Economic Modelling Of Climate Change And Energy Policies

Climate change and energy consumption are at the forefront of current environmental debate. While energy is essential to the functioning and survival of our societies, the environmental impact that energy consumption is having, particularly on climate change, is a growing concern and the design and practicalities of energy and energy-related environmental policies are under constant scrutiny. This innovative new book not only addresses the economic assessment of environmental and energy policies but also discusses the efficiency and distributional consequences these policies have for producers and consumers. With contributions from leading academics in the field, this comprehensive volume uses a variety of methodological approaches with which to explore a number of pertinent issues, including several studies on the EU Emission Trading System, as well as more advanced topics such as indeterminacy and optimal environmental public policies, energy-saving technological progress, oil shocks and energy transitions and policy design. Combining theoretical and empirical work, this timely book is a significant contribution to the existing literature and deals with issues at the frontier of current economic knowledge. Economic Modelling of Climate Change and Energy Policies is a unique and informative book and will have widespread appeal amongst scholars, students and policymakers.

The IEA held a series of three seminars between May 1996 and October 1997 on the insights from modelling relevant to energy and climate change. The seminars brought together key analysts, government and business experts, and policy makers from IEA member countries directly involved with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The participants' contributions and insights deserve strong acknowledgement. Modelling offers an indispensable analytical tool to evaluate how energy systems could best respond to restrictions on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to identify the most cost-effective and resilient policy instruments to reach these goals. It can provide key perceptions for analysis of comprehensive packages of economic and non-economic policy instruments within a consistent framework. This book maps the main approaches of energy modelling, their assumptions and their logic, to help policy makers and non-modellers understand and use its contributions. The text draws on papers prepared for the seminars by the IEA Secretariat, presentations given by participants and some general insights which emerged on economic modelling of climate change. In line with the main objective of the seminars, it avoids 'peer review' of different climate change models or specific policy suggestions, attempting instead to bridge the gap between modelling and policy making.

The roles and applications of various modeling approaches, aimed at improving the usefulness of energy policy models in public decision making, are covered by this book. The development, validation, and applications of system dynamics and agent-based models in service of energy policy design and assessment in the 21st century is a key focus. A number of modeling approaches and models for energy policy, with a particular focus on low-carbon economic development of regions and states are covered. Chapters on system dynamics methodology, model-based theory, fuzzy system dynamics frame-work, and optimization modeling approach are presented, along with several chapters on future research opportunities for the energy policy modeling community. The use of model-based analysis and scenarios in energy policy design and assessment has seen phenomenal growth during the past several decades. In recent years, renewed concerns about climate change and energy security have posed unique modeling challenges. By utilizing the validation techniques and procedures which are effectively demonstrated in these contributions, researchers and practitioners in energy systems domain can increase the appeal and acceptance of their policy models.

This book presents the energy system roadmaps necessary to limit global temperature increase to below 2°C, in order to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change. It provides a unique perspective on and critical understanding of the feasibility of a well-below-2°C world by exploring energy system pathways, technology innovations, behaviour change and the macro-economic impacts of achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century. The transformative changes in the energy transition are explored using energy systems models and scenario analyses that are applied to various cities, countries and at a global scale to offer scientific evidence to underpin complex policy decisions relating to climate change mitigation and interrelated issues like energy security and the energy–water nexus. It includes several chapters directly related to the Nationally Determined Contributions proposed in the context of the recent Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In summary, the book collates a range of concrete analyses at different scales from around the globe, revisiting the roles of countries, cities and local communities in pathways to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make a well-below-2°C world a reality. A valuable source of information for energy modellers in both the industry and public sectors, it provides a critical understanding of both the feasibility of roadmaps to achieve a well-below-2°C world, and the diversity and wide applications of energy systems models. Encompassing behaviour changes; technology innovations; macro-economic impacts; and other environmental challenges, such as water, it is also of interest to energy economists and engineers, as well as economic modellers working in the field of climate change mitigation.

Macroeconomics of Climate Change in a Dualistic Economy: A Regional General Equilibrium Analysis generates significant, genuinely novel insights about dual economies and sustainable economic growth. These insights are generalize-able and applicable worldwide. The authors overcome existing limitations in general equilibrium modeling. By concentrating on tensions between green growth and dualism, they consider the global efforts against climate change and opposition by specific countries based on economic development needs. Using Turkey as their primary example, they address these two most discussed and difficult issues related to policy setting, blazing a path for those seeking an applied economic research framework to study such economic considerations. Couples a CGE climate change mitigation policy analysis with a dual economy approach Presents methods to model and assess policy instruments for mitigating climate change Provides data sets and models on a freely-accessible companion website Offers a path for those seeking an applied economic research framework to study economic considerations

Governments around the globe have begun to implement various actions to limit carbon emissions and so, combat climate change. This book brings together some of the leading scholars in environmental and climate economics to examine the distributional consequences of policies that are designed to reduce these carbon emissions. Whether through a carbon tax, cap-and-trade system or other mechanisms, most proposals to reduce carbon emissions include some kind of carbon pricing system Ð shifting the costs of emissions onto polluters and providing an incentive to find the least costly methods of abatement. This standard efficiency justification for pricing carbon also has important distributional consequences Ð a problem that is often ignored by economists while being a major focus of attention in the political arena. Leading scholars in environmental and climate economics take up these issues to examine such questions as: Will the costs fall on current or future generations? Will they fall on the rich, poor, middle class, or on everyone proportionally? Which countries will benefit, and which will suffer? Students and scholars interested in climate change, along with policy makers, will find this lively volume an invaluable addition to the quest for information on this globally important issue.

The climate policy debate has been dominated by economic estimates of the costs of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the models used to derive those estimates are based on assumptions that have largely gone untested. The conventional approach embodies structural features that rule out alternative market outcomes. In addition, the distribution of 'climate rights' is crucial to determining the economic affects of various policies. Bringing these considerations to the forefront shows how domestic and international policy solutions might be found.

This book highlights how energy-system models are used to underpin and support energy and climate mitigation policy decisions at national, multi-country and global levels. It brings together, for the first time in one volume, a range of methodological approaches and case studies of good modeling practice on a national and international scale from the IEA-ETSAP energy technology initiative. It provides insights for the reader into the rich and varied applications of energy-system models and the underlying methodologies and policy questions they can address. The book demonstrates how these models are used to answer complex policy questions, including those relating to energy security, climate change mitigation and the optimal allocation of energy resources. It will appeal to energy engineers and technology specialists looking for a rationale for innovation in the field of energy technologies and insights into their evolving costs and benefits. Energy economists will gain an understanding of the key future role of energy technologies and policy makers will learn how energy-system modeling teams can provide unique perspectives on national energy and environment challenges. The book is carefully structured into three parts which focus on i) policy decisions that have been underpinned by energy-system models, ii) specific aspects of supply and end-use sector modeling, including technology learning and behavior and iii) how additional insights can be gained from linking energy-system models with other models. The chapters elucidate key methodological features backed up with concrete applications. The book demonstrates the high degree of flexibility of the modeling tools used to represent extremely different energy systems, from national to global levels.