European CO2 prices and carbon capture investments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abadie, Luis M.; Chamorro, Jose M.

2008-01-01

We assess the option to install a carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit in a coal-fired power plant operating in a carbon-constrained environment. We consider two sources of risk, namely the price of emission allowance and the price of the electricity output. First we analyse the performance of the EU market for CO 2 emission allowances. Specifically, we focus on the contracts maturing in the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period (2008 to 2012) and calibrate the underlying parameters of the allowance price process. Then we refer to the Spanish wholesale electricity market and calibrate the parameters of the electricity price process. We use a two-dimensional binomial lattice to derive the optimal investment rule. In particular, we obtain the trigger allowance prices above which it is optimal to install the capture unit immediately. We further analyse the effect of changes in several variables on these critical prices, among them allowance price volatility and a hypothetical government subsidy. We conclude that, at current permit prices, immediate installation does not seem justified from a financial point of view. This need not be the case, though, if carbon market parameters change dramatically, carbon capture technology undergoes significant improvements, and/or a specific governmental policy to promote these units is adopted. (author)

The bio-energies development: the role of biofuels and the CO{sub 2} price

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jouvet, Pierre-Andre [Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, Climate Economics Chair (France); Lantz, Frederic [IFP Energies nouvelles, 1-4, avenue de Bois-Preau, 92852 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex (France); Le Cadre, Elodie [IFPEN, INRA, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense (France)

2012-07-01

Reduction in energy dependency and emissions of CO{sub 2} via renewable energies targeted in the European Union energy mix and taxation system, might trigger the production of bio-energy production and competition for biomass utilization. Torrefied biomass could be used to produce second generation biofuels to replace some of the fuels used in transportation and is also suitable as feedstock to produce electricity in large quantities. This paper examines how the CO{sub 2} price affects demand of torrefied biomass in the power sector and its consequences on the profitability of second generation biofuel units (Biomass to Liquid units). Indeed, the profitability of the BtL units which are supplied only by torrefied biomass is related to the competitive demand of the power sector driven by the CO{sub 2} price and feed-in tariffs. We propose a linear dynamic model of supply and demand. On the supply side, a profit-maximizing torrefied biomass sector is modelled. The model aims to represent the transformation of biomass into torrefied biomass which could be sold to the refinery sector and the power sector. A two-sided (demanders and supplier) bidding process led us to arrive at the equilibrium price for torrefied biomass. The French case is used as an example. Our results suggest that the higher the CO{sub 2} price, the more stable and important the power sector demand. It also makes the torrefied biomass production less vulnerable to uncertainty on demand coming from the refining sector. The torrefied biomass co-firing with coal can offer a near-term market for the torrefied biomass for a CO{sub 2} emission price lower than 20 euros/tCO{sub 2}, which can stimulate development of biomass supply systems. Beyond 2020, the demand for torrefied biomass from the power sector could be substituted by the refining sector if the oil price goes up whatever the CO{sub 2} price. (authors)

Stochastic Differential Equation Models for the Price of European CO2 Emissions Allowances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wugan Cai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Understanding the stochastic nature of emissions allowances is crucial for risk management in emissions trading markets. In this study, we discuss the emissions allowances spot price within the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme: Powernext and European Climate Exchange. To compare the fitness of five stochastic differential equations (SDEs to the European Union allowances spot price, we apply regression theory to obtain the point and interval estimations for the parameters of the SDEs. An empirical evaluation demonstrates that the mean reverting square root process (MRSRP has the best fitness of five SDEs to forecast the spot price. To reduce the degree of smog, we develop a new trading scheme in which firms have to hand many more allowances to the government when they emit one unit of air pollution on heavy pollution days, versus one allowance on clean days. Thus, we set up the SDE MRSRP model with Markovian switching to analyse the evolution of the spot price in such a scheme. The analysis shows that the allowances spot price will not jump too much in the new scheme. The findings of this study could contribute to developing a new type of emissions trading.

Pay-what-you-want pricing schemes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kahsay, Goytom Abraha; Samahita, Margaret

this threshold, however, PWYW can lead to a lower utility. This may result in a lower purchase rate and higher average price, in line with previously unexplained evidence from field experiments. Moreover, an increase in the threshold value decreases the buyer's utility and may further lower the purchase rate......Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing schemes are becoming increasingly popular in a wide range of industries. We develop a model incorporating self-image into the buyer's utility function and introduce heterogeneity in consumption utility and image-sensitivity, which generates different purchase...... decisions and optimal prices across individuals. When a good is sold at a fixed price higher than a threshold value, a price that the individual thinks is fair, the adoption of PWYW increases his utility and hence results in a weakly higher purchase rate. When a good is sold at a fixed price lower than...

Pricing schemes for new drugs: a welfare analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Levaggi, Rosella

2014-02-01

Drug price regulation is acquiring increasing significance in the investment choices of the pharmaceutical sector. The overall objective is to determine an optimal trade-off between the incentives for innovation, consumer protection, and value for money. However, price regulation is itself a source of distortion. In this study, we examine the welfare properties of listing through a bargaining process and value-based pricing schemes. The latter are superior instruments to uncertain listing processes for maximising total welfare, but the distribution of the benefits between consumers and the industry depends on rate of rebate chosen by the regulator. However, through an appropriate choice, it is always possible to define a value-based pricing scheme with risk sharing, which both consumers and the industry prefer to an uncertain bargaining process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coordination of pricing and co-op advertising models in supply chain: A game theoretic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Alirezaei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Co-op advertising is an interactive relationship between manufacturer and retailer(s supply chain and makes up the majority of marketing budget in many product lines for manufacturers and retailers. This paper considers pricing and co-op advertising decisions in two-stage supply chain and develops a monopolistic retailer and duopolistic retailer's model. In these models, the manufacturer and the retailers play the Nash, Manufacturer-Stackelberg and cooperative game to make optimal pricing and co-op advertising decisions. A bargaining model is utilized for determine the best pricing and co-op advertising scheme for achieving full coordination in the supply chain.

Optimal Tradable Credits Scheme and Congestion Pricing with the Efficiency Analysis to Congestion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ge Gao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We allow for three traffic scenarios: the tradable credits scheme, congestion pricing, and no traffic measure. The utility functions of different modes (car, bus, and bicycle are developed by considering the income’s impact on travelers’ behaviors. Their purpose is to analyze the demand distribution of different modes. A social optimization model is built aiming at maximizing the social welfare. The optimal tradable credits scheme (distribution of credits, credits charging, and the credit price, congestion pricing fees, bus frequency, and bus fare are obtained by solving the model. Mode choice behavior under the tradable credits scheme is also studied. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the model’s availability and explore the effects of the three schemes on traffic system’s performance. Results show congestion pricing would earn more social welfare than the other traffic measures. However, tradable credits scheme will give travelers more consumer surplus than congestion pricing. Travelers’ consumer surplus with congestion pricing is the minimum, which injures the travelers’ benefits. Tradable credits scheme is considered the best scenario by comparing the three scenarios’ efficiency.

Uncertain long-run emissions targets, CO2 price and global energy transition. A general equilibrium approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durand-Lasserve, Olivier; Smeers, Yves; Pierru, Axel

2010-01-01

The persistent uncertainty about mid-century CO 2 emissions targets is likely to affect not only the technological choices that energy-producing firms will make in the future but also their current investment decisions. We illustrate this effect on CO 2 price and global energy transition within a MERGE-type general-equilibrium model framework, by considering simple stochastic CO 2 policy scenarios. In these scenarios, economic agents know that credible long-run CO 2 emissions targets will be set in 2020, with two possible outcomes: either a hard cap or a soft cap. Each scenario is characterized by the relative probabilities of both possible caps. We derive consistent stochastic trajectories - with two branches after 2020 - for prices and quantities of energy commodities and CO 2 emissions permits. The impact of uncertain long-run CO 2 emissions targets on prices and technological trajectories is discussed. In addition, a simple marginal approach allows us to analyze the Hotelling rule with risk premia observed for certain scenarios. (author)

Competition and the Reference Pricing Scheme for pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghislandi, Simone

2011-12-01

By introducing n (>1) firms with infinite cross-price elasticity (i.e. generic drugs), we explore the effects of competition on the optimal pricing strategies under a Reference Pricing Scheme (RPS). A two-stage model repeated infinite number of times is presented. When stage 1 is competitive, the equilibrium in pure strategies exists and is efficient only if the reference price (R) does not depend on the price of the branded product. When generics collude, the way R is designed is crucial for both the stability of the cartel among generics and the collusive prices in equilibrium. An optimally designed RPS must set R as a function only of the infinitely elastic side of the market and should provide the right incentives for competition. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy and exergy prices of various energy sources along with their CO2 equivalents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caliskan, Hakan; Hepbasli, Arif

2010-01-01

Various types of energy sources are used in the residential and industrial sectors. Choosing the type of sources is important. When an energy source is selected, its CO 2 equivalent and energy and exergy prices must be known for a sustainable future and for establishing energy policies. These prices are based on their energy values. Exergy analysis has been recently applied to a wide range of energy-related systems. Thus, obtaining the exergy values has become more meaningful for long-term planning. In this study, energy and exergy prices of various energy sources along with CO 2 equivalents are calculated and compared for residential and industrial applications in Turkey. Energy sources considered include coal, diesel oil, electricity, fuel oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, heat pumps and geothermal, and their prices were obtained over a period of 18 months, from January 2008 to June 2009. For the residential and industrial sectors, minimum energy and exergy prices were found for ground source heat pumps, while maximum energy and exergy prices belong to LPG for both sectors.

Tiered co-payments, pricing, and demand in reference price markets for pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Herr, Annika; Suppliet, Moritz

2017-12-01

Health insurance companies curb price-insensitive behavior and the moral hazard of insureds by means of cost-sharing, such as tiered co-payments or reference pricing in drug markets. This paper evaluates the effect of price limits - below which drugs are exempt from co-payments - on prices and on demand. First, using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the new policy decreases prices by 5 percent for generics and increases prices by 4 percent for brand-name drugs in the German reference price market. Second, estimating a nested-logit demand model, we show that consumers appreciate co-payment exempt drugs and calculate lower price elasticities for brand-name drugs than for generics. This explains the different price responses of brand-name and generic drugs and shows that price-related co-payment tiers are an effective tool to steer demand to low-priced drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Review, modeling, Heat Integration, and improved schemes of Rectisol®-based processes for CO2 capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gatti, Manuele; Martelli, Emanuele; Marechal, François; Consonni, Stefano

2014-01-01

The paper evaluates the thermodynamic performances and the energy integration of alternative schemes of a methanol absorption based acid gas removal process designed for CO 2 Capture and Storage. More precisely, this work focuses the attention on the Rectisol ® process specifically designed for the selective removal of H 2 S and CO 2 from syngas produced by coal gasification. The study addresses the following issues: (i) perform a review of the Rectisol ® schemes proposed by engineers and researchers with the purpose of determining the best one for CO 2 capture and storage; (ii) calibrate the PC-SAFT equation of state for CH 3 OH–CO 2 –H 2 S–H 2 –CO mixtures at conditions relevant to the Rectisol ® process; (iii) evaluate the thermodynamic performances and optimize the energy integration of a “Reference” scheme derived from those available in the literature; (iv) identify and assess alternative Rectisol ® schemes with optimized performance for CO 2 Capture and Storage and Heat Integration with utilities. On the basis of the analysis of the Composite Curves of the integrated process, we propose some possible improvements at the level of the process configuration, like the introduction of mechanical vapor recompression and the development of a two stage regeneration arrangement. - Highlights: • Comprehensive review of the Rectisol ® process configurations and applications. • Calibration of PC-SAFT equation of state for Rectisol ® -relevant mixtures. • Detailed process simulation and optimized Heat Integration, and utility design. • Development of alternative Rectisol ® schemes optimized for CO 2 Capture

Oil refining in a CO2 constrained world: Effects of carbon pricing on refineries globally

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdul-Manan, Amir F.N.; Arfaj, Abdullah; Babiker, Hassan

2017-01-01

Six aggregated refinery linear programming (LP) models were developed to represent actual refineries in North America, Latin America, Europe (including the CIS), Middle East, Asia (excluding China) and China. The models were used to conduct regional comparative assessments and to evaluate the effects of carbon pricing on refinery operations globally. We found that the average refinery energy efficiencies for the regions were estimated to range from 92.2% to 95.2%. The well-to-refinery gate carbon intensities for gasoline, diesel and jet fuels were estimated to be 17.1 (16.4–19.4), 13.3 (12.5–14.2) and 10.1 (9.6–10.8) gCO2eq/MJ, respectively. If refineries are forced to at least meet the 2014 regional volume demands for oil products, pricing CO 2 would not have an impact on either refinery productions, efficiency or emissions. If refineries are allowed to re-optimize production slates to reduce CO 2 emissions, refineries would opt to increase gasoline yield at the expense of diesel. This is counter intuitive since gasoline has a higher carbon intensity than diesel. The refinery bias against dieselization creates a supply preference toward a less efficient transportation end use. Here, we argue that if carbon pricing is not administered properly, this can lead to emissions leakage from refineries to the road transport sector. - Highlights: • Investigate actual refinery productions in 6 regions globally. • Refineries already operate at the most efficient levels. • Complex refineries tolerate higher CO 2 prices better. • Carbon pricing induces bias against dieselization. • Identify potential emissions leakage.

Economic efficiency of coal gasification in Poland in reference to the price of CO2 emission rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kopacz Michał

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents the impact of prices of carbon dioxide on the economic efficiency of 14 coal gasification technologies employed for producing electricity, hydrogen and methanol measured with the use of NPV method. All technical, technological and economic assumptions in the assessment have been made for Polish conditions. The impact of CO2 prices were examined in the range of 30-200 PLN/Mg. The production capacity of the base technology corresponds with the fuel consumption of indicative coal having the calorific value of 20.5 GJ/Mg, used in the amount of 100 Mg/h. On the basis of the conducted research, with respect to all technical and economic assumptions, it can be stated that for the base scale there is a clear impact of prices of CO2 emission allowances above the 90 PLN/Mg CO2. Such a level of carbon dioxide prices makes the decision concerning construction of geological sequestration systems (CCS, carbon capture and storage worthwhile. This applies in particular to the production of electric energy. For the variants focused on hydrogen production there is a dominance of variants with CCS system only at the price exceeding 120 PLN/Mg CO2, and in the case of methanol such a situation occurs above 150 PLN/Mg CO2.

Uncertain long-run emissions targets, CO{sub 2} price and global energy transition: A general equilibrium approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Durand-Lasserve, Olivier, E-mail: olivier.durand@uclouvain.b [Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL), CORE, Voie du Roman Pays 34, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Pierru, Axel, E-mail: axel.pierru@ifp.f [IFP, Economics Department, 232 Avenue Napoleon Bonaparte, 92852 Rueil-Malmaison (France); Smeers, Yves, E-mail: yves.smeers@uclouvain.ac.b [Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL), CORE, Voie du Roman Pays 34, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium)

2010-09-15

The persistent uncertainty about mid-century CO{sub 2} emissions targets is likely to affect not only the technological choices that energy-producing firms will make in the future but also their current investment decisions. We illustrate this effect on CO{sub 2} price and global energy transition within a MERGE-type general-equilibrium model framework, by considering simple stochastic CO{sub 2} policy scenarios. In these scenarios, economic agents know that credible long-run CO{sub 2} emissions targets will be set in 2020, with two possible outcomes: either a 'hard cap' or a 'soft cap'. Each scenario is characterized by the relative probabilities of both possible caps. We derive consistent stochastic trajectories-with two branches after 2020-for prices and quantities of energy commodities and CO{sub 2} emissions permits. The impact of uncertain long-run CO{sub 2} emissions targets on prices and technological trajectories is discussed. In addition, a simple marginal approach allows us to analyze the Hotelling rule with risk premia observed for certain scenarios.

Uncertain long-run emissions targets, CO{sub 2} price and global energy transition. A general equilibrium approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Durand-Lasserve, Olivier; Smeers, Yves [Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL), CORE, Voie du Roman Pays 34, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Pierru, Axel [IFP, Economics Department, 232 Avenue Napoleon Bonaparte, 92852 Rueil-Malmaison (France)

2010-09-15

The persistent uncertainty about mid-century CO{sub 2} emissions targets is likely to affect not only the technological choices that energy-producing firms will make in the future but also their current investment decisions. We illustrate this effect on CO{sub 2} price and global energy transition within a MERGE-type general-equilibrium model framework, by considering simple stochastic CO{sub 2} policy scenarios. In these scenarios, economic agents know that credible long-run CO{sub 2} emissions targets will be set in 2020, with two possible outcomes: either a hard cap or a soft cap. Each scenario is characterized by the relative probabilities of both possible caps. We derive consistent stochastic trajectories - with two branches after 2020 - for prices and quantities of energy commodities and CO{sub 2} emissions permits. The impact of uncertain long-run CO{sub 2} emissions targets on prices and technological trajectories is discussed. In addition, a simple marginal approach allows us to analyze the Hotelling rule with risk premia observed for certain scenarios. (author)

Tiered co-payments, pricing, and demand in reference price markets for pharmaceuticals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herr, Annika; Suppliet, Moritz

2017-01-01

Health insurance companies curb price-insensitive behavior and the moral hazard of insureds by means of cost-sharing, such as tiered co-payments or reference pricing in drug markets. This paper evaluates the effect of price limits –below which drugs are exempt from co-payments– on prices and on

A Hierarchical Z-Scheme α-Fe2 O3 /g-C3 N4 Hybrid for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Zhifeng; Wan, Weiming; Li, Huaming; Yuan, Shouqi; Zhao, Huijun; Wong, Po Keung

2018-03-01

The challenge in the artificial photosynthesis of fossil resources from CO 2 by utilizing solar energy is to achieve stable photocatalysts with effective CO 2 adsorption capacity and high charge-separation efficiency. A hierarchical direct Z-scheme system consisting of urchin-like hematite and carbon nitride provides an enhanced photocatalytic activity of reduction of CO 2 to CO, yielding a CO evolution rate of 27.2 µmol g -1 h -1 without cocatalyst and sacrifice reagent, which is >2.2 times higher than that produced by g-C 3 N 4 alone (10.3 µmol g -1 h -1 ). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the Z-scheme hybrid material can be ascribed to its unique characteristics to accelerate the reduction process, including: (i) 3D hierarchical structure of urchin-like hematite and preferable basic sites which promotes the CO 2 adsorption, and (ii) the unique Z-scheme feature efficiently promotes the separation of the electron-hole pairs and enhances the reducibility of electrons in the conduction band of the g-C 3 N 4 . The origin of such an obvious advantage of the hierarchical Z-scheme is not only explained based on the experimental data but also investigated by modeling CO 2 adsorption and CO adsorption on the three different atomic-scale surfaces via density functional theory calculation. The study creates new opportunities for hierarchical hematite and other metal-oxide-based Z-scheme system for solar fuel generation. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

CO2 price dynamics. A follow-up analysis of the implications of EU emissions trading for the price of electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijm, J.P.M.; Ten Donkelaar, M.; Hers, J.S.; Scheepers, M.J.J.; Chen, Y.

2006-03-01

The present study discusses the results of some follow-up analyses on the relationship between EU emissions trading and power prices, notably the implications of free allocations of CO2 emissions allowances for the price of electricity in Germany and the Netherlands. These analyses include: An update of the empirical and statistical analyses of the price trends and pass through rates of CO2 costs in the power sector of Germany and the Netherlands; An analysis by means of the model COMPETES of the potential effects of CO2 emissions trading on the wholesale market shares of the major power producers in the Netherlands; An analysis of two policy options to cope with certain adverse effects of passing through the opportunity costs of freely allocated CO2 emission allowances, i.e. less grandfathering to the major power producers - in favour of major electricity users - by either a more stringent allocation to the power generators or auctioning part of the allowances to these generators. A major finding of the present study is that dark/spark spreads of power production in Germany and the Netherlands have improved substantially in 2005, especially during the period August-December. Whereas valid CO2 pass through rates of 40 to 70 percent have been estimated for the first period of 2005 (January- July), estimates for the year 2005 as a whole - and particularly for the latter period August-December - seem to be less or not valid since other factors, such as market power or scarcity, seem also (or even more) responsible for the improvement of dark/spark spreads in the latter period of 2005 (while data are lacking to abstract for these other factors). Regarding the policy options to address adverse effects of CO2 cost pass through, the report concludes that a small degree of less grandfathering to the power producers (i.e. 10-20 percent of the allowances needed) will reduce their windfall profits accordingly, without a major, decisive impact on the operational and investment

Carbon financial markets: A time-frequency analysis of CO2 prices

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, Rita; Aguiar-Conraria, Luís; Soares, Maria Joana

2014-11-01

We characterize the interrelation of CO2 prices with energy prices (electricity, gas and coal), and with economic activity. Previous studies have relied on time-domain techniques, such as Vector Auto-Regressions. In this study, we use multivariate wavelet analysis, which operates in the time-frequency domain. Wavelet analysis provides convenient tools to distinguish relations at particular frequencies and at particular time horizons. Our empirical approach has the potential to identify relations getting stronger and then disappearing over specific time intervals and frequencies. We are able to examine the coherency of these variables and lead-lag relations at different frequencies for the time periods in focus.

The effects of new pricing and copayment schemes for pharmaceuticals in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Iyn-Hyang; Bloor, Karen; Hewitt, Catherine; Maynard, Alan

2012-01-01

This study examined the effect of new Korean pricing and copayment schemes for pharmaceuticals (1) on per patient drug expenditure, utilisation and unit prices of overall pharmaceuticals; (2) on the utilisation of essential medications and (3) on the utilisation of less costly alternatives to the study medication. Interrupted time series analysis using retrospective observational data. The increasing trend of per patient drug expenditure fell gradually after the introduction of a new copayment scheme. The segmented regression model suggested that per patient drug expenditure might decrease by about 12% 1 year after the copayment increase, compared with the absence of such a policy, with few changes in overall utilisation and unit prices. The level of savings was much smaller when the new price scheme was included, while the effects of a price cut were inconclusive due to the short time period before an additional policy change. Based on the segmented regression models, we estimate that the number of patients filling their antihyperlipidemics prescriptions decreased by 18% in the corresponding period. Those prescribed generic and brand-named antihyperlipidemics declined by around 16 and 19%, respectively, indicating little evidence of generic substitution resulting from the copayment increase. Few changes were found in the use of antihypertensives. The policies under consideration appear to contain costs not by the intended mechanisms, such as substituting generics for brand name products, but by reducing patients' access to costly therapies regardless of clinical necessity. Thus, concerns were raised about potentially compromising overall health and loss of equity in pharmaceutical utilisation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Option-Based Estimation of the Price of Co-Skewness and Co-Kurtosis Risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Fournier, Mathieu

-neutral second moments, and the price of co-kurtosis risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk-neutral third moments. The option-based estimates of the prices of risk lead to reasonable values of the associated risk premia. An out-of-sample analysis of factor models with co-skewness and co......We show that the prices of risk for factors that are nonlinear in the market return are readily obtained using index option prices. We apply this insight to the price of co-skewness and co-kurtosis risk. The price of co-skewness risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk......-kurtosis risk indicates that the new estimates of the price of risk improve the models performance. Models with higher-order market moments also robustly outperform standard competitors such as the CAPM and the Fama-French model....

Option-Based Estimation of the Price of Co-Skewness and Co-Kurtosis Risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Jacobs, Kris

-neutral second moments, and the price of co-kurtosis risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk-neutral third moments. The option-based estimates of the prices of risk lead to reasonable values of the associated risk premia. An out-of-sample analysis of factor models with co-skewness and co......We show that the prices of risk for factors that are nonlinear in the market return are readily obtained using index option prices. We apply this insight to the price of co-skewness and co-kurtosis risk. The price of co-skewness risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk......-kurtosis risk indicates that the new estimates of the price of risk improve the models' performance. Models with higher-order market moments also robustly outperform standard competitors such as the CAPM and the Fama-French model....

Novel transmission pricing scheme based on point-to-point tariff and transaction pair matching for pool market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Qixin; Xia, Qing; Kang, Chongqing

2010-01-01

Transmission pricing scheme is a key component in the infrastructure of power market, and pool is an indispensable pattern of market organization; meanwhile, pay-as-bid (PAB) serves as a main option to determine market prices in pool. In this paper, a novel transmission pricing scheme is proposed for pool power market based on PAB. The new scheme is developed by utilizing point-to-point (PTP) tariff and introducing an approach of transaction pair matching (TPM). The model and procedure of the new scheme are presented in detail. Apart from the advantages of existing transmission pricing schemes, such as ensuing open, fair and non-discriminatory access, proper recovery for investment as well as transparency, the new scheme provides economic signals to promote the maximum use of the existing transmission network, encourages appropriate bidding behaviors in pool, and helps to reduce the possibility of the enforcement of market power and the appearing of price spikes; thus improves market operation efficiency and trading effects. In order to testify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a case based on IEEE 30-bus system is studied. (author)

Novel transmission pricing scheme based on point-to-point tariff and transaction pair matching for pool market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Qixin; Xia, Qing; Kang, Chongqing [State Key Lab. of Power System, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-04-15

Transmission pricing scheme is a key component in the infrastructure of power market, and pool is an indispensable pattern of market organization; meanwhile, pay-as-bid (PAB) serves as a main option to determine market prices in pool. In this paper, a novel transmission pricing scheme is proposed for pool power market based on PAB. The new scheme is developed by utilizing point-to-point (PTP) tariff and introducing an approach of transaction pair matching (TPM). The model and procedure of the new scheme are presented in detail. Apart from the advantages of existing transmission pricing schemes, such as ensuing open, fair and non-discriminatory access, proper recovery for investment as well as transparency, the new scheme provides economic signals to promote the maximum use of the existing transmission network, encourages appropriate bidding behaviors in pool, and helps to reduce the possibility of the enforcement of market power and the appearing of price spikes; thus improves market operation efficiency and trading effects. In order to testify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a case based on IEEE 30-bus system is studied. (author)

Cost-Sharing and Drug Pricing Strategies : Introducing Tiered Co-Payments in Reference Price Markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suppliet, Moritz; Herr, Annika

2016-01-01

Health insurances curb price insensitive behavior and moral hazard of insureds through different types of cost-sharing, such as tiered co-payments or reference pricing. This paper evaluates the effect of newly introduced price limits below which drugs are exempt from co-payments on the pricing

The impact of CO2 taxation on the configuration of new refineries: An application to Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomes, Gabriel Lourenco; Szklo, Alexandre; Schaeffer, Roberto

2009-01-01

This article evaluates the impact of pricing CO 2 emissions over the configuration of new refinery complexes in their conceptual phase. Two refineries' schemes were simulated through a linear programming optimization model in order to compare the optimum configuration obtained before and after the input of different CO 2 prices. The cases analyzed represent refining projects to be located in Brazil, a growing market for fuels and petrochemical feedstocks, as well as an oil producing country with rising crude exports. After 2012, emerging countries, such as Brazil, may adopt carbon emission reduction targets. Therefore, it is worth analyzing the impact of pricing CO 2 emissions in these countries, where the majority of new refining projects will be located. Our findings indicate that the initial refinery configurations proposed are quite rigid technologically for CO 2 prices up to US$ 100/t CO 2 . For CO 2 prices higher than US$ 100/t CO 2 , refineries reduced their emissions by increasing the consumption of natural gas used to produce hydrogen, and through changes in the original configurations towards less-energy consuming process units. Promising technological advances, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), can also diminish the rigidity of the model and facilitate actions to curb carbon emissions.

Cross-border electricity market effects due to price caps in an emission trading system : An agent-based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richstein, J.C.; Chappin, E.J.L.; De Vries, L.J.

2014-01-01

The recent low CO2 prices in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) have triggered a discussion whether the EU ETS needs to be adjusted. We study the effects of CO2 price floors and a price ceiling on the dynamic investment pathway of two interlinked electricity markets (loosely based

An empirical comparison of alternative schemes for combining electricity spot price forecasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowotarski, Jakub; Raviv, Eran; Trück, Stefan; Weron, Rafał

2014-01-01

In this comprehensive empirical study we critically evaluate the use of forecast averaging in the context of electricity prices. We apply seven averaging and one selection scheme and perform a backtesting analysis on day-ahead electricity prices in three major European and US markets. Our findings support the additional benefit of combining forecasts of individual methods for deriving more accurate predictions, however, the performance is not uniform across the considered markets and periods. In particular, equally weighted pooling of forecasts emerges as a simple, yet powerful technique compared with other schemes that rely on estimated combination weights, but only when there is no individual predictor that consistently outperforms its competitors. Constrained least squares regression (CLS) offers a balance between robustness against such well performing individual methods and relatively accurate forecasts, on average better than those of the individual predictors. Finally, some popular forecast averaging schemes – like ordinary least squares regression (OLS) and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) – turn out to be unsuitable for predicting day-ahead electricity prices. - Highlights: • So far the most extensive study on combining forecasts for electricity spot prices • 12 stochastic models, 8 forecast combination schemes and 3 markets considered • Our findings support the additional benefit of combining forecasts for deriving more accurate predictions • Methods that allow for unconstrained weights, such as OLS averaging, should be avoided • We recommend a backtesting exercise to identify the preferred forecast averaging method for the data at hand

A New Pricing Scheme for Controlling Energy Storage Devices in Future Smart Grid

OpenAIRE

Zhu, Jingwei; Chen, Michael Z. Q.; Du, Baozhu

2014-01-01

Improvement of the overall efficiency of energy infrastructure is one of the main anticipated benefits of the deployment of smart grid technology. Advancement in energy storage technology and two-way communication in the electric network are indispensable components to achieve such a vision, while efficient pricing schemes and appropriate storage management are also essential. In this paper, we propose a universal pricing scheme which permits one to indirectly control the energy storage devic...

Introducing CO2 Allowances, Higher Prices For All Consumers; Higher Revenues For Whom?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gurkan, G.; Langestraat, R.; Ozdemir, O.

2013-01-01

Abstract Introducing a ceiling on total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and allowing polluting industries to buy and sell permits to meet it (known as a cap-and-trade system) affects investment strategies, generation quantities, and prices in electricity markets. In this paper we analyze these

Effects of fuel price fluctuation on individual CO2 traffic emissions : empirical findings from pseudo panel data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yang, D.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2012-01-01

Globalized concerns about greenhouse gasses and increased energy consumptions have stimulated research in transportation about the relationships between fuel prices and emissions. Many researchers have found that higher fuel price can reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions through a number of

FOUR-YEAR-OLD NAMSAN TUNNEL CONGESTION PRICING SCHEME IN SEOUL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bongsoo SON, Ph. D.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the congestion pricing scheme at Namsan #1 and #3 tunnels in downtown Seoul four years after its implementation. The effectiveness of the scheme was measured by the changes of various traffic impacts. The traffic volume of the two tunnels was reduced by up to 25% for the first month. After that time, the traffic volume started to increase again and then exceeded the previous volume level. However, average travel speed of the two tunnel corridors improved by up to 74%. The overall traffic volume of the four alternative routes was increased; nevertheless, their average travel speed increased as well. The number of carpool vehicles occupied by 3 or more persons including the driver during the peak periods was remarkably increased. Before the congestion fee charging, toll-charged vehicles amounted to 68.5% of the total traffic volume of the two tunnels, and then the share dropped to 29% afterwards. The empirical analysis results for the effectiveness of the congestion pricing scheme are very promising.

Price Signals from Electricity Markets and Subsidy Schemes for Renewable Sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabolic, D.

2013-01-01

Increasing share of renewable generation itself gives rise to price risks on the electricity markets. Subsidy schemes, in general, additionally distort price signals produced by economic mechanisms of otherwise free markets. In the electricity industry, subsidy schemes, once designed merely to incentivize electricity system decarbonization in its kick-off phase, seem to have grown to such a volume, that they, too, started to profoundly interfere with the whole market structure, and to distort price signals that used to govern long-term development of an adequately structured generation system. This article was made as an attempt to discuss contemporary electricity system policies in relation to RES integration. The economic relations in the sector are growingly influenced, or sometimes even hard-handedly guided, by political institutions, rather than by economic interests of the investors, which may in turn cause considerable problems in achieving ultimate policy goals due to unsustainability of such an economic arrangement.(author)

A New Pricing Scheme for Controlling Energy Storage Devices in Future Smart Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingwei Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Improvement of the overall efficiency of energy infrastructure is one of the main anticipated benefits of the deployment of smart grid technology. Advancement in energy storage technology and two-way communication in the electric network are indispensable components to achieve such a vision, while efficient pricing schemes and appropriate storage management are also essential. In this paper, we propose a universal pricing scheme which permits one to indirectly control the energy storage devices in the grid to achieve a more desirable aggregate demand profile that meets a particular target of the grid operator such as energy generation cost minimization and carbon emission reduction. Such a pricing scheme can potentially be applied to control the behavior of energy storage devices installed for integration of intermittent renewable energy sources that have permission to grid connection and will have broader applications as an increasing number of novel and low-cost energy storage technologies emerge.

Social cost of carbon pricing of power sector CO2: accounting for leakage and other social implications from subnational policies

Science.gov (United States)

Bistline, John E.; Rose, Steven K.

2018-01-01

In environments where climate policy has partial coverage or unequal participation, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions or economic activity may shift to locations and sectors where emissions are unregulated. This is referred to as leakage. Leakage can offset or augment emissions reductions associated with a policy, which has important environmental and economic implications. Although leakage has been studied at national levels, analysis of leakage for subnational policies is limited. This is despite greater market integration and many existing state and regional environmental regulations in the US. This study explores leakage potential, net emissions changes, and other social implications in the US energy system with regionally differentiated pricing of power sector CO2 emissions. We undertake an economic analysis using EPRI’s US-REGEN model, where power sector CO2 emissions are priced in individual US regions with a range of social cost of carbon (SCC) values. SCC estimates are being considered by policy-makers for valuing potential societal damages from CO2 emissions. In this study, we evaluate the emissions implications within the SCC pricing region, within the power sector outside the SCC region, and outside the power sector (i.e. in the rest of the energy system). Results indicate that CO2 leakage is possible within and outside the electric sector, ranging from negative 70% to over 80% in our scenarios, with primarily positive leakage outcomes. Typically ignored in policy analysis, leakage would affect CO2 reduction benefits. We also observe other potential societal effects within and across regions, such as higher electricity prices, changes in power sector investments, and overall consumption losses. Efforts to reduce leakage, such as constraining power imports into the SCC pricing region likely reduce leakage, but could also result in lower net emissions reductions, as well as larger price increases. Thus, it is important to look beyond leakage and consider a

Co-firing of imported wood pellets – An option to efficiently save CO2 emissions in Europe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehrig, Rita; Behrendt, Frank

2013-01-01

In this paper the energy and carbon footprints of pellet imports from Australia, West Canada, and Russia for co-firing in Europe are investigated. Their ecologic and economic performances are proven by applying the Belgian and UK co-firing subsidy systems, which require dedicated sustainability evaluations. Based on the modelling of different subsidy schemes and price scenarios, the present paper identifies favourable conditions for the use of biomass co-firing in Germany and Austria, which currently do not have dedicated co-firing incentives. The present paper shows that under present conditions, co-firing has a narrow financial gap to coal with −3 to 4 € Cent/kWh el and has low CO 2 mitigation costs compared to other renewables. Moreover, it is shown that co-firing is one of the most cost-attractive options to reach the EU-2020 targets. For policy makers, the support of co-firing is found to be very efficient in terms of cost-benefit ratio. It is proven that the co-firing subsidy schemes might direct supply chain decisions towards options with low energy and carbon impacts. - Highlights: • Co-firing has a low financial gap and allows for advantageous CO 2 mitigation costs compared to other renewable. • Belgian and UK's co-firing subsidies are reasonable options to promote cost-effective renewable electricity generation. • Co-firing subsidy schemes can effectively direct supply chain decisions towards low energy and carbon options

Implementation of a european directive establishing a negotiable CO2 emissions trading scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coussy, P.

2003-01-01

Approved on July 22, 2003, European Directive 87/2003/EC establishes a scheme for the trading of greenhouse gas emissions allowances. Before the market comes into effect on January 1, 2005, industrialists will have to account for a new financial asset in planning development strategy: the CO 2 allowance. Each Member State is currently developing a climate plan that includes the allocation of CO 2 emissions allowances to industrial installations. It will not be possible to exceed these allowances without incurring a financial penalty. (author)

The Potential of Road Pricing Schemes for Reducing Carbon Emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nocera, S.; Giaretta, F.; Cavallaro, F.

2016-07-01

Road pricing is a transport measure mainly conceived to fund road management, to regulate the demand for traffic and to reduce the number of private vehicles circulating in urban areas. It can also grant benefits in terms of environmental externalities including the reduction of CO2 emissions, which has recently become one of the most important elements defining the sustainability of a transport system. However, the carbon potential granted by road charging is rarely assessed, thus confirming a sort of secondary role attributed to CO2 in urban premises. This paper provides an accurate analysis of the relationship between the different forms of road pricing (including distance-based, congestion-based and pay-as-you-drive) and their effective role in terms of carbon reduction, which in some contexts is higher than 10%. Furthermore, practical suggestions to policy makers in terms of implementation of the measure are discussed, highlighting the precautions necessary to include a fair carbon evaluation into an overall effective analysis. (Author)

Do food and oil prices co-move?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reboredo, Juan C.

2012-01-01

This paper studies co-movements between world oil prices and global prices for corn, soybean and wheat using copulas. Several copula models with different conditional dependence structures and time-varying dependence parameters were considered. Empirical results for weekly data from January 1998 to April 2011 showed weak oil-food dependence and no extreme market dependence between oil and food prices. These results support the neutrality of agricultural commodity markets to the effects of changes in oil prices and non-contagion between the crude oil and agricultural markets. However, dependence increased significantly in the last three years of the sampling period, even though upper tail dependence remained insignificant, indicating that food price spikes are not caused by positive extreme oil price changes. These results have implications for policy design, risk management and hedging strategies. - Highlights: ► We study co-movement between food and oil markets through copulas. ► Food prices are neutral to the effects of changes in oil prices. ► Oil price spikes had no causal effect on agricultural price spikes. ► Oil–corn and oil–soybean dependence increased in recent years. ► Food subsidy policies and price controls are unnecessary to avoid extreme oil prices.

Evaluation of dynamic pass-through of carbon prices into electricity prices – a cointegrated VECM analysis

OpenAIRE

Freitas, Carlos J. Pereira; Silva, Patrícia Pereira da

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the impact of the CO2 opportunity cost on the wholesale electricity price in the context of the Iberian electricity market (MIBEL), namely on the Portuguese system, for the period corresponding to the Phase II of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In the econometric analysis a vector error correction model (VECM) is specified to estimate both long–run equilibrium relations and short–run interactions between the electricity price and the fuel (natural gas...

Explaining European Emission Allowance Price Dynamics: Evidence from Phase II

OpenAIRE

Wilfried Rickels; Dennis Görlich; Gerrit Oberst

2010-01-01

In 2005, the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) established a new commodity: the right to emit a ton of CO2 (EUA). Since its launch, the corresponding price has shown rather turbulent dynamics, including nervous reactions to policy announcements and a price collapse after a visible over-allocation in Phase I. As a consequence, the question whether fundamental factors (fossil fuel prices, economic activity, weather) affect the EUA price remained partially unresolved. Today, being halfwa...

Analysis of the imbalance price scheme in the Spanish electricity market: A wind power test case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bueno-Lorenzo, Miriam; Moreno, M. Ángeles; Usaola, Julio

2013-01-01

This work investigates the interaction between wind power and electricity markets. The paper is focused on balancing markets pricing policies. The proposal of a new imbalance price scheme is included and conveniently evaluated. This proposed scheme tries to minimise the use of ancillary services to compensate for deviations in searching for a more efficient market design. The effectiveness of imbalance prices as market signals is also examined, and policy recommendations regarding imbalance services are discussed. Two test cases are included that analyse the participation of a wind power producer in the Spanish electricity market using a stochastic optimisation strategy. For this purpose, the uncertainty of the variables is considered, i.e., wind power production and prediction, intraday and imbalance prices. Test cases were run with real data for 10 months, and realistic results are presented along with a hypothetical test case. The regulation of the imbalance prices may not be adequate for the Spanish electricity market because an error drop is not sufficiently encouraged. Therefore, we suggest the application of a new imbalance price scheme, which includes an additional constraint. The conclusions of this paper can be assumed to be general policy recommendations

Dynamic Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sharifi, Reza; Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Fathi, S. Hamid

2017-01-01

Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes h...... of dynamic pricing can lead to increased willingness of consumers to participate in DR programs which in turn improve the operation of liberalized electricity markets.......Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes...

Linking CO{sub 2} emissions from international shipping to the EU emissions trading scheme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaageson, Per [Nature Associates, Stockholm (Sweden)

2009-09-15

The objective of the report is to analyse the feasibility of a cap-and-trade system for CO{sub 2} emissions from international shipping linked to the European Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The idea presented in the paper is to tie the permission for a ship to call at a port of a participating country to the vessels participation in a scheme for emissions trading under a common cap. The ship would be liable for emissions from fuel bunkered during, say, six months prior to a call at a participating port. With this design, emissions from the return voyages of ships involved in intercontinental traffic would automatically be covered, and shipowners and operators would gain nothing by calling at ports just outside the European Union. The geographical scope would thus be global, albeit limited to ships that call at ports of the European Union (and other participating states). The fuel consumption, that the surrendered CO{sub 2} allowances would have to match, could be declared by using the existing mandatory bunker delivery notes that all ships above 400 GT need to keep according to Regulation 18 of MARPOL Annex VI. The report discusses various ways for initial allocation of allowances and concludes that the least distorting method would be to sell them on auction and recycle all or most of the revenues to the shipping sector in a way that does not interfere with the objective of the trading scheme. In the case where Maritime Emissions Trading Scheme (METS) is initially limited to the ports of the European Union, at least 6 200 million ton less CO{sub 2} would be emitted over the 23 years between 2012 and 2035 compared to a business-as-usual scenario. However, a great part of this would be reductions in land-based sources paid indirectly by the shipping sector. (orig.)

Carbon price instead of support schemes: wind power investments by the electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petitet, Marie; Finon, Dominique; Janssen, Tanguy

2014-10-01

In this paper we study the development of wind power by the electricity market without any usual support scheme which is aimed at subsidizing non mature renewables, with the sole incentive of a significant carbon price. Long term electricity market and investment decisions simulation by system dynamics modelling is used to trace the electricity generation mix evolution over a 20-year period in a pure thermal system. A range of stable carbon price, as a tax could be, is tested in order to determine the value above which wind power development by market forces becomes economically possible. Not only economic competitiveness in terms of cost price, but also profitability against traditional fossil fuel technologies are necessary for a market-driven development of wind power. Results stress that wind power is really profitable for investors only if the carbon price is very significantly higher than the price required for making wind power MWh's cost price competitive with CCGT and coal-fired plants on the simplistic basis of levelized costs. In this context, the market-driven development of wind power seems only possible if there is a strong commitment to climate policy, reflected by the preference for a stable and high carbon price rather than a fuzzy price of an emission trading scheme. Besides, results show that market-driven development of wind power would require a sky-rocketing carbon price if the initial technology mix includes a share of nuclear plants even with a moratorium on new nuclear development. (authors)

Cross-border electricity market effects due to price caps in an emission trading system: An agent-based approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richstein, Jörn C.; Chappin, Emile J.L.; Vries, Laurens J. de

2014-01-01

The recent low CO 2 prices in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) have triggered a discussion whether the EU ETS needs to be adjusted. We study the effects of CO 2 price floors and a price ceiling on the dynamic investment pathway of two interlinked electricity markets (loosely based on Great Britain, which already has introduced a price floor, and on Central Western Europe). Using an agent-based electricity market simulation with endogenous investment and a CO 2 market (including banking), we analyse the cross-border effects of national policies as well as system-wide policy options. A common, moderate CO 2 auction reserve price results in a more continuous decarbonisation pathway. This reduces CO 2 price volatility and the occurrence of carbon shortage price periods, as well as the average cost to consumers. A price ceiling can shield consumers from extreme price shocks. These price restrictions do not cause a large risk of an overall emissions overshoot in the long run. A national price floor lowers the cost to consumers in the other zone; the larger the zone with the price floor, the stronger the effect. Price floors that are too high lead to inefficiencies in investment choices and to higher consumer costs. - Highlights: • Cross-border effects of CO 2 policies were investigated with an agent-based model. • The current EU ETS might cause CO 2 price shocks and CO 2 price volatility. • A CO 2 auction reserve price does not lower welfare, but lowers CO 2 price volatility. • A national CO 2 price floor lowers consumer cost in the other countries. • A CO 2 price ceiling does not lead to an overshoot of emissions

Impact analysis of coal-electricity pricing linkage scheme in China based on stochastic frontier cost function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hong-Zhou; Tian, Xian-Liang; Zou, Tao

2015-01-01

Highlights: • This study evaluates the coal-electricity pricing linkage policy in China. • Six stochastic frontier cost models are used to estimate efficiency measures. • The coal-electricity pricing linkage scheme is a double-edged sword. • We suggest the threshold value of 5% or group specific. - Abstract: This study evaluates the feasibility and fairness of 2012 amendment to coal-electricity pricing linkage policy in China. Our empirical design is based on several stochastic frontier cost functions and the results show that the amended pricing linkage scheme is a double-edged sword as follows. On the one hand, it provides incentives for less-efficient (with efficiency less than 90%) power plants to increase their efficiency. One the other hand, it imposes a penalty to highly-efficient power plants (with efficiency more than 90%). And even worse, the higher the efficiency is, the bigger the penalty will be. To make the current coal-electricity pricing linkage scheme more feasible, we suggest the threshold value of 5 instead of 10%, and a group specific threshold value instead of the current one-size-for-all practice

Development of a Model for a Cordon Pricing Scheme Considering Environmental Equity: A Case Study of Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahriar Afandizadeh

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Congestion pricing strategy has been recognized as an effective countermeasure in the practical field of urban traffic congestion mitigation. Despite the positive effects of congestion pricing, its implementation has faced problems. This paper investigates the issue of environmental equity in cordon pricing and a park-and-ride scheme. Although pollution decreases inside the cordon by implementation of cordon pricing, air pollutants emission may increase in some links and in the whole network. Therefore, an increase in air emissions in the network means more emission outside the cordon. In fact, due to the implementation of this policy, air pollutants emission may transfer from inside to outside the cordon, creating a type of environmental inequity. To reduce this inequity, a bi-level optimization model with an equity constraint is developed. The proposed solution algorithm based on the second version of the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2 is applied to the city network in Tehran. The results revealed that it seems reasonable to consider environmental equity as an objective function in cordon pricing. In addition, we can create a sustainable situation for the transportation system by improving environmental inequity with a relatively low reduction in social welfare. Moreover, there are environmental inequity impacts in real networks, which should be considered in the cordon pricing scheme.

CO-2 reduction in the Danish transportation sector. Working paper 4: Cargo transport - road pricing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-03-01

In this paper other financial control measures than fuel prices are considered for the transportation sector. The main effect discussed is that of the road pricing system. From the point of view of the CO 2 emission there could be introduced a registration tax for trucks over 4 tons as the higher transport expenditure would tend to reduce road transport demand. EU infrastructure tax directive however recommends taxes for trucks exceeding 12 tons. Road pricing will grow within the categories of lighter trucks but it is only a minor fraction of the total truck expenditure, taking into account fuel tax, weight tax and registration tax. Insurance cost is not included in these consideration. (EG) Prepared for Trafikministeriet. 22 refs

Construction of Z-scheme Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3}/N-doped graphene photocatalysts with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity by tuning the nitrogen species

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Shaoqing [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Key Laboratory of Radioactive Geology and Exploration Technology Fundamental Science for National Defense, East China Institute of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330013 (China); Meng, Aiyun [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Jiang, Shujuan [Key Laboratory of Radioactive Geology and Exploration Technology Fundamental Science for National Defense, East China Institute of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330013 (China); Cheng, Bei [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Jiang, Chuanjia, E-mail: jiangcj2016@yahoo.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China)

2017-02-28

Highlights: • Z-scheme photocatalyst composed of Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3} and N-doped graphene (NG). • Pyridinic nitrogen species of NG spontaneously promoted plasmonic Ag formation. • Graphitic N of NG facilitated the Z-scheme transfer option and O{sub 2} adsorption. • Z-scheme Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3}-NG showed high photocatalytic performance. - Abstract: Semiconductor-based photocatalysis has great potential in various environmental and energy applications, and Z-scheme photocatalysts have many advantages over single-component photocatalysts. The construction of a highly efficient Z-scheme photocatalytic system depends on the geometric structure arrangement, microscopic and crystalline form of the stoichiometric species, and it has not been elucidated whether the Z-scheme photocatalysts can be designed by tuning the electronic structures of cocatalysts alone. Here, using N-doped graphene (NG) as cocatalyst, we successfully constructed Z-scheme Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3}-NG photocatalysts with enhanced activity for the photooxidative degradation of phenol pollutant. It was found that the pyridinic nitrogen species (N{sub p}) of NG could spontaneously reduce Ag{sup +} to produce plasmonic Ag nanoparticles on Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3}-NG, while the efficiency of the photogenerated charge separation, Z-scheme transfer option, and O{sub 2} adsorption were promoted by the graphitic nitrogen species (N{sub g}). Therefore, the as-designed Z-scheme Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3}-NG photocatalysts showed much higher activity than Ag{sub 2}CO{sub 3} and its composites with graphene oxide (GO) or reduced GO as cocatalysts in the photocatalytic degradation of phenol. Hence, our results provide a new strategy for exploring advanced Z-scheme photocatalysts with NG as cocatalyst by rationally tuning the N{sub p} and N{sub g} species.

A case-study of landfill minimization and material recovery via waste co-gasification in a new waste management scheme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanigaki, Nobuhiro, E-mail: tanigaki.nobuhiro@eng.nssmc.com [NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN ENGINEERING CO., LTD., (EUROPEAN OFFICE), Am Seestern 8, 40547 Dusseldorf (Germany); Ishida, Yoshihiro [NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN ENGINEERING CO., LTD., 46-59, Nakabaru, Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 804-8505 (Japan); Osada, Morihiro [NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN ENGINEERING CO., LTD., (Head Office), Osaki Center Building 1-5-1, Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-8604 (Japan)

2015-03-15

Highlights: • A new waste management scheme and the effects of co-gasification of MSW were assessed. • A co-gasification system was compared with other conventional systems. • The co-gasification system can produce slag and metal with high-quality. • The co-gasification system showed an economic advantage when bottom ash is landfilled. • The sensitive analyses indicate an economic advantage when the landfill cost is high. - Abstract: This study evaluates municipal solid waste co-gasification technology and a new solid waste management scheme, which can minimize final landfill amounts and maximize material recycled from waste. This new scheme is considered for a region where bottom ash and incombustibles are landfilled or not allowed to be recycled due to their toxic heavy metal concentration. Waste is processed with incombustible residues and an incineration bottom ash discharged from existent conventional incinerators, using a gasification and melting technology (the Direct Melting System). The inert materials, contained in municipal solid waste, incombustibles and bottom ash, are recycled as slag and metal in this process as well as energy recovery. Based on this new waste management scheme with a co-gasification system, a case study of municipal solid waste co-gasification was evaluated and compared with other technical solutions, such as conventional incineration, incineration with an ash melting facility under certain boundary conditions. From a technical point of view, co-gasification produced high quality slag with few harmful heavy metals, which was recycled completely without requiring any further post-treatment such as aging. As a consequence, the co-gasification system had an economical advantage over other systems because of its material recovery and minimization of the final landfill amount. Sensitivity analyses of landfill cost, power price and inert materials in waste were also conducted. The higher the landfill costs, the greater the

Comparative analysis of supercritical CO2 power conversion system control schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vilim, R.B.; Moisseytsev, A.

2008-01-01

A comparative analysis of control system performance was carried out for the S-CO 2 re-compressing cycle. In this study two control strategies were developed for managing process variables for a change in load at the electrical generator. Both relied on inventory control to reduce power but differed in other significant respects. In inventory control turbomachine mass flow rates are reduced through density change with the goal of preserving velocity triangle similarity and, hence, cycle efficiency. An inventory and low temperature control scheme was operated to maintain a trajectory that avoids close approach to the critical point by controlling the main compressor inlet temperature. Shaft power tracks a setpoint by controlling density. This control scheme may be preferred in plant configurations that use a flow-split. There the rapid density change with pressure near the critical point can lead to flow rate instability. An inventory and turbine bypass control scheme was operated to more closely approach the critical point. Inventory in addition to turbine bypass was used to control shaft power. The first control scheme yielded greater efficiency at reduced power as a result of two factors. First, bypassing coolant around the turbine increases the mass flow rate through the compressors while shaft speed is maintained constant. As a result the compressor velocity triangles are altered from their peak efficiency values. Second, the bypass flow rate results in non-isothermal mixing downstream where the turbine and bypass flow combine which also penalizes efficiency. (authors)

Fostering Residential Demand Response through Dynamic Pricing Schemes: A Behavioural Review of Smart Grid Pilots in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kris Kessels

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Many smart grid projects make use of dynamic pricing schemes aimed to motivate consumers to shift and/or decrease energy use. Based upon existing literature and analyses of current smart grid projects, this survey paper presents key lessons on how to encourage households to adjust energy end use by means of dynamic tariffs. The paper identifies four key hypotheses related to fostering demand response through dynamic tariff schemes and examines whether these hypotheses can be accepted or rejected based on a review of published findings from a range of European pilot projects. We conclude that dynamic pricing schemes have the power to adjust energy consumption behavior within households. In order to work effectively, the dynamic tariff should be simple to understand for the end users, with timely notifications of price changes, a considerable effect on their energy bill and, if the tariff is more complex, the burden for the consumer could be eased by introducing automated control. Although sometimes the mere introduction of a dynamic tariff has proven to be effective, often the success of the pricing scheme depends also on other factors influencing the behavior of end users. An important condition to make dynamic tariffs work is that the end users should be engaged with them.

A case-study of landfill minimization and material recovery via waste co-gasification in a new waste management scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanigaki, Nobuhiro; Ishida, Yoshihiro; Osada, Morihiro

2015-03-01

This study evaluates municipal solid waste co-gasification technology and a new solid waste management scheme, which can minimize final landfill amounts and maximize material recycled from waste. This new scheme is considered for a region where bottom ash and incombustibles are landfilled or not allowed to be recycled due to their toxic heavy metal concentration. Waste is processed with incombustible residues and an incineration bottom ash discharged from existent conventional incinerators, using a gasification and melting technology (the Direct Melting System). The inert materials, contained in municipal solid waste, incombustibles and bottom ash, are recycled as slag and metal in this process as well as energy recovery. Based on this new waste management scheme with a co-gasification system, a case study of municipal solid waste co-gasification was evaluated and compared with other technical solutions, such as conventional incineration, incineration with an ash melting facility under certain boundary conditions. From a technical point of view, co-gasification produced high quality slag with few harmful heavy metals, which was recycled completely without requiring any further post-treatment such as aging. As a consequence, the co-gasification system had an economical advantage over other systems because of its material recovery and minimization of the final landfill amount. Sensitivity analyses of landfill cost, power price and inert materials in waste were also conducted. The higher the landfill costs, the greater the advantage of the co-gasification system has. The co-gasification was beneficial for landfill cost in the range of 80 Euro per ton or more. Higher power prices led to lower operation cost in each case. The inert contents in processed waste had a significant influence on the operating cost. These results indicate that co-gasification of bottom ash and incombustibles with municipal solid waste contributes to minimizing the final landfill amount and has

Air quality co-benefits of carbon pricing in China

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mingwei; Zhang, Da; Li, Chiao-Ting; Mulvaney, Kathleen M.; Selin, Noelle E.; Karplus, Valerie J.

2018-05-01

Climate policies targeting energy-related CO2 emissions, which act on a global scale over long time horizons, can result in localized, near-term reductions in both air pollution and adverse human health impacts. Focusing on China, the largest energy-using and CO2-emitting nation, we develop a cross-scale modelling approach to quantify these air quality co-benefits, and compare them to the economic costs of climate policy. We simulate the effects of an illustrative climate policy, a price on CO2 emissions. In a policy scenario consistent with China's recent pledge to reach a peak in CO2 emissions by 2030, we project that national health co-benefits from improved air quality would partially or fully offset policy costs depending on chosen health valuation. Net health co-benefits are found to rise with increasing policy stringency.

Including dynamic CO2 intensity with demand response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoll, Pia; Brandt, Nils; Nordström, Lars

2014-01-01

Hourly demand response tariffs with the intention of reducing or shifting loads during peak demand hours are being intensively discussed among policy-makers, researchers and executives of future electricity systems. Demand response rates have still low customer acceptance, apparently because the consumption habits requires stronger incentive to change than any proposed financial incentive. An hourly CO 2 intensity signal could give customers an extra environmental motivation to shift or reduce loads during peak hours, as it would enable co-optimisation of electricity consumption costs and carbon emissions reductions. In this study, we calculated the hourly dynamic CO 2 signal and applied the calculation to hourly electricity market data in Great Britain, Ontario and Sweden. This provided a novel understanding of the relationships between hourly electricity generation mix composition, electricity price and electricity mix CO 2 intensity. Load shifts from high-price hours resulted in carbon emission reductions for electricity generation mixes where price and CO 2 intensity were positively correlated. The reduction can be further improved if the shift is optimised using both price and CO 2 intensity. The analysis also indicated that an hourly CO 2 intensity signal can help avoid carbon emissions increases for mixes with a negative correlation between electricity price and CO 2 intensity. - Highlights: • We present a formula for calculating hybrid dynamic CO 2 intensity of electricity generation mixes. • We apply the dynamic CO 2 Intensity on hourly electricity market prices and generation units for Great Britain, Ontario and Sweden. • We calculate the spearman correlation between hourly electricity market price and dynamic CO 2 intensity for Great Britain, Ontario and Sweden. • We calculate carbon footprint of shifting 1 kWh load daily from on-peak hours to off-peak hours using the dynamic CO 2 intensity. • We conclude that using dynamic CO 2 intensity for

The impact of CO2 pricing or biodiesel on container transport in and passing through the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, M.; Driest, M. van den; Wiegmans, B.; Tavasszy, L.

2014-01-01

The paper analyses the impact of: 1) CO2 pricing; 2) using biodiesel on the multimodal freight transport system in and through the Netherlands taking the changes in the transport demands for road, rail, and inland waterway into account. Special attention is given to the impact on the market share of

Is there co-movement of agricultural commodities futures prices and crude oil?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Natanelov, Valeri, E-mail: valeri.natanelov@ugent.be [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Alam, Mohammad J. [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University (Bangladesh); McKenzie, Andrew M. [Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas, AR (United States); Van Huylenbroeck, Guido [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

2011-09-15

Even though significant attempts have appeared in literature, the current perception of co-movement of commodity prices appear inadequate and static. In particular we focus on price movements between crude oil futures and a series of agricultural commodities and gold futures. A comparative framework is applied to identify changes in relationships through time and various cointegration methodologies and causality tests are employed. Our results indicate that co-movement is a dynamic concept and that some economic and policy development may change the relationship between commodities. Furthermore we show that biofuel policy buffers the co-movement of crude oil and corn futures until the crude oil prices surpass a certain threshold. - Highlights: > We show that co-movement of commodity futures is a temporal concept. > A variation in parallel movement between 2 large periods occurs. > Biofuel policy buffers parallel movement of corn and crude oil futures

Is there co-movement of agricultural commodities futures prices and crude oil?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natanelov, Valeri; Alam, Mohammad J.; McKenzie, Andrew M.; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido

2011-01-01

Even though significant attempts have appeared in literature, the current perception of co-movement of commodity prices appear inadequate and static. In particular we focus on price movements between crude oil futures and a series of agricultural commodities and gold futures. A comparative framework is applied to identify changes in relationships through time and various cointegration methodologies and causality tests are employed. Our results indicate that co-movement is a dynamic concept and that some economic and policy development may change the relationship between commodities. Furthermore we show that biofuel policy buffers the co-movement of crude oil and corn futures until the crude oil prices surpass a certain threshold. - Highlights: → We show that co-movement of commodity futures is a temporal concept. → A variation in parallel movement between 2 large periods occurs. → Biofuel policy buffers parallel movement of corn and crude oil futures

Pricing and reimbursement of drugs in Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Michael; Tilson, Lesley; Ryan, Máirín

2004-06-01

Expenditure on healthcare in Ireland, which is mainly derived from taxation, has increased considerably in recent years to an estimated 9.2 billion euro in 2003. Pharmaceuticals account for approximately 10% of total healthcare expenditure. Approximately one-third of patients receive their medications free of charge whilst the remaining two-thirds are subject to a co-payment threshold of 78 euro per month, i.e. 936 euro per year. The price of medications in Ireland is linked to those of five other member states where the price to the wholesaler of any medication will not exceed the lesser of the currency-adjusted wholesale price in the United Kingdom or the average of wholesale prices in Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A price freeze at the introduction price has been in existence since 1993. Despite the price freeze, expenditure on medicines on the community drugs scheme has increased from 201 million euro in 1993 to 898 million euro in 2002. The two main factors contributing to the increased expenditure on medicines include "product mix", the prescribing of new and more expensive medication, and "volume effect" comprising growth in the number of prescription items. Changing demographics and the extension of the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme to provide free medicines for all those over the age of 70 years have also contributed. Prior to reimbursement under the community drugs schemes, a medicine must be included in the GMS code book or positive list. A demonstration of cost-effectiveness is not a pre-requisite for reimbursement.

Marginal Abatement Cost of CO2 in China Based on Directional Distance Function: An Industry Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bowen Xiao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Industrial sectors account for around 70% of the total energy-related CO2 emissions in China. It is of great importance to measure the potential for CO2 emissions reduction and calculate the carbon price in industrial sectors covered in the Emissions Trading Scheme and carbon tax. This paper employs the directional distance function to calculate the marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions during 2005–2011 and makes a comparative analysis between our study and the relevant literature. Our empirical results show that the marginal abatement costs vary greatly from industry to industry: high marginal abatement costs occur in industries with low carbon intensity, and vice versa. In the application of the marginal abatement cost, the abatement distribution scheme with minimum cost is established under different abatement targets. The conclusions of abatement distribution scheme indicate that those heavy industries with low MACs and high carbon intensity should take more responsibility for emissions reduction and vice versa. Finally, the policy implications for marginal abatement cost are provided.

Value based pricing, research and development, and patient access schemes. Will the United Kingdom get it right or wrong?

Science.gov (United States)

Towse, Adrian

2010-09-01

The National Health Service (NHS) should reward innovation it values. This will enable the NHS and the United Kingdom (UK) economy to benefit and impact positively on the Research and Development (R&D) decision making of companies. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) currently seeks to do this on behalf of the NHS. Yet the Office of Fair Trading proposals for Value Based Pricing add price setting powers--initially for the Department of Health (DH) and then for NICE. This introduces an additional substantial uncertainty that will impact on R&D and, conditional on R&D proceeding, on launch (or not) in the UK. Instead of adding to uncertainty the institutional arrangements for assessing value should seek to be predictable and science based, building on NICE's current arrangements. The real challenge is to increase understanding of the underlying cost-effectiveness of the technology itself by collecting evidence alongside use. The 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme sought to help do this with Flexible Pricing (FP) and Patient Access Schemes (PASs). The PASs to date have increased access to medicines, but no schemes proposed to date have yet helped to tackle outcomes uncertainty. The 2010 Innovation Pass can also be seen as a form of 'coverage with evidence development.' The NHS is understandably concerned about the costs of running such evidence collection schemes. Enabling the NHS to deliver on such schemes will impact favourably on R&D decisions. Increasing the uncertainty in the UK NHS market through government price setting will reduce incentives for R&D and for early UK launch.

Traveler response to coexisting multiple pricing schemes results of elaborated mixture-amount experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khademi, E.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Borgers, A.W.J.

2013-01-01

Many academics and transportation planners seem convinced that pricing schemes may be one of the most effective policy instruments to change travelers' behavior, to minimize congestion and emissions, or to optimize system use otherwise. Consequently, much empirical work has been conducted, although

Compensation schemes, liquidity provision, and asset prices: An experimental analysis

OpenAIRE

Baghestanian, Sascha; Gortner, Paul; Massenot, Baptiste

2015-01-01

In an experimental setting in which investors can entrust their money to traders, we investigate how compensation schemes affect liquidity provision and asset prices. Investors face a trade-off between risk and return. At the benefit of a potentially higher return, they can entrust their money to a trader. However this investment is risky, as the trader might not be trustworthy. Alternatively, they can opt for a safe but low return. We study how subjects solve this trade-off when traders are ...

Linear triangular optimization technique and pricing scheme in residential energy management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Anees, Amir; Hussain, Iqtadar; AlKhaldi, Ali Hussain; Aslam, Muhammad

2018-06-01

This paper presents a new linear optimization algorithm for power scheduling of electric appliances. The proposed system is applied in a smart home community, in which community controller acts as a virtual distribution company for the end consumers. We also present a pricing scheme between community controller and its residential users based on real-time pricing and likely block rates. The results of the proposed optimization algorithm demonstrate that by applying the anticipated technique, not only end users can minimise the consumption cost, but it can also reduce the power peak to an average ratio which will be beneficial for the utilities as well.

Designing a Profit-Maximizing Critical Peak Pricing Scheme Considering the Payback Phenomenon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung Chan Park

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Critical peak pricing (CPP is a demand response program that can be used to maximize profits for a load serving entity in a deregulated market environment. Like other such programs, however, CPP is not free from the payback phenomenon: a rise in consumption after a critical event. This payback has a negative effect on profits and thus must be appropriately considered when designing a CPP scheme. However, few studies have examined CPP scheme design considering payback. This study thus characterizes payback using three parameters (duration, amount, and pattern and examines payback effects on the optimal schedule of critical events and on the optimal peak rate for two specific payback patterns. This analysis is verified through numerical simulations. The results demonstrate the need to properly consider payback parameters when designing a profit-maximizing CPP scheme.

Implications of the recent reductions in natural gas prices for emissions of CO2 from the US power sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xi; Salovaara, Jackson; McElroy, Michael B

2012-03-06

CO(2) emissions from the US power sector decreased by 8.76% in 2009 relative to 2008 contributing to a decrease over this period of 6.59% in overall US emissions of greenhouse gases. An econometric model, tuned to data reported for regional generation of US electricity, is used to diagnose factors responsible for the 2009 decrease. More than half of the reduction is attributed to a shift from generation of power using coal to gas driven by a recent decrease in gas prices in response to the increase in production from shale. An important result of the model is that, when the cost differential for generation using gas rather than coal falls below 2-3 cents/kWh, less efficient coal fired plants are displaced by more efficient natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) generation alternatives. Costs for generation using NGCC decreased by close to 4 cents/kWh in 2009 relative to 2008 ensuring that generation of electricity using gas was competitive with coal in 2009 in contrast to the situation in 2008 when gas prices were much higher. A modest price on carbon could contribute to additional switching from coal to gas with further savings in CO(2) emissions.

Optimized spectroscopic scheme for enhanced precision CO measurements with applications to urban source attribution

Science.gov (United States)

Nottrott, A.; Hoffnagle, J.; Farinas, A.; Rella, C.

2014-12-01

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an urban pollutant generated by internal combustion engines which contributes to the formation of ground level ozone (smog). CO is also an excellent tracer for emissions from mobile combustion sources. In this work we present an optimized spectroscopic sampling scheme that enables enhanced precision CO measurements. The scheme was implemented on the Picarro G2401 Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) analyzer which measures CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O at 0.2 Hz. The optimized scheme improved the raw precision of CO measurements by 40% from 5 ppb to 3 ppb. Correlations of measured CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O from an urban tower were partitioned by wind direction and combined with a concentration footprint model for source attribution. The application of a concentration footprint for source attribution has several advantages. The upwind extent of the concentration footprint for a given sensor is much larger than the flux footprint. Measurements of mean concentration at the sensor location can be used to estimate source strength from a concentration footprint, while measurements of the vertical concentration flux are necessary to determine source strength from the flux footprint. Direct measurement of vertical concentration flux requires high frequency temporal sampling and increases the cost and complexity of the measurement system.

The european union emission trading scheme and energy markets: economic and financial analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertrand, Vincent

2012-01-01

This thesis investigates relationships between the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and energy markets. A special focus is given to fuel switching, the main short term abatement measure within the EU ETS. This consists in substituting Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs) for hard-coal plants in off-peak power generation. Thereby coal plants run for shorter periods, which allows power producers to reduce their CO 2 emissions. In Chapter 1, we outline different approaches explaining relationships between carbon and energy markets. We also review the literature relating to these issues. Next, we further describe the fuel switching process and, in particular, we analyze the influence of energy and environmental efficiency of thermal power plants (coal and gas) on fuel switching. In Chapter 2, we provide a theoretical analysis that shows how differences in the efficiency of CCGTs can rule interactions between gas and carbon prices. The main result shows that the allowance price becomes more sensitive to the gas price when the level of CO 2 emissions increases. In Chapter 3, we examine interactions between carbon, coal, gas and electricity prices in an empirical study. Among the main results, we find that there is a significant link between carbon and gas prices in the long-run equilibrium. In Chapter 4, we analyze the cross-market price discovery process between gas and CO 2 markets. We identified in previous chapters that there is a robust significant link between gas and CO 2 markets. They are linked commodities, and their prices are affected by the same information. In an empirical analysis, we find that the carbon market is the leader in cross-market price discovery process. (author)

Decoupling of CO2-emissions from Energy Intensive Industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, M. S.; Enevoldsen, M. K.; Ryelund, A. V.

and taxes on the trends in CO2 emissions on the basis of a novel method that relies on sector-specific energy prices. Whereas previous research has been unable to account for the implications of complex tax exemptions and price discounts, the present report bridges the gap and provides innovative estimates....... This finding suggests that price increases, whether induced by taxes or market fluctuations, can be effective in curbing CO2 emissions when they accurately reflect the CO2 burden. It also suggests that CO2-specific taxes on fuels are more effective than end-user electricity taxes which do not reflect actual...

Natural gas and CO2 price variation: impact on the relative cost-efficiency of LNG and pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulvestad, Marte; Overland, Indra

2012-06-01

THIS ARTICLE DEVELOPS A FORMAL MODEL FOR COMPARING THE COST STRUCTURE OF THE TWO MAIN TRANSPORT OPTIONS FOR NATURAL GAS: liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipelines. In particular, it evaluates how variations in the prices of natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions affect the relative cost-efficiency of these two options. Natural gas is often promoted as the most environmentally friendly of all fossil fuels, and LNG as a modern and efficient way of transporting it. Some research has been carried out into the local environmental impact of LNG facilities, but almost none into aspects related to climate change. This paper concludes that at current price levels for natural gas and CO 2 emissions the distance from field to consumer and the volume of natural gas transported are the main determinants of transport costs. The pricing of natural gas and greenhouse emissions influence the relative cost-efficiency of LNG and pipeline transport, but only to a limited degree at current price levels. Because more energy is required for the LNG process (especially for fuelling the liquefaction process) than for pipelines at distances below 9100 km, LNG is more exposed to variability in the price of natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions up to this distance. If the prices of natural gas and/or greenhouse gas emission rise dramatically in the future, this will affect the choice between pipelines and LNG. Such a price increase will be favourable for pipelines relative to LNG.

CO2 Capture Rate Sensitivity Versus Purchase of CO2 Quotas. Optimizing Investment Choice for Electricity Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Coussy Paula

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Carbon capture technology (and associated storage, applied to power plants, reduces atmospheric CO2 emissions. This article demonstrates that, in the particular case of the deployment phase of CO2 capture technology during which CO2 quota price may be low, capturing less than 90% of total CO2 emissions from power plants can be economically attractive. Indeed, for an electric power company capture technology is interesting, only if the discounted marginal cost of capture is lower than the discounted marginal cost of purchased quotas. When CO2 price is low, it is interesting to have flexibility and reduce the overall capture rate of the site, by stopping the capture system of one of the combustion trains if the site has multiple ones, or by adopting less than 90% CO2 capture rate.

CO2 Accounting and Risk Analysis for CO2 Sequestration at Enhanced Oil Recovery Sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Zhenxue; Viswanathan, Hari; Middleton, Richard; Pan, Feng; Ampomah, William; Yang, Changbing; Jia, Wei; Xiao, Ting; Lee, Si-Yong; McPherson, Brian; Balch, Robert; Grigg, Reid; White, Mark

2016-07-19

Using CO2 in enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) is a promising technology for emissions management because CO2-EOR can dramatically reduce sequestration costs in the absence of emissions policies that include incentives for carbon capture and storage. This study develops a multiscale statistical framework to perform CO2 accounting and risk analysis in an EOR environment at the Farnsworth Unit (FWU), Texas. A set of geostatistical-based Monte Carlo simulations of CO2-oil/gas-water flow and transport in the Morrow formation are conducted for global sensitivity and statistical analysis of the major risk metrics: CO2/water injection/production rates, cumulative net CO2 storage, cumulative oil/gas productions, and CO2 breakthrough time. The median and confidence intervals are estimated for quantifying uncertainty ranges of the risk metrics. A response-surface-based economic model has been derived to calculate the CO2-EOR profitability for the FWU site with a current oil price, which suggests that approximately 31% of the 1000 realizations can be profitable. If government carbon-tax credits are available, or the oil price goes up or CO2 capture and operating expenses reduce, more realizations would be profitable. The results from this study provide valuable insights for understanding CO2 storage potential and the corresponding environmental and economic risks of commercial-scale CO2-sequestration in depleted reservoirs.

Assessment of the impact of the European CO2 emissions trading scheme on the Portuguese chemical industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomas, R.A.F.; Ramoa Ribeiro, F.; Santos, V.M.S.; Gomes, J.F.P.; Bordado, J.C.M.

2010-01-01

This paper describes an assessment of the impact of the enforcement of the European carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions trading scheme on the Portuguese chemical industry, based on cost structure, CO 2 emissions, electricity consumption and allocated allowances data from a survey to four Portuguese representative units of the chemical industry sector, and considering scenarios that allow the estimation of increases on both direct and indirect production costs. These estimated cost increases were also compared with similar data from other European Industries, found in the references and with conclusions from simulation studies. Thus, it was possible to ascertain the impact of buying extra CO 2 emission permits, which could be considered as limited. It was also found that this impact is somewhat lower than the impacts for other industrial sectors.

Impacts of high energy prices on long-term energy-economic scenarios for Germany

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krey, V.; Markewitz, P. [Research Center Juelich, Inst. of Energy Res., Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation, Juelich (Germany); Horn, M. [DIW Berlin, Berlin (Germany); Matthes, C.; Graichen, V.; Harthan, R.O.; Repenning, J. [Oeko-Institut, Berlin (Germany)

2007-05-15

Prices of oil and other fossil fuels on global markets have reached a high level in recent years. These levels were not able to be reproduced on the basis of scenarios and prognoses that were published in the past. New scenarios, based on higher energy price trajectories, have appeared only recently. The future role of various energy carriers and technologies in energy-economic scenarios will greatly depend on the level of energy prices. Therefore, an analysis of the impact of high energy prices on long-term scenarios for Germany was undertaken. Based on a reference scenario with moderate prices, a series of consistent high price scenarios for primary and secondary energy carriers were developed. Two scenarios with (i) continuously rising price trajectories and (ii) a price shock with a price peak during the period 2010-15 and a subsequent decline to the reference level are analysed. Two types of models have been applied in the analysis. The IKARUS energy systems optimisation model covers the whole of the German energy system from primary energy supply down to the end-use sectors. Key results in both high price scenarios include a replacement of natural gas by hard coal and renewable energy sources in electricity and heat generation. Backstop technologies like coal liquefaction begin to play a role under such conditions. Up to 10% of final energy consumption is saved in the end-use sectors, with the residential and transport sector being the greatest contributors. Even without additional restrictions, CO{sub 2} emissions significantly drop in comparison to the reference scenario. The ELIAS electricity investment analysis model focuses on the power sector. In the reference scenario with current allocation rules in the emissions trading scheme, the CO{sub 2} emissions decrease relatively steadily. The development is characterised by the phaseout of nuclear energy which is counterweighted by the increase of renewable. In the high price scenario, the CO{sub 2

On the Stochastic Properties of Carbon Futures Prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevallier, Julien; Sevi, Benoit

2012-10-01

Pricing carbon is a central concern in environmental economics, due to the importance of emissions trading schemes worldwide to regulate pollution. This paper documents the presence of small and large jumps in the stochastic process of the CO 2 futures price. The large jumps have a discrete origin, i.e. they can arise from various demand factors or institutional decisions on the tradable permits market. Contrary to the previously established literature, we show that the stochastic process of the carbon futures prices does not contain a continuous component (Brownian motion). The results are derived by using high-frequency data in the activity signature function framework (Todorov and Tauchen (2010, 2011)). The implication is that the carbon futures price should be rather modelled as an appropriately sampled, centered Levy or Poisson process. The pure-jump behavior of the carbon price could be explained by the lower volume of trades on this allowance market (compared to other highly liquid financial markets). (authors)

The economics of CO2-EOR cluster developments in the UK Central North Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kemp, Alexander G.; Kasim, Sola

2013-01-01

Studies to date have generally shown that individual CO 2 -EOR offshore projects are uneconomic except under questionable assumptions. The present study is based on an interconnected cluster of nine oilfields in the Central North Sea linked to an onshore CO 2 collection hub by a set of existing and new pipelines. Monte Carlo simulation modelling was undertaken of the prospective returns to investments in CO 2 -EOR in the fields. Relatively high oil prices were employed for the study period (2020–2050) and two contrasting CO 2 transfer price scenarios, the first being the Carbon Price Floor (CPF) introduced by the UK Government and the second being relatively low negotiated prices reflecting recent and prospective levels under the EU-ETS. At CPF prices the investment returns were all found to be negative, but at prices averaging £10 per tonne positive returns were generally achieved. The study emphasises the importance of CO 2 prices and the taxation system in determining the viability of the investments. - Highlights: • Detailed modelling of CO 2 EOR in nine North Sea oil fields. • Overall investment risks are demonstrated to be very high. • Sharing of pipelines in network and cluster of CO 2 -EOR fields significantly reduces investment costs. • Range of plausible CO 2 prices paid by investor results in very wide range of returns from CO 2 -EOR. • CO 2 pricing and tax arrangements for EOR need further attention by policy makers

Impact of CO2 quota allocation to new entrants in the electricity market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindboe, H.H.; Werling, J.; Kofoed-Wiuff, A. [Ea Energy Analyses (Denmark); Bregnbaek, L. [Energy Modelling (Denmark)

2007-08-28

In 2003, the EU adopted a directive on a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (ETS) encompassing all major energy-producing units and the majority of the energy-intensive industry. The EU ETS is based on the recognition that creating a price for carbon through the establishment of a market for emission reductions provides the most cost-effective way of complying with international greenhouse gas commitments (EU 2005, EU action against climate change). All countries have opted to allocate CO{sub 2}-allowances to new power plants. The present project explores the consequences of allocation to new entrants on market players' investments in the electric market, the welfare-economic consequences and impacts on long-term CO{sub 2}-emission from the electricity sector. (au)

Farmgate Private Standards and Price Premium: Evidence From the GlobalGAP Scheme in Kenya's French Beans Marketing

OpenAIRE

Kariuki, Isaac Maina; Loy, Jens-Peter; Herzfeld, Thomas

2012-01-01

The proliferation of private quality and assurance schemes in international trade is defining market access in high value chains. The prime concern for small-scale producers is whether price premiums are realizable due to compliance. Using French beans marketing, the authors find that GlobalGAP certification, produce traceability, number of suppliers, competition for supplies, direct procurement, a good road network, and supply contracts have positive farmgate price effects for smallholders. ...

Pricing Electricity in Pools With Wind Producers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morales González, Juan Miguel; Conejo, A. J.; Kai Liu

2012-01-01

This paper considers an electricity pool that includes a significant number of wind producers and is cleared through a network-constrained auction, one day in advance and on an hourly basis. The hourly auction is formulated as a two-stage stochastic programming problem, where the first stage...... represents the clearing of the market and the second stage models the system operation under a number of plausible wind production realizations. This formulation co-optimizes energy and reserve, and allows deriving both pool energy prices and balancing energy prices. These prices result in both cost recovery...... for producers and revenue reconciliation. A case study of realistic size is used to illustrate the functioning of the proposed pricing scheme....

Assessment of the impact of the European CO{sub 2} emissions trading scheme on the Portuguese chemical industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tomas, R.A.F. [Artenius Sines, Zona Industrial, 7520 Sines (Portugal); Ramoa Ribeiro, F.; Bordado, J.C.M. [Centro de Engenharia Quimica e Biologica, IBB-Instituto de Biotecnologia e Bioengenharia, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Santos, V.M.S. [Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, R. do Quelhas, 6, 1200-781 Lisboa (Portugal); Gomes, J.F.P. [Centro de Engenharia Quimica e Biologica, IBB-Instituto de Biotecnologia e Bioengenharia, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Departamento de Engenharia Quimica, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, R. Conselheiro Emidio Navarro 1949-014 Lisboa (Portugal)

2010-01-15

This paper describes an assessment of the impact of the enforcement of the European carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions trading scheme on the Portuguese chemical industry, based on cost structure, CO{sub 2} emissions, electricity consumption and allocated allowances data from a survey to four Portuguese representative units of the chemical industry sector, and considering scenarios that allow the estimation of increases on both direct and indirect production costs. These estimated cost increases were also compared with similar data from other European Industries, found in the references and with conclusions from simulation studies. Thus, it was possible to ascertain the impact of buying extra CO{sub 2} emission permits, which could be considered as limited. It was also found that this impact is somewhat lower than the impacts for other industrial sectors. (author)

Load-shift incentives for household demand response: Evaluation of hourly dynamic pricing and rebate schemes in a wind-based electricity system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Katz, Jonas; Møller Andersen, Frits; Morthorst, Poul Erik

2016-01-01

under scenarios with large shares of wind power in a Danish case study. Our results indicate strategies that could be favourable in ensuring high adoption of products and efficient response by households. We find that simple pricing schemes, though economically less efficient, could become important......Applying a partial equilibrium model of the electricity market we analyse effects of exposing household electricity customers to retail products with variable pricing. Both short-term and long-term effects of exposing customers to hourly spot market prices and a simpler rebate scheme are analysed...... in an early phase to initialise the development of household demand response. At a later point, when long-term dynamics take effect, a larger effort should be made to shift consumers onto real-time rates, and an increased focus on overall adoption of variable pricing will be required. Another finding...

Influence of the Emissions Trading Scheme on generation scheduling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kockar, Ivana; McDonald, James R.; Conejo, Antonio J.

2009-01-01

The paper investigates the effects of emissions constraints and Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on the generation scheduling outcome. ETS is a cap-and-trade market mechanism that has been introduced in European Union in order to facilitate CO 2 emissions management. This scheme gives generators certain amount of CO 2 allowances which they can use to cover emissions produced during energy generation. In a current setting, most of the allowances are given for free. However, under ETS generators also have an opportunity to buy and sell CO 2 allowances on the market. Since generation power outputs are bounded by the amount of CO 2 emissions that they are allowed to produce over time, it is becoming increasingly important for generating units to manage their allocations in the most profitable way and decide when and how much of permissions to spent to produce electricity. The method proposed here allows for modeling of this new limitation by including costs of buying and selling of CO 2 allowance in the generation scheduling procedure. It also introduces additional emissions constraints in the problem formulation. Although CO 2 permissions and energy are traded in separate markets, the proposed formulation permits analysis on how emission caps and emission market prices can influence market outcome. The method is illustrated on a 5-unit system. Given examples compare (i) a base-case when all generators have made a decision to use portions of their total free allocations that do not cause any shortfall during the investigated time period; (ii) two cases when the least expensive generators' decisions on the amount of free allowances they are willing to use during the considered period are insufficient. In all cases generators also submit prices at which they expect to be able to ''top-up'' or sell allowances on the market, however, only in the second and third case the ''buying'' option becomes active and affects generation scheduling and total costs. In addition, the

Freemium Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Runge, Julian; Wagner, Stefan; Claussen, Jörg

Firms commonly run field experiments to improve their freemium pricing schemes. However, they often lack a framework for analysis that goes beyond directly measurable outcomes and focuses on longer term profit. We aim to fill this gap by structuring existing knowledge on freemium pricing...... into a stylized framework. We apply the proposed framework in the analysis of a field experiment that contrasts three variations of a freemium pricing scheme and comprises about 300,000 users of a software application. Our findings indicate that a reduction of free product features increases conversion as well...... as viral activity, but reduces usage – which is in line with the framework’s predictions. Additional back-of-the-envelope profit estimations suggest that managers were overly optimistic about positive externalities from usage and viral activity in their choice of pricing scheme, leading them to give too...

The oil market and international agreements on CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, K.; Fimreite, O.; Golombek, R.; Hoel, M.

1992-01-01

According to most scientists, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced significantly relative to current trends to avoid dramatic adverse climatic changes during the next century. CO 2 is the most important greenhouse gas, so any international agreement will certainly cover CO 2 emissions. Any international agreement to reduce emissions of CO 2 is going to have a significant impact on the markets for fossil fuels. The analysis shows that it is not only the amount of CO 2 emissions permitted in an agreement which matters for fossil fuel prices, but also the type of agreement. Two obvious forms of agreements, which under certain assumptions both are cost efficient, are (a) tradeable emission permits, and (b) an international CO 2 tax. If the fossil fuel markets were perfectly competitive, these two types of agreements would have the same effect on the producer price of fossil fuels. However, fossil fuel markets are not completely competitive. It is shown that, under imperfect competition, direct regulation of the 'tradeable quotas' type tends to imply higher producer prices and a larger efficiency loss than an international CO 2 tax giving the same total CO 2 emissions. A numerical illustration of the oil market indicates that the difference in producer prices for the two types of CO 2 agreements is quite significant. 6 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs

How Green is your scheme? Greenhouse gas control the Australian way

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lo, Alex Y.; Spash, Clive L.

2012-01-01

Australia managed to pass a national carbon pricing scheme into legislation in November 2011, which has come into effect from July 2012. The scheme includes elements of a CO 2 -equivalent tax as a short prelude to emission trading. Several fundamental problems remain unaddressed, including: the continuing rise of emissions, the scale of growth and economic activity, the promotion of emission trading, subsidies to polluters, the hidden promotion of banking and finance sectors. The new policy appears primarily targeted at job creation and business as usual. We argue that the prospects for any meaningful reduction in emission levels are extremely unlikely.

Future prices and market for SO2 allowances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanghi, A.; Joseph, A.; Michael, K.; Munro, W.; Wang, J.

1993-01-01

The expected price of SO 2 emission allowances is an important issue in energy and integrated resource planning activities. For example, the expected price of SO 2 allowances in needed in order to evaluate alternative strategies for meeting SO 2 provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In addition, the expected SO 2 allowance price is important to state public utility regulators who must provide guidance on rate-making issues regarding utility compliance plans which involve allowance trading and direct investment of SO 2 control technologies. Last but not the least, the expected SO 2 allowance price is an important determinant of the future market for natural gas and low sulfur coal. The paper develops estimates of SO 2 allowance prices over time by constructing national supply and demand curves for SO 2 reductions. Both the supply and demand for SO 2 reductions are based on an analysis of the sulfur content of fuels burned in 1990 by utilities throughout the United States; and on assumptions about plant retirements, the rate of new capacity growth, the types of new and replacement plants constructed, the costs of SO 2 reduction measures and legislation by midwest states to maintain the use of high sulfur coal to protect local jobs. The paper shows that SO 2 allowance prices will peak around the year 2000 at about $500 per ton, and will eventually fall to zero by about the year 2020. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the price of SO 2 allowances is relatively insensitive to assumptions regarding the availability of natural gas or energy demand growth. However, SO 2 allowance prices tend to be quite sensitive to assumptions regarding regulations which may force early retirement of existing power plants and possible legislation which may reduce CO 2 emissions

Results of reference pricing and reimbursement discount rate schemes of Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guvenc Kockaya

2013-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: General Directorate of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy (IEGM is responsible for setting all prices for human medicinal products. The reference pricing system is used for setting these prices. Reference countries are reviewed annually and may be subject to certain alterations. There were 5 reference countries in 2009: Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Greece. The aim of this study is to show the distribution of reference countries which were used for reference pricing.METHODS: The price list of pharmaceuticals which was published by IEGM on 15.04.2011 was used for analysis. Distribution of reference countries and prices were evaluated.RESULTS: Prices of 6,251 generic and 3,703 original products were set according to the price list. 5,283 of generics and 3,306 of originals were in the positive list for reimbursement. Reference pricing was used for 2,352 generics and 2,281 originals. Prices of the remaining were set outside of reference pricing. 32 different countries were used for reference pricing. Italy was the most popular country for reference pricing. Even if it was not a reference country, Germany was used in some of the pharmaceuticals. The average reimbursement discount rate and price were 24.43% and 249 TL, respectively. There were no colerations between price and reimbursement discount rate, or reference country and reimbursement rate.CONCLUSION: It has been shown that Italy has the highest impact on the pricing of all pharmaceuticals in Turkey. Even if it was not a reference country, Germany showed to affect pharmaceuticals more than other countries which were also not used for reference pricing. Even if reimbursement discount rates are stated by the Social Security Institution (SGK, there are different discount rates for pharmaceuticals. The analysis stated that there were correlation between price, country and discount rates. This analysis is first for the literature. Further analysis is necessary in the light of price

The oil market and international agreements on CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, K.; Fimreite, Oe.; Golombek, R.; Hoel, M.

1991-01-01

In order to avoid a relatively large risk of dramatic adverse climatic changes during the next century, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced significantly relative to present emissions. CO 2 is the most important greenhouse gas, so any international agreement will certainly cover CO 2 emissions. Any international agreement to reduce emissions of CO 2 is going to have a significant impact on the markets for fossil fuels. The analysis shows that is not only the amount of CO 2 emissions permitted in an agreement which matters for fossil fuel prices, but also the type of agreement. Two obvious forms of agreements, which under certain assumptions both are cost efficient, are (a) tradeable emission permits, and (b) an international CO 2 tax. If the fossil fuel markets were perfectly competitive, these two types of agreements would have the same effect on the producer price of fossil fuels. However, fossil fuel markets are not completely competitive. It is shown that, under imperfect competition, direct regulation of the ''tradeable quotas'' type tends to imply higher producer prices than an international CO 2 tax giving the same total CO 2 emissions. A numerical illustration of the oil market indicates that the difference in producer prices for the two types of CO 2 agreements is quite significant. 6 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Excess co-movement in asset prices: The case of South Africa

OpenAIRE

Ocran, Mathew; Mlambo, Chipo

2009-01-01

The paper investigates excess co-movement in asset prices in South Africa between 1995 and 2005 using the definition of excess comovement as correlation between two asset prices beyond what could be explained by key economic fundamentals. The results of the study suggest that there is excess co-movement between returns on equities and bonds in South Africa. The findings suggest that there are considerable noise traders on the financial market in South Africa. The result of this behaviour woul...

The CO2 emissions of the European power sector: economic drivers and the climate-energy policies' contribution. Working Paper No. 2014 - 17

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berghmans, Nicolas; Cheze, Benoit; Alberola, Emilie; Chevallier, Julien

2014-10-01

In the frame of the ongoing debate on the 2030 energy and climate policies in the European Union, this article provides the first assessment of the effectiveness of European energy and climate policies on the CO 2 emissions reductions. This ex-post analysis deals with the CO 2 emissions of the electricity sector covered by the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) during its phases I and II (2005-2012). We analyze the contribution of different variables (including climate and energy policies, energy prices, economic activity and technical features of plants) in the evolution of CO 2 emissions from electricity production plants in Europe. The empirical results allow drawing a number of conclusions regarding the causes of the downward trend in the carbon emissions generated by power production covered by the EU ETS between 2005 and 2012. First, we show that the increased use of renewable energy in electricity production has played a dominant role in the fall in CO 2 emissions in the power sector. Second, the analysis confirms that the economic downturn has played a significant role, although not a dominant one. Third, price substitution effects between coal and gas also seem to have affected carbon emissions. Last but not least, we identify that the price of carbon has also pushed down power CO 2 emissions. (authors)

The impact of the EU ETS on prices, profits and emissions in the power sector. Simulation results with the COMPETES model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lise, W.; Sijm, J.; Hobbs, B.F.

2009-06-01

This paper analyses the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on electricity wholesale in 20 European countries. The analyses show that the costs of (freely allocated) CO2 emission allowances are nearly fully passed through to power prices, which also depend on the structure of the power market, i.e., the incidence of market power, and the price responsiveness of power demand. Finally, the analyses show that internalization and pass-through of carbon costs are needed to reduce CO2 emissions by both changing the mix of power generation technologies and lowering total electricity demand

The impact of the EU ETS on prices, profits and emissions in the power sector. Simulation results with the COMPETES model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lise, W. [IBS Research and Consultancy, Istanbul (Turkey); Sijm, J. [ECN Policy Studies, Petten (Netherlands); Hobbs, B.F. [Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (United States)

2009-06-15

This paper analyses the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on electricity wholesale in 20 European countries. The analyses show that the costs of (freely allocated) CO2 emission allowances are nearly fully passed through to power prices, which also depend on the structure of the power market, i.e., the incidence of market power, and the price responsiveness of power demand. Finally, the analyses show that internalization and pass-through of carbon costs are needed to reduce CO2 emissions by both changing the mix of power generation technologies and lowering total electricity demand.

Decarbonizing the European electricity sector. Modeling and policy analysis for electricity and CO_2 infrastructure networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oei, Pao-Yu Charly Robin

2016-01-01

This dissertation uses three models to analyze different decarbonization strategies for combating global climate change: The cost minimizing mixed-integer model CCTS-Mod examines the economics of Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage (CCTS) for the electricity and industry sector; the welfare maximizing quadratically constrained model ELMOD focuses on different trajectories for renewable energy sources (RES) and transmission grid expansions; and the equilibrium model ELCO combines the insights of the individual sectors to a combined CCTS and electricity investment and dispatch model. Modeling results show that an investment in CCTS is beneficial for the iron and steel sector once the CO_2 certificate price exceeds 50 Euros/t CO_2. The threshold is 75 Euros/t CO_2 for the cement industry and 100 Euros/t CO_2 for the electricity sector. Additional revenues from using CO_2 for enhanced oil recovery (CO_2-EOR) lead to an earlier adoption of CCTS in the North Sea region. The lack of economies of scale results in increasing CO_2 storage costs of more than 30%, while transport costs even double. Research from the last years, however, indicates that CCTS is unlikely to play an important role in decarbonizing the electricity sector. The identified reasons for this are incumbents' resistance to structural change, wrong technology choices, over-optimistic cost estimates, a premature focus on energy projects instead of industry, and the underestimation of transport and storage issues. Keeping global temperature rise below 2 C therefore implies the phase-out of fossilfueled power plants and, in particular, of CO_2-intensive coal power plants. The low CO_2 price established by the European Emissions Trading Scheme is insufficient to induce a fuel switch in the medium term. Therefore, supplementary national measures are necessary to reduce coal-based power generation; i.a. feed-in tariffs for RES, minimum CO_2 prices, or emissions performance standards. Analyses for Germany show

Self-assembled hierarchical direct Z-scheme g-C3N4/ZnO microspheres with enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Ning; Zhang, Liuyang; Fu, Junwei; Cheng, Bei; Yu, Jiaguo

2018-05-01

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into hydrocarbon fuels has been regarded as a promising approach to ease the greenhouse effect and the energy shortage. Herein, an electrostatic self-assembly method was exploited to prepare g-C3N4/ZnO composite microsphere. This method simply utilized the opposite surface charge of each component, achieving a hierarchical structure with intimate contact between them. A much improved photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity was attained. The CH3OH production rate was 1.32 μmol h-1 g-1, which was 2.1 and 4.1 times more than that of the pristine ZnO and g-C3N4, respectively. This facile design bestowed the g-C3N4/ZnO composite an extended light adsorption caused by multi-light scattering effect. It also guaranteed the uniform distribution of g-C3N4 nanosheets on the surface of ZnO microspheres, maximizing their advantage and synergistic effect. Most importantly, the preeminent performance was proposed and validated based on the direct Z-scheme. The recombination rate was considerably suppressed. This work features the meliority of constructing hierarchical direct Z-scheme structures in photocatalytic CO2 reduction reactions.

Co-ordination of renewable energy support schemes in the EU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grenaa Jensen, S.; Morthorst, P.E. [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark)

2007-05-15

This paper illustrates the effect that can be observed when support schemes for renewable energy are regionalised. Two theoretical examples are used to explain interactive effects on, e.g., price of power, conditions for conventional power producers, and changes in import and export of power. The results are based on a deterministic partial equilibrium model, where two cases are studied. The first case covers countries with regional power markets that also regionalise their tradable green certificate (TGC) support schemes. The second, countries with separate national power markets that regionalise their TGC-support schemes. The main findings indicate that the almost ideal situation exists if the region prior to regionalising their RES-E support scheme already has a common liberalised power market. In this case, introduction of a common TGC-support scheme for renewable technologies will lead to more efficient sitings of renewable plants, improving economic and environmental performance of the total power system. But if no such common power market exits, regionalising their TGC-schemes might, due to interactions, introduce distortions in the conventional power system. Thus, contrary to intentions, we might in this case end up in a system that is far from optimal with regard to efficiency and emissions. (au)

Co-ordination of renewable energy support schemes in the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grenaa Jensen, S.; Morthorst, P.E.

2007-01-01

This paper illustrates the effect that can be observed when support schemes for renewable energy are regionalised. Two theoretical examples are used to explain interactive effects on, e.g., price of power, conditions for conventional power producers, and changes in import and export of power. The results are based on a deterministic partial equilibrium model, where two cases are studied. The first case covers countries with regional power markets that also regionalise their tradable green certificate (TGC) support schemes. The second, countries with separate national power markets that regionalise their TGC-support schemes. The main findings indicate that the almost ideal situation exists if the region prior to regionalising their RES-E support scheme already has a common liberalised power market. In this case, introduction of a common TGC-support scheme for renewable technologies will lead to more efficient sitings of renewable plants, improving economic and environmental performance of the total power system. But if no such common power market exits, regionalising their TGC-schemes might, due to interactions, introduce distortions in the conventional power system. Thus, contrary to intentions, we might in this case end up in a system that is far from optimal with regard to efficiency and emissions. (au)

Carbon emission scenarios of China's power sector: Impact of controlling measures and carbon pricing mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiang Liu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The study constructs a low-carbon path analysis model of China's power sector based on TIMES model and presents a comparative analysis of carbon emissions under Reference, Low-Carbon and Enhanced Low-Carbon scenarios, and the main difference of the three scenarios is manifested by policy selection and policy strength. The conclusions are drawn as follows: (1 The peak of carbon emission in China's power sector will range from 4.0 GtCO2 to 4.8 GtCO2, which implies an increment of 0.5–1.3 billion or 14%–35% from the 2015 levels. (2 Introducing carbon price is an effective way to inhibit coal power and promote non-fossil fuels and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage applications (CCUS. The carbon emission reduction effects will gradually increase with carbon price. When the carbon price attains to CN¥150 t−1CO2, the CO2 emission can decrease by 36% than that without carbon price. (3 CCUS is one of important contributing factor to reduce CO2 emission in power sector. Generally speaking, the development of non-fossil fuels and energy efficiency improvement are two main drivers for carbon mitigation, but once the carbon price reaches up to CN¥106 t−1CO2, the CCUS will be required to equip with thermal power units and its contribution on carbon emission reduction will remarkably increase. When carbon price increases to CN¥150 t−1CO2 in 2050, the application of CCUS will account for 44% of total emission reduction. (4 In the scenario with carbon price of CN¥150 t−1CO2, power sector would be decarbonized significantly, and the CO2 intensity will be 0.22 kgCO2 (kW h−1, but power sector is far from the goal that achieving net zero emission. In order to realize the long-term low greenhouse gas emission development goal that proposed by the Paris Agreement, more efforts are needed to be put to further reduce the carbon emission reduction of power sector. Based on the above scenario analysis, the study proposes four recommendations

Pricing Scheme of Ocean Carrier for Inbound Container Storage for Assistance of Container Supply Chain Finance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingzhu Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate the pricing scheme of ocean carrier for inbound container storage so as to assist container supply chain finance. In this paper, how an ocean carrier should set price of inbound container storage to the customer while facing the contract from the container terminal operator is first analyzed. Then, two different contract systems, the free-time contract system which is widely used in practice and the free-space contract system which is newly developed recently, are considered. In the two different contract systems, inbound container storage pricing models are constructed, and accordingly optimal solution approaches for the ocean carrier are provided. For comparison purpose, some numerical experiments for the two different contract systems are conducted to investigate the effects of the container terminal operator’s decision on the system outcomes. Numerical experiments show that (1 the carrier is more flexible in the free-space contract system and can receive more profit by using the free-storage-space as a pooling storage system and (2 the free-space contract system benefits both the carrier in profit and the busy terminal in traffic control.

Logistics: Price Rises Incurred by High Oil Price

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lai Zhihui

2011-01-01

@@ "When the oil price grows by 100%, the logistic indus-try will see a price growth of 40%, while the logistics in-dustry a price rise of 35%, which means every price increase of 5% in the oil price will bring along that of 2% in this industry." said Liu Zongsheng, General Manager of Itochu Logistics Co., Ltd., on the seminar "Focusing on the eco-nomic consequences of raising oil price, interest rate and deposit reserve ratio", which was held recently.

Decarbonizing the European electricity sector. Modeling and policy analysis for electricity and CO{sub 2} infrastructure networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oei, Pao-Yu Charly Robin

2016-03-03

This dissertation uses three models to analyze different decarbonization strategies for combating global climate change: The cost minimizing mixed-integer model CCTS-Mod examines the economics of Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage (CCTS) for the electricity and industry sector; the welfare maximizing quadratically constrained model ELMOD focuses on different trajectories for renewable energy sources (RES) and transmission grid expansions; and the equilibrium model ELCO combines the insights of the individual sectors to a combined CCTS and electricity investment and dispatch model. Modeling results show that an investment in CCTS is beneficial for the iron and steel sector once the CO{sub 2} certificate price exceeds 50 Euros/t CO{sub 2}. The threshold is 75 Euros/t CO{sub 2} for the cement industry and 100 Euros/t CO{sub 2} for the electricity sector. Additional revenues from using CO{sub 2} for enhanced oil recovery (CO{sub 2}-EOR) lead to an earlier adoption of CCTS in the North Sea region. The lack of economies of scale results in increasing CO{sub 2} storage costs of more than 30%, while transport costs even double. Research from the last years, however, indicates that CCTS is unlikely to play an important role in decarbonizing the electricity sector. The identified reasons for this are incumbents' resistance to structural change, wrong technology choices, over-optimistic cost estimates, a premature focus on energy projects instead of industry, and the underestimation of transport and storage issues. Keeping global temperature rise below 2 C therefore implies the phase-out of fossilfueled power plants and, in particular, of CO{sub 2}-intensive coal power plants. The low CO{sub 2} price established by the European Emissions Trading Scheme is insufficient to induce a fuel switch in the medium term. Therefore, supplementary national measures are necessary to reduce coal-based power generation; i.a. feed-in tariffs for RES, minimum CO{sub 2} prices, or

CO_2 volatility impact on energy portfolio choice: A fully stochastic LCOE theory analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucheroni, Carlo; Mari, Carlo

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Stochastic LCOE theory is an extension of the levelized cost of electricity analysis. • The fully stochastic analysis include stochastic processes for fossil fuels prices and CO_2 prices. • The nuclear asset is risky through uncertainty about construction times and it is used as a hedge. • Volatility of CO_2 prices has a strong influence on CO_2 emissions reduction. - Abstract: Market based pricing of CO_2 was designed to control CO_2 emissions by means of the price level, since high CO_2 price levels discourage emissions. In this paper, it will be shown that the level of uncertainty on CO_2 market prices, i.e. the volatility of CO_2 prices itself, has a strong influence not only on generation portfolio risk management but also on CO_2 emissions abatement. A reduction of emissions can be obtained when rational power generation capacity investors decide that the capacity expansion cost risk induced jointly by CO_2 volatility and fossil fuels prices volatility can be efficiently hedged adding to otherwise fossil fuel portfolios some nuclear power as a carbon free asset. This intriguing effect will be discussed using a recently introduced economic analysis tool, called stochastic LCOE theory. The stochastic LCOE theory used here was designed to investigate diversification effects on energy portfolios. In previous papers this theory was used to study diversification effects on portfolios composed of carbon risky fossil technologies and a carbon risk-free nuclear technology in a risk-reward trade-off frame. In this paper the stochastic LCOE theory will be extended to include uncertainty about nuclear power plant construction times, i.e. considering nuclear risky as well, this being the main uncertainty source of financial risk in nuclear technology. Two measures of risk will be used, standard deviation and CVaR deviation, to derive efficient frontiers for generation portfolios. Frontier portfolios will be analyzed in their implications on emissions

An emerging equilibrium in the EU emissions trading scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bredin, Don; Muckley, Cal

2011-01-01

The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the key policy instrument of the European Commission's Climate Change Program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to eight percent below 1990 levels by 2012. A critically important element of the EU ETS is the establishment of a market determined price for EU allowances. This article examines the extent to which several theoretically founded factors including, economic growth, energy prices and weather conditions determine the expected prices of the European Union CO 2 allowances during the 2005 through to the 2009 period. The novel aspect of our study is that we examine heavily traded futures instruments that have an expiry date in Phase 2 of the EU ETS. Our study adopts both static and recursive versions of the Johansen multivariate cointegration likelihood ratio test as well as a variation on this test with a view to controlling for time varying volatility effects. Our results are indicative of a new pricing regime emerging in Phase 2 and point to a maturing market driven by the fundamentals. These results are valuable both for traders of EU allowances and for those policy makers seeking to improve the design of the European Union ETS.

Estimating the electricity prices, generation costs and CO_2 emissions of large scale wind energy exports from Ireland to Great Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleary, Brendan; Duffy, Aidan; Bach, Bjarne; Vitina, Aisma; O’Connor, Alan; Conlon, Michael

2016-01-01

The share of wind generation in the Irish and British electricity markets is set to increase by 2020 due to renewable energy (RE) targets. The United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland have set ambitious targets which require 30% and 40% of electricity demand to come from RE, mainly wind, by 2020, respectively. Ireland has sufficient indigenous onshore wind energy resources to exceed the RE target, while the UK faces uncertainty in achieving its target. A possible solution for the UK is to import RE directly from large scale onshore and offshore wind energy projects in Ireland; this possibility has recently been explored by both governments but is currently on hold. Thus, the aim of this paper is to estimate the effects of large scale wind energy in the Irish and British electricity markets in terms of wholesale system marginal prices, total generation costs and CO_2 emissions. The results indicate when the large scale Irish-based wind energy projects are connected directly to the UK there is a decrease of 0.6% and 2% in the Irish and British wholesale system marginal prices under the UK National Grid slow progression scenario, respectively. - Highlights: • Modelling the Irish and British electricity markets. • Investigating the impacts of large scale wind energy within the markets. • Results indicate a reduction in wholesale system marginal prices in both markets. • Decrease in total generation costs and CO_2 emissions in both markets.

CO2 price dynamics. The implications of EU emissions trading for the price of electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijm, J.P.M.; Bakker, S.J.A.; Harmsen, H.W.; Lise, W.; Chen, Y.

2005-09-01

The present study analyses the relationship between EU emissions trading and power prices, notably the implications of free allocation of emissions allowances for the price of electricity in countries of North-western Europe. To study this impact, it uses a variety of analytical approaches, including interviews with stakeholders, empirical and statistical analyses, theoretical explorations, and analyses by means of the COMPETES model. The study shows that a significant part of the costs of freely allocated allowances is passed through to power price and discusses its implications in terms of higher electricity prices for consumers and windfall profits for producers. It concludes that free allocation of emission allowances is a highly questionable policy option for a variety of reasons and suggests that auctioning might offer a better perspective

Tradable CO2 permits in Danish and European energy policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Varming, S.; Eriksen, P.B.; Grohnheit, Poul Erik

2000-01-01

This report presents the results of the project "Tradable CO2 permits in Danish and European energy policy". The project was financed by a grant from the Danish Energy Research Programme 1998 (Grant 1753/98-0002). The project was conducted in co-operationbetween Elsamprojekt A/S (project manager...... for a tradable CO_2 permit market for the energy sector in the EU. Experience from the tradable SO_2 permit market in the US is taken into consideration as well. Topresent an overview of price estimates of CO_2 and greenhouse gas permits in different models as well as discussing the assumptions leading...... to the different outcomes. Furthermore, the special role of backstop technologies in relation to permit prices isanalysed. To analyse the connection between CO_2 permit prices and technology choice in the energy sector in the medium and longer term (i.e., 2010 and 2020) with a special emphasis on combined heat...

Oil Price and Equity Markets: Modeling Co-Movement and Conditional Value at Risk

OpenAIRE

Solvang, Jørn; Aarø, Thomas

2017-01-01

Master's thesis in Finance This paper studies the co-movement between oil prices and stock markets during the period 2006 – 2017 utilizing quantile regression. The studied stock indices are AEX, BOVESPA, CAC40, DAX30, EUROSTOXX50, FTSE100, SMI, S&P500 and TSX60, and the United States Oil Fund ETF represents the oil price. We investigate the co-movement and find a positive and significant co-movement between oil returns and stock market returns across quantiles for the stock market return d...

Renewable energy consumption, CO2 emissions and oil prices in the G7 countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadorsky, Perry

2009-01-01

Economic and societal issues related to energy security and global warming is placing greater emphasis on the consumption of renewable energy. This paper presents and estimates an empirical model of renewable energy consumption for the G7 countries. Panel cointegration estimates show that in the long term, increases in real GDP per capita and CO 2 per capita are found to be major drivers behind per capita renewable energy consumption. These results are robust across two different panel cointegration estimators. Oil price increases have a smaller although negative impact on renewable energy consumption. Deviations from equilibrium are driven mostly by the error correction term as opposed to short term shocks. Short term deviations from the long term equilibrium take anywhere from between 1.3 years (France) and 7.3 years (Japan) to correct. (author)

Power and cogeneration technology environomic performance typification in the context of CO2 abatement part II: Combined heat and power cogeneration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hongtao; Marechal, Francois; Favrat, Daniel

2010-01-01

This is the second of a series of two articles, dealing with a new approach of environomic (thermodynamic, economic and environmental) performance 'Typification' and optimization of power generation technologies. This part treats specifically of combined heat and power (CHP) cogeneration technologies in the context of CO 2 abatement and provides a methodology for a flexible and fast project based CHP system design evaluation. One of the aspect of the approach is the post-optimization integration of the operating and capital costs, in order to effectively deal with the uncertainty of the project specific design and operation conditions (fuel, electricity and heat selling prices, project financial conditions such as investment amortization periods, annual operating hours, etc). In addition the approach also allows to efficiently evaluate the influence of the external cost such as the CO 2 tax level under a tax scheme or the CO 2 permit price in the emission trading market. Application examples, including gas turbine and combined cycles are treated with the proposed methodology, by using superstructure based generic environomic models and a multi-objective optimizer.

Day-ahead electricity prices forecasting by a modified CGSA technique and hybrid WT in LSSVM based scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shayeghi, H.; Ghasemi, A.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Presenting a hybrid CGSA-LSSVM scheme for price forecasting. • Considering uncertainties for filtering in input data and feature selection to improve efficiency. • Using DWT input featured LSSVM approach to classify next-week prices. • Used three real markets to illustrate performance of the proposed price forecasting model. - Abstract: At the present time, day-ahead electricity market is closely associated with other commodity markets such as fuel market and emission market. Under such an environment, day-ahead electricity price forecasting has become necessary for power producers and consumers in the current deregulated electricity markets. Seeking for more accurate price forecasting techniques, this paper proposes a new combination of a Feature Selection (FS) technique based mutual information (MI) technique and Wavelet Transform (WT) in this study. Moreover, in this paper a new modified version of Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) optimization based chaos theory, namely Chaotic Gravitational Search Algorithm (CGSA) is developed to find the optimal parameters of Least Square Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) to predict electricity prices. The performance and price forecast accuracy of the proposed technique is assessed by means of real data from Iran’s, Ontario’s and Spain’s price markets. The simulation results from numerical tables and figures in different cases show that the proposed technique increases electricity price market forecasting accuracy than the other classical and heretical methods in the scientific researches

A Study on Rational Pricing System for Water Supply

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moon, H.J. [Korea Environment Institute, Seoul (Korea)

2001-12-01

Reasonable pricing of water can induce optimal water use by the public by relaying the considerable costs of water provision and plays an important role of providing a basic scheme for the reasonable management of water. This study provides a reasonable pricing scheme of water that reflects the economic and social values of water as a resource by investigating reasonable bulk-water pricing and retail-water pricing. For bulk pricing, the study discuss the range of costs to be covered, design of efficient pricing structures(differentiated by source quality, loss ratios and time year), and sharing efficient costs between beneficiaries (customer groups and regions). The study also addresses the adjustment of present charging schemes for bulk water such as charges for bulk water from dam, abstraction charges, and river charges etc. Factoring in demand and available resource characteristics, the differentiated pricing mechanism is also investigated. The study proposes a differentiated pricing mechanism based on season, where the pricing structure reflects the cost structure related to fluctuated demand. In addition, implementation methods and effects of introducing seasonal pricing scheme are discussed. Another seasonal pricing mechanism, the seasonally differentiated pricing scheme in bulk pricing reflects a cost structure related to resource availability, is also investigated. Increasing block rate as a reasonable pricing scheme for water conservation, and priority pricing as a tool socially desirable water allocation in the case water shortage are designed. for practical implementation of pricing scheme, several issues are discussed: identification and calculation of costs that should be covered and the structure of costs as a basis of differentiated pricing scheme, issue of forecasting, and practical that could be happen in the implementation of increasing block rate and seasonal pricing schemes, etc. Institutional systems that implement the proposed pricing schemes

The impact of Chinese carbon emission trading scheme (ETS) on low carbon energy (LCE) investment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mo, Jian-Lei; Agnolucci, Paolo; Jiang, Mao-Rong; Fan, Ying

2016-01-01

China is planning to introduce emission trading scheme (ETS) to decrease CO_2 emission. As low carbon energy (LCE) will play a pivotal role in reducing CO_2 emissions, our paper is to assess the extent and the conditions under which a carbon ETS can deliver LCE investment in China. We chose wind technology as a case study and a real-option based model was built to explore the impact of a number of variables and design features on investment decisions, e.g. carbon and electricity price, carbon market risk, carbon price floor and ceiling and on-grid ratio. We compute critical values of these variables and features and explore trade-offs among them. According to our work, a carbon ETS has a significant effect on wind power plant investment although it cannot support investment in wind power on its own. Carbon price stabilization mechanisms such as carbon price floor can significantly improve the effect of carbon ETS but the critical floor to support investment is still much higher than the carbon price in China pilot ETSs. Our results show that other policy measures will be needed to promote low-carbon energy development in China. - Highlights: • The impact of Chinese emission trading scheme on low carbon energy investment is assessed. • A real-option based investment decision model under uncertainty is built and employed. • Key variables and features of ETS influencing wind power investment are explored. • Chinese carbon ETS cannot support low carbon energy investment on its own. • Other policy measures complementing ETS are still needed and should be coordinated.

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Allowance Prices, Trade Flows, Competitiveness Effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klepper, G.; Peterson, S.

2004-03-01

The upcoming European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is one of the more controversial climate policy instruments. Predictions about its likely impact and its performance can at present only be made to a certain degree. As long as the National Allocations Plans are not finally settled the overall supply of allowances is not determined. In this paper we will identify key features and key impacts of the EU ETS by scanning the range of likely allocation plans using the simulation model DART. The analysis of the simulation results highlights a number of interesting details in terms of allowance trade flows between member countries, of allowance prices, and in terms of the role of the accession countries in the ETS

The operation of wholesale electricity, CO2 and natural gas markets in 2010-2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The first part analyses the electricity wholesale markets: development of the main wholesale market segments, electricity price, electricity production analysis and transparency of production data, transaction analysis. The second part analyses CO 2 markets: evolution of the institutional framework and perspectives, exchanges volumes on the CO 2 market, the CO 2 price in Europe, fundamentals of the European CO 2 market. The third part addresses the gas market: development of gas trade, gas price, gas infrastructures, supply and outlets for stake holders and new comers

Energy prices, equalization and Canadian federalism : comparing Canada's energy price shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courchene, T.J.

2006-01-01

Revenues from natural resources during periods of high energy prices can create problems with the way the Canadian federal government distributes wealth through equalization. This paper traced the history of equalization in comparison with energy prices from the years 1973 to 2003. It was noted that the National Energy Program, section 92A of the Constitution, and the 5-province standard were all federal responses to initial energy price increases. It was suggested that current increases in energy prices demand a different response. The author examined a method of using the national average standard to calculate equalization payments as a means of eliminating the inequities created by the current 5-province standard, which excludes both Alberta and the Atlantic provinces. It was argued that the exclusion of Alberta's energy resources creates a false impression that other provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan are rich in resources. It was suggested that fiscal imbalance between provinces is a significant challenge to the current Canadian government. New approaches to cash transfers to the provinces were discussed. A 2-tier equalization scheme was proposed that separated natural resource revenues from other revenues. It was concluded that the government's previous response to high energy prices will not be appropriate for addressing the current price shock. A 2-tier equalization scheme will mean that resource-rich provinces have an opportunity to participate more fully in federal decision-making. 53 refs., 3 figs

Economics show CO2 EOR potential in central Kansas

Science.gov (United States)

Dubois, M.K.; Byrnes, A.P.; Pancake, R.E.; Willhite, G.P.; Schoeling, L.G.

2000-01-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) may be the key to recovering hundreds of millions of bbl of trapped oil from the mature fields in central Kansas. Preliminary economic analysis indicates that CO2 EOR should provide an internal rate of return (IRR) greater than 20%, before income tax, assuming oil sells for \\$20/bbl, CO2 costs \\$1/Mcf, and gross utilization is 10 Mcf of CO2/bbl of oil recovered. If the CO2 cost is reduced to \\$0.75/Mcf, an oil price of $17/bbl yields an IRR of 20%. Reservoir and economic modeling indicates that IRR is most sensitive to oil price and CO2 cost. A project requires a minimum recovery of 1,500 net bbl/acre (about 1 million net bbl/1-mile section) under a best-case scenario. Less important variables to the economics are capital costs and non-CO2 related lease operating expenses.

Pricing scheme choice: how process affects outcome

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shestakova, Natalia

2010-01-01

Roč. 20, č. 2 (2010), s. 99-129 ISSN 1211-3298 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LC542 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : choice process * heuristics * price discrimination Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp411.pdf

A Sleep-Awake Scheme Based on CoAP for Energy-Efficiency in Internet of Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenquan Jin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF have developed Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP to enable communication between sensor or actuator nodes in constrained environments, such as small amount of memory, and low power. IETF CoAP and HTTP are used to monitor or control environments in Internet of Things (IoT and Machine-to-Machine (M2M. In this paper, we present a sleep-awake scheme based on CoAP for energy efficiency in Internet of Things. This scheme supports to increase energy efficiency of IoT nodes using CoAP protocol. We have slightly modified the IoT middleware to improve CoAP protocol to conserve energy in the IoT nodes. Also, the IoT middleware includes some functionality of the CoRE Resource Directory (RD and the Message Queue (MQ broker with IoT nodes to synchronize sleepy status.

On the demand for prescription drugs: heterogeneity in price responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Skipper, Niels

2013-07-01

This paper estimates the price elasticity of demand for prescription drugs using an exogenous shift in consumer co-payment caused by a reform in the Danish subsidy scheme for the general public. Using purchasing records for the entire Danish population, I show that the average price response for the most commonly used drug yields demand elasticities in the range of -0.36 to -0.5. The reform is shown to affect women, the elderly, and immigrants the most. Furthermore, this paper shows significant heterogeneity in the price response over different types of antibiotics, suggesting that the price elasticity of demand varies considerably even across relatively similar drugs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Directed technical change and the adoption of CO2 abatement technology. The case of CO2 capture and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otto, Vincent M.; Reilly, John

2008-01-01

This paper studies the cost-effectiveness of combining traditional environmental policy, such as CO 2 -trading schemes, and technology policy that has aims of reducing the cost and speeding the adoption of CO 2 abatement technology. For this purpose, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium model that captures empirical links between CO 2 emissions associated with energy use, directed technical change and the economy. We specify CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) as a discrete CO 2 abatement technology. We find that combining CO 2 -trading schemes with an adoption subsidy is the most effective instrument to induce adoption of the CCS technology. Such a subsidy directly improves the competitiveness of the CCS technology by compensating for its markup over the cost of conventional electricity. Yet, introducing R and D subsidies throughout the entire economy leads to faster adoption of the CCS technology as well and in addition can be cost-effective in achieving the abatement target. (author)

Price Sensitivity of Demand for Prescription Drugs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Marianne; Skipper, Lars; Skipper, Niels

2016-01-01

We investigate price sensitivity of demand for prescription drugs, using drug purchase records for the entire Danish population. We identify price responsiveness by exploiting variation in prices caused by kinked reimbursement schemes and implement a regression kink design. The results suggest some...... price responsiveness with corresponding price elasticities ranging from −0.2 to −0.7. Individuals with chronic disease and especially individuals above the age of 65 respond less to the price of drugs....

The impact of power market structure on CO2 cost pass-through to electricity prices under quantity competition. A theoretical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijm, J.; Chen, Y.; Hobbs, B.F.

2012-01-01

We present a theoretical analysis of the impact of power market structure on the pass-through rate (PTR) of CO2 emissions trading (ET) costs on electricity prices. Market structure refers in particular to the number of firms active in the market and the intensity of oligopolistic competition as measured by the conjectural variation, as well as to the functional form of the power demand and supply curves. In addition, we analyse briefly the impact of other power market-related factors on the PTR of carbon costs to electricity prices. These include in particular the impact of ET-induced changes in the merit order of power generation technologies and the impact of pursuing other market strategies besides maximising generator profit, such as maximising market shares or sales revenues of power companies. Each of these factors can have a significant impact on the rate of passing-through carbon costs to electricity prices.

Influence of different technologies on dynamic pricing in district heating systems: Comparative case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dominkovic, Dominik Franjo; Wahlroos, Mikko; Syri, Sanna

2018-01-01

District heating markets are often dominated by monopolies in both Denmark and Finland. The same companies, often owned by local municipalities, are usually operating both supplying plants and district heating networks, while the pricing mechanisms are rigid, often agreed upon for one year...... in advance. The mentioned ownership scheme may cause problems, when one tries to gain a third party access in order to deliver excess heat or heat from cheaper heating plants. In this paper, two case studies were carried out to simulate the district heating systems based on dynamic pricing. Case studies were...... carried out for Sønderborg, Denmark and Espoo, Finland. The results showed that dynamic pricing fosters feeding the waste heat into the grid, as dynamic pricing reduced the total primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions in both case studies. In the best scenarios, the weighted average heat price...

An energy pricing scheme for the diffusion of decentralized renewable technology investment in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiam, Djiby Racine

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate price support for market penetration of renewable energy in developing nations through a decentralized supply process. We integrate the new decentralized energy support: renewable premium tariff, to analyze impacts of tariff incentives on the diffusion of renewable technology in Senegal. Based on photovoltaic and wind technologies and an assessment of renewable energy resources in Senegal, an optimization technique is combined with a cash flow analysis to investigate investment decisions in renewable energy sector. Our findings indicate that this support mechanism could strengthen the sustainable deployment of renewable energy in remote areas of Senegal. Although different payoffs emerged, profits associated with a renewable premium tariff are the highest among the set of existing payoffs. Moreover in analyzing impacts of price incentives on social welfare, we show that price tariffing schemes must be strategically scrutinized in order to minimize welfare loss associated with price incentives. Finally we argue that a sustainable promotion of incentive mechanisms supporting deployment of renewable technology in developing nations should be carried out under reliable institutional structures. The additional advantage of the proposed methodology is its ability to integrate different stakeholders (producers, investors and consumers) in the planning process. - Highlights: → We simulate impacts of price support for market penetration of renewable technology in developing nations. → An array of price incentive mechanisms strengthens diffusion of renewable technology in Senegal. → Moreover, reliable institutional frameworks in developing nations are a requirement in order to strengthen diffusion path of renewable technologies.

Policy schemes, operational strategies and system integration of residential co-generation fuel cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Lise-Lotte Pade; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten; Münster, Marie

2013-01-01

a heat-driven strategy, with and without time-differentiated tariffs, and an electricity price driven strategy for the operation as a virtual power plant. The corresponding support schemes identified cover feed-in tariffs, net metering and feed-in premiums. Additionally, the interplay of the micro......CHP units with the national energy systems has been analysed. Our main findings are that net metering would be an appropriate tool to support FC based microCHP in Denmark, whereas a price premium would be the preferable tool in France and Portugal. Copyright © 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC....... Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Renewable energy consumption, CO{sub 2} emissions and oil prices in the G7 countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadorsky, Perry [Schulich School of Business, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2009-05-15

Economic and societal issues related to energy security and global warming is placing greater emphasis on the consumption of renewable energy. This paper presents and estimates an empirical model of renewable energy consumption for the G7 countries. Panel cointegration estimates show that in the long term, increases in real GDP per capita and CO{sub 2} per capita are found to be major drivers behind per capita renewable energy consumption. These results are robust across two different panel cointegration estimators. Oil price increases have a smaller although negative impact on renewable energy consumption. Deviations from equilibrium are driven mostly by the error correction term as opposed to short term shocks. Short term deviations from the long term equilibrium take anywhere from between 1.3 years (France) and 7.3 years (Japan) to correct. (author)

The economic impact of carbon pricing with regulated electricity prices in China—An application of a computable general equilibrium approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Ji Feng; Wang, Xin; Zhang, Ya Xiong; Kou, Qin

2014-01-01

We use a dynamic CGE model (SICGE) to assess the economic and climate impacts of emissions trading system (ETS) in China with a carbon price of 100 Yuan/ton CO2. A particular focus is given to the regulated electricity price regime, which is a major concern of electricity sector’s cost-effective participation in ETS in China. We found: (1) Carbon pricing is an effective policy for China to reduce CO 2 emissions. Total CO 2 emissions reduction ranges from 6.8% to 11.2% in short-term. (2) Rigid electricity price entails lower CO 2 emissions reduction but can be considered as a feasible starting point to introduce carbon pricing policies in short-term as long as governmental subsidies are given to electricity production. (3) In mid- and long-term, the efficient policy is to earmark carbon revenue with competitive electricity price. We propose to use carbon revenue to reduce consumption tax in the first year of the introduction of carbon price and to use the carbon revenue to reduce production tax in following years. - Highlights: • We use a CGE model to assess the impacts of carbon pricing in China. • We test different scenarios of carbon cost pass-through in electricity price. • Carbon pricing policy cost-efficiency is examined with double-dividend hypothesis

Nodal pricing in a coupled electricity market

OpenAIRE

Bjørndal, Endre; Bjørndal, Mette; Cai, Hong

2014-01-01

This paper investigates a pricing model for an electricity market with a hybrid congestion management method, i.e. part of the system applies a nodal pricing scheme and the rest applies a zonal pricing scheme. The model clears the zonal and nodal pricing areas simultaneously. The nodal pricing area is affected by the changes in the zonal pricing area since it is directly connected to the zonal pricing area by commercial trading. The model is tested on a 13-node power system. Within the area t...

Market behavior and performance of different strategy evaluation schemes.

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, Yongjoo; Lee, Sang Hoon; Jeong, Hawoong

2010-08-01

Strategy evaluation schemes are a crucial factor in any agent-based market model, as they determine the agents' strategy preferences and consequently their behavioral pattern. This study investigates how the strategy evaluation schemes adopted by agents affect their performance in conjunction with the market circumstances. We observe the performance of three strategy evaluation schemes, the history-dependent wealth game, the trend-opposing minority game, and the trend-following majority game, in a stock market where the price is exogenously determined. The price is either directly adopted from the real stock market indices or generated with a Markov chain of order ≤2 . Each scheme's success is quantified by average wealth accumulated by the traders equipped with the scheme. The wealth game, as it learns from the history, shows relatively good performance unless the market is highly unpredictable. The majority game is successful in a trendy market dominated by long periods of sustained price increase or decrease. On the other hand, the minority game is suitable for a market with persistent zigzag price patterns. We also discuss the consequence of implementing finite memory in the scoring processes of strategies. Our findings suggest under which market circumstances each evaluation scheme is appropriate for modeling the behavior of real market traders.

Energy prices, equalization and Canadian federalism : comparing Canada's energy price shocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courchene, T.J. [Queen' s Univ., Kingston, ON (Canada). School of Policy Studies; Institute for Research on Public Policy, Montreal, PQ (Canada)

2006-04-01

Revenues from natural resources during periods of high energy prices can create problems with the way the Canadian federal government distributes wealth through equalization. This paper traced the history of equalization in comparison with energy prices from the years 1973 to 2003. It was noted that the National Energy Program, section 92A of the Constitution, and the 5-province standard were all federal responses to initial energy price increases. It was suggested that current increases in energy prices demand a different response. The author examined a method of using the national average standard to calculate equalization payments as a means of eliminating the inequities created by the current 5-province standard, which excludes both Alberta and the Atlantic provinces. It was argued that the exclusion of Alberta's energy resources creates a false impression that other provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan are rich in resources. It was suggested that fiscal imbalance between provinces is a significant challenge to the current Canadian government. New approaches to cash transfers to the provinces were discussed. A 2-tier equalization scheme was proposed that separated natural resource revenues from other revenues. It was concluded that the government's previous response to high energy prices will not be appropriate for addressing the current price shock. A 2-tier equalization scheme will mean that resource-rich provinces have an opportunity to participate more fully in federal decision-making. 53 refs., 3 figs.

Prediction of Change in Prescription Ingredient Costs and Co-payment Rates under a Reference Pricing System in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Heo, Ji Haeng; Rascati, Karen L; Lee, Eui-Kyung

2017-05-01

The reference pricing system (RPS) establishes reference prices within interchangeable reference groupings. For drugs priced higher than the reference point, patients pay the difference between the reference price and the total price. To predict potential changes in prescription ingredient costs and co-payment rates after implementation of an RPS in South Korea. Korean National Health Insurance claims data were used as a baseline to develop possible RPS models. Five components of a potential RPS policy were varied: reference groupings, reference pricing methods, co-pay reduction programs, manufacturer price reductions, and increased drug substitutions. The potential changes for prescription ingredient costs and co-payment rates were predicted for the various scenarios. It was predicted that transferring the difference (total price minus reference price) from the insurer to patients would reduce ingredient costs from 1.4% to 22.8% for the third-party payer (government), but patient co-payment rates would increase from a baseline of 20.4% to 22.0% using chemical groupings and to 25.0% using therapeutic groupings. Savings rates in prescription ingredient costs (government and patient combined) were predicted to range from 1.6% to 13.7% depending on various scenarios. Although the co-payment rate would increase, a 15% price reduction by manufacturers coupled with a substitution rate of 30% would result in a decrease in the co-payment amount (change in absolute dollars vs. change in rates). Our models predicted that the implementation of RPS in South Korea would lead to savings in ingredient costs for the third-party payer and co-payments for patients with potential scenarios. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of power market structure on the pass-through of CO2 emissions trading costs to electricity prices. A theoretical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijm, J.; Chen, Yihsu; Hobbs, B.F.

2009-06-01

This paper analyses the impact of power market structure on the pass-through rate (PTR) of CO2 emissions trading costs on electricity prices from a theoretical point of view, including graphical illustrations and mathematical proofs. Market structure refers in particular to the number of firms active in the market as well as to the shape of the power demand and supply curves. In addition, it analyses the impact of other power market related factors on the PTR of carbon costs to electricity prices, notably the impact of ET-induced changes in the merit order of power generation technologies or the impact of pursuing other market strategies besides maximising generators' profits, such as maximising market shares or sales revenues of power companies. It shows that each of these factors can have a significant impact on the rate of passing-through carbon costs to electricity prices

The impact of power market structure on the pass-through of CO2 emissions trading costs to electricity prices. A theoretical approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sijm, J. [ECN Policy Studies, Petten (Netherlands); Chen, Yihsu [Merced School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, CA (United States); Hobbs, B.F. [Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (United States)

2009-06-15

This paper analyses the impact of power market structure on the pass-through rate (PTR) of CO2 emissions trading costs on electricity prices from a theoretical point of view, including graphical illustrations and mathematical proofs. Market structure refers in particular to the number of firms active in the market as well as to the shape of the power demand and supply curves. In addition, it analyses the impact of other power market related factors on the PTR of carbon costs to electricity prices, notably the impact of ET-induced changes in the merit order of power generation technologies or the impact of pursuing other market strategies besides maximising generators' profits, such as maximising market shares or sales revenues of power companies. It shows that each of these factors can have a significant impact on the rate of passing-through carbon costs to electricity prices.

CO2 trading and its influence on electricity markets. Final report for DTe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franke, M.

2006-02-01

The Dutch Ministry of Economics has asked the Dutch energy regulator (DTe) to gather factual information about the impact of the introduction of the European CO2 emission trading scheme (EU ETS) on the functioning of the Dutch wholesale electricity market and, in particular, to estimate the extent of windfall profits that generators may have realised as a consequence of the EU ETS. DTe has in turn appointed Frontier Economics to assist in the preparation of its advice to the Ministry. Separately, but as a parallel task, DTe has also asked us to provide guidance on the way in which DTe should monitor the performance of the wholesale electricity market in an era of CO2 trading. Section 2 describes the EU ETS, as background to the study. The section describes the institutional context, the way that the emission trading system has generally been implemented at a national level, and the way that the price of European Union Allowances (EUAs or allowances) has developed historically. Section 3 describes the way in which the EU ETS has had an impact on the Dutch electricity market including: the allocation of EUAs to the power sector in the Netherlands; the (theoretical) impact of the EU ETS on electricity generators' incentives; evidence on generators' behaviour; and the empirical evidence of the relationship between EUA prices and electricity prices (or spark and dark spreads). Section 4 provides a conceptual framework for the estimation of windfall profits. Section 5 deals with detailed assumptions that we have made and data issues we have encountered in our attempts to estimate windfall profits; and Section 6 presents and discusses our estimates of windfall profits

Directed technical change and the adoption of CO{sub 2} abatement technology. The case of CO{sub 2} capture and storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Otto, Vincent M.; Reilly, John [Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2008-11-15

This paper studies the cost-effectiveness of combining traditional environmental policy, such as CO{sub 2}-trading schemes, and technology policy that has aims of reducing the cost and speeding the adoption of CO{sub 2} abatement technology. For this purpose, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium model that captures empirical links between CO{sub 2} emissions associated with energy use, directed technical change and the economy. We specify CO{sub 2} capture and storage (CCS) as a discrete CO{sub 2} abatement technology. We find that combining CO{sub 2}-trading schemes with an adoption subsidy is the most effective instrument to induce adoption of the CCS technology. Such a subsidy directly improves the competitiveness of the CCS technology by compensating for its markup over the cost of conventional electricity. Yet, introducing R and D subsidies throughout the entire economy leads to faster adoption of the CCS technology as well and in addition can be cost-effective in achieving the abatement target. (author)

Variance risk premia in CO_2 markets: A political perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reckling, Dennis

2016-01-01

The European Commission discusses the change of free allocation plans to guarantee a stable market equilibrium. Selling over-allocated contracts effectively depreciates prices and negates the effect intended by the regulator to establish a stable price mechanism for CO_2 assets. Our paper investigates mispricing and allocation issues by quantitatively analyzing variance risk premia of CO_2 markets over the course of changing regimes (Phase I-III) for three different assets (European Union Allowances, Certified Emissions Reductions and European Reduction Units). The research paper gives recommendations to regulatory bodies in order to most effectively cap the overall carbon dioxide emissions. The analysis of an enriched dataset, comprising not only of additional CO_2 assets, but also containing data from the European Energy Exchange, shows that variance risk premia are equal to a sample average of 0.69 for European Union Allowances (EUA), 0.17 for Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) and 0.81 for European Reduction Units (ERU). We identify the existence of a common risk factor across different assets that justifies the presence of risk premia. Various policy implications with regards to gaining investors’ confidence in the market are being reviewed. Consequently, we recommend the implementation of a price collar approach to support stable prices for emission allowances. - Highlights: •Enriched dataset covering all three political phases of the CO_2 markets. •Clear policy implications for regulators to most effectively cap the overall CO_2 emissions pool. •Applying a cross-asset benchmark index for variance beta estimation. •CER contracts have been analyzed with respect to variance risk premia for the first time. •Increased forecasting accuracy for CO_2 asset returns by using variance risk premia.

Tradable schemes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.K. Hoogland (Jiri); C.D.D. Neumann

2000-01-01

textabstractIn this article we present a new approach to the numerical valuation of derivative securities. The method is based on our previous work where we formulated the theory of pricing in terms of tradables. The basic idea is to fit a finite difference scheme to exact solutions of the pricing

Assessing the factors behind CO2 emissions changes over the phases 1 and 2 of the EU ETS: an econometric analysis. CDC Climat Research - Working Paper No. 2013-15

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gloaguen, Olivier; Alberola, Emilie

2013-10-01

It has been repeatedly said that the economic slowdown that began in 2008 largely explains the fall in carbon emissions recorded in Europe since the introduction of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In fact, the European Union stated this very clearly in its initial report on the operation of the EU ETS in November 2012. Using an econometric analysis based on a business-as-usual scenario, it is shown that reductions of around 1.1 GtCO 2 are likely to have been achieved within the scope of the 11.000 installations covered by the EU ETS. Of those reductions, between 600 and 700 million tonnes are said to have resulted from the two policies in the 2020 Climate and Energy Package, which aims to achieve a 20% renewable energy target (a decrease of around 500 million tonnes) and a 20% improvement in energy intensity (a decrease of between 100 and 200 million tonnes). The economic downturn also played a significant, although not dominant role in the decrease in CO 2 emissions, the impact of which was estimated at 300 million tonnes. Price substitution effects induced by coal and gas prices also seem to have affected emissions, within an order of magnitude of around 200 million tonnes. The study does not enable any impact created by the carbon price to be identified. It is important. However, to emphasize that the economic downturn and the development of RE were responsible for the decrease of the carbon price, and specifically marginalised its influence in terms of CO 2 emission reductions at the installations covered within the EU. (authors)

Investing in an coal power plant and CO2 constraints. What do risk decision-making models tell us?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taverdet-Popiolek, N.

2010-01-01

Face with the challenge of climate change, Europe implemented a CO 2 quota market in 2005, in order to encourage industries to reduce their emissions. The first operating phase of that market was not a constraint for them, as quotas were generously allocated and prices relatively low. However it looks as though the second phase (2013-2020, will be more of an incitement as the quota allocation will not be free and market prices will probably be higher. So, faced with the CO 2 price risk, is there any point in European electricity companies investing in coal plants that emit huge amounts of CO 2 , per kWh produced? Or is it preferable for them to wait, even though it would meat making no profit for four years, for the second phase of the quota market, in order to become more familiar with the rules? To provide answers to those questions, we have modelled both scenarios: investing immediately (irreversible decision) or waiting for 2013 (decision that implies the possibility of choosing in full knowledge of the facts). The models we chose are very simple (two periods only, with stable prices within them) and place the risk mainly in the price of CO 2 , for which two scenarios are considered in the second period: price of CO 2 , low high. They show that the expected price of CO 2 has a strong influence on the decision to invest and that industries take a stance based on their anticipation of that price and the likeliness of the scenarios. The profitability of the coal industry is weakened by the CO 2 price risk, unless the price of electricity follows that of carbon (which was not considered in the model) although the electricity price scenario is a relatively favourable one. (author)

Price floors for emissions trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, Peter John; Jotzo, Frank

2011-01-01

Price floors in greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes can guarantee minimum abatement efforts if prices are lower than expected, and they can help manage cost uncertainty, possibly as complements to price ceilings. Provisions for price floors are found in several recent legislative proposals for emissions trading. Implementation however has potential pitfalls. Possible mechanisms are government commitments to buy back permits, a reserve price at auction, or an extra fee or tax on acquittal of emissions permits. Our analysis of these alternatives shows that the fee approach has budgetary advantages and is more compatible with international permit trading than the alternatives. It can also be used to implement more general hybrid approaches to emissions pricing. - Research highlights: → Price floors for emissions trading schemes guarantee a minimum carbon price. → Price floors mean that emissions can be less than specified by the ETS cap. → We examine how price floors can relate to different policy objectives. → We compare different mechanisms for implementing a price floor. → We find that a mechanism where there is an extra tax or fee has advantages.

Impact of the economic recession on the European power sector's CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Declercq, Bruno; Delarue, Erik; D'haeseleer, William

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of the economic recession on CO 2 emissions in the European power sector, during the years 2008 and 2009. Three main determinants of the power sector's emissions are identified: the demand for electricity, the CO 2 price, and fuel prices. A counterfactual scenario has been set up for each of these, i.e., what these parameters would have been if not affected by the recession. A simulation model of the European power sector is then employed, comparing a historical reference simulation (taking the parameters as actually occurred) with the counterfactual scenarios. The lower electricity demand (due to the recession) is shown to have by far the largest impact, accounting for an emission reduction of about 175 Mton. The lower CO 2 price (due to the recession) resulted in an increase in emissions by about 30 Mton. The impact of fuel prices is more difficult to retrieve; an indicative reduction of about 17 Mton is obtained, mainly as a consequence of the low gas prices in 2009. The simulated combined impact of the parameters results in an emission reduction of about 150 Mton in the European power sector over the years 2008 and 2009 as a consequence of the recession. - Research highlights: → CO 2 emissions are simulated for the European power sector. → Emissions reduced drastically because of the economic recession in 2008 and 2009. → Lower electricity demand had highest impact and accounts for reduction of about 175 Mton. → Impact of different CO 2 and fuel prices on emissions is more limited.

Construction of an all-solid-state artificial Z-scheme system consisting of Bi2WO6/Au/CdS nanostructure for photocatalytic CO2 reduction into renewable hydrocarbon fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Meng; Han, Qiutong; Li, Liang; Tang, Lanqin; Li, Haijin; Zhou, Yong; Zou, Zhigang

2017-07-01

An all-solid-state Bi2WO6/Au/CdS Z-scheme system was constructed for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into methane in the presence of water vapor. This Z-scheme consists of ultrathin Bi2WO6 nanoplates and CdS nanoparticles as photocatalysts, and a Au nanoparticle as a solid electron mediator offering a high speed charge transfer channel and leading to more efficient spatial separation of electron-hole pairs. The photo-generated electrons from the conduction band (CB) of Bi2WO6 transfer to the Au, and then release to the valence band (VB) of CdS to recombine with the holes of CdS. It allows the electrons remaining in the CB of CdS and holes in the VB of Bi2WO6 to possess strong reduction and oxidation powers, respectively, leading the Bi2WO6/Au/CdS to exhibit high photocatalytic reduction of CO2, relative to bare Bi2WO6, Bi2WO6/Au, and Bi2WO6/CdS. The depressed hole density on CdS also enhances the stability of the CdS against photocorrosion.

Transfer pricing as tax avoidance under different legislative schemes

OpenAIRE

Holzmann, Carolin Maria

2016-01-01

This paper investigates transfer pricing as tax avoidance before and after reforms of anti-avoidance legislation. The reforms introduced and tightened obligatory documentation requirements for transfer prices to enforce that multinational enterprises (MNEs) set internal transfer prices at an arm’s-length. Linking data from the Microdatabase Statistics on International Trade in Services that comprehends prices of MNEs’ international service transactions to the Microdatabase Direct Investment, ...

CO2 dispersion modelling over Paris region within the CO2-MEGAPARIS project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Lac

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Accurate simulation of the spatial and temporal variability of tracer mixing ratios over urban areas is a challenging and interesting task needed to be performed in order to utilise CO2 measurements in an atmospheric inverse framework and to better estimate regional CO2 fluxes. This study investigates the ability of a high-resolution model to simulate meteorological and CO2 fields around Paris agglomeration during the March field campaign of the CO2-MEGAPARIS project. The mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH, running at 2 km horizontal resolution, is coupled with the Town Energy Balance (TEB urban canopy scheme and with the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere CO2-reactive (ISBA-A-gs surface scheme, allowing a full interaction of CO2 modelling between the surface and the atmosphere. Statistical scores show a good representation of the urban heat island (UHI with stronger urban–rural contrasts on temperature at night than during the day by up to 7 °C. Boundary layer heights (BLH have been evaluated on urban, suburban and rural sites during the campaign, and also on a suburban site over 1 yr. The diurnal cycles of the BLH are well captured, especially the onset time of the BLH increase and its growth rate in the morning, which are essential for tall tower CO2 observatories. The main discrepancy is a small negative bias over urban and suburban sites during nighttime (respectively 45 m and 5 m, leading to a few overestimations of nocturnal CO2 mixing ratios at suburban sites and a bias of +5 ppm. The diurnal CO2 cycle is generally well captured for all the sites. At the Eiffel tower, the observed spikes of CO2 maxima occur every morning exactly at the time at which the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL growth reaches the measurement height. At suburban ground stations, CO2 measurements exhibit maxima at the beginning and at the end of each night, when the ABL is fully contracted, with a strong spatio-temporal variability. A

Econometric analysis of Australian emissions markets and electricity prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cotton, Deborah; De Mello, Lurion

2014-01-01

Emissions trading schemes aim to reduce the emissions in certain pollutants using a market based scheme where participants can buy and sell permits for these emissions. This paper analyses the efficiency of the two largest schemes in Australia, the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme and the Mandatory Renewable Energy Trading Scheme, through their effect on the electricity prices from 2004 to 2010. We use a long run structural modelling technique for the first time on this market. It provides a practical long-run approach to structural relationships which enable the determination of the effectiveness of the theoretical expectations of these schemes. The generalised forecast error variance decomposition analysis finds that both schemes' emissions prices have little effect on electricity prices. Generalised impulse response function analysis support this finding indicating that when shocks are applied to electricity by the two schemes it returns to equilibrium very quickly. This indicates that these schemes are not having the effect anticipated in their legislation. - Highlights: • We analyse two emissions trading schemes in Australia. • We test for their effect on wholesale electricity prices. • The test uses generalised forecast error variance decomposition analysis. • The tests find long run relationship between the variables in both the samples. • The short run-dynamics indicate that they play a minimal role in electricity prices

Excitation of transversely excited CO2 waveguide lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood II, O.R.; Smith, P.W.; Adams, C.R.; Maloney, P.J.

1975-01-01

Using a preionization scheme based on the Malter effect, small-signal gains >5%/cm at 10.6 μm have been produced in a 1-mm 2 -cross-section waveguide CO 2 amplifier at total operating pressures of 100--760 Torr. Comparisons are made between this preionization scheme and those using electron beams

Point Climat no. 18 'Energy efficiency, renewable energy and CO2 allowances in Europe: a need for coordination'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berghmans, Nicolas

2012-01-01

Among the publications of CDC Climat Research, 'Climate Briefs' presents, in a few pages, hot topics in climate change policy. This issue addresses the following points: Following the adoption in 2009 of the directives for modifying the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and for promoting renewable energies, the Energy Efficiency Directive has been endorsed by the European Parliament on 11 September 2012. It will be the third major European policy that encourages reductions in CO 2 emissions, either directly or indirectly. At a time when the European Commission is reflecting on long-term reforms to the EU ETS, the magnitude of emission reductions that will be generated by other policies calls for the systematisation of assessment of climate and energy policies in order to maintain an sufficient CO 2 price to incentive mitigation action

Ramsey prices in the Italian electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigerna, Simona; Bollino, Carlo Andrea

2016-01-01

In this paper, we derive optimal zonal prices in the Italian day-ahead electricity market using estimation of a complete system of hourly demand in 2010–2011. In Italy, the hourly equilibrium price for all buyers is computed as a uniform average of supply zonal prices, resulting from market splitting due to line congestion. We model ex-ante individual bids expressed by heterogeneous consumers, which are distinguished by geographical zones. Using empirical estimations, we compute demand elasticity values and new zonal prices, according to a Ramsey optimal scheme. This is a new approach in the wholesale electricity market literature, as previous studies have discussed the relative merit of zonal prices, considering only the issue of line congestion. Our results show that the optimal pricing scheme can improve welfare in the day-ahead Italian electricity market, with respect to both the existing uniform price scheme and the proposal to charge the existing supply zonal prices to the demand side. - Highlights: • We model and estimate the demand of heterogeneous buyers in the electricity market. • Transmission line congestion creates welfare distortions in the market. • We derive optimal Ramsey prices in the Italian day-ahead electricity market. • We compare optimal prices with historical ones showing how to improve welfare.

Pricing Models and Payment Schemes for Library Collections.

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, David

2002-01-01

Discusses new pricing and payment options for libraries in light of online products. Topics include alternative cost models rather than traditional subscriptions; use-based pricing; changes in scholarly communication due to information technology; methods to determine appropriate charges for different organizations; consortial plans; funding; and…

Determinants and Characteristics of Korean Companies’ Carbon Management under the Carbon Pricing Scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunhee Suk

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In response to the domestic emission trading scheme, Korean companies are required to shift their strategies from voluntary or regulation-driven management approaches to innovative carbon management utilizing their carbon option linked with economic value. Using a questionnaire survey targeting companies subjected to the emission trading scheme, this study explores the status of Korean companies’ carbon management in a series of five strategies and identifies the correlation between companies’ proactive carbon strategies and pre-listed determinant factors. This study found that Korean companies’ practices in accordance with carbon pricing deviate little from conventional energy and environmental management in this phase. They are likely to be affected by the need to appear socially responsible or to make a social contribution, without having to exceed this mandate in terms activities outside of this remit. Yet, only a small proportion of companies have advanced to the stage of proactive carbon management. For them, top managers’ support and understanding are essential factors together with government pressure to factor-in issues related to carbon with their business strategies. This study provides implications for policy and corporate in promoting carbon-oriented management under the carbon policy.

Bi-lateral CO_2 emissions embodied in Australia–China trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayanthakumaran, Kankesu; Liu, Ying

2016-01-01

This paper quantifies the CO_2 emissions embodied in bi-lateral trade between Australia and China using a sectoral input–output model. The results revealed: (1) that China performs lower than Australia in clean technology in the primary, manufacturing, energy sectors due to their overuse of coal and inefficient sectoral production processes, and (2) that China had a 30.94 Mt surplus of bi-lateral CO_2 emissions in 2010–2011 and (3) overall global emissions were reduced by 20.19 Mt through Australia–China trade in 2010–2011. The result indicates that the greater the energy efficient a country among the trading partners the lower will be the overall global CO_2 emissions. Global emissions decreased mainly because China consumed Australian primary products rather than producing them. Australia is an energy efficient producer of primary products relative to China. The bilateral trade compositions and trade volume played an important role in lowering global emissions and therefore one can view proposed China Australia Free trade Agreement positively in reducing global emissions. However, for the sustainable development, China should strengthen clean energy use and both countries should adopt measures to create an emission trading scheme in order to avoid protectionism in the form of future border price adjustments. - Highlights: •Primary (Australia) and manufactured (China) exports are a unique combination. •Quantifies CO_2 emissions embodied in bi-lateral trade between Australia and China. •Global emissions reduce because China consume Australian primary. •Australia is energy efficient producer of primary products relative to China. •Results support more trade with appropriate trade composition and volume.

Tradable CO{sub 2} permits in Danish and European energy policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varming, S.; Vesterdal, M. [ELSAMPROJEKT A/S (Denmark); Boerre Eriksen, P. [Eltra I/S (Denmark); Grohnheit, P.E.; Nielsen, L. [RISOe (Denmark); Tinggaard Svendsen, G. [Handelshoejskolen i Aarhus (Denmark)

2000-08-01

This report presents the results of the project 'Tradable CO{sub 2} permits in Danish and European energy policy'. The project was financed by a grant from the Danish Energy Research Programme 1998 (Grant 1753/98-0002). The project was conducted in co-operation between Elsamprojekt A/S (project manager), Risoe National Laboratory, Aarhus School of Business and I/S Eltra. The three major objectives of the project were: To identify and analyse the economical and political issues that are relevant with regard to the construction of a tradable CO{sub 2} permit market as well as proposing a suitable design for a tradable CO{sub 2} permit market for the energy sector in the EU. Experience from the tradable S{sub O}2 permit market in the US is taken into consideration as well. To present an overview of price estimates of CO{sub 2} and greenhouse gas permits in different models as well as discussing the assumptions leading to the different outcomes. Furthermore, the special role of backstop technologies in relation to permit prices is analysed. To analyse the connection between CO{sub 2} permit prices and technology choice in the energy sector in the medium and longer term (i.e., 2010 and 2020) with a special emphasis on combined heat and power and renewables. In addition, the short-term effects on CO{sub 2} emissions and electricity trade of introducing tradable CO{sub 2} permit with limited coverage (i.e. a national system) as well as complete coverage (i.e. including all the countries) in the Nordic electricity system are analysed. (au)

Tradable CO{sub 2} permits in Danish and European energy policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varming, S; Vesterdal, M [ELSAMPROJEKT A/S (Denmark); Boerre Eriksen, P [Eltra I/S (Denmark); Grohnheit, P E; Nielsen, L [RISOe (Denmark); Tinggaard Svendsen, G [Handelshoejskolen i Aarhus (Denmark)

2000-08-01

This report presents the results of the project 'Tradable CO{sub 2} permits in Danish and European energy policy'. The project was financed by a grant from the Danish Energy Research Programme 1998 (Grant 1753/98-0002). The project was conducted in co-operation between Elsamprojekt A/S (project manager), Risoe National Laboratory, Aarhus School of Business and I/S Eltra. The three major objectives of the project were: To identify and analyse the economical and political issues that are relevant with regard to the construction of a tradable CO{sub 2} permit market as well as proposing a suitable design for a tradable CO{sub 2} permit market for the energy sector in the EU. Experience from the tradable S{sub O}2 permit market in the US is taken into consideration as well. To present an overview of price estimates of CO{sub 2} and greenhouse gas permits in different models as well as discussing the assumptions leading to the different outcomes. Furthermore, the special role of backstop technologies in relation to permit prices is analysed. To analyse the connection between CO{sub 2} permit prices and technology choice in the energy sector in the medium and longer term (i.e., 2010 and 2020) with a special emphasis on combined heat and power and renewables. In addition, the short-term effects on CO{sub 2} emissions and electricity trade of introducing tradable CO{sub 2} permit with limited coverage (i.e. a national system) as well as complete coverage (i.e. including all the countries) in the Nordic electricity system are analysed. (au)

The price of environmental pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bleijenberg, A.N.; Davidson, M.D.

1996-11-01

There is no market price for environmental pollution, simply because of the fact that there is not a market for the environment. However, it is possible to calculate so-called shadow prices for environmental pollution. The calculation method can be summarized as follows: determine the price that exist when there would be a market for the environment. In many cases the calculation must be based on environmental targets as determined by the government. Based on that method and on available data and information, shadow prices are estimated for 18 different pollutants: CO2, CO, CH4, SO2, NH3, NOx, volatile organic materials, final wastes, phosphates, nitrates, COD, fine dust, toluene, benzene, benzopyrene (to air and water), zinc (to water), and copper (to water). 7 figs., 5 tabs., 43 refs

18 CFR 2.17 - Price discrimination and anticompetitive effect (price squeeze issue).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... INTERPRETATIONS Statements of General Policy and Interpretations Under the Federal Power Act § 2.17 Price... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Price discrimination and anticompetitive effect (price squeeze issue). 2.17 Section 2.17 Conservation of Power and Water...

Efficient solar light harvesting CdS/Co{sub 9}S{sub 8} hollow cubes for Z-scheme photocatalytic water splitting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu, Bocheng; Zhu, Qiaohong; Du, Mengmeng; Fan, Linggang; Xing, Mingyang; Zhang, Jinlong [Key Lab. for Advanced Materials and Inst. of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Univ. of Science and Technology, Shanghai (China)

2017-03-01

Hollow structures with an efficient light harvesting and tunable interior component offer great advantages for constructing a Z-scheme system. Controlled design of hollow cobalt sulfide (Co{sub 9}S{sub 8}) cubes embedded with cadmium sulfide quantum dots (QDs) is described, using hollow Co(OH){sub 2} as the template and a one-pot hydrothermal strategy. The hollow CdS/Co{sub 9}S{sub 8} cubes utilize multiple reflections of light in the cubic structure to achieve enhanced photocatalytic activity. Importantly, the photoexcited charge carriers can be effectively separated by the construction of a redox-mediator-free Z-scheme system. The hydrogen evolution rate over hollow CdS/Co{sub 9}S{sub 8} is 134 and 9.1 times higher than that of pure hollow Co{sub 9}S{sub 8} and CdS QDs under simulated solar light irradiation, respectively. Moreover, this is the first report describing construction of a hollow Co{sub 9}S{sub 8} based Z-scheme system for photocatalytic water splitting, which gives full play to the advantages of light-harvesting and charges separation. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Proceedings: 1996 EPRI conference on innovative approaches to electricity pricing: Managing the transition to market-based pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-03-01

This report presents the proceedings from the EPRI conference on innovative approaches to electricity pricing. Topics discussed include: power transmission pricing; retail pricing; price risk management; new pricing paradigms; changes from cost-based to a market-based pricing scheme; ancillary services; retail market strategies; profitability; unbundling; and value added services. This is the leading abstract. Papers are processed separately for the databases

Causes of the EU ETS price drop: Recession, CDM, renewable policies or a bit of everything?—New evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, Nicolas; Fuss, Sabine; Grosjean, Godefroy; Edenhofer, Ottmar

2014-01-01

The price of EU allowances (EUAs) in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) fell from almost 30€/tCO 2 in mid-2008 to less than 5€/tCO 2 in mid-2013. The sharp and persistent price decline has sparked intense debates both in academia and among policy-makers about the decisive allowance price drivers. In this paper we examine whether and to what extent the EUA price drop can be justified by three commonly identified explanatory factors: the economic recession, renewable policies and the use of international credits. Capitalizing on marginal abatement cost theory and a broadly extended data set, we find that only variations in economic activity and the growth of wind and solar electricity production are robustly explaining EUA price dynamics. Contrary to simulation-based analyses, our results point to moderate interaction effects between the overlapping EU ETS and renewable policies. The bottom line, however, is that 90% of the variations of EUA price changes remains unexplained by the abatement-related fundamentals. Together, our findings do not support the widely-held view that negative demand shocks are the main cause of the weak carbon price signal. In view of the new evidence, we evaluate the EU ETS reform options which are currently discussed. - Highlights: • We examine whether abatement-related fundamentals justify the EU ETS price drop. • 90% of the variations of EUA price changes remain unexplained. • Variations in economic activity are robustly explaining EUA price dynamics. • Price impact of renewable deployment and international credit use remains moderate. • Reform options are evaluated in the light of the new findings

Splitting the EU ETS. Strengthening the scheme by differentiating its sectoral carbon prices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sijm, J.P.M.; Wetzels, W.; Koutstaal, P.R. [ECN Policy Studies, Petten (Netherlands); Pollitt, H.; Chewpreecha, U. [Cambridge Econometrics, Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2013-05-15

The current EU ETS faces a dilemma. To induce low-carbon investments in the power sector, higher carbon prices are needed, while low carbon prices are needed to reduce the risk of carbon leakage and loss of industrial competitiveness. This study analyses the effects and implications of two alternative policy options to address this price dilemma, i.e. (1) splitting the ETS into two separated sector regimes: one more ambitious regime with a relatively high carbon price for the power sector and a less ambitious regime with a relatively low carbon price for the other sectors covered by the EU ETS (called 'industry'), and (2) imposing a carbon tax on power sector emissions additional to a single ETS carbon price for both industry and the power sector. The study uses modelling scenarios and qualitative assessments to analyse the effects and implications of these policy options. It concludes that, in a world with unequal carbon prices, there is a case for differentiating ETS sectoral carbon prices and that the first-best option to achieve this differentiation is to impose a carbon tax on power sector emissions additional to a single ETS carbon price.

A cost effective CO2 strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

, a scenario-part and a cost-benefit part. Air and sea modes are not analyzed. The model adopts a bottom-up approach to allow a detailed assessment of transport policy measures. Four generic areas of intervention were identified and the likely effect on CO2 emissions, socioeconomic efficiency and other...... are evaluated according to CO2 reduction potential and according to the ‘shadow price’ on a reduction of one ton CO2. The shadow price reflects the costs (and benefits) of the different measures. Comparing the measures it is possible to identify cost effective measures, but these measures are not necessarily...... by the Ministry of Transport, with the Technical University of Denmark as one of the main contributors. The CO2-strategy was to be based on the principle of cost-effectiveness. A model was set up to assist in the assessment. The model consists of a projection of CO2-emissions from road and rail modes from 2020...

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Biomass. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwaiger, H.; Tuerk, A.; Arasto, A.; Vehlow, J.; Kautto, N.; Sijm, J.; Hunder, M.; Brammer, J.

2009-02-01

Within its Energy and Climate Package, adopted by the European Parliament in December 2008, the European commission set a 10% minimum for the market share of renewables in the transport sector in 2020. To find the appropriate instruments to reach this target and the instrument mix with which biomass use in general could be best stimulated are the main questions of this project. An important instrument of the European Climate Policy is the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), which started operation in 2005. Previous work done within Bioenergy NoE showed that only a high share of auctioning of allowances and a high CO2 price provide necessary incentives for a higher biomass use. According to the Energy and Climate Package, all allowances will be auctioned in the energy sector from 2013 on, with exceptions for a few CEE countries. Based on work done within the project, a model has been developed to analyse at which CO2 price biomass becomes competitive in case of 100 per cent auctioning or at a lower level. The European Commission furthermore decided not to include the road transport sector into the EU-ETS until 2020. Whether the inclusion of the road transport sector in the EU-ETS, could help introducing biofuels, a separate trading scheme for biofuels should be set up, or biofuels should be addressed with other policy instruments, was another main question of this project. The first result shows that an integrated scheme would hardly have any effects on the use of liquid biofuels in the transportation sector, but might cause higher CO2 prices for the energy and industry sector. A separate trading scheme has been implemented in the UK in 2008, California is planning such as scheme in addition to include the road transport sector into the future ETS. Within this project the design of such as system has been elaborated based on the comparison of several policy instruments to increase the use of liquid biofuels in the transportation sector. Policy interaction

Co-Movement of Major Commodity Price Returns : Time-Series Assessment

OpenAIRE

de Nicola, Francesca; De Pace, Pierangelo; Hernandez, Manuel A.

2014-01-01

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the degree of co-movement among the nominal price returns of 11 major energy, agricultural and food commodities based on monthly data between 1970 and 2013. A uniform-spacings testing approach, a multivariate dynamic conditional correlation model and a rolling regression procedure are used to study the extent and the time-evolution of uncondi...

Revisiting Environmental Kuznets Curves through the energy price lens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodríguez, Miguel; Pena-Boquete, Yolanda; Pardo-Fernández, Juan Carlos

2016-01-01

The goal of this paper is to provide new insights to elucidate the inconclusive results from the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) empirical literature. For the first time in empirical literature, an econometric analysis includes the relative prices for several energy sources. The paper provides strong evidence on the relevance of energy prices to CO_2 emissions. Accordingly, one reason for the lack of agreement in the EKC literature may be the absence of energy prices in empirical exercises. The presence of relative energy price changes in the econometric specification confirms a monotonic and positive relationship between CO_2 and gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, we may conclude that there is a decoupling process but without reaching any turning point on that relationship. The policy implications are straightforward. Direct climate action by policy makers is required to break the positive relationship between CO_2 and GDP. That conclusion has been reinforced by the reduction of energy prices since the middle of 2014. Otherwise, the trend in energy prices may reverse the relative decarbonisation processes accounted for in recent years in major developed countries. - Highlights: •EKC literature usually dismiss the major influence of energy prices. •Relative energy prices invalidate the evidence in favour of the EKC hypothesis. •Results may explain some contradictory observations found in the EKC literature. •Nowadays reduction in energy prices may break decarbonisation trends. •Direct action by policymakers is required to break the positive GDP-CO_2 link.

31 CFR 56.2 - Sales price.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sales price. 56.2 Section 56.2 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance DOMESTIC GOLD AND SILVER OPERATIONS SALE OF SILVER § 56.2 Sales price. Sales of silver will be at prices offered through the competitive...

European Union-Emission Trading Scheme: outlook for the chemical industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coussy, P.; Alberola, E.

2013-01-01

From 2013, under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), Europe will cap its emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and per-fluorocarbons (PFC) from the chemical industry. Besides, 336 chemical industry facilities will be forced to limit their emissions at 45.8 million tons of CO 2 per year from 2013 to 2020. At date August 1, 2012, almost 70% of the carbon credits issued by the clean development mechanism (CDM) were carried out mainly through the destruction of hydro-fluorocarbons (HFC-23) (42%) and N 2 O (22%). The contribution of emission reductions through chemical processes in the Joint Implementation (JI) projects is smaller but still amounted to 32% of all projects. From 1 May 2013 the European Union will refuse CDM and JI credits from emission reductions of HFC-23 and N 2 O. The issues of the introduction of the chemical industry in the EU-ETS in the context of low CO 2 prices and limited validity of CDM and JI chemical projects are high. Therefore, domestic CO 2 emissions reductions from energy consumption of the chemistry sector will take a larger share. (authors)

Plasma for electrification of chemical industry: a case study on CO2 reduction

Science.gov (United States)

van Rooij, G. J.; Akse, H. N.; Bongers, W. A.; van de Sanden, M. C. M.

2018-01-01

Significant growth of the share of (intermittent) renewable power in the chemical industry is imperative to meet increasingly stricter limits on CO2 exhaust that are being implemented within Europe. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of a plasma process that converts input CO2 into a pure stream of CO to aid in renewable energy penetration in this sector. A realistic process design is constructed to serve as a basis for an economical analysis. The manufacturing cost price of CO is estimated at 1.2 kUS ton-1 CO. A sensitivity analysis shows that separation is the dominant cost factor, so that improving conversion is currently more effective to lower the price than e.g. energy efficiency.

Nonlinear Pricing of Information Goods

OpenAIRE

Arun Sundararajan

2003-01-01

This paper analyzes optimal pricing for information goods under incomplete information, when both unlimited-usage (fixed-fee) pricing and usage-based pricing are feasible, and administering usage-based pricing may involve transaction costs. It is shown that offering fixed- fee pricing in addition to a non-linear usage-based pricing scheme is always profit-improving in the presence of any non-zero transaction costs, and there may be markets in which a pure fixed-fee is optimal. This implies th...

HiCoDG: a hierarchical data-gathering scheme using cooperative multiple mobile elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Le, Duc; Oh, Hoon; Yoon, Seokhoon

2014-12-17

In this paper, we study mobile element (ME)-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that use mobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG) scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC) and the mobile relay (MR). MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP) optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS)-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS)-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to the MR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP)-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperforms mTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption.

HiCoDG: A Hierarchical Data-Gathering Scheme Using Cooperative Multiple Mobile Elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duc Van Le

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study mobile element (ME-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that usemobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC and the mobile relay (MR. MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to theMR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperformsmTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption.

CO{sub 2} emissions from future cars in the Nordic countries - including analysis of the effect on the power system of 500.000 electric cars in the Nordic countries; CO{sub 2} udledning fra fremtidens personbiler i Norden - med delanalyse af betydningen for el-systemet af 500.000 el-biler i Norden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-01-15

Detailed calculations of the power system in Scandinavia and Germany in 2020 are made, including the countries' known and specific plans for CO{sub 2} reduction and increased use of renewable energy. The calculations analyzed three scenarios for how increased electric power consumption pulls investments in the power sector by 2020. It is shown that only if the countries through grants schemes and other incentives directly link increased consumption of electricity for electric vehicles with greater demands for investments in renewable energy, the CO{sub 2} emissions from electric vehicles will decrease significantly. Such a direct linkage is assessed not to become the case with the existing frame-work and objectives of the EU countries and Norway. The average of the more detailed calculations show a CO{sub 2} emission from electric cars in 2020 of just 650 g CO{sub 2}/kWh (excluding upstream emissions), which is about 10% lower than previously estimated. Towards 2020 increased efficiency of conventional cars (diesel) will probably be a cheaper way to achieve CO{sub 2} reductions in the transport sector than through an expansion with a larger number of electric cars. If oil prices rise to around $ 150/barrel or more, while the price of batteries for electric vehicles drops significantly in the period, this will result, however, is challenged. The same costs are assumed for development and production of diesel and electric cars. For electric cars there will be additional costs for batteries and charging infrastructure. The on manufacturers' pricing strategies for different types of cars have not been considered. The report demonstrates that it will very likely be more expensive to reduce CO{sub 2} emissions from transport compared with, for example the costs in electric power and heat producing sectors that are subject to EU quota system. It can therefore be considered whether a larger part of the EU's reduction goals in the next 10-20 years should be

The welfare effects of different pricing schemes for electricity distribution in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria

2004-01-01

The main components of electricity prices can be divided into the wholesale price, the price of network operations and taxes. Even if the wholesale price is determined efficiently, total welfare can be significantly disturbed if network operations are priced inefficiently. In this study, we calculate network prices based on four alternative methods. These are marginal cost pricing, Ramsey pricing, FDC-pricing and optimal two-part tariffs. The welfare effects on the prevailing pricing system are compared. We show that potentially significant improvements in welfare can be achieved by using marginal cost prices or optimal two-part tariffs. Also Ramsey pricing indicates that prevailing prices are inefficient

The welfare effects of different pricing schemes for electricity distribution in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria

2004-01-01

The main components of electricity prices can be divided into the wholesale price, the price of network operations and taxes. Even if the wholesale price is determined efficiently, total welfare can be significantly disturbed if network operations are priced inefficiently. In this study, we calculate network prices based on four alternative methods. These are marginal cost pricing, Ramsey pricing, FDC-pricing and optimal two-part tariffs. The welfare effects on the prevailing pricing system are compared. We show that potentially significant improvements in welfare can be achieved by using marginal cost prices or optimal two-part tariffs. Also Ramsey pricing indicates that prevailing prices are inefficient. (Author)

Effects of high energy prices on scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions. Final report; Energiepreise und Klimaschutz. Wirkung hoher Energietraegerpreise auf die CO{sub 2}-Emissionsminderung bis 2030. Abschlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matthes, Felix Christian; Graichen, Verena; Harthan, Ralph O.; Repenning, Julia [Oeko-Institut, Berlin (Germany); Horn, Manfred [DIW Berlin (Germany); Krey, Volker; Markewitz, Peter; Martinsen, Dag [Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany). Programmgruppe STE

2008-05-15

Against the background of high increases in the prices of the primary energy carriers crude oil, natural gas and hard coal, which are traded on international markets, three scenarios of the price development of the most important energy carriers are developed. Using energy price assumptions, a scenario analysis is undertaken with regard to the development of CO{sub 2} emissions in Germany as a whole as well as in terms of the different energy sectors. The emission scenarios are analysed with respect to the electricity industry in Germany using both IKARUS, the energy system model geared towards macroeconomic optimisation, and ELIAS, the sector model based on microeconomic considerations. The model analyses are supplemented by an overview of literature with regard to similar model analyses. (orig.)

The effect of CO2 regulations on the cost of corn ethanol production

Science.gov (United States)

Plevin, R. J.; Mueller, S.

2008-04-01

To explore the effect of CO2 price on the effective cost of ethanol production we have developed a model that integrates financial and emissions accounting for dry-mill corn ethanol plants. Three policy options are modeled: (1) a charge per unit of life cycle CO2 emissions, (2) a charge per unit of direct biorefinery emissions only, and (3) a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS). A CO2 charge on life cycle emissions increases production costs by between 0.005 and 0.008 l-1 per 10 Mg-1 CO2 price increment, across all modeled plant energy systems, with increases under direct emissions somewhat lower in all cases. In contrast, a LCFS increases the cost of production for selected plant energy systems only: a LCFS requiring reductions in average fuel global warming intensity (GWI) with a target of 10% below the 2005 baseline increases the production costs for coal-fired plants only. For all other plant types, the LCFS operates as a subsidy. The findings depend strongly on the magnitude of a land use change adder. Some land use change adders currently discussed in the literature will push the GWI of all modeled production systems above the LCFS target, flipping the CO2 price from a subsidy to a tax.

Renewable energy and CO_2 abatement in Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcantonini, Claudio; Valero, Vanessa

2017-01-01

In order to combat global warming, Italy has committed to reduce its CO_2 emissions. To this end, it has significantly encouraged renewable energy development through a variety of support schemes, ranging from green certificates to feed-in and premium tariffs. As a result, the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, in particular from solar and wind energy, has risen considerably over the past years. In this paper we review the Italian support schemes for wind and solar energy and estimate the cost of abating CO_2 emissions by generating electricity from these two sources of energy for the period 2008–2011. The results show that the average costs for wind were around 165 €/tCO_2. For solar, they were much higher, around 1000 €/tCO_2, as solar energy received much higher remunerations than wind energy. These costs were much higher than in Germany. This was due to the differences between the level of incentives and the different power systems. - Highlights: • We estimate the cost of reducing CO_2 emissions by wind and solar energy in Italy in 2008–2011. • The average costs for wind were around 165 €/tCO_2. • The average costs for solar were much higher, around 1000 €/tCO_2. • Those costs were much higher than in Germany. • This was due to the differences in the levels of incentives and to the different power systems.

Novel concepts for CO2 capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dijkstra, J.W.; Jansen, D.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the possibilities for power generation with CO 2 capture using envisaged key technologies: gas turbines, membranes and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). First, the underlying programs in the Netherlands and at ECN are introduced. Then the key technologies are introduced, and concepts using these technologies are discussed. A literature overview of systems for power generation with fuel cells in combination with CO 2 capture is presented. Then a novel concept is introduced. This concept uses a water gas shift membrane reactor to convert the CO and H 2 in the SOFC anode off-gas to gain a CO 2 rich stream, which can be used for sequestration without elaborate treatment. Several implementation schemes of the technique are discussed such as atmospheric systems and hybrid SOFC-GT systems

CO_2-mitigation options for the offshore oil and gas sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Tuong-Van; Tock, Laurence; Breuhaus, Peter; Maréchal, François; Elmegaard, Brian

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The possibilities for reducing offshore CO_2-emissions, by CO_2-capture, waste heat recovery and electrification are assessed. • Multi-objective optimisation, process modelling, economic and environmental analyses are used for evaluating system designs. • A reduction of more than 15% of the total CO_2-emissions can be achieved for the present case study. • High sensitivity of the avoidance costs to the natural gas price and CO_2-tax. - Abstract: The offshore extraction of oil and gas is an energy-intensive process leading to the production of CO_2 and methane, discharged into the atmosphere, and of chemicals, rejected into the sea. The taxation of these emissions, in Norway, has encouraged the development of more energy-efficient and environmental-friendly solutions, of which three are assessed in this paper: (i) the implementation of waste heat recovery, (ii) the installation of a CO_2-capture unit and (iii) the platform electrification. A North Sea platform is taken as case study, and these three options are modelled, analysed and compared, using thermodynamic, economic and environmental indicators. The results indicate the benefits of all these options, as the total CO_2-emissions can be reduced by more than 15% in all cases, while the avoidance costs vary widely and are highly sensitive to the natural gas price and CO_2-tax.

Optimal scheduling for enhanced coal bed methane production through CO2 injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yuping; Zheng, Qipeng P.; Fan, Neng; Aminian, Kashy

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A novel deterministic optimization model for CO 2 -ECBM production scheduling. • Maximize the total profit from both sales of natural gas and CO 2 credits trading in the carbon market. • A stochastic model incorporating uncertainties and dynamics of NG price and CO 2 credit. - Abstract: Enhanced coal bed methane production with CO 2 injection (CO 2 -ECBM) is an effective technology for accessing the natural gas embedded in the traditionally unmineable coal seams. The revenue via this production process is generated not only by the sales of coal bed methane, but also by trading CO 2 credits in the carbon market. As the technology of CO 2 -ECBM becomes mature, its commercialization opportunities are also springing up. This paper proposes applicable mathematical models for CO 2 -ECBM production and compares the impacts of their production schedules on the total profit. A novel basic deterministic model for CO 2 -ECBM production including the technical and chemical details is proposed and then a multistage stochastic programming model is formulated in order to address uncertainties of natural gas price and CO 2 credit. Both models are nonlinear programming problems, which are solved by commercial nonlinear programming software BARON via GAMS. Numerical experiments show the benefits (e.g., expected profit gain) of using stochastic models versus deterministic models

Analysis of a decision model in the context of equilibrium pricing and order book pricing

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, D. C.; Schmitt, T. A.; Schäfer, R.; Guhr, T.; Wolf, D. E.

2014-12-01

An agent-based model for financial markets has to incorporate two aspects: decision making and price formation. We introduce a simple decision model and consider its implications in two different pricing schemes. First, we study its parameter dependence within a supply-demand balance setting. We find realistic behavior in a wide parameter range. Second, we embed our decision model in an order book setting. Here, we observe interesting features which are not present in the equilibrium pricing scheme. In particular, we find a nontrivial behavior of the order book volumes which reminds of a trend switching phenomenon. Thus, the decision making model alone does not realistically represent the trading and the stylized facts. The order book mechanism is crucial.

Outline for the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. CO2 emissions up to 2030; Verkenning voor Rotterdam Climate Initiative. CO2-emissies tot 2030

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plomp, A.J.; Wetzels, W.; Seebregts, A.J.; Kroon, P [ECN Beleidsstudies, Petten (Netherlands)

2013-04-15

The Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI) aims to reduce the CO2 emissions within the city and port of Rotterdam by 50% in 2025 as compared to 1990. This target translates into a total emission of 12 Mton of CO2. In this study, Rotterdam's CO2 emissions have been estimated for the future years 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030 based on autonomous developments combined with a policy framework that is assumed to be fixed. This study only explores the sectors Energy and Industry and Freight transport within Rotterdam. The results demonstrate that: (a) CO2 emissions resulting from the sector Energy and Industry increase from 26.5 Mton CO2 in 2011 to 33.8 Mton CO2 in 2020, and slightly decrease afterwards to 29.4 Mton CO2 in 2025 and 2030; and (b) CO2 emissions resulting from Freight transport increase from 1.0 Mton CO2 in 2011 to 1.4 Mton CO2 in 2025 and increase further to 1.6 Mton in 2030. This means that these sectors alone already exceed the emission target, and that substantial additional effort will be needed to attain the 50% CO2 reduction target. The estimated CO2 emissions are lower than those reported in the previous study that was published in 2010. Differences are mainly due to lower CO2 emissions from power plants as compared to the study in 2010. These are influenced by many different developments, such as high gas prices, low electricity prices and low CO2 prices. These estimates have been calculated bottom-up as much as possible and with the help of sector models. The realisation of Maasvlakte 2 has been taken into account in these results, which means more space for chemical plants and substantially more freight transfer and transport in Rotterdam [Dutch] Het Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI) heeft als doel om de CO2-emissie van de gemeente Rotterdam, inclusief de haven, in 2025 met 50% te reduceren ten opzichte van het basisjaar 1990. Deze doelstelling betekent een emissieniveau van 12 Mton CO2 in 2025 binnen de gemeente Rotterdam. In deze studie is de CO2

Putting a price on carbon. Econometric essays on the European Union emissions trading scheme and its impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aatola, P.

2013-06-01

This dissertation examines the main instrument of the European Union climate policy, the emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) during its first years. Emission trading provides a cost-efficient way to reduce emissions. It creates a price on carbon dioxide and thereby incentives for cleaner production. The four empirical studies in this dissertation provide new information on the price determination in the emissions trading market, market efficiency and market interactions with the electricity markets. This information is useful for many purposes. It benefits the market participants who make choice between trading of emission allowances in the market and abatement of emissions. For the authorities and policy planners the price signal and the efficiency of the markets reveal unique real-time information on marginal abatement costs, impacts of policy decisions and impacts of institutional design of this policy instrument. To be a well-functioning policy instrument the EU ETS should create a credible price signal and efficient markets for trading allowances. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the EU ETS markets and the price of the European Union emissions allowance, EUA, with econometric time series models. A large data set on market fundamentals is used to analyze the price series. The results of this dissertation reveal that EU ETS is functions well. Carbon has a price that reflects to a large extent the market fundamentals in the study period. The markets are maturing even if not fully informational efficient yet. Interactions with electricity markets are close. The impact of price of carbon on the price of electricity is positive but spatially uneven. In the long run, also climate change affects the electricity bill. The first study of this dissertation investigates the price determination in the market. The empirical results based on years 2005-2011 show that the price of the EUA is largely determined by the market fundamentals. Especially the price of

48 CFR 217.7404-2 - Price ceiling.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Price ceiling. 217.7404-2 Section 217.7404-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM... Contract Actions 217.7404-2 Price ceiling. UCAs shall include a not-to-exceed price. ...

Low-complexity co-tier interference reduction scheme in open-access overlaid cellular networks

KAUST Repository

Radaydeh, Redha Mahmoud Mesleh

2011-12-01

This paper addresses the effect of co-tier interference on the performance of multiuser overlaid cellular networks that share the same available resources. It assumed that each macrocell contains a number of self-configurable and randomly located femtocells that employ the open-access control strategy to reduce the effect of cross-tier interference. It is also assumed that the desired user equipment (UE) can access only one of the available channels, maintains simple decoding circuitry with single receive antenna, and has limited knowledge of the instantaneous channel state information (CSI) due to resource limitation. To mitigate the effect of co-tier interference in the absence of the CSI of the desired UE, a low-complexity switched-based scheme for single channel selection based on the predicted interference levels associated with available channels is proposed for the case of over-loaded channels. Through the analysis, new general formulation for the statistics of the resulting instantaneous interference power and some performance measures are presented. The effect of the switching threshold on the efficiency and performance of the proposed scheme is studied. Numerical and simulation results to clarify the usefulness of the proposed scheme in reducing the impact of co-tier interference are also provided. © 2011 IEEE.

CO2 emission standards and investment in carbon capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eide, Jan; Sisternes, Fernando J. de; Herzog, Howard J.; Webster, Mort D.

2014-01-01

Policy makers in a number of countries have proposed or are considering proposing CO 2 emission standards for new fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposed standards require coal-fired power plants to have approximately the same carbon emissions as an uncontrolled natural gas-fired power plant, effectively mandating the adoption of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies for new coal plants. However, given the uncertainty in the capital and operating costs of a commercial scale coal plant with CCS, the impact of such a standard is not apparent a priori. We apply a stochastic generation expansion model to determine the impact of CO 2 emission standards on generation investment decisions, and in particular for coal plants with CCS. Moreover, we demonstrate how the incentive to invest in coal-CCS from emission standards depends on the natural gas price, the CO 2 price, and the enhanced oil recovery price, as well as on the level of the emission standard. This analysis is the first to consider the entire power system and at the same time allow the capture percentage for CCS plants to be chosen from a continuous range to meet the given standard at minimum cost. Previous system level studies have assumed that CCS plants capture 90% of the carbon, while studies of individual units have demonstrated the costs of carbon capture over a continuous range. We show that 1) currently proposed levels of emission standards are more likely to shift fossil fuel generation from coal to natural gas rather than to incentivize investment in CCS; 2) tighter standards that require some carbon reductions from natural gas-fired power plants are more likely than proposed standards to incentivize investments in CCS, especially on natural gas plants, but also on coal plants at high gas prices; and 3) imposing a less strict emission standard (emission rates higher than natural gas but lower than coal; e.g., 1500 lbs/MWh) is more likely than current proposals to incentivize

Joining the CCS Club. Insights from a Northwest European CO2 Pipeline Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massol, Olivier; Tchung-Ming, Stephane

2012-01-01

The large-scale diffusion of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) imposes the construction of a sizeable CO 2 pipeline infrastructure. This paper analyzes the conditions for a widespread adoption of CCS by a group of emitters that can be connected to a common pipeline system. It details a quantitative framework capable of assessing how the tariff structure and the regulatory constraints imposed on the pipeline operator impact the overall cost of CO 2 abatement via CCS. This modeling framework is applied to the case of a real European CO 2 pipeline project. We find that the obligation to use cross-subsidy-free pipeline tariffs has a minor impact on the minimum CO 2 price required to adopt the CCS. In contrast, the obligation to charge non-discriminatory prices can either impede the adoption of CCS or significantly raises that price. Besides, we compared two alternative regulatory frameworks for CCS pipelines: a common European organization as opposed to a collection of national regulations. The results indicate that the institutional scope of that regulation has a limited impact on the adoption of CCS compared to the detailed design of the tariff structure imposed to pipeline operators. (authors)

Wholesale electricity, CO2, and gas market functioning. 2012-2013 report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-10-01

The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) monitors transactions by participants on the French wholesale electricity and gas markets since 2006 and it monitors CO 2 trading since late 2010 in cooperation with the AMF. This power is granted by Articles L. 131-2 and L. 131-3 of the Energy Code. Therefore, in the context of its monitoring mission, CRE ensures that wholesale energy market prices are consistent with the technical and economic fundamentals of these markets. In particular, CRE strives to verify that no market power is exercised in such a way that a participant abuses its situation to attain abnormal prices, notably with regard to its costs. This mission is now also part of the European Regulation on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency of 25 October 2011 (REMIT). The REMIT organises wholesale energy market monitoring, prohibits market abuse (insider trading and market manipulation), and requires market participants to disclose any inside information they hold. It entrusts market monitoring, at European level, to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in cooperation with national regulatory authorities responsible for national investigations and sanctions. The Brottes law of 15 April 2013 expressly entrusted CRE with the mission of ensuring REMIT implementation and CoRDis jurisdiction to sanction any breaches of the regulation. The energy markets are experiencing major change. The emergence of unconventional hydrocarbons in North America has profoundly changed the global balance of gas and oil production. American gas market prices dropped due to abundant supply causing a significant decline in imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from across the Atlantic and a strong incentive to produce electricity in gas-fired plants to the detriment of coal-fired plants. This significant decline in demand for coal in the United States significantly weakened global coal prices. World energy demand is mainly driven by emerging markets, particularly

Cordon Pricing Considering Air Pollutants Emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahriar Afandizadeh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the issue of air pollutants emission for the optimal and sustainable determination of cordon location, toll level, and price of park and ride (P&R. Although air pollutants emission decreases within the cordon by the implementation of cordon pricing scheme, it may increase outside the cordon and the whole network. Hence, air pollutants emission may only transfer from inside of the cordon to its outside. Therefore, in this paper, a multi-objective bi-level optimization model is developed. A solution algorithm is also presented based on the second version of strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2. The results reveal that this multi-objective model can be a useful tool for the sustainable and optimal design of the cordon and P&R scheme. In addition, cordon pricing is a multi-objective problem. Therefore, it is necessary to consider air pollutants emission. By choosing another non-dominated result in the solution space, air pollutants emission outside the cordon and the whole network can be reduced without a significant reduction in social welfare.

On pricing of interest rate derivatives

OpenAIRE

Di Matteo, T.; Airoldi, M.; Scalas, E.

2004-01-01

At present, there is an explosion of practical interest in the pricing of interest rate (IR) derivatives. Textbook pricing methods do not take into account the leptokurticity of the underlying IR process. In this paper, such a leptokurtic behaviour is illustrated using LIBOR data, and a possible martingale pricing scheme is discussed.

Implications of CO2 Emissions Trading for Short-run Electricity Outcomes in Northwest Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Y.; Sijm, J.P.M.; Hobbs, B.F.; Lise, W.

2008-02-01

We examine the short-run implications of CO2 trading for power production, prices, emissions, and generator profits in northwest Europe in 2005. Simulation results from a transmission-constrained oligopoly model are compared with theoretical analyses to quantify price increases and windfall profits earned by generators. The analyses indicate that the rates at which CO2 costs are passed through to wholesale prices are affected by market competitiveness, merit order changes, and elasticities of demand and supply. Emissions trading results in large windfall profits, much but not all of which is due to free allocation of allowances. Profits also increase for some generators because their generation mix has low emissions, and so they benefit from electricity price increases. Most emission reductions appear to be due to demand response, not generation redispatch

Implications of CO2 Emissions Trading for Short-run Electricity Outcomes in Northwest Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Y. [School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts and School of Engineering, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343 (United States); Sijm, J.P.M. [Policy Studies Unit, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, P.O. Box 37154, 1020 Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hobbs, B.F. [Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Ames Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lise, W. [IBS Research and Consultancy, Aga Hamami Caddesi, Aga Han 17/6, Cihangir, 34433 Beyoglu, Istanbul (Turkey)

2008-02-15

We examine the short-run implications of CO2 trading for power production, prices, emissions, and generator profits in northwest Europe in 2005. Simulation results from a transmission-constrained oligopoly model are compared with theoretical analyses to quantify price increases and windfall profits earned by generators. The analyses indicate that the rates at which CO2 costs are passed through to wholesale prices are affected by market competitiveness, merit order changes, and elasticities of demand and supply. Emissions trading results in large windfall profits, much but not all of which is due to free allocation of allowances. Profits also increase for some generators because their generation mix has low emissions, and so they benefit from electricity price increases. Most emission reductions appear to be due to demand response, not generation redispatch.

Carbon prices and CCS investment: A comparative study between the European Union and China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renner, Marie

2014-01-01

Carbon Capture and Storage is considered as a key option for climate change mitigation; policy makers and investors need to know when CCS becomes economically attractive. Integrating CCS in a power plant adds significant costs which can be offset by a sufficient CO 2 price. However, most markets have failed: currently, the weak carbon price threatens CCS deployment in the European Union (EU). In China, a carbon regulation is appearing and CCS encounters a rising interest. This study investigates two questions: how much is the extra-cost of a CCS plant in the EU in comparison with China? Second, what is the CO 2 price beyond which CCS plants become more profitable than reference plants in the EU and in China? To address these issues, I conducted a literature review on public studies about CCS costs. To objectively assess the profitability of CCS plants, I constructed a net present value model to calculate the Levelised Cost of Electricity and the breakeven CO 2 price. CCS plants become the most profitable plant type beyond 115 €/tCO 2 in the EU vs. 45 €/tCO 2 in China (offshore transport and storage costs). I advise on the optimal plant type choice depending on the CO 2 price in both countries. - Highlights: • I develop a method to objectively update and compare CCS costs in the EU and China. • To represent investment choices, intra and inter CO 2 switching prices are required. • EU CCS plants are profitable for a CO 2 price higher than 115 €/t (offshore storage). • Chinese CCS plants are profitable beyond 45 €/tCO 2 (35 €/tCO 2 with onshore storage). • With 2030 projections, CCS (coal) plants are profitable in China but not in the EU

[International reference prices and cost minimization analysis for the regulation of medicine prices in Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Vacca, Caludia; Acosta, Angela; Rodriguez, Ivan

2011-01-01

To suggest a scheme of decision making on pricing for medicines that are part of Free Regulated Regime, a regulation way of the pharmaceutical pricing policy in Colombia. It includes two regulation tools: international reference prices and a cost minimization analysis methodology. Following the current pricing policy, international reference prices were built with data from five countries for selected medicines, which are under Free Regulated Regime. The cost minimization analysis methodology includes selection of those medicines under Free Regulated Regime with possible comparable medicines, selection of comparable medicines, and treatment costs evaluation. As a result of the estimate of International Reference Prices, four medicines showed in the domestic pharmaceutical market a bigger price than the Reference Price. A scheme of decision-making was design containing two possible regulation tools for medicines that are part of Free Regulated Regime: estimate of international reference prices and cost minimization analysis methodology. This diagram would be useful to assist the pricing regulation of Free Regulated Regime in Colombia. As present results shows, international reference prices make clear when domestic prices are higher than those of reference countries. In the current regulation of pharmaceutical prices in Colombia, the international reference price has been applied for four medicines. Would be suitable to extend this methodology to other medicines of high impact on the pharmaceutical expenditure, in particular those covered by public funding. The availability of primary sources about treatment costs in Colombia needs to be improved as a requirement to develop pharmaco-economic evidence. SISMED is an official database that represents an important primary source of medicines prices in Colombia. Nevertheless, having into account that SISMED represents an important advantage of transparency in medicines prices, it needs to be improved in quality and data

CO2 cost pass-through and windfall profits in the power sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijm, Jos; Neuhoff, Karsten; Yihsu Chen

2006-01-01

In order to cover their CO 2 emissions, power companies receive most of the required EU ETS allowances for free. In line with economic theory, these companies pass on the costs of these allowances in the price of electricity. This article analyses the implications of the EU ETS for the power sector, notably the impact of free allocation of CO 2 emission allowances on the price of electricity and the profitability of power generation. As well as some theoretical reflections, the article presents empirical and model estimates of CO 2 cost pass-through for Germany and The Netherlands, indicating that pass-through rates vary between 60 and 100% of CO 2 costs, depending on the carbon intensity of the marginal production unit and various other market- or technology-specific factors. As a result, power companies realize substantial windfall profits, as indicated by the empirical and model estimates presented in the article. (Author)

Increasing CO2 storage in oil recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jessen, K.; Kovscek, A.R.; Orr, F.M. Jr.

2005-01-01

Oil fields offer a significant potential for storing CO 2 and will most likely be the first large scale geological targets for sequestration as the infrastructure, experience and permitting procedures already exist. The problem of co-optimizing oil production and CO 2 storage differs significantly from current gas injection practice due to the cost-benefit imbalance resulting from buying CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery projects. Consequently, operators aim to minimize the amount of CO 2 required to sweep an oil reservoir. For sequestration purposes, where high availability of low cost CO 2 is assumed, the design parameters of enhanced oil recovery processes must be re-defined to optimize the amount of CO 2 left in the reservoir at the time of abandonment. To redefine properly the design parameters, thorough insight into the mechanisms controlling the pore scale displacement efficiency and the overall sweep efficiency is essential. We demonstrate by calculation examples the different mechanisms controlling the displacement behavior of CO 2 sequestration schemes, the interaction between flow and phase equilibrium and how proper design of the injection gas composition and well completion are required to co-optimize oil production and CO 2 storage. [Author

Increasing CO2 storage in oil recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jessen, Kristian; Kovscek, Anthony R.; Orr, Franklin M.

2005-01-01

Oil fields offer a significant potential for storing CO 2 and will most likely be the first large scale geological targets for sequestration as the infrastructure, experience and permitting procedures already exist. The problem of co-optimizing oil production and CO 2 storage differs significantly from current gas injection practice due to the cost-benefit imbalance resulting from buying CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery projects. Consequently, operators aim to minimize the amount of CO 2 required to sweep an oil reservoir. For sequestration purposes, where high availability of low cost CO 2 is assumed, the design parameters of enhanced oil recovery processes must be re-defined to optimize the amount of CO 2 left in the reservoir at the time of abandonment. To redefine properly the design parameters, thorough insight into the mechanisms controlling the pore scale displacement efficiency and the overall sweep efficiency is essential. We demonstrate by calculation examples the different mechanisms controlling the displacement behavior of CO 2 sequestration schemes, the interaction between flow and phase equilibrium and how proper design of the injection gas composition and well completion are required to co-optimize oil production and CO 2 storage

Solar processing of CO2 and H2O, routes for solar fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flammant, G.; Abanades, St.

2008-01-01

Complete text of publication follows: Concentrated solar energy provides heat in the temperature range 200 C - 3000 C for concentration ratio variation from 10 to 10 000 (three orders of magnitude). Consequently, solar-driven thermochemical processes may be proposed to produce hydrogen from water decomposition and to reduce carbon dioxide. This lecture gives an overview of such processes. High temperature thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production by water splitting are currently studied at PROMES lab, particularly 2-step and 3-step cycles based on the following reaction scheme, MOox → MOred + 1/2 O 2 (high temperature solar step), MOred + H 2 O → MOox + H 2 (low temperature non solar step). Volatile and non-volatile oxide cycles are developed from the chemical and the engineering points of view. A similar reaction scheme may be proposed to reduce carbon dioxide with concentrated solar energy (Fig. 1), it comes, MOox → MOred + 1/2 O 2 (high temperature solar step), MOred + CO 2 → MOox + CO (low temperature non solar step). As a result gas mixtures such as CO 2 /H 2 and CO/H 2 may be produced by solar energy. Such mixtures are the reactants for liquid fuels production (solar fuels)

Comparing post-combustion CO2 capture operation at retrofitted coal-fired power plants in the Texas and Great Britain electric grids

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Stuart M.; Chalmers, Hannah L.; Webber, Michael E.; King, Carey W.

2011-04-01

This work analyses the carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system operation within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Great Britain (GB) electric grids using a previously developed first-order hourly electricity dispatch and pricing model. The grids are compared in their 2006 configuration with the addition of coal-based CO2 capture retrofits and emissions penalties from 0 to 100 US dollars per metric ton of CO2 (USD/tCO2). CO2 capture flexibility is investigated by comparing inflexible CO2 capture systems to flexible ones that can choose between full- and zero-load CO2 capture depending on which operating mode has lower costs or higher profits. Comparing these two grids is interesting because they have similar installed capacity and peak demand, and both are isolated electricity systems with competitive wholesale electricity markets. However, differences in capacity mix, demand patterns, and fuel markets produce diverging behaviours of CO2 capture at coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired facilities are primarily base load in ERCOT for a large range of CO2 prices but are comparably later in the dispatch order in GB and consequently often supply intermediate load. As a result, the ability to capture CO2 is more important for ensuring dispatch of coal-fired facilities in GB than in ERCOT when CO2 prices are high. In GB, higher overall coal prices mean that CO2 prices must be slightly higher than in ERCOT before the emissions savings of CO2 capture offset capture energy costs. However, once CO2 capture is economical, operating CO2 capture on half the coal fleet in each grid achieves greater emissions reductions in GB because the total coal-based capacity is 6 GW greater than in ERCOT. The market characteristics studied suggest greater opportunity for flexible CO2 capture to improve operating profits in ERCOT, but profit improvements can be offset by a flexibility cost penalty.

Comparing post-combustion CO2 capture operation at retrofitted coal-fired power plants in the Texas and Great Britain electric grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, Stuart M; Webber, Michael E; Chalmers, Hannah L; King, Carey W

2011-01-01

This work analyses the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture system operation within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Great Britain (GB) electric grids using a previously developed first-order hourly electricity dispatch and pricing model. The grids are compared in their 2006 configuration with the addition of coal-based CO 2 capture retrofits and emissions penalties from 0 to 100 US dollars per metric ton of CO 2 (USD/tCO 2 ). CO 2 capture flexibility is investigated by comparing inflexible CO 2 capture systems to flexible ones that can choose between full- and zero-load CO 2 capture depending on which operating mode has lower costs or higher profits. Comparing these two grids is interesting because they have similar installed capacity and peak demand, and both are isolated electricity systems with competitive wholesale electricity markets. However, differences in capacity mix, demand patterns, and fuel markets produce diverging behaviours of CO 2 capture at coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired facilities are primarily base load in ERCOT for a large range of CO 2 prices but are comparably later in the dispatch order in GB and consequently often supply intermediate load. As a result, the ability to capture CO 2 is more important for ensuring dispatch of coal-fired facilities in GB than in ERCOT when CO 2 prices are high. In GB, higher overall coal prices mean that CO 2 prices must be slightly higher than in ERCOT before the emissions savings of CO 2 capture offset capture energy costs. However, once CO 2 capture is economical, operating CO 2 capture on half the coal fleet in each grid achieves greater emissions reductions in GB because the total coal-based capacity is 6 GW greater than in ERCOT. The market characteristics studied suggest greater opportunity for flexible CO 2 capture to improve operating profits in ERCOT, but profit improvements can be offset by a flexibility cost penalty.

Techno-economic study of CO2 capture from an existing coal-fired power plant: MEA scrubbing vs. O2/CO2 recycle combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, D.; Croiset, E.; Douglas, P.L.; Douglas, M.A.

2003-01-01

The existing fleet of modern pulverised coal fired power plants represents an opportunity to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years providing that efficient and economical CO 2 capture technologies are available for retrofit. One option is to separate CO 2 from the products of combustion using conventional approaches such as amine scrubbing. An emerging alternative, commonly known as O 2 /CO 2 recycle combustion, involves burning the coal with oxygen in an atmosphere of recycled flue gas. Both approaches can be retrofitted to existing units, however they consume significant amounts of energy to capture, purify and compress the CO 2 for subsequent sequestration. This paper presents a techno-economic comparison of the performance of the two approaches. The comparison was developed using the commercial process simulation packages, Hysys and Aspen Plus. The results show that both processes are expensive options to capture CO 2 from coal power plants, however O 2 /CO 2 appears to be a more attractive retrofit than MEA scrubbing. The CO 2 capture cost for the MEA case is USD 53/ton of CO 2 avoided, which translates into 3.3 cents/kW h. For the O 2 /CO 2 case the CO 2 capture cost is lower at USD 35/ton of CO 2 avoided, which translates into 2.4 cents/kW h. These capture costs represent an approximate increase of 20-30% in current electricity prices

Possible use of Fe/CO2 fuel cells for CO2 mitigation plus H2 and electricity production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rau, Greg H.

2004-01-01

The continuous oxidation of scrap iron in the presence of a constant CO 2 -rich waste gas stream and water is evaluated as a means of sequestering anthropogenic CO 2 as well as generating hydrogen gas and electricity. The stoichiometry of the net reaction, Fe 0 + CO 2 + H 2 O → FeCO 3 + H 2 , and assumptions about reaction rates, reactant and product prices/values and overhead costs suggest that CO 2 might be mitigated at a net profit in excess of $30/tonne CO 2 . The principle profit center of the process would be hydrogen production, alone providing a gross income of >$160/tonne CO 2 reacted. However, the realization of such fuel cell economics depends on a number of parameters including: (1) the rate at which the reaction can be sustained, (2) the areal and volumetric density with which H 2 and electricity can be produced, (3) the purity of the H 2 produced, (4) the transportation costs of the reactants (Fe, CO 2 and H 2 O) and products (FeCO 3 or Fe(HCO 3 ) 2 ) to/from the cells and (5) the cost/benefit trade-offs of optimizing the preceding variables in a given market and regulatory environment. Because of the carbon intensity of conventional iron metal production, a net carbon sequestration benefit for the process can be realized only when waste (rather than new) iron and steel are used as electrodes and/or when Fe(HCO 3 ) 2 is the end product. The used electrolyte could also provide a free source of Fe 2+ ions for enhancing iron-limited marine photosynthesis and, thus, greatly increasing the CO 2 sequestration potential of the process. Alternatively, the reaction of naturally occurring iron oxides (iron ore) with CO 2 can be considered for FeCO 3 formation and sequestration, but this foregoes the benefits of hydrogen and electricity production. Use of Fe/CO 2 fuel cells would appear to be particularly relevant for fossil fuel gasification/steam reforming systems given the highly concentrated CO 2 they generate and given the existing infrastructure they

CO2 laser technology for advanced particle accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pogorelsky, I.V.

1996-06-01

Short-pulse, high-power CO 2 lasers open new prospects for development of ultra-high gradient laser-driven electron accelerators. The advantages of λ=10 μm CO 2 laser radiation over the more widely exploited solid state lasers with λ∼1 μm are based on a λ 2 -proportional ponderomotive potential, λ-proportional phase slippage, and λ-proportional scaling of the laser accelerator structures. We show how a picosecond terawatt CO 2 laser that is under construction at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility may benefit the ATF's experimental program of testing far-field, near-field, and plasma accelerator schemes

Simulated effect of calcification feedback on atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Han; Cao, Long

2016-01-01

Ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 reduces pH and saturation state of calcium carbonate materials of seawater, which could reduce the calcification rate of some marine organisms, triggering a negative feedback on the growth of atmospheric CO2. We quantify the effect of this CO2-calcification feedback by conducting a series of Earth system model simulations that incorporate different parameterization schemes describing the dependence of calcification rate on saturation state of CaCO3. In a scenario with SRES A2 CO2 emission until 2100 and zero emission afterwards, by year 3500, in the simulation without CO2-calcification feedback, model projects an accumulated ocean CO2 uptake of 1462 PgC, atmospheric CO2 of 612 ppm, and surface pH of 7.9. Inclusion of CO2-calcification feedback increases ocean CO2 uptake by 9 to 285 PgC, reduces atmospheric CO2 by 4 to 70 ppm, and mitigates the reduction in surface pH by 0.003 to 0.06, depending on the form of parameterization scheme used. It is also found that the effect of CO2-calcification feedback on ocean carbon uptake is comparable and could be much larger than the effect from CO2-induced warming. Our results highlight the potentially important role CO2-calcification feedback plays in ocean carbon cycle and projections of future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. PMID:26838480

Price Sensitivity of Demand for Prescription Drugs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skipper, Lars; Simonsen, Marianne; Skipper, Niels

This paper investigates price sensitivity of demand for prescription drugs using drug purchase records for at 20% random sample of the Danish population. We identify price responsiveness by exploiting exogenous variation in prices caused by kinked reimbursement schemes and implement a regression ...... education and income are, however, more responsive to the price. Also, essential drugs that prevent deterioration in health and prolong life have lower associated average price sensitivity....

HiCoDG: A Hierarchical Data-Gathering Scheme Using Cooperative Multiple Mobile Elements †

Science.gov (United States)

Van Le, Duc; Oh, Hoon; Yoon, Seokhoon

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study mobile element (ME)-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that use mobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG) scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC) and the mobile relay (MR). MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP) optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS)-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS)-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to the MR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP)-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperforms mTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption. PMID:25526356

C2A2 Project - CO2 Capture by Advances Amines process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thybaud, Nathalie

2014-06-01

This publication presents the operation principles and the obtained results for a research demonstrator developed in Le Havre by EDF and Alstom for CO 2 capture by post-combustion. The implemented technology, developed by Alstom and DOX Chemical is named Advanced Amines Processes (AAP). This process comprises the use of solvent and a specific process scheme (the Advanced Flow Scheme or AFS). The smoke treatment chain of the installation is described, and the valorisation of combustion by-products and of smoke processing operations is indicated. The capacities of the installation are given. Systems aimed at increasing the solvent lifetime are described, and some operational parameters are indicated. Various aspects related to the demonstrator design, construction and operation are discussed. Results obtained during tests between October 2013 and March 2014 are given and discussed in terms of quantity of captured CO 2 , of energy performance, of solvent management and consumption, of emissions, of corrosion, of exploitation organisation, and of instrumentation verification and data quality

The long-run effects of economic, demographic, and political indices on actual and potential CO2 emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Adom, Philip Kofi; Kwakwa, Paul Adjei; Amankwaa, Afua

2018-07-15

This study examines the long-run drivers of potential and actual CO 2 emissions in Ghana, a sub-Saharan Africa country. The use of the former helps address the reverse causality problem and capture the true long-run effects. The Stock-Watson dynamic OLS is used with data from 1970 to 2014. The result shows that potential CO 2 emissions improve model efficiency. Income (except in "other sector") and financial development (except in manufacturing and construction sector) have compelling positive and negative effects on actual and potential CO 2 emissions, respectively. A higher price (oil and electricity) reduces actual and potential CO 2 emissions, but electricity price is more vital in residential, buildings and commercial and public services sector, while oil price is crucial in the transport sector. Democracy lowers actual and potential CO 2 emissions in the aggregate (insignificant) and transport sectors but raises it in the manufacturing and construction sector. The effect is, however, inconsistent for the remaining sectors. Urbanization raises aggregate actual and potential CO 2 emissions, but the effect is inconsistent for the transport sector. The findings have important implications for policy formulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The CO_2 emission permits market simulation using Continuous Double Auction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartoszczuk, Pawel; Stanczak, Jaroslaw

2016-01-01

In this paper we consider the buying and selling prices of carbon dioxide (CO_2) emission permits in trading models with uncertainty. Permission prices, although usually omitted from standard models, may significantly influence the trading market. We thus construct a more realistic trade model. To do this, we introduced several important changes to the standard model, mainly we added The Continuous Double Action.

An impact assessment of electricity and emission allowances pricing in optimised expansion planning of power sector portfolios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolis, Athanasios I.; Rentizelas, Athanasios A.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → The impact of electricity and CO 2 allowance pricing in power sector is researched. → A stochastic programming approach without recourse is used for the optimisation. → Higher electricity prices may be proportionally beneficial for the power system. → The CO 2 allowance prices may be inversely proportionate with the expected yields. → High CO 2 allowance prices are inhibitors for conventional technology projects. -- Abstract: The present work concerns a systematic investigation of power sector portfolios through discrete scenarios of electricity and CO 2 allowance prices. The analysis is performed for different prices, from regulated to completely deregulated markets, thus representing different electricity market policies. The modelling approach is based on a stochastic programming algorithm without recourse, used for the optimisation of power sector economics under multiple uncertainties. A sequential quadratic programming routine is applied for the entire investigation period whilst the time-dependent objective function is subject to various social and production constraints, usually confronted in power sectors. The analysis indicated the optimal capacity additions that should be annually ordered from each competitive technology in order to substantially improve both the economy and the sustainability of the system. It is confirmed that higher electricity prices lead to higher financial yields of power production, irrespective of the CO 2 allowance price level. Moreover, by following the proposed licensing planning, a medium-term reduction of CO 2 emissions per MW h by 30% might be possible. Interestingly, the combination of electricity prices subsidisation with high CO 2 allowance prices may provide favourable conditions for investors willing to engage on renewable energy markets.

Analysing the impact of renewable electricity support schemes on power prices: The case of wind electricity in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saenz de Miera, Gonzalo; Rio Gonzalez, Pablo del; Vizcaino, Ignacio

2008-01-01

It is sometimes argued that renewables are 'expensive'. However, although it is generally true that the private costs of renewable electricity generation are certainly above those of conventional electricity, that statement fails to consider the social benefits provided by electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E), including environmental and socioeconomic ones. This paper empirically analyses an additional albeit usually neglected benefit: the reduction in the wholesale price of electricity as a result of more RES-E generation being fed into the grid. The case of wind generation in Spain shows that this reduction is greater than the increase in the costs for the consumers arising from the RES-E support scheme (the feed-in tariffs), which are charged to the final consumer. Therefore, a net reduction in the retail electricity price results, which is positive from a consumer point of view. This provides an additional argument for RES-E support and contradicts one of the usual arguments against RES-E deployment: the excessive burden on the consumer

Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

2014-01-01

Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

Causalities between CO2, electricity, and other energy variables during phase I and phase II of the EU ETS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keppler, Jan Horst; Mansanet-Bataller, Maria

2010-01-01

The topic of this article is the analysis of the interplay between daily carbon, electricity and gas price data with the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) for CO 2 emissions. In a first step we have performed Granger causality tests for Phase I of the EU ETS (January 2005 until December 2007) and the first year of Phase II of the EU ETS (2008). The analysis includes both spot and forward markets - given the close interactions between the two sets of markets. The results show that during Phase I coal and gas prices, through the clean dark and spark spread, impacted CO 2 futures prices, which in return Granger caused electricity prices. During the first year of the Phase II, the short-run rent capture theory (in which electricity prices Granger cause CO 2 prices) prevailed. On the basis of the qualitative results of the Granger causality tests we obtained the formulation testable equations for quantitative analysis. Standard OLS regressions yielded statistically robust and theoretically coherent results. (author)

Production of solar fuels by CO2 plasmolysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goede Adelbert P.H.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A storage scheme for Renewable Energy (RE based on the plasmolysis of CO2into CO and O2 has been experimentally investigated, demonstrating high energy efficiency (>50% combined with high energy density, rapid start-stop and no use of scarce materials. The key parameter controlling energy efficiency has been identified as the reduced electric field. Basic plasma parameters including density and temperature are derived from a simple particle and energy balance model, allowing parameter specification of an upscale 100 kW reactor. With RE powered plasmolysis as the critical element, a CO2 neutral energy system becomes feasible when complemented by effective capture of CO2 at the input and separation of CO from the output gas stream followed by downstream chemical processing into hydrocarbon fuels.

Risk neutral second best toll pricing.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

We propose a risk-neutral second best toll pricing scheme to account for the possible no uniqueness : of user equilibrium solutions. The scheme is designed to optimize for the expected objective value : as the UE solution varies within the solution s...

The impact of introducing patient co-payments in Germany on the use of IVF and ICSI: a price-elasticity of demand assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Connolly, M P; Griesinger, G; Ledger, W; Postma, M J

2009-11-01

Authorities concerned by rising healthcare costs have a tendency to target reproductive treatments because of the perception that infertility is a low priority. In 2004 German health authorities introduced a 50% co-payment for patients, in an effort to save cost. We explored the impact of this pricing policy on the utilization of reproductive treatments in Germany. Using aggregated annual in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle data in Germany, we evaluated the relationship between changes in the number of cycles in relation to changes in costs faced by consumers following the introduction of a patient co-payment from 'no fees' to 1500-2000 euros by estimating the short-run price-elasticity of demand. The impact of introducing patient co-payments for IVF/ICSI on the likelihood of switching to other low-cost fertility treatments was evaluated using the cross-price elasticity methodology. RESULTS The reduction in demand for IVF and ICSI cycles in the year following the introduction of patient co-payments resulted in elasticities of -0.41 and -0.34, respectively. The price-elasticity for the combined reduction of IVF/ICSI in relation to the co-payment was estimated to be -0.36. The cross-price elasticity for clomifene was close to zero (-0.01) suggesting that demand for these interventions are independent of each other and no substitution occurred. We report price elasticities for IVF and ICSI of -0.41 and -0.34 after introducing a 500-2000 euros co-payment. These findings likely represent short-run elasticities that are likely to vary over time as factors that influence the supply and demand for fertility treatments change.

Coordination Scheme for Restructuring Business Operation of the Single Period Newsvendor Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chiuh-Cheng Chyu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a coordination scheme for a single period newsvendor problem when both supplier and retailer of the supply chain agree to change the business operation from a market decision power sharing system (Model 1 to a unique decision maker system (Model 2. The supplier is assumed to be a risk-averse decision maker and he will undertake the product quality risk in both models. Model 1 is game theoretic, where the supplier controls the wholesale price, but the retailer controls the order quantity and market price. The bargaining process ends when the supplier has found a wholesale price that maximizes the value of his sales revenue minus the product quality cost. Model 2 is a centralized system where the supplier possesses all decision powers of the market. In general, Model 2 will generate higher total revenue than Model 1. The aim of this research is to propose a satisfying compromise based on consignment policy to resolve the revenue-sharing conflict in Model 2 due to the additional revenue. An example is provided to illustrate the two models and the proposed coordination scheme, along with managerial insights on the models’ benefits. The impacts of several parameters on the scheme are also presented and discussed.

CO2-emission trading and green markets for renewable electricity. WILMAR - deliverable 4.1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azuma-Dicke, N.; Weber, C.; Morthorst, P.E.; Ravn, H.F.; Schmidt, R.

2004-06-01

This report is Deliverable 4.1 of the EU project 'Wind Power Integration in Liberalised Electricity Markets' (WILMAR) and de-scribes the application of two policy instruments, Tradable Emissions Permits (TEPs) and Tradable Green Certificates (TGCs) for electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the European Union and the implications for implementation in the Wilmar model. The introduction of a common emission-trading system in the EU is expected to have an upward effect on the spot prices at the electric-ity market. The variations of the spot price imply that some types of power generation may change the situation from earning money to losing money despite the increasing spot price. Heavy restrictions on emissions penalise the fossil-fuelled technologies significantly, and the associated increase in the spot price need not compensate for this. Therefore, a market of TEPs is expected to have a significant influence on the electricity spot price. However, the expected price level of TEPs are met with great uncertainty and a study of a number of economical studies shows a price span between zero and 270 USD per ton of CO 2 depending on the participation or non-participation of countries in the scheme. The price-determination at the TGC market is expected to be closely related to the price at the power spot market as the RE-producers of electricity will have expectations to the total price paid for the energy produced, i.e., for the price of electricity at the spot market plus the price per kWh obtained at the green certificate mar-ket. In the Wilmar model, the TGC market can either be handled exogenously, i.e., the increase in renewable capacity and an average annual TGC price are determined outside the model, or a simple TGC module is developed, including the long-term supply functions for the most relevant renewable technologies and an overall TGC quota. Both solutions are rather simple, but to develop a more advanced model for the TGC market seems to be

Towards Efficient Energy Management of Smart Buildings Exploiting Heuristic Optimization with Real Time and Critical Peak Pricing Schemes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheraz Aslam

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The smart grid plays a vital role in decreasing electricity cost through Demand Side Management (DSM. Smart homes, a part of the smart grid, contribute greatly to minimizing electricity consumption cost via scheduling home appliances. However, user waiting time increases due to the scheduling of home appliances. This scheduling problem is the motivation to find an optimal solution that could minimize the electricity cost and Peak to Average Ratio (PAR with minimum user waiting time. There are many studies on Home Energy Management (HEM for cost minimization and peak load reduction. However, none of the systems gave sufficient attention to tackle multiple parameters (i.e., electricity cost and peak load reduction at the same time as user waiting time was minimum for residential consumers with multiple homes. Hence, in this work, we propose an efficient HEM scheme using the well-known meta-heuristic Genetic Algorithm (GA, the recently developed Cuckoo Search Optimization Algorithm (CSOA and the Crow Search Algorithm (CSA, which can be used for electricity cost and peak load alleviation with minimum user waiting time. The integration of a smart Electricity Storage System (ESS is also taken into account for more efficient operation of the Home Energy Management System (HEMS. Furthermore, we took the real-time electricity consumption pattern for every residence, i.e., every home has its own living pattern. The proposed scheme is implemented in a smart building; comprised of thirty smart homes (apartments, Real-Time Pricing (RTP and Critical Peak Pricing (CPP signals are examined in terms of electricity cost estimation for both a single smart home and a smart building. In addition, feasible regions are presented for single and multiple smart homes, which show the relationship among the electricity cost, electricity consumption and user waiting time. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme for single and multiple smart

Decoupling of CO2 emissions and GDP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Rocha de Salles Lima

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objetive of this work is to analyze the variation of CO2 emissions and GDP per capita throughout the years and identify the possible interaction between them. For this purpose, data from the International Energy Agency was collected on two countries, Brazil and the one with the highest GDP worldwide, the United States. Thus, the results showed that CO2 emissions have been following the country’s economic growth for many years. However, these two indicators have started to decouple in the US in 2007 while in Brazil the same happened in 2011. Furthermore, projections for CO2 emissions are made until 2040, considering 6 probable scenarios. These projections showed that even if the oil price decreases, the emissions will not be significantly affected as long as the economic growth does not decelerate.

Efficiency and abatement costs of energy-related CO2 emissions in China: A slacks-based efficiency measure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yongrok; Zhang, Ning; Zhou, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We employ a slacks-based DEA model to estimate the energy efficiency and shadow prices of CO 2 emissions in China. ► The empirical study shows that China was not performing CO 2 -efficiently. ► The average of estimated shadow prices of CO 2 emissions is about $7.2. -- Abstract: This paper uses nonparametric efficiency analysis technique to estimate the energy efficiency, potential emission reductions and marginal abatement costs of energy-related CO 2 emissions in China. We employ a non-radial slacks-based data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for estimating the potential reductions and efficiency of CO 2 emissions for China. The dual model of the slacks-based DEA model is then used to estimate the marginal abatement costs of CO 2 emissions. An empirical study based on China’s panel data (2001–2010) is carried out and some policy implications are also discussed.

Computable error estimates of a finite difference scheme for option pricing in exponential Lévy models

KAUST Repository

Kiessling, Jonas

2014-05-06

Option prices in exponential Lévy models solve certain partial integro-differential equations. This work focuses on developing novel, computable error approximations for a finite difference scheme that is suitable for solving such PIDEs. The scheme was introduced in (Cont and Voltchkova, SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 43(4):1596-1626, 2005). The main results of this work are new estimates of the dominating error terms, namely the time and space discretisation errors. In addition, the leading order terms of the error estimates are determined in a form that is more amenable to computations. The payoff is only assumed to satisfy an exponential growth condition, it is not assumed to be Lipschitz continuous as in previous works. If the underlying Lévy process has infinite jump activity, then the jumps smaller than some (Formula presented.) are approximated by diffusion. The resulting diffusion approximation error is also estimated, with leading order term in computable form, as well as the dependence of the time and space discretisation errors on this approximation. Consequently, it is possible to determine how to jointly choose the space and time grid sizes and the cut off parameter (Formula presented.). © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Price and access charge discrimination in electricity distribution: an application to the Chilean case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raineri, R.; Giaconi, P.

2005-01-01

This paper presents and analyzes a model of electricity distribution in Chile with three alternative regulatory pricing contract schemes for assigning a common capacity cost to final customers and competitive energy sellers. The first scheme involves Ramsey Pricing, while under the second and third schemes the monopoly chooses final prices and access charges subject either to a peak-load Physical Cap or a total revenue Price Cap constraint. In addition, we consider circumstances in which the regulator does not know consumer demand, the monopoly cannot price discriminate beyond a range defined by the marginal cost as a floor and the stand-alone cost as a ceiling, and access charges are set at the fully distributed cost allocation level currently in force. The model is calibrated with Chilean data, and demonstrates that in terms of social welfare the fully distributed cost contract scheme currently in effect can be improved by discriminatory pricing complemented by certain of the analyzed constraints. (author)

Question marks concerning CO2 trade after 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wellander, Dag

2006-01-01

Different aspects of the Kyoto protocol are discussed, from the (in)significance of the Kyoto protocol, the inefficiency of the CO 2 trade system, to questions about how electricity prices will be affected in the EU, and what will be the solution in the future when the Kyoto agreement ends in 2012

Co-Movement Analysis of Italian and Greek Electricity Market Wholesale Prices by Using a Wavelet Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George P. Papaioannou

2015-10-01

Full Text Available We study the co-evolution of the dynamics or co-movement of two electricity markets, the Italian and Greek, by studying the dynamics of their wholesale day-ahead prices, simultaneously in the time-frequency domain. Co-movement is alternatively referred as market integration in financial economics and markets are internationally integrated if the reward for risk is identical regardless the market one trades in. The innovation of this work is the application of wavelet analysis and more specifically the wavelet coherence to estimate the dynamic interaction between these two prices. Our method is compared to other generic econometric tools used in Economics and Finance namely the dynamic correlation and coherence analysis, to study the co-movement of variables of the type related to these two fields. Our study reveals valuable information that we believe will be extremely useful to the authorities as well as other agents participating in these markets to better prepare the national markets towards the European target model, a framework in which the two markets will be coupled.

CO2 laser technology for advanced particle accelerators. Revision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pogorelsky, I.V.

1996-06-01

Short-pulse, high-power CO 2 lasers open new prospects for development of ultra-high gradient laser-driven electron accelerators. The advantages of λ=10 μm CO 2 laser radiation over the more widely exploited solid state lasers with λ∼1 μm are based on a λ 2 -proportional ponderomotive potential, λ-proportional phase slippage distance, and λ-proportional scaling of the laser accelerator structures. We show how a picosecond terawatt CO 2 laser that is under construction at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility may benefit the ATF's experimental program of testing far-field, near-field, and plasma accelerator schemes

Multi-factor energy price models and exotic derivatives pricing

Science.gov (United States)

Hikspoors, Samuel

The high pace at which many of the world's energy markets have gradually been opened to competition have generated a significant amount of new financial activity. Both academicians and practitioners alike recently started to develop the tools of energy derivatives pricing/hedging as a quantitative topic of its own. The energy contract structures as well as their underlying asset properties set the energy risk management industry apart from its more standard equity and fixed income counterparts. This thesis naturally contributes to these broad market developments in participating to the advances of the mathematical tools aiming at a better theory of energy contingent claim pricing/hedging. We propose many realistic two-factor and three-factor models for spot and forward price processes that generalize some well known and standard modeling assumptions. We develop the associated pricing methodologies and propose stable calibration algorithms that motivate the application of the relevant modeling schemes.

A policy instruments working paper on reducing CO2 emissions from the transportation sector in Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-11-01

The cost effectiveness of policy instruments for reducing CO 2 emissions from transportation was studied. Cost effectiveness analyzed the impact of the policy instruments in reducing CO 2 emissions against the costs that were incurred while obtaining CO 2 reductions. The approach to defining sustainable transportation was identified which integrates three different visions of the transportation challenge: (1) changing urban form to reduce the need for transportation, (2) advancing technology to reduce the ecological impact of transportation, and (3) changing prices of transportation so that users pay for the full social and environmental costs of their decisions. The general consensus was that while fuel tax on gasoline for automobiles appeared to be the most cost effective option available, all revenue generating options, (e.g.,parking pricing, reference energy factor-related rebates, full cost road pricing and taxation) rated higher on the cost effectiveness indexes than any of the other policy instruments considered. refs., tabs., figs

Essays on energy derivatives pricing and financial risk management =

Science.gov (United States)

Madaleno, Mara Teresa da Silva

This thesis consists of an introductory chapter (essay I) and five more empirical essays on electricity markets and CO2 spot price behaviour, derivatives pricing analysis and hedging. Essay I presents the structure of the thesis and electricity markets functioning and characteristics, as well as the type of products traded, to be analyzed on the following essays. In the second essay we conduct an empirical study on co-movements in electricity markets resorting to wavelet analysis, discussing long-term dynamics and markets integration. Essay three is about hedging performance and multiscale relationships in the German electricity spot and futures markets, also using wavelet analysis. We concentrate the investigation on the relationship between coherence evolution and hedge ratio analysis, on a time-frequency-scale approach, between spot and futures which conditions the effectiveness of the hedging strategy. Essays four, five and six are interrelated between them and with the other two previous essays given the nature of the commodity analyzed, CO2 emission allowances, traded in electricity markets. Relationships between electricity prices, primary energy fuel prices and carbon dioxide permits are analyzed on essay four. The efficiency of the European market for allowances is examined taking into account markets heterogeneity. Essay five analyzes stylized statistical properties of the recent traded asset CO2 emission allowances, for spot and futures returns, examining also the relation linking convenience yield and risk premium, for the German European Energy Exchange (EEX) between October 2005 and October 2009. The study was conducted through empirical estimations of CO2 allowances risk premium, convenience yield, and their relation. Future prices from an ex-post perspective are examined to show evidence for significant negative risk premium, or else a positive forward premium. Finally, essay six analyzes emission allowances futures hedging effectiveness, providing

A ten year perspective on power balances and CO2 emissions in Northern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tennbakk, Berit; Torgersen, Lasse

2003-10-01

The electric power balance and electricity trade will change a lot in Northern Europe over the next decade. Independent of the price of emission quotas, the balance will worsen, especially for Sweden and Germany, but the absolute numbers are strongly dependent on the demand growth. New production capacity will be built primarily in the Netherlands and Norway. Finland will also have a growing need of imported power until the new nuclear power plant is running, around 2012. Denmark will remain a net exporter. If the construction of new generating capacity is slowed down by economic or administrative reasons, the raising prices will lead to higher production in the Nordic coal fired plants. The CO 2 emissions will increase and the Nordic countries will become net importers of emission quotas, even at a quota price of 20 Euros per ton CO 2 , since new natural gas plants in Norway and Netherlands will outperform existing coal plants in Poland and Germany at high quota prices

Efficient Power Scheduling in Smart Homes Using Hybrid Grey Wolf Differential Evolution Optimization Technique with Real Time and Critical Peak Pricing Schemes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muqaddas Naz

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With the emergence of automated environments, energy demand by consumers is increasing rapidly. More than 80% of total electricity is being consumed in the residential sector. This brings a challenging task of maintaining the balance between demand and generation of electric power. In order to meet such challenges, a traditional grid is renovated by integrating two-way communication between the consumer and generation unit. To reduce electricity cost and peak load demand, demand side management (DSM is modeled as an optimization problem, and the solution is obtained by applying meta-heuristic techniques with different pricing schemes. In this paper, an optimization technique, the hybrid gray wolf differential evolution (HGWDE, is proposed by merging enhanced differential evolution (EDE and gray wolf optimization (GWO scheme using real-time pricing (RTP and critical peak pricing (CPP. Load shifting is performed from on-peak hours to off-peak hours depending on the electricity cost defined by the utility. However, there is a trade-off between user comfort and cost. To validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, simulations have been carried out in MATLAB. Results illustrate that using RTP, the peak to average ratio (PAR is reduced to 53.02%, 29.02% and 26.55%, while the electricity bill is reduced to 12.81%, 12.012% and 12.95%, respectively, for the 15-, 30- and 60-min operational time interval (OTI. On the other hand, the PAR and electricity bill are reduced to 47.27%, 22.91%, 22% and 13.04%, 12%, 11.11% using the CPP tariff.

Technical support for an enabling policy framework for carbon dioxide capture and geological storage. Task 3. Incentivising CO2 capture and storage in the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Coninck, H.; Groenenberg, H.

2007-03-01

To date CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is not deployed at a commercial scale, and a range of policy instruments could be used to provide adequate incentives for large scale deployment of CCS in the European Union. Five groups of incentives are discussed: (1) the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (weak and strong version); (2) Member-State-based public financial support through investment support, feed-in subsidies or a CO2 price guarantee; (3) an EU-level low-carbon portfolio standard with tradable certificates; (4) an EU-wide CCS obligation for all new fossil-fuel-based power capacity, and (5) public-private partnerships for realizing a CO2 pipeline infrastructure. The nature of the policy, mainly in case the scale of the instrument matters and much public financial is involved, determines whether it will be implemented by the EU or at the Member-State level. Support for CCS projects at the Member-State level, however, will require amendment of the Community Guidelines for State Aid for Environmental Protection

The Clean-Development Mechanism, stochastic permit prices and energy investments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hieronymi, Philipp; Schüller, David

2015-01-01

We analyze the impact on energy investments stemming from different emission permit classes, by considering permits that are allocated inside the European Emission Trading Scheme and secondary Certified Emission Reduction (sCER) permits originating from the Clean Development Mechanism. One price taking firm which is subject to emission regulation has the choice to invest in gas or wind power plant. The firm faces uncertainty regarding stochastically evolving permit prices, while it receives a premium on the electricity price for wind energy. As a first step, we determine the value of the option to invest into a gas power plant over time. Then, we calculate the investment probability of a gas power investment in a range of policy scenarios. We find that allowing the usage of sCER permits in the present policy framework has a positive impact on gas power investment. Decoupling the price processes has a similar effect. If the quota of sCER permits is doubled, the decrease in the investment probability for wind power is large. We carry out sensitivity tests for different parameter values, and find that investment behavior changes significantly with differing interest rates, the wind energy premium and volatility. - Highlights: • We model the impact of two CO 2 permit classes on energy investments. • We present a real-options framework accounting for uncertainty. • Clean Development Mechanism permits have a negative influence on investment into renewable energy. • Interest rate and volatility values have a strong impact on the results

The functioning of the electricity, CO2 and natural gas wholesale markets in 2011-2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-11-01

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CRE) monitors electricity and natural gas transactions carried out between suppliers, traders and producers, transactions carried out on the organised markets as well as cross-border trades. CRE's mission of monitoring wholesale markets aims to ensure that wholesale market energy prices are consistent with the technical and economic fundamentals of these markets. In particular, CRE strives to verify that no market power is exercised in such a way that a participant abuses its situation to attain abnormal prices, notably with regard to its costs. This task is now also in line with the Regulation on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency known as REMIT. This fifth surveillance report of the CRE presents and analyses the developments of wholesale markets in France in 2011 and the first semester of 2012 for electricity, gas and CO 2 . It also details the investigations carried out in relation to the behaviour of stakeholders or in case of particular market events. On the electricity market, the average spot price increased slightly and was established at euro 49/MWh (base-load), i.e. an increase of 3% compared with 2010; the price of the Calendar 2013 product increased following the German moratorium on nuclear energy before gradually decreasing over the second half of the year. The announcement of the moratorium also resulted in a price differential reversal with Germany (German prices becoming more expensive) until February 2012. Volumes traded also remained stable despite a drop in trade on the futures market. On the gas market, the LNG offer in Europe and France clearly fell on account of trade-offs with the Asian market where demand greatly increased following the accident of Fukushima, with gas replacing nuclear in electricity generation. Gas prices rose on average but remained more stable than in 2010 both on spot markets and futures markets. They progressed, however, at a lower rate than oil products on which long

Global mechanisms for sustaining and enhancing PES schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farley, Josh; Moulaert, Azur; Lee, Dan; Krause, Abby; Aquino, Andre; Daniels, Amy

2010-01-01

An international payment for ecosystem service (IPES) schemes may be one of the only mechanisms available to stimulate the provision of vital non-marketed ecosystem services at the global level, as those nations that benefit from global ecosystem services (GES) cannot readily force other sovereign nations to provide them. Currently, international trade offers trillions of dollars in incentives for countries to convert natural capital into marketable goods and services, and few payments to entice countries to conserve natural capital in order to sustain critical non-marketed ecosystem services. We examine the biophysical characteristics of climate change and biodiversity to understand the obstacles to developing effective IPES schemes. We find that none of the existing schemes for providing GES are adequate, given the scale of the problem. A cap and auction scheme for CO 2 emissions among wealthy nations could fund IPES and simultaneously deter carbon emissions. To disburse funds, we should adapt Brazil's ICMS ecologico, and apportion available funds to targeted countries in proportion to how well they meet specific criteria designed to measure the provision of GES. Individual countries can then develop their own policies for increasing provision of these services, ensured of compensation if they do so. Indirect IPES should include funding for freely available technologies that protect or provide GES, such as the low carbon energy alternatives that will be essential for curbing climate change. Markets rely on the price mechanism to generate profits, which rations technology to those who can afford it, reducing adoption rates, innovation and total value. (author)

CO2 emission costs and Gas/Coal competition for power production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santi, Federico

2005-01-01

This paper demonstrates how a CO 2 emission reduction programme can change the competition between the two power production technologies which will probably dominate the future of the Italian power industry: the coal fired USC steam power plant and the natural gas fired CCGT power plant. An economic value of the CO 2 emission is calculated, in order to make the short-run-marginal-cost (or the long-run-marginal-cost). equal for both technologies, under a CO 2 emission trading scheme and following a single-plant specific CO 2 emission homogenizing approach [it

Performance evaluation of integrated trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suamir, IN.; Tassou, S.A.

2013-01-01

Food retailing is one of the most energy intensive sectors of the food cold chain. Its environmental impacts are significant not only because of the indirect effect from CO 2 emissions at the power stations but also due to the direct effect arising from refrigerant leakage to the atmosphere. The overall energy efficiency of supermarkets can be increased by integrating the operation of CO 2 refrigeration and trigeneration systems. This paper compares three alternative schemes in a medium size supermarket. Experimental results and simulation studies have shown that the best scheme for energy and GHG emissions savings is the one where the cooling produced by the trigeneration system is used to condense the CO 2 fluid in the refrigeration system to ensure subcritical operation throughout the year. It is shown that this system can produce 30% energy savings and over 40% greenhouse gas emissions savings over conventional refrigeration and indoor environment control systems in supermarkets.

Analysis of CO2 emissions reduction in the Malaysian transportation sector: An optimisation approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustapa, Siti Indati; Bekhet, Hussain Ali

2016-01-01

The demand for transport services is expected to rise, causing the CO 2 emissions level to increase as well. In Malaysia, the transportation sector accounts for 28% of total CO 2 emissions, of which 85% comes from road transport. By 2020, Malaysia is targeting a reduction in CO 2 emissions intensity by up to 40% and in this effort the role of road transport is paramount. This paper attempts to investigate effective policy options that can assist Malaysia in reducing the CO 2 emissions level. An Optimisation model is developed to estimate the potential CO 2 emissions mitigation strategies for road transport by minimising the CO 2 emissions under the constraint of fuel cost and demand travel. Several mitigation strategies have been applied to analyse the effect of CO 2 emissions reduction potential. The results demonstrate that removal of fuel price subsidies can result in reductions of up to 652 ktonnes of fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions can be decreased by 6.55%, which would enable Malaysia to hit its target by 2020. CO 2 emissions can be reduced significantly, up to 20%, by employing a combination of mitigation policies in Malaysia. This suggests that appropriate mitigation policies can assist the country in its quest to achieve the CO 2 emissions reduction target. - Highlights: • An optimisation model for CO 2 emissions reduction in Malaysia's road transport is formulated. • Sensible policy options to achieve the CO 2 emissions reduction target are provided. • Increase in fuel price has induced shift towards fuel efficient vehicles. • The CO 2 emissions can be reduced up to 5.7 MtCO 2 with combination of mitigation policies.

Analysing the impact of renewable electricity support schemes on power prices: The case of wind electricity in Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saenz de Miera, Gonzalo [Department of Public Economics, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049 (Spain); del Rio Gonzalez, Pablo [Institute for Public Policies, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, CSIC, C/Albasanz 26-28, 28037 Madrid (Spain); Vizcaino, Ignacio [Iberdrola, C/Tomas Redondo, 1, Madrid 28033 (Spain)

2008-09-15

It is sometimes argued that renewables are 'expensive'. However, although it is generally true that the private costs of renewable electricity generation are certainly above those of conventional electricity, that statement fails to consider the social benefits provided by electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E), including environmental and socioeconomic ones. This paper empirically analyses an additional albeit usually neglected benefit: the reduction in the wholesale price of electricity as a result of more RES-E generation being fed into the grid. The case of wind generation in Spain shows that this reduction is greater than the increase in the costs for the consumers arising from the RES-E support scheme (the feed-in tariffs), which are charged to the final consumer. Therefore, a net reduction in the retail electricity price results, which is positive from a consumer point of view. This provides an additional argument for RES-E support and contradicts one of the usual arguments against RES-E deployment: the excessive burden on the consumer. (author)

The plant for co-production of synfuel and electricity with reduced CO{sub 2} emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kler, A.M.; Tyurina, E.A.; Mednikov, A.S. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk (Russian Federation). Energy Systems Inst.

2013-07-01

Consideration is given to the prospective technologies for combined production of synthetic fuel (SF) and electricity. The mathematical models of plant for co-production of synfuel and electricity (PCSE) intended for combined production of electricity and synthesis of methanol and dimethyl ether or membrane-based hydrogen production from coal were developed. They were used in the optimization studies on the installations. As a result of the studies, the design characteristics for the plant elements, the relationships between the SF and electricity productions, etc. were determined. These data were used to identify the ranges of SF price for various prices of fuel, electricity and equipment, and estimate the profitability of SF production. Special attention is paid to modeling of CO{sub 2} removal system as part of PCSE and studies on PCSE optimization. The account is taken of additional capital investments and power consumption in the systems.

48 CFR 970.1504-2 - Price negotiation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Price negotiation. 970.1504-2 Section 970.1504-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AGENCY SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS DOE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACTS Contracting by Negotiation 970.1504-2 Price negotiation. (a) Management and operating contract...

The CO{sub 2} emission permits market simulation using Continuous Double Auction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bartoszczuk, Pawel [Warsaw School of Economics (Poland); Stanczak, Jaroslaw

2016-07-01

In this paper we consider the buying and selling prices of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emission permits in trading models with uncertainty. Permission prices, although usually omitted from standard models, may significantly influence the trading market. We thus construct a more realistic trade model. To do this, we introduced several important changes to the standard model, mainly we added The Continuous Double Action.

The Impact of the EU Emissions Trading System on CO{sub 2} Intensity in Electricity Generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widerberg, Anna (Dept. of Economics, Goeteborgs Univ., Goeteborg (Sweden)); Wraake, Markus (Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd., Stockholm (Sweden)). e-mail: markus.wrake@ivl.se

2009-07-15

Prior to the launch of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in 2005, the electricity sector was widely proclaimed to have more low-cost emission abatement opportunities than other sectors. If this were true, effects of the EU ETS on carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions would likely be visible in the electricity sector. Our study looks at the effect of the price of emission allowances (EUA) on CO{sub 2} emissions from Swedish electricity generation, using an econometric time series analysis for the period 2004-2008. We control for effects of other input prices and hydropower reservoir levels. Our results do not indicate any link between the price of EUA and the CO{sub 2} emissions of Swedish electricity production. A number of reasons may explain this result and we conclude that other determinants of fossil fuel use in Swedish electricity generation probably diminished the effects of the EU ETS

CO2-refrigeration. Investment in an energy efficient supermarket; CO2-koeling. Investeren in een energiezuinige supermarkt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-11-15

Modem entrepreneurs invest in an energy-neutral supermarket. By that they are working on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and a green image of their company. The reduction of energy consumption results in an indirect reduction of CO2 emission by electric power stations. That is why more and more transcritical refrigeration plants with the natural refrigerant CO2, with global warming impact of 1, will be applied. The energy investment deduction scheme EIA, executed by NL Agency, stimulates a large number of energy saving measures which result in a financial profit for the investing owner or manager. [Dutch] Moderne ondememers investeren in een energieneutrale supermarkt. Ze zijn immers bezig met maatschappelijk verantwoord ondememen, verduurzaming en een groene uitstraling van hun bedrijf. Het terugdringen van het energiegebruik reduceert de indirecte CO2-uitstoot bij de elektriciteitscentrale aanzienlijk. Daarom worden steeds meer transkritische koel-vriesinstallaties die werken met het natuurlijke koudemiddel CO2, met een GWP-waarde van 1, toegepast. De Energie-investeringsaftrekregeling EIA, uitgevoerd door Agentschap NL, stimuleert een groot aantal energiebesparende maatregelen die ten goede komen aan de eigenaar of beheerder.

What policy adjustments in the EU ETS truly affected the carbon prices?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Ying; Jia, Jun-Jun; Wang, Xin; Xu, Jin-Hua

2017-01-01

Carbon market becomes increasingly popular as a cost-effective instrument to mitigate CO_2 emissions. However, its construction is a learning-by-doing process, and needs consistent regulatory updates in order to deliver optimal effects. This paper uses the event study method to assess the impacts of different policy adjustments on the EUA returns in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) since 2005. Comparing to existing studies that focus on the impact of a single policy, this paper provides a complementary reference on if and to what extent policy adjustments can impact the carbon prices by classifying all regulatory update events into six categories. Its key findings are as follows. First, aggregate impacts of total 50 events studied are low while impacts of events having underlying negative impacts are higher than those having underlying positive impacts. Second, 24 events have significant impacts on EUA returns and are coherent to their theoretical impacts (except one event). Third, events having negligible impact on EUA returns are those that are announced not for the first time or those having no impact on CO_2 quotas supply and demand. Finally, there are different impact patterns: some events have different impacts on short-end and long-end carbon prices. - Highlights: • Impacts of policy adjustments in the EU ETS on carbon price are investigated. • Aggregate impacts of total 50 events studied are low. • Policy adjustments having underlying negative impacts have a higher impact. • Events that are announced for the first time are apt to have significant impact. • There are different impact patterns of events on EUA spot and futures returns.

41 CFR 51-2.7 - Fair market price.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Fair market price. 51-2.7... WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED § 51-2.7 Fair market price. (a) The Committee is responsible for determining fair market prices, and changes thereto, for commodities and services on the Procurement List. The...

Possible schemes for solar-powered air-conditioning in 2-storey terrace houses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, C.M.; Bono, A.; Prabhakar, A.

2006-01-01

Space cooling is required all year round in the tropics, and probably accounts for a considerable proportion of the cost of electricity. Solar radiation can be channeled into cooling by photovoltaic powered systems and through the relatively new adsorption cycle technology. Two-storey terrace housing appear to have the greatest potential of introducing solar-powered cooling to residential homes. There are two schemes to cool a two-storey terrace housing: 1) By spraying water down the roof a tank, circulated by a pump powered by PV panels on the roof or 2) By replacing the roof with solar hot water collectors and use adsorption cooling chillers to produce air-conditioning for the entire block of terrace houses. In scheme number 1, a preliminary, rough technical evaluation showed that it is possible to pump water to the roof to flow down as a thin film and cool the roof by evaporation to about 40 degree C from about 70 degree C if without water evaporation at the highest insolation rate of the day. Scheme number 2, which uses adsorption chilling technology, requires communal sharing of the air-conditioning facility. The effect of collecting solar heat using the roof is two fold: to absorb solar energy for producing hot water and reducing excess heat input to the house. Preliminary costing demonstrates that solar-powered air-conditioning is within reach of commercialisation, bearing in mind that bulk purchases will dramatically lower the price of a product

Development of longitudinally excited CO2 laser

Science.gov (United States)

Masroon, N. S.; Tanaka, M.; Tei, M.; Uno, K.; Tsuyama, M.; Nakano, H.

2018-05-01

Simple, compact, and affordable discharged-pumped CO2 laser controlled by a fast high voltage solid state switch has been developed. In this study, longitudinal excitation scheme has been adapted for simple configuration. In the longitudinal excitation scheme, the discharge is produced along the direction of the laser axis, and the electrodes are well separated with a small discharge cross-section. Triggered spark gap switch is usually used to switch out the high voltage because of simple and low cost. However, the triggered spark gap operates in the arc mode and suffer from recovery problem causing a short life time and low efficiency for high repetition rate operation. As a result, there is now considerable interest in replacing triggered spark gap switch with solid state switches. Solid state switches have significant advantages compared to triggered spark gap switch which include longer service lifetime, low cost and stable high trigger pulse. We have developed simple and low cost fast high voltage solid state switch that consists of series connected-MOSFETs. It has been installed to the longitudinally excited CO2 laser to realize the gap switch less operation. Characteristics of laser oscillation by varying the discharge length, charging voltage, capacitance and gas pressure have been evaluated. Longer discharge length produce high power of laser oscillation. Optimum charging voltage and gas pressure were existed for longitudinally excited CO2 laser.

The electricity prices in the European Union. The role of renewable energies and regulatory electric market reforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreno, Blanca; López, Ana J.; García-Álvarez, María Teresa

2012-01-01

The European Union electricity market has been gradually liberalized since 1990s. Theoretically, competitive markets should lead to efficiency gains in the economy thus reducing electricity prices. However, there is a controversial debate about the real effects of the electricity liberalization on electricity prices. Moreover, the increased generation of electricity from renewable energies RES-E (Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources) is also integrated in wholesale market reducing wholesale prices, but the final effect over household prices is not clear. In order to contribute to this debate, this paper provides an empirical investigation into the electricity prices determinants. In fact we develop econometric panel models to explore the relationship between the household electricity prices and variables related to the renewable energy sources and the competition in generation electricity market. More specifically we use a panel data set provided by Eurostat and covering 27 European Union countries during the period 1998–2009. Our results suggest that electricity prices increase with the deployment of RES-E and with the expansion of greenhouse gas emissions produced by energy industries- as a European Union CO 2 emission trading scheme exists. Results also reveal that country's characteristics can affect household electricity prices. -- Highlights: ► Electricity liberalized markets should lead to reduce electricity prices. ► The use of renewable energies (RES) reduce wholesale electricity prices. ► However, household electricity prices are increasing in European Union. ► Panel data models are developed to investigate the effect of RES and electricity competition on household electricity prices. ► We find that the deployment of RES increases prices paid by consumers in a liberalized market.

A note on the optimal pricing strategy in the discrete-time Geo/Geo/1 queuing system with sojourn time-dependent reward

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doo Ho Lee

Full Text Available This work studies the optimal pricing strategy in a discrete-time Geo/Geo/1 queuing system under the sojourn time-dependent reward. We consider two types of pricing schemes. The first one is called the ex-post payment scheme where the server charges a price that is proportional to the time a customer spends in the system, and the second one is called ex-ante payment scheme where the server charges a flat price for all services. In each pricing scheme, a departing customer receives the reward that is inversely proportional to his/her sojourn time. The server should make the optimal pricing decisions in order to maximize its expected profits per time unit in each pricing scheme. This work also investigates customer's equilibrium joining or balking behavior under server's optimal pricing strategy. Numerical experiments are also conducted to validate our analysis. Keywords: Optimal pricing, Equilibrium behavior, Geo/Geo/1 queue, Sojourn time-dependent reward

Impacts of carbon pricing, brown coal availability and gas cost on Czech energy system up to 2050

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rečka, L.; Ščasný, M.

2016-01-01

A dynamic partial equilibrium model, TIMES (​The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System), is built to optimize the energy system in a post-transition European country, the Czech Republic. The impacts of overall nine scenarios on installed capacity, capital and fuel costs, air quality pollutant emission, emission of CO_2 and environmental and health damage are quantified for a period up to 2050. These scenarios are built around three different price sets of the EUA (EU allowance) to emit greenhouse gasses alongside a policy that retains the ban on brown coal mining in two Czech mines, a policy that will allow the re-opening of mining areas under this ban (i.e. within the territorial ecological limits), and a low natural gas price assumption. We found that the use of up until now dominant brown coal will be significantly reduced in each scenario, although reopening the coal mines will result in its smaller decline. With low EUA price, hard coal will become the dominant fuel in electricity generation, while nuclear will overtake this position with a 51% or even 65% share assuming the central price of EUA, or high EUA price, respectively. The low price of natural gas will result in an increasing gas share from an almost zero share recently up to about 42%. This stimulus does not however appear at all with low EUA price. Neither of these scenarios will achieve the renewable energy sources 2030 targets and only a high EUA price will lead to almost full de-carbonization of the Czech power system, with fossil fuels representing only 16% of the energy mix. The low EUA price will result in an increase in CO_2 emissions, whereas the high EUA price will reduce CO_2 emission by at least 81% compared to the 2015 reference level. Those scenarios that will result in CO_2 emission reduction will also generate ancillary benefits due to reduction in air quality emissions, on average over the entire period, at least at 38€ per t of avoided CO_2, whereas scenarios that will lead to CO_2

Novel CO₂ Foam Concepts and Injection Schemes for Improving CO₂ Sweep Efficiency in Sandstone and Carbonate Hydrocarbon Formations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Quoc [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering; Hirasaki, George [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States). Department of Chemical Engineering; Johnston, Keith [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Department of Chemical Engineering

2015-02-05

We explored cationic, nonionic and zwitterionic surfactants to identify candidates that have the potential to satisfy all the key requirements for CO₂ foams in EOR. We have examined the formation, texture, rheology and stability of CO₂ foams as a function of the surfactant structure and formulation variables including temperature, pressure, water/CO₂ ratio, surfactant concentration, salinity and concentration of oil. Furthermore, the partitioning of surfactants between oil and water as well as CO₂ and water was examined in conjunction with adsorption measurements on limestone by the Hirasaki lab to develop strategies to optimize the transport of surfactants in reservoirs.

Remote Sensing of CO2 Absorption by Saline-Alkali Soils: Potentials and Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenfeng Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils was recently demonstrated in the measurements of soil respiration fluxes in arid and semiarid ecosystems and hypothetically contributed to the long-thought “missing carbon sink.” This paper is aimed to develop the preliminary theory and methodology for the quantitative analysis of CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils on regional and global scales. Both the technological progress of multispectral remote sensing over the past decades and the conjectures of mechanisms and controls of CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils are advantageous for remote sensing of such absorption. At the end of this paper, the scheme for remote sensing is presented and some unresolved issues related to the scheme are also proposed for further investigations.

An Effective Channel Allocation Scheme to Reduce Co-Channel and Adjacent Channel Interference for WMN Backhaul

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbasi, S.; Ismaili, I.A.; Khuhawar, F.Y.

2016-01-01

Two folded work presents channel allocation scheme sustaining channel orthogonality and channel spacing to reduce CCI (Co-Channel Interference) and ACI (Adjacent Channel Interference) for inter flow of an intra-flow link. Proposed scheme as a part of radio resource allocation is applied on infrastructure based backhaul of wireless mesh network using directional antennas. The proposed approach is applied separately on 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Interference of connectivity graph is modelled by strongly connected directed graph and greedy algorithms are used for channel allocation. We have used OPNET Modeller suite to simulate network models for this research. The proposed arrangement reduces the channel interference and increases system throughput. In this research, the influence of channel is computed in terms of network throughput and delay. (author)

BioCO2 - a multidisciplinary, biological approach using solar energy to capture CO2 while producing H2 and high value products.

Science.gov (United States)

Skjånes, Kari; Lindblad, Peter; Muller, Jiri

2007-10-01

Many areas of algae technology have developed over the last decades, and there is an established market for products derived from algae, dominated by health food and aquaculture. In addition, the interest for active biomolecules from algae is increasing rapidly. The need for CO(2) management, in particular capture and storage is currently an important technological, economical and global political issue and will continue to be so until alternative energy sources and energy carriers diminish the need for fossil fuels. This review summarizes in an integrated manner different technologies for use of algae, demonstrating the possibility of combining different areas of algae technology to capture CO(2) and using the obtained algal biomass for various industrial applications thus bringing added value to the capturing and storage processes. Furthermore, we emphasize the use of algae in a novel biological process which produces H(2) directly from solar energy in contrast to the conventional CO(2) neutral biological methods. This biological process is a part of the proposed integrated CO(2) management scheme.

Pricing road use: politico-economic and fairness considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oberholzer-Gee, F. [University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh (United States); Weck-Hannemann, H. [University of Innsbruck (Austria). Institute of of Public Finance

2002-09-01

Road pricing measures are rarely adopted in practice. In this review, we ask why citizens are not more supportive of road pricing. We identify two difficulties. First, the general public is often unwilling to embrace the price system as an allocation mechanism for scarce resources. Second, for politico-economic reasons, any latent support for road pricing schemes rarely translates into actual policy-making. Based on our analysis, we outline components of a road pricing policy that might receive greater electoral support. (author)

Nucs down in Germany-Prices up in Europe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bode, Sven

2009-01-01

Current legislation on power production from nuclear energy in Germany defines certain remaining quantities of permitted electricity production for nuclear power plants. These quantities are defined for each nuclear power plant and are measured in TWh. In the discussion about climate protection and market trend of electricity prices, it is regularly stated by policy makers that the nuclear phase-out will result in an increase in electricity prices and CO 2 emissions. As a consequence a revision is proposed, especially from the Liberals (FDP) and Conservatives (CDU). The following article discusses this issue analysing the different options investors and operators under different scenarios have. It shows firstly that both emissions and power prices can indeed increase, and secondly that the mere discussion about potentially reversing the phasing-out decision can lead to an increase in electricity prices as investment behaviour may change based on expectations regarding future regulation. I conclude that - ceteris paribus - the nuclear phase-out is likely to result in an increase in CO 2 emissions and prices.

Techno-economic study of CO{sub 2} capture from an existing coal-fired power plant: MEA scrubbing vs. O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} recycle combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, D; Croiset, E; Douglas, P L [Waterloo Univ., Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo, ON (Canada); Douglas, M A [Natural Resources Canada, CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Nepean, ON (Canada)

2003-11-01

The existing fleet of modern pulverised coal fired power plants represents an opportunity to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years providing that efficient and economical CO{sub 2} capture technologies are available for retrofit. One option is to separate CO{sub 2} from the products of combustion using conventional approaches such as amine scrubbing. An emerging alternative, commonly known as O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} recycle combustion, involves burning the coal with oxygen in an atmosphere of recycled flue gas. Both approaches can be retrofitted to existing units, however they consume significant amounts of energy to capture, purify and compress the CO{sub 2} for subsequent sequestration. This paper presents a techno-economic comparison of the performance of the two approaches. The comparison was developed using the commercial process simulation packages, Hysys and Aspen Plus. The results show that both processes are expensive options to capture CO{sub 2} from coal power plants, however O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} appears to be a more attractive retrofit than MEA scrubbing. The CO{sub 2} capture cost for the MEA case is USD 53/ton of CO{sub 2} avoided, which translates into 3.3 cent/kW h. For the O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} case the CO{sub 2} capture cost is lower at USD 35/ton of CO{sub 2} avoided, which translates into 2.4 cent/kW h. These capture costs represent an approximate increase of 20-30% in current electricity prices. (Author)

CO{sub 2} reduction cost for bio-diesel, Danish produced bio-diesel based on rape seed; CO{sub 2} reduktionsomkostninger ved biodiesel. Dansk produceret biodiesel pae raps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlsen, Kirsten; Kjellingbro, M; Mogensen, Martin Frank; Kohl, M

2006-12-15

Bio-diesel based on rape seed (RME, Rape Methyl Esther), often referred to as first generation bio-diesel, is a renewable fuel with CO{sub 2} reduction potential. Mixed with conventional diesel it can be used directly in existing diesel engines. The EU target for the use of bio-fuels in the transport sector was 2 % by 2005 and is 5.75 % by 2010. In Denmark, the use of bio-fuels in the transport sector is not viewed as a cost-effective CO{sub 2} reduction measure. This conclusion concerning the cost-effectiveness of bio-fuels was partly based on calculations of the CO2 reduction cost for Danish-produced RME made by the Danish Energy Authority in 2003. At that time the cost was estimated at 360 DKK/tonne CO{sub 2}. Since then some of the assumptions behind the calculations have changed. The overall objective of this report is to update the Danish Energy Authority's study from 2003, taking into account revised assumptions. The report also attempts to examine the uncertainties associated with the calculations by including extended sensitivity analyses. The report draws the following conclusions: 1) The CO{sub 2} reduction cost for Danish produced RME is estimated at 860 DKK/tonne CO{sub 2}, which is significantly higher than the result obtained by the Danish Energy Authority in 2003. 2) The difference from the Danish Energy Authority's original calculations is principally due to a higher rape seed price based on the market price on rape seed. 3) The uncertainty in both estimates is substantial, and there is about 15 % probability of the reduction costs being lower than the target of 180 DKK/tonne CO2 set by the government. (au)

CO{sub 2} reduction cost for bio-diesel, Danish produced bio-diesel based on rape seed; CO{sub 2} reduktionsomkostninger ved biodiesel. Dansk produceret biodiesel pae raps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlsen, Kirsten; Kjellingbro, M.; Mogensen, Martin Frank; Kohl, M.

2006-12-15

Bio-diesel based on rape seed (RME, Rape Methyl Esther), often referred to as first generation bio-diesel, is a renewable fuel with CO{sub 2} reduction potential. Mixed with conventional diesel it can be used directly in existing diesel engines. The EU target for the use of bio-fuels in the transport sector was 2 % by 2005 and is 5.75 % by 2010. In Denmark, the use of bio-fuels in the transport sector is not viewed as a cost-effective CO{sub 2} reduction measure. This conclusion concerning the cost-effectiveness of bio-fuels was partly based on calculations of the CO2 reduction cost for Danish-produced RME made by the Danish Energy Authority in 2003. At that time the cost was estimated at 360 DKK/tonne CO{sub 2}. Since then some of the assumptions behind the calculations have changed. The overall objective of this report is to update the Danish Energy Authority's study from 2003, taking into account revised assumptions. The report also attempts to examine the uncertainties associated with the calculations by including extended sensitivity analyses. The report draws the following conclusions: 1) The CO{sub 2} reduction cost for Danish produced RME is estimated at 860 DKK/tonne CO{sub 2}, which is significantly higher than the result obtained by the Danish Energy Authority in 2003. 2) The difference from the Danish Energy Authority's original calculations is principally due to a higher rape seed price based on the market price on rape seed. 3) The uncertainty in both estimates is substantial, and there is about 15 % probability of the reduction costs being lower than the target of 180 DKK/tonne CO2 set by the government. (au)

More Energy-Efficient CO2 Capture from IGCC GE Flue Gases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakpong Peampermpool

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions are one of the main reasons for the increase in greenhouse gasses in the earth’s atmosphere and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS is known as an effective method to reduce CO2 emissions on a larger scale, such as for fossil energy utilization systems. In this paper, the feasibility of capturing CO2 using cryogenic liquefaction and improving the capture rate by expansion will be discussed. The main aim was to design an energy-saving scheme for an IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle power plant with CO2 cryogenic liquefaction capture. The experimental results provided by the authors, using the feed gas specification of a 740 MW IGCC General Electric (GE combustion power plant, demonstrated that using an orifice for further expanding the vent gas after cryogenic capture from 57 bar to 24 bar gave an experimentally observed capture rate up to 65%. The energy-saving scheme can improve the overall CO2 capture rate, and hence save energy. The capture process has also been simulated using Aspen HYSYS simulation software to evaluate its energy penalty. The results show that a 92% overall capture rate can be achieved by using an orifice.

ARE PRICING POLICIES EFFECTIVE TO CHANGE CAR USE?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geertje SCHUITEMA

2007-01-01

Results revealed that under pricing policies most people did not intend to change their car use. Pricing policies were relatively more effective when prices increased significantly. Especially visiting and shopping trips were affected, while commuting trips were hardly affected. Moreover, respondents were most likely to reduce their car use for short trips, which are an important source of CO2 emissions and local air pollution.

Mathematical modelling and optimization of a large-scale combined cooling, heat, and power system that incorporates unit changeover and time-of-use electricity price

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Qiannan; Luo, Xianglong; Zhang, Bingjian; Chen, Ying

2017-01-01

$ and the annual CO_2 emission varies from 407390.4 to 328632.3 ton. The total annual cost of the scheme without simultaneously incorporating unit start-up cost is 1.23% higher than that of the scheme simultaneously incorporating unit start-up cost. The natural gas price sensitivity analysis results show that the natural gas-based combined cooling, heat and power system is superior to power importation in both economic and environmental performance when the natural gas price is lower than 500 $/t.

CO{sub 2} emission from coal-based electricity generation in Germany; CO{sub 2}-Emissionen aus der Kohleverstromung in Deutschland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hermann, Hauke; Harthan, Ralph O.

2014-03-10

In 2013 the coal based electricity generation has increased, mainly because emission trade can actually not produce an adequate tax effect. From 10 coal-fired power plants in Germany nine use brown coal only one uses hard coal. Productivity analyses show that brown coal-fired plants have higher productivities than gas or hard coal fired power plants, but the CO{sub 2} emissions are significantly higher in case of brown coal. The oldest (older than 40 years) and least efficient brown coal fired power plants are operated in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Germany has committed itself to reduce CO{sub 2} emissions until 2020 by 40% compared to 1990. If this has to be generated by emission trading the prices would have to increase to more than 40 Euro/ton CO{sub 2} long before 2020. Otherwise administrative regulations would be necessary to reach the environmental goal.

Confined release of CO{sub 2} into the ocean

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, E.E.; Zhang, X.Y.; Herzog, H.J. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States)] [and others

1993-12-31

To help reduce global warming, it has been proposed to sequester some CO{sub 2} in the deep ocean. However, current pipe technology is limited to about 600-650 m{sup 4}, so deeper transport requires other means. Recently, it was suggested that CO{sub 2} could be released at depths of 200 - 400 m as a concentrated seawater solution. The dense solution would form a negatively buoyant gravity current and sink to greater depth. In the following we expand our previous calculations showing that an unconfined release of CO{sub 2} will not create sufficient concentration or negative buoyancy. However, release of either compressed gaseous or liquid CO{sub 2} into an appropriately designed confinement vessel could produce sufficient concentration to transport the current to deeper water. Furthermore, such a scheme may facilitate formation of CO{sub 2} hydrate particles that are heavier than seawater, causing further sinking. A recently completed Research Needs assessment study which we conducted for DOE concludes that shallow water disposal of CO{sub 2} may be the most promising CO{sub 2} disposal option.

Costs of mitigating CO2 emissions from passenger aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Andreas W.; Evans, Antony D.; Reynolds, Tom G.; Dray, Lynnette

2016-04-01

In response to strong growth in air transportation CO2 emissions, governments and industry began to explore and implement mitigation measures and targets in the early 2000s. However, in the absence of rigorous analyses assessing the costs for mitigating CO2 emissions, these policies could be economically wasteful. Here we identify the cost-effectiveness of CO2 emission reductions from narrow-body aircraft, the workhorse of passenger air transportation. We find that in the US, a combination of fuel burn reduction strategies could reduce the 2012 level of life cycle CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre by around 2% per year to mid-century. These intensity reductions would occur at zero marginal costs for oil prices between US$50-100 per barrel. Even larger reductions are possible, but could impose extra costs and require the adoption of biomass-based synthetic fuels. The extent to which these intensity reductions will translate into absolute emissions reductions will depend on fleet growth.

Pricing Schemes in Cloud Computing: An Overview

OpenAIRE

Artan Mazrekaj; Isak Shabani; Besmir Sejdiu

2016-01-01

Cloud Computing is one of the technologies with rapid development in recent years where there is increasing interest in industry and academia. This technology enables many services and resources for end users. With the rise of cloud services number of companies that offer various services in cloud infrastructure is increased, thus creating a competition on prices in the global market. Cloud Computing providers offer more services to their clients ranging from infrastructure as a service (IaaS...

Day Ahead Real Time Pricing and Critical Peak Pricing Based Power Scheduling for Smart Homes with Different Duty Cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadeem Javaid

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a demand side management (DSM scheme in the residential area for electricity cost and peak to average ratio (PAR alleviation with maximum users’ satisfaction. For this purpose, we implement state-of-the-art algorithms: enhanced differential evolution (EDE and teacher learning-based optimization (TLBO. Furthermore, we propose a hybrid technique (HT having the best features of both aforementioned algorithms. We consider a system model for single smart home as well as for a community (multiple homes and each home consists of multiple appliances with different priorities. The priority is assigned (to each appliance by electricity consumers and then the proposed scheme finds an optimal solution according to the assigned priorities. Day-ahead real time pricing (DA-RTP and critical peak pricing (CPP are used for electricity cost calculation. To validate our proposed scheme, simulations are carried out and results show that our proposed scheme efficiently achieves the aforementioned objectives. However, when we perform a comparison with existing schemes, HT outperforms other state-of-the-art schemes (TLBO and EDE in terms of electricity cost and PAR reduction while minimizing the average waiting time.

Mathematical principles of road congestion pricing | Pienaar | ORiON

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper briefly considers the objectives of road congestion pricing and identies prereq-uisites to the successful application of such a pricing scheme. The paper is divided into two sections. In the rst section, a mathematical analysis of the constituents of an optimal road congestion price is oered. The eliminated inefficiency ...

Regulating forest rotation to increase CO{sub 2} sequestration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gong, P.; Kristroem, B.

1999-06-01

Previous studies have shown that the optimal forest rotation age increases considerably if the benefits of CO{sub 2} sequestration are included in rotation decisions. While these studies provide some guidelines for managing public forests, private forest owners may not choose the socially optimal rotation age. This paper discusses a regulation measure to increase CO{sub 2} sequestration in privately owned forests. The regulation problem is treated as a sequential game, where the regulator chooses a subsidy scheme and forest owners respond by changing rotation ages. A private forest owner receives a subsidy at the time of harvesting if he/she changes the rotation age towards the socially optimal one. The subsidy is proportional to the associated change in timber yield. The forest owner`s objective is to maximize the net present value of after-tax timber production profits and subsidies. The regulator`s decision problem is to find the subsidy rate that maximizes the net benefits of implementing the policy (the net of increased CO{sub 2} sequestration benefits, subsidy costs, and changes in forestry taxation income). Empirical results for Swedish examples show that the optimal subsidy rate is sensitive to the marginal benefit of CO{sub 2} sequestration, the social discount rate, and site quality. The optimal subsidy rate is found to be significantly lower than the marginal benefit of CO{sub 2} sequestration. With the proposed subsidy scheme, private forest owners will choose rotation ages longer than the Faustmann rotation, but significantly shorter than the socially optimal rotation age 21 refs, 6 tabs. Arbetsrapport 272

Techno-Economic Models for Optimised Utilisation of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus under an Out-Grower Farming Scheme in Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isaac Osei

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Techno-economic models for optimised utilisation of jatropha oil under an out-grower farming scheme were developed based on different considerations for oil and by-product utilisation. Model 1: Out-grower scheme where oil is exported and press cake utilised for compost. Model 2: Out-grower scheme with six scenarios considered for the utilisation of oil and by-products. Linear programming models were developed based on outcomes of the models to optimise the use of the oil through profit maximisation. The findings revealed that Model 1 was financially viable from the processors’ perspective but not for the farmer at seed price of $0.07/kg. All scenarios considered under Model 2 were financially viable from the processors perspective but not for the farmer at seed price of $0.07/kg; however, at seed price of $0.085/kg, financial viability was achieved for both parties. Optimising the utilisation of the oil resulted in an annual maximum profit of $123,300.

Drug Pricing Reforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Mendez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

2015-01-01

Reference price systems for prescription drugs have found widespread use as cost containment tools. Under such regulatory regimes, patients co-pay a fraction of the difference between pharmacy retail price of the drug and a reference price. Reference prices are either externally (based on drug...... prices in other countries) or internally (based on domestic drug prices) determined. In a recent study, we analysed the effects of a change from external to internal reference pricing in Denmark in 2005, finding that the reform led to substantial reductions in prices, producer revenues, and expenditures...... for patients and the health insurance system. We also estimated an increase in consumer welfare but the size effect depends on whether or not perceived quality differences between branded and other drugs are taken into account....

FTR-option formulation and pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parmeshwaran, Vijay; Muthuraman, Kumar

2009-01-01

Recent changes in electricity markets have advocated the use of Local Marginal Prices (LMP) for congestion management and pricing. From the perspective of market participants, the LMPs pose a risk since they are not known before a transaction on the grid is made. Financial transmission rights (FTR) are instruments that help market participants hedge this risk and are issuable in two flavors - obligations and options. While pricing obligations are much easier, pricing FTR options pose a significant challenge. In this paper we develop a computational method for pricing FTR options. We also discuss the problem of designing financial instrument sets that assure revenue adequacy for the issuer. We point out the difficulty in assuring revenue adequacy when FTR options are present and propose a scheme for overcoming the difficulty. The proposed pricing method can be used to compute prices of options and obligations in the primary market or as a reliable pricing tool to compute option prices in the secondary market. Finally using a test network we present and discuss numerical results. (author)

Pricing Analysis in Geo/Geo/1 Queueing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Ma

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the equilibrium behavior of customers and optimal pricing strategies of servers in a Geo/Geo/1 queueing system. Two common pricing mechanisms are considered. The first one is called ex-post payment (EPP scheme where the server collects tolls proportional to queue times, and the second one is called ex-ante payment (EAP scheme where the server charges a flat fee for the total service. The server sets the toll price to maximize its own profit. It is found that, under a customer’s choice equilibrium, the two toll mechanisms are equivalent from the economic point of view. Finally, we present several numerical experiments to investigate the effects of system parameters on the equilibrium customer joining rate and servers’ profits.

A methodological framework for the development of feasible CO₂ conversion processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roh, Kosan; Lee, Jay H.; Gani, Rafiqul

2016-01-01

combined reforming (CR) of methane reaction is developed. To supply the CO2 feedstock, the aMDEA-based CO2 capture applied to a SMR-based H2 plant is considered. A baseline process is developed and is compared with a non-CO2 utilizing conventional methanol plant (process substitution) and a gasoline...... that the feasibility of the CO2-based methanol as an alternative fuel to gasoline highly depends on the type and price of the raw materials. To improve the developed baseline CO2 conversion process further, (1) some of the combined reforming reaction related design variables are fine-tuned using a sensitivity analysis...

48 CFR 243.204-70-2 - Price ceiling.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Price ceiling. 243.204-70..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT CONTRACT MODIFICATIONS Change Orders 243.204-70-2 Price ceiling. Unpriced change orders shall include a not-to-exceed price. [75 FR 48277, Aug. 10, 2010] ...

Numerical Comparison of Optimal Charging Schemes for Electric Vehicles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Shi; Hu, Junjie; Pedersen, Anders Bro

2012-01-01

of four different charging schemes, namely night charging, night charging with V2G, 24 hour charging and 24 hour charging with V2G, on the basis of real driving data and electricity price of Denmark in 2003. For all schemes, optimal charging plans with 5 minute resolution are derived through the solving...... of a mixed integer programming problem which aims to minimize the charging cost and meanwhile takes into account the users' driving needs and the practical limitations of the EV battery. In the post processing stage, the rainflow counting algorithm is implemented to assess the lifetime usage of a lithium...

EU emission trading scheme and the effect on the price of electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The Electricity Market Working Group and the Climate Change Policy Working Group of the Nordic Council of Ministers, has commissioned ECON Analysis to prepare this report. The report analyses the demand and supply of GHG emission allowances and the price of emission allowances for the period 2005-2007 and 2008-2012 and the effect on the electricity price in the Nordic electricity market. The demand for emissions allowances has then been estimated for different scenarios, with different assumption on burden sharing between sectors and international participation and the supply of emission allowances is determined by the marginal abatement costs. Based on available information on abatement costs the supply of allowances is then estimated. The market balance between the demand and supply for allowances then determines the price of emission allowances. The effect on the electricity price is simulated with ECON's model for the Nordic power market to quantitatively estimate the effect from emissions trading on the electricity price, production, consumption, trade, etc. (BA)

Assessing the effect of oil price on world food prices: Application of principal component analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shokoohi, Zainab

2011-01-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index, especially the oil price, by principal component analysis to further understand the influence of the macroeconomic index on food prices. We examined the food prices of seven major products: eggs, meat, milk, oilseeds, rice, sugar and wheat. The macroeconomic variables studied were crude oil prices, consumer price indexes, food production indexes and GDP around the world between 1961 and 2005. We use the Scree test and the proportion of variance method for determining the optimal number of common factors. The correlation coefficient between the extracted principal component and the macroeconomic index varies between 0.87 for the world GDP and 0.36 for the consumer price index. We find the food production index has the greatest influence on the macroeconomic index and that the oil price index has an influence on the food production index. Consequently, crude oil prices have an indirect effect on food prices. - Research Highlights: →We investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index. →The crude oil price has indirect effect on the world GDP via its impacts on food production index. →The food production index is the source of causation for CPI and GDP is affected by CPI. →The results confirm an indirect effect among oil price, food price principal component.

A Positivity-Preserving Numerical Scheme for Nonlinear Option Pricing Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengwu Zhou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A positivity-preserving numerical method for nonlinear Black-Scholes models is developed in this paper. The numerical method is based on a nonstandard approximation of the second partial derivative. The scheme is not only unconditionally stable and positive, but also allows us to solve the discrete equation explicitly. Monotone properties are studied in order to avoid unwanted oscillations of the numerical solution. The numerical results for European put option and European butterfly spread are compared to the standard finite difference scheme. It turns out that the proposed scheme is efficient and reliable.

The impact of CO{sub 2} emissions trading on the European transport sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaageson, Per

2001-07-01

The objective of this report is to analyse how a common European scheme for CO{sub 2} emissions trading covering all sectors of society would affect the transport sector. Transport externalities other than CO{sub 2} are assumed to be internalised by kilometer charging. This means road fuels will no longer be subject to taxation. The European Union's commitment under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol can be reached at a marginal abatement cost around 65 Euro per tonne of CO{sub 2} in a case where emissions trading replaces all current taxes on fossil fuels. In a case where emissions trading is supplementary to today's energy and carbon taxes, the current average taxation (45-50 Euro per tonne CO{sub 2}) and the shadow price of the emission permits (33 Euro per tonne) would together give a total marginal abatement cost around 80 Euro per tonne Of CO{sub 2}. Having to buy emission permits would significantly raise the cost of fuel and electricity used in rail, aviation and short sea shipping, as these modes are currently not taxed at all. The resulting long-term (2025) improvement in specific energy efficiency is estimated at around 25 per cent compared to trend for rail and 20 and 40 per cent respectively for aviation and sea transport. A combination of CO{sub 2} emissions trading and km charging would moderately raise the variable cost of driving a gasoline car. The cost of using diesel vehicles would rise considerably in most Member States. Annual mileage per car would therefore decline somewhat. The fuel, however, would become cheaper than today (especially gasoline) and this would reduce the incentive to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. The reform would thus hamper the introduction of new, more efficient, technologies that might be needed for meeting more long-term commitments. Emissions trading would not encourage the introduction of biofuels in road transport. The incremental cost of producing ethanol or RME is much too high and cannot be expected to fall to the

Energy-related CO_2 emission in European Union agriculture: Driving forces and possibilities for reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Tianxiang; Baležentis, Tomas; Makutėnienė, Daiva; Streimikiene, Dalia; Kriščiukaitienė, Irena

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The research focuses on agricultural sectors of the eighteen European countries. • The main drivers of energy-related CO_2 emission are quantified by means of IDA. • The slack-based DEA model is applied to gauge the environmental efficiency. • Shadow prices of carbon emission are analysed. • Energy efficiency remains the primary means for increasing environmental efficiency. - Abstract: Climate change mitigation is a key issue in formulating global environmental policies. Energy production and consumption are the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Europe. Energy consumption and energy-related GHG emissions from agriculture are an important concern for policymakers, as the agricultural activities should meet food security goals along with proper economic, environmental, and social impacts. Carbon dioxide (CO_2) emission is the most significant among energy-related GHG emissions. This paper analyses the main drivers behind energy-related CO_2 emission across agricultural sectors of European countries. The analysis is based on aggregate data from the World Input-Output Database. The research explores two main directions. Firstly, Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA), facilitated by the Shapley index, is used to identify the main drivers of CO_2 emission. Secondly, the Slack-based Model (SBM) is applied to gauge the environmental efficiency of European agricultural sectors. By applying frontier techniques, we also derive the measures of environmental efficiency and shadow prices, thereby contributing to a discussion on CO_2 emission mitigation in agriculture. Therefore, the paper devises an integrated approach towards analysis of CO_2 emission based upon advanced decomposition and efficiency analysis models. The research covers eighteen European countries and the applied methodology decomposes contributions to CO_2 emission across of regions and factors. Results of IDA suggest that decreasing energy intensity is the main factor

The Value of CO2-Geothermal Bulk Energy Storage to Reducing CO2 Emissions Compared to Conventional Bulk Energy Storage Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Ogland-Hand, J.; Bielicki, J. M.; Buscheck, T. A.

2016-12-01

Sedimentary basin geothermal resources and CO2 that is captured from large point sources can be used for bulk energy storage (BES) in order to accommodate higher penetration and utilization of variable renewable energy resources. Excess energy is stored by pressurizing and injecting CO2 into deep, porous, and permeable aquifers that are ubiquitous throughout the United States. When electricity demand exceeds supply, some of the pressurized and geothermally-heated CO2 can be produced and used to generate electricity. This CO2-BES approach reduces CO2 emissions directly by storing CO2 and indirectly by using some of that CO2 to time-shift over-generation and displace CO2 emissions from fossil-fueled power plants that would have otherwise provided electricity. As such, CO2-BES may create more value to regional electricity systems than conventional pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) or compressed air energy storage (CAES) approaches that may only create value by time-shifting energy and indirectly reducing CO2 emissions. We developed and implemented a method to estimate the value that BES has to reducing CO2 emissions from regional electricity systems. The method minimizes the dispatch of electricity system components to meet exogenous demand subject to various CO2 prices, so that the value of CO2 emissions reductions can be estimated. We applied this method to estimate the performance and value of CO2-BES, PHES, and CAES within real data for electricity systems in California and Texas over the course of a full year to account for seasonal fluctuations in electricity demand and variable renewable resource availability. Our results suggest that the value of CO2-BES to reducing CO2 emissions may be as much as twice that of PHES or CAES and thus CO2-BES may be a more favorable approach to energy storage in regional electricity systems, especially those where the topography is not amenable to PHES or the subsurface is not amenable to CAES.

How to give up fossil energies and reduce CO2 emissions: an incentive for competitive renewable energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

After having outlined the relationship between cheap energy and human progress, and the increasing share of electric power in energy consumption (which means that electricity price will be a major determining factor of economic growth), this note briefly discusses the role of different energy sources. Coal appears to be the cheapest, but the most dangerous for mankind, renewable energies are expensive and intermittent and require an intensification of research works. Finally, the French system is presented as being one of the most efficient in the world, specifically in terms of CO 2 emissions. Some proposals are formulated regarding research on renewable energies, extension of nuclear plant lifetime, stability of electric power prices, and determination of a floor price for the CO 2 ton

The European carbon market (2005-2007): banking, pricing and risk hedging strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevallier, J.

2008-11-01

This thesis investigates the market rules of the European carbon market (EU ETS) during 2005-2007. We provide theoretical and empirical analyses of banking and borrowing provisions, price drivers and risk hedging strategies attached to tradable quotas, which were introduced to cover the CO 2 emissions of around 10,600 installations in Europe. In Chapter 1, we outline the economic and environmental effects of banking and borrowing on tradable permits markets. More specifically, we examine the banking and borrowing provisions adopted in the EU ETS, and the effects of banning banking between Phases I and II on CO 2 price changes. We show statistically that the low levels of CO 2 prices recorded until the end of Phase I may be explained by the restriction on the inter-period transfer of allowances, besides the main explanations that were identified by market observers. In Chapter 2, we identify the carbon price drivers since the launch of the EU ETS on January 1, 2005. We emphasize the central role played by the 2005 yearly compliance event imposed by the European Commission in revealing the net short/long position at the installation level in terms of allowances allocated with respect to verified emissions. The main result of this study features that price drivers of CO 2 allowances linked to energy market prices and unanticipated weather events vary around institutional events. Moreover, we show the influence of the variation of industrial production in three sectors covered by the EU ETS on CO 2 price changes by applying a disentangling analysis, that has also been extended at the country-level. In Chapter 3, we focus on the risk hedging strategies linked to holding CO 2 allowances. By using a methodology applied on stock markets, we recover the changes in investors' average risk aversion. This study shows that, during the time period considered, risk aversion has been higher on the carbon market than on the stock market, and that the risk is linked to an increasing

Tendances Carbone n. 11 Feb. 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wemaere, M.

2007-01-01

This newsletter treats, first, of the introduction of aviation industry into the European emissions trading scheme. Then it makes a synthesis of the European CO 2 market over the last 13 months: traded volumes, spot prices, climate indexes (temperature, precipitations), economic activity indicators (industrial production index, business leaders' confidence index, changes in energy prices, CO 2 quotas allocated to European Union countries, and detailed indicators of CO 2 market, climate, economic activity and energy prices. (J.S.)

``Power pricing`` in a competitive environment - from a cost-plus calculation to market oriented pricing; Strom-Pricing im Wettbewerb - Von der Kosten-Plus- zur marktfaehigen Preispolitik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laker, M.; Herr, S. [Unternehmensberatung Simon Kucher und Partners, Bonn (Germany)]|[Strategy and Marketing Consultants GmbH, Cambridge, MA (United States)

1998-06-29

The days when electricity contracts were standardized with few modifications catered to customer needs are over. In liberalized electricity markets, pricing has become significantly more important. Survival in this competitive environment hinges not only on the absolute price level, but in particular on opportunities for price differentiation. The following article focuses on measures to create flexible pricing and contractual schemes. (orig.) [Deutsch] Die Zeiten einheitlicher Stromvertraege mit geringen Modifikationen sind vorbei. Durch die Liberalisierung des Strommarktes ist die Bedeutung des Preises drastisch gestiegen. Um im Wettbewerb ueberleben zu koennen, spielen nicht nur die absolute Preishoehe, sondern vor allem die Moeglichkeiten zur Preisdifferenzierung eine entscheidende Rolle. Erfolgversprechende Massnahmen zur flexiblen Preis- und Vertragsgestaltung stehen im Mittelpunkt dieses Aufsatzes. (orig.)

Future CO2 removal from pulp mills - Process integration consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hektor, Erik; Berntsson, Thore

2007-01-01

Earlier work has shown that capturing the CO 2 from flue gases in the recovery boiler at a pulp mill can be a cost-effective way of reducing mill CO 2 emissions. However, the CO 2 capture cost is very dependent on the fuel price. In this paper, the potential for reducing the need for external fuel and thereby the possibility to reduce the cost for capturing the CO 2 are investigated. The reduction is achieved by using thermal process integration. In alternative 1, the mill processes are integrated and a steam surplus made available for CO 2 capture, but still there is a need for external fuel. In alternative 2, the integration is taken one step further, the reboiler is fed with MP steam, and the heat of absorption from the absorption unit is used for generation of LP steam needed at the mill. The avoidance costs are in both cases lower than before the process integration. The avoidance cost in alternative 1 varies between 25.4 and 30.7 EUR/tonne CO 2 depending on the energy market parameters. For alternative 2, the cost varies between 22.5 and 27.2 EUR/tonne CO 2 . With tough CO 2 reduction targets and correspondingly high CO 2 emission costs, the annual earnings can be substantial, 18.6 MEUR with alternative 1 and 21.2 MEUR with alternative 2

Optimal ordering and pricing policy for price sensitive stock–dependent demand under progressive payment scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nita H. Shah

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The terminal condition of inventory level to be zero at the end of the cycle time adopted by Soni and Shah (2008, 2009 is not viable when demand is stock-dependent. To rectify this assumption, we extend their model for (1 an ending – inventory to be non-zero; (2 limited floor space; (3 a profit maximization model; (4 selling price to be a decision variable, and (5 units in inventory deteriorate at a constant rate. The algorithm is developed to search for the optimal decision policy. The working of the proposed model is supported with a numerical example. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to investigate critical parameters.

Consumer cost effectiveness of CO2 mitigation policies in restructured electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, Jared; Apt, Jay

2014-01-01

We examine the cost of carbon dioxide mitigation to consumers in restructured USA markets under two policy instruments, a carbon price and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To estimate the effect of policies on market clearing prices, we constructed hourly economic dispatch models of the generators in PJM and in ERCOT. We find that the cost effectiveness of policies for consumers is strongly dependent on the price of natural gas and on the characteristics of the generators in the dispatch stack. If gas prices are low (∼$4/MMBTU), a technology-agnostic, rational consumer seeking to minimize costs would prefer a carbon price over an RPS in both regions. Expensive gas (∼$7/MMBTU) requires a high carbon price to induce fuel switching and this leads to wealth transfers from consumers to low carbon producers. The RPS may be more cost effective for consumers because the added energy supply lowers market clearing prices and reduces CO 2 emissions. We find that both policies have consequences in capacity markets and that the RPS can be more cost effective than a carbon price under certain circumstances: continued excess supply of capacity, retention of nuclear generators, and high natural gas prices. (letter)

Price subsidies and the market for mosquito nets in developing countries: A study of Tanzania's discount voucher scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Gingrich, Chris D; Hanson, Kara; Marchant, Tanya; Mulligan, Jo-Ann; Mponda, Hadji

2011-07-01

This study uses a partial equilibrium simulation model to explore how price subsidies for insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) affect households' purchases of ITNs. The model describes the ITN market in a typical developing country and is applied to the situation in Tanzania, where the Tanzania National Voucher Scheme (TNVS) provides a targeted subsidy to vulnerable population groups by means of a discount voucher. The data for this study come from a nationally-representative household survey completed July-August 2006 covering over 4300 households in 21 districts. The simulation results show the impact of the voucher program on ITN coverage among target households, namely those that experienced the birth of a child. More specifically, the share of target households purchasing an ITN increased from 18 to 62 percent because of the discount voucher. The model also suggests that the voucher program could cause the retail ITN price to rise due to an overall increase in demand. As a result, ITN purchases by households without a voucher may actually decline. The simulation model suggests that additional increases toward the stated goal of 80 percent ITN coverage for pregnant women and children could best be achieved through a combination of "catch up" mass distribution programs and expanding the target group for the voucher program to cover additional households. The model can be employed in other countries considering use of a targeted price subsidy for ITNs, and could be adapted to assess the impact of subsidies for other public health commodities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Price caps and price floors in climate policy: a quantitative assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Philibert, Cedric

2008-12-15

This study assesses the long-term economic and environmental effects of introducing price caps and price floors in hypothetical climate change mitigation architecture, which aims to reduce global energy-related CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050. Based on abatement costs in IPCC and IEA reports, this quantitative analysis confirms what qualitative analyses have already suggested: introducing price caps could significantly reduce economic uncertainty. This uncertainty stems primarily from unpredictable economic growth and energy prices, and ultimately unabated emission trends. In addition, the development of abatement technologies is uncertain. With price caps, the expected costs could be reduced by about 50% and the uncertainty on economic costs could be one order of magnitude lower. Reducing economic uncertainties may spur the adoption of more ambitious policies by helping to alleviate policy makers' concerns of economic risks. Meanwhile, price floors would reduce the level of emissions beyond the objective if the abatement costs ended up lower than forecasted. If caps and floors are commensurate with the ambition of the policy pursued and combined with slightly tightened emission objectives, climatic results could be on average similar to those achieved with 'straight' objectives (i.e. with no cost-containment mechanism). (auth)

Tendances Carbone n. 8 Nov. 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This newsletter presents, first, the disconnection that occurred in October 2006 between the first phase (2005-2007) and second phase (2008-2012) prices which corresponds to different dynamics and price signals in the European trading scheme. Then it makes a synthesis of the European CO 2 market over the last 13 months: traded volumes, spot prices, climate indexes (temperature, precipitations), economic activity indicators (industrial production index, business leaders' confidence index, changes in energy prices, CO 2 quotas allocated to European Union countries, and detailed indicators of CO 2 market, climate, economic activity and energy prices. (J.S.)

Tendances Carbone n. 9 Dec. 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This newsletter presents, first, the two-price signals now sent by the European Union emissions trading scheme which corresponds to a disconnection between first phase (2005-2007) and second phase (2008-2012) prices and refers to different dynamics. Then, it makes a synthesis of the European CO 2 market over the last 13 months: traded volumes, spot prices, climate indexes (temperature, precipitations), economic activity indicators (industrial production index, business leaders' confidence index, changes in energy prices, CO 2 quotas allocated to European Union countries, and detailed indicators of CO 2 market, climate, economic activity and energy prices. (J.S.)

Tendances Carbone n. 9 Dec. 2006; Tendances Carbone n. 9 decembre 2006

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

This newsletter presents, first, the two-price signals now sent by the European Union emissions trading scheme which corresponds to a disconnection between first phase (2005-2007) and second phase (2008-2012) prices and refers to different dynamics. Then, it makes a synthesis of the European CO{sub 2} market over the last 13 months: traded volumes, spot prices, climate indexes (temperature, precipitations), economic activity indicators (industrial production index, business leaders' confidence index, changes in energy prices, CO{sub 2} quotas allocated to European Union countries, and detailed indicators of CO{sub 2} market, climate, economic activity and energy prices. (J.S.)

The economy-energy CO{sub 2} connection: a review of trends and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darmstadter, J. [Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (United States)

2001-07-01

Though highly aggregative and a straightforward arithmetic identity, a useful 'decomposition' of the change in CO{sub 2} emissions breaks out four constituent elements: (1) population, (2) GDP/person, (3) energy consumption/unit GDP, and (4) CO{sub 2} emissions/unit energy consumption. Other things equal, slower population growth means less growth in CO{sub 2} release, while higher GDP/capita signifies a greater volume of CO{sub 2} emitted. The energy/GDP ratio measures an economy's aggregate energy intensity, reflecting structural, technological and energy-use characteristics of society. The CO{sub 2}/energy element spotlights the effect of a changing mix of energy sources with varying carbon characteristics. This paper concentrates in particular on the 3rd and 4th components of this dissection. In the case of the energy/GDP ratio, the author examines the impact of energy price change on energy demand as well as the contribution of 'autonomous' technological advance. Electronic commerce injects a growing and conceivably significant factor into enhanced energy efficiency. In the case of the CO{sub 2}/energy ratio, such developments as increased use of natural gas in electric generation and - more conjecturally - use of renewables, are likely to prove important. The prospect of a sharp turnaround in the trend of US (and other industrial country) CO{sub 2} emissions and of at least moderate deceleration in the case of developing countries is found to constitute a formidable, but by no means hopeless, challenge. The deterrent effect of rising energy prices would appear to be at least one condition for that goal to be attainable. 15 refs., 2 tabs.

Reduction of emissions and geological storage of CO2. Innovation an industrial stakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mandil, C.; Podkanski, J.; Socolow, R.; Dron, D.; Reiner, D.; Horrocks, P.; Fernandez Ruiz, P.; Dechamps, P.; Stromberg, L.; Wright, I.; Gazeau, J.C.; Wiederkehr, P.; Morcheoine, A.; Vesseron, P.; Feron, P.; Feraud, A.; Torp, N.T.; Christensen, N.P.; Le Thiez, P.; Czernichowski, I.; Hartman, J.; Roulet, C.; Roberts, J.; Zakkour, P.; Von Goerne, G.; Armand, R.; Allinson, G.; Segalen, L.; Gires, J.M.; Metz, B.; Brillet, B.

2005-01-01

CO 2 emissions in the transport sector (cars and aviation) by A. Morcheoine (ADEME), The contribution of biofuels and alternative fuels to reducing CO 2 emissions in the transport sector by I. Drescher (Volkswagen AG). Session III - Technological progress in the capture and geological storage of CO 2 : European projects on CO 2 capture and storage by P. Dechamps (European Commission, Research Energy Conversion and Transport); Capture of CO 2 : Innovative CO 2 capture concepts by P. Feron (TNO), Capture of CO 2 in pre- and oxy-combustion by A. Feraud, N. Otter (Alstom); Geological storage of CO 2 : Geological storage capacity by N.P. Christensen (GEUS), Feedback from industrial CO 2 storage projects by T. Torp (Statoil), The main avenues of current research by P. Le Thiez (IFP) and I. Czernichowski (BRGM), Long-term industrial experience with underground gas storage by J. Hartman (GDF). Session IV - Regulatory, economic and financial aspects. Legal and regulatory framework for capture and geological storage: UK's perspective on the regulatory framework for CO 2 storage by J. Roberts (DEFRA-UK), Monitoring and reporting of CCS in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme by P. Zakkour (ERM), Social need and public questions and perceptions by G. von Goerne (Greenpeace); Economic and financial impact: The costs of CCS by G. Allinson (CO 2 -CRC), The characteristics of CO 2 markets: players, volumes exchanged, and term and spot transaction prices by L. Segalen (European Carbon Fund), CO 2 management by J.M. Gires (Total), The forthcoming IPCC special report on carbon dioxide capture and storage by B. Metz (IPCC Working Group III). Closing Address by Bernard Brillet, Ministry for Higher Education and Research. (J.S.)

Oil price and the dollar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coudert, V.; Mignon, V.; Penot, A.

2007-01-01

Oil prices and the United States (US) dollar exchange rate are driving the evolution of the world economy. This paper investigated long-term relationships between oil prices and the US effective exchange rate. An empirical study was performed on oil prices and the dollar real effective exchange rate between 1974 to 2004. The impact of the dollar exchange rate was also explored, and the effects of oil prices on supply and demand were considered. A dynamic partial equilibrium framework study was evaluated in order to compare how other countries used revenues from oil exports in dollars. The study showed that both variables had similar evolutions when price fluctuations were low. Strong increases in the dollar were associated with lower oil prices. However, adjustment speeds of the dollar real effective exchange rate was slow. Co-integration and causality tests showed that oil prices influenced the exchange rate, and that the link between the 2 variables was transmitted through the country's net foreign asset position. It was concluded that higher oil prices improved US net foreign asset position in relation to other countries, and had a positive impact on dollar appreciation. 24 refs., 6 tabs., 1 fig

Price computation in electricity auctions with complex rules: An analysis of investment signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vazquez, Carlos; Hallack, Michelle; Vazquez, Miguel

2017-01-01

This paper discusses the problem of defining marginal costs when integer variables are present, in the context of short-term power auctions. Most of the proposals for price computation existing in the literature are concerned with short-term competitive equilibrium (generators should not be willing to change the dispatch assigned to them by the auctioneer), which implies operational-cost recovery for all of the generators accepted in the auction. However, this is in general not enough to choose between the different pricing schemes. We propose to include an additional criterion in order to discriminate among different pricing schemes: prices have to be also signals for generation expansion. Using this condition, we arrive to a single solution to the problem of defining prices, where they are computed as the shadow prices of the balance equations in a linear version of the unit commitment problem. Importantly, not every linearization of the unit commitment is valid; we develop the conditions for this linear model to provide adequate investment signals. Compared to other proposals in the literature, our results provide a strong motivation for the pricing scheme and a simple method for price computation. - Highlights: • Pricing proposals in power markets often deal with just accounting-cost recovery. • Including opportunity costs is an additional property required for efficient pricing. • We develop a framework to analyze the pricing proposals found in the literature. • We propose a pricing mechanism to include the costs of short-run integer decisions. • As it includes short-run opportunity costs, it provides efficient long-term signals.

Market-wide price co-movement around crashes in the Tokyo Stock Exchange

OpenAIRE

Jun-ichi Maskawa; Joshin Murai; Koji Kuroda

2013-01-01

As described in this paper, we study market-wide price co-movements around crashes by analyzing a dataset of high-frequency stock returns of the constituent issues of Nikkei 225 Index listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the three years during 2007--2009. Results of day-to-day principal component analysis of the time series sampled at the 1 min time interval during the continuous auction of the daytime reveal the long range up to a couple of months significant auto-correlation of the maximu...

Economics of reducing CO2 emissions from China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Zhongxin

1991-01-01

Relative to the nations of the industrialized world, developing countries emit far lower levels of CO 2 per capita. In coming years, however, as the developing world experiences more rapid rates of economic and population growth, their carbon emissions per capita inevitably will rise. Therefore, developing countries should be encouraged both to adopt more advanced energy technologies in order to improve the efficiency of energy exploration, transportation, generation and end-use and to replace carbon-intensive fuels sources with less carbon-intensive sources (non-fossil fuels and renewable energy). By incorporating methods aimed at curtailing carbon emissions into their energy development strategies, developing nations can reduce the risks posed by higher CO 2 emissions. However, adopting more advanced energy technologies generally entails high costs. These higher prices serve as a particularly large obstacle for developing nations. In order to serve the common interest of protecting the global environment, international funds should be devoted to cover the high costs of reducing developing world CO 2 emissions

Economics and the refinery's CO2 emissions allocation problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pierru, A.

2007-01-01

The establishment of a market for CO 2 emission rights in Europe leads oil-refining companies to add a cost associated with carbon emissions to the objective function of linear programming models used to manage refineries. These models may be used to compute the marginal contribution of each finished product to the CO 2 emissions of the refinery. Babusiaux (Oil. Gas Sci. Technol., 58, 2003, 685-692) has shown that, under some conditions, this marginal contribution is a relevant means of allocating the carbon emissions of the refinery. Thus, it can be used in a well-to-wheel Life Cycle Assessment. In fact, this result holds if the demand equations are the only binding constraints with a non-zero right-hand side coefficient. This is not the case for short-run models with fixed capacity. Then, allocating CO 2 emissions on a marginal basis tends to over-value (or undervalue) the total volume of emissions. In order to extend the existing methodology, we discuss two distinct solutions to this problem, inspired by economic theory: adapting either the Aumann-Shapley cost sharing method (Values of non-atomic games, 1974, Princeton University Press) or the Ramsey pricing formula (Econ. J., 37, 1927, 47-61; J. Econ. Theory, 3, 1971, 219-240). We compare these two solutions, with a strong argument in favour of Ramsey prices, based on the determination of the optimal environmental tax rate to which imported finished products should be subject. (author)

Green certificates and carbon trading in the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boots, M.

2003-01-01

The combination of trading schemes for green certificates and for carbon, as they are implemented and planned in the Netherlands, imply a complete separation of green certificates and CO 2 markets. This means that the costs of CO 2 reduction will be reflected in the spot price of electricity and that the price of green certificates only reflects the additional cost of RE development. However, since the green certificate scheme is already implemented, while the carbon trading scheme is not, it is unclear if currently the green certificate value includes the CO 2 reduction value of RE production. It is important that buyers and sellers in the market for green certificates agree on what they are trading, therefore this issue should be clarified

Oil price and food price volatility dynamics: The case of Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ijeoma C. Nwoko

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study examines the long and short run relationships between oil price and food price volatility as well as the causal link between them. The study used annual food price volatility index from FAO from 2000 to 2013 and crude oil price from U.S. Energy Information and Administration (EIA from 2000 to 2013. The Johansen and Jesulius co-integration test revealed that there is a long run relationship between oil price and domestic food price volatility. The vector error correction model indicated a positive and significant short run relationship between oil price and food price volatility. The Granger causality test revealed a unidirectional causality with causality running from oil price to food price volatility but not vice versa. It is recommended that policies and interventions that will help reduce uncertainty about food prices such as improved market information, trade policies and investment in research and development among others should be encouraged. Also to reduce the effect of oil price shock, it is recommended that government should subsidise pump price of refined oil, seek alternative sources of energy and there should be less dependence on oil for fertilizer production.