and Economic Impacts for the EU27

This report presents the results and conclusions of a research carried out by the JRC/IPTS analysing two demand-side measures that can help improving the environmental performance of cars: The first instrument, the feebate system, is a way to differentiate the registration tax according to the CO2 emissions from cars. The second instrument, the scrappage policy is intended to encourage the owners of old cars to scrap their car earlier. The potential and consequences of technical options to reduce car weight are also analysed. The report builds a comprehensive assessment of these policy options at EU level, covering all major environmental life cycle impacts and the different economic impacts. The report is built upon IPTS research work, supported with a study subcontracted to a research consortium led by Transport&Mobility Leuven (TML) and involving Öko-Institut and ISI-Fraunhofer.JRC.J.2-The economics of climate change, energy and transpor

World Input-Output Database Environmental Accounts

This report describes the approach adopted for the update of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) environmental accounts for the period 2000-2016. In constructing the WIOD-based energy and emission accounts we follow closely the methodology developed by Genty et al. (2012), with some adjustments due to changes in system boundaries, which are further detailed. This report illustrates the data adjustment steps required to reconcile energy and economic data which stem, for example, from different accounting principles. Special care has been taken to address problems related to time series breaks in order to achieve a smooth transition between the years 2009 and 2010 at the intersection between the original and new WIOD releases. Results for EU countries are compared with other data sources such as the previous WIOD time series, the Physical Energy Flows Accounts (PEFA) and the National Accounts Matrices with Environmental Extensions (NAMEA) showing a satisfactory goodness of fit, with some exceptions. A final comparison of the inter-temporal structure across periods is proposed in order to identify possible reasons of changes in the patterns of gross energy use.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

The POTEnCIA Central scenario: an EU energy outlook to 2050

This report describes the evolution of the EU energy system until the year 2050 under the assumption that no further policies and measures are introduced beyond the end of 2017. The results show that both the energy and the carbon intensity of the European economy remain on a declining path in this 'Central' scenario set-up, but will miss mid-century targets. This evolution is driven by the continued impact of policies that are already in place in combination with technology progress, as well as by structural changes and the development of the prices of fossil fuels and of the CO2 allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System. The EU target to reduce GHG emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels in 2030 will not be met under the assumptions of the scenario, confirming the need for additional policies and measures. The Central scenario was developed with the JRC´s energy model POTEnCIA and serves as reference point to which policy scenarios can be compared. It is the result of a transparent and iterative interactive exercise between the JRC, other Commission services and Member States' national experts within the POTEnCIA modelling framework.JRC.C.6-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor