Content about: energy

“Nuclear Decline, Coal Renaissance”

Ottmar Edenhofer

It is relatively cheap, it is abundant and its renaissance started before the Fukushima accident. In the future energy mix, gas and renewables will play an important role, but coal will be the most important source. That’s why we need to implement CCS and make it economically affordable if we want to meet our mitigation targets. Prof. Ottmar Edenhofer, in this interview conducted by Mauro Buonocore, talks about the future of energy, the opportunity of a European super-grid and proposes a two-track model for climate negotiations.

published May 19th, 2011
Category: Interviews
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Levelling the Playing Field in a Fragmented Carbon Market: Do Carbon-Based Border Tax Adjustments Work?

Christa Clapp, Jean Chateau and Rob Dellink

There are two related issues of concern for countries taking on climate action. The first one is that some of their domestic industrial production will lose competitiveness; the second is that part of their efforts will be undermined by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere, or “carbon leakage”. While the debate over protective measures continues focusing largely on carbon-based border tax adjustments (BTAs), Christa Clapp, Jean Chateau and Rob Dellink, economists at OECD, investigate several issues in the debate and focus on how and why BTAs fail to protect domestic industry, may reduce carbon leakage from the competitiveness channel and have cost and additional complications.

published September 8th, 2010
Category: Articles
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A Low Carbon Economy for India

P.R. Shukla

Transforming the energy system, improving economy and reducing carbon emissions. These are the milestones of the Indian climate challenge. “We are working to become a more modern country and to build an economy where emissions would be significantly lower”, Prof. Shukla says. The solution requires a large portfolio of energy options and a different perception of the problem: “The conventional perception – Prof. Shukla explains – looks at energy related technologies and innovations from the supply side. Now, we are also looking for solutions that are coming from the demand side”. On the path toward a sustainable development, is the 2 degrees target achievable?

published April 8th, 2010
Category: Videos
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Breaking the Climate Stalemate?

Geoffrey Blanford, Valentina Bosetti, Carlo Carraro, Richard Richels, Thomas Rutherford and Massimo Tavoni

On the eve of the UN’s highly-anticipated Copenhagen meeting the political debate is facing an impasse and the physical reality is sending a clear message: time is running out. Reductions in developing countries must begin very soon to keep acceptable climate targets on the table, but who will pay for the climate protection bill?
A team of economists propose one way forward: a commitment now on behalf of China and other key developing countries to accept pre-specified future emission reduction targets could effectively address concerns

published December 6th, 2009
Category: Articles
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A Focus on Individuals Can Guide Nations Towards a Low Carbon World

Shoibal Chakravarty, Robert Socolow and Massimo Tavoni

A major factor in the reluctance of countries to make commitments to a low-carbon economy is fear that change will be costly and that others will hold back. Moving attention from national per capita values of CO2 emissions to the emissions of individuals provides an important tool for dealing with the decarbonization transition. Individual CO2 emissions are very unequally distributed not only across countries but also within countries, researchers at the Princeton Environmental Institute say. The allocation problem takes on important new dimensions when the focus shifts in this way from “high emitting” nations to “high emitting” individuals

published November 13th, 2009
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Implementing Climate and Development Policy in India

Sandrine Mathy and Céline Guivarch

Some climate policies constitutes a win-win solution for climate and development. Authors at Cired analyze the potential for implementing synergies between climate and development looking at the case of India, where power sector is characterized by many institutional and market failures, capacity shortage and structural underinvestment.
A carbon price only scenario will induce prohibitive macroeconomic costs, authors say, but enlarge the spectrum of climate policies and synergies between climate policies and development policies should be used for mitigation cost assessment

published November 13th, 2009
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