Deregulation in Electricity Markets: The Interplay of Political Stability and Fossil Fuel Prices

Author(s):  
John L. Simpson
2019 ◽  
pp. 23-34
Author(s):  
Sheila Genoveva Pérez-Bravo ◽  
Ana María Mendoza-Martínez ◽  
Maria del Refugio Castañeda-Chávez ◽  
Luciano Aguilera-Vázquez

The energy demand of the world population is increasing due to population growth and technological development. The current energy base is a generator of CO2 emissions, the most abundant and main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, as well as pollutants, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. The environmental deterioration and the increase in fossil fuel prices make it necessary to investigate less aggressive energy sources with the environment at competitive costs in the market. Biofuels are an alternative for energy production due to their origin in the short carbon cycle, their emissions are considered almost zero, including biodiesel and bioethanol. The latter can be obtained from microalgae rich in carbohydrates and lipids, easy to grow in short periods of time. The objective of this research is to summarize the findings made about the existence of useful microalgae as raw material to produce biofuels in Mexican territory. An exhaustive review of the literature was carried out, which contributed to estimate the microalgal diversity in the country and its lipid contents as well as carbohydrates, with different species of the genera Chlamydomonas, Chlorella, Scenedesmus, Desmodesmus being found mainly.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Aslani ◽  
Maryam Hamlehdar ◽  
Reza Saeedi

Energy has a strategic role in the social and economic development of the countries all over the world. Due to the high dependency on fossil fuels, fluctuations in prices and supply have macro/micro-economics effects for both energy exporters and importers. Therefore, understanding economic stability based on energy market changes is an important subject for policy makers and researchers. Norway, as a fossil fuel export country, is a good choice for the analysis of the relationships between the economics robustness and fossil fuel economics fluctuations. While the country is one of the pioneers in the field of sustainable energy utilization, they have tried to provide a robust economic situation for the oil exports revenues. In this article, the effects of energy changes on the economy are investigated in Norway. In this regard, first, the impact of oil price on macro-economic parameters is discussed. Afterwards, the main issues related to the energy economics including resilience of the energy sector, energy policies, economics analysis of the energy sector, and the electricity markets are discussed.


Author(s):  
Stuart M. Cohen ◽  
John Fyffe ◽  
Gary T. Rochelle ◽  
Michael E. Webber

Coal consumption for electricity generation produces over 30% of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but coal is also an available, secure, and low cost fuel that is currently utilized to meet roughly half of America’s electricity demand. While the world transitions from the existing fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure to a sustainable energy system, carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) will be a critical technology that will allow continued use of coal in an environmentally acceptable manner. Techno-economic analyses are useful in understanding the costs and benefits of CCS. However, typical techno-economic analyses of post-combustion CO2 capture systems assume continuous operation at a high CO2 removal, which could use 30% of pre-capture electricity output and require new capacity installation to replace the output lost to CO2 capture energy requirements. This study, however, considers the inherent flexibility in post-combustion CO2 capture systems by modeling power plants that vary CO2 capture energy requirements in order to increase electricity output when economical under electricity market conditions. A first-order model of electricity dispatch and a competitive electricity market is used to investigate flexible CO2 capture in response to hourly electricity demand variations. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) electric grid is used as a case study to compare plant and grid performance, economics, and CO2 emissions in scenarios without CO2 capture to those with flexible or inflexible CO2 capture systems. Flexible CO2 capture systems can choose how much CO2 to capture based on the competition between CO2 and electricity prices and a desire to either minimize operating costs or maximize operating profits. Coal and natural gas prices have varying degrees of predictability and volatility, and the relative prices of these fuels have a major impact on power plant operating costs and the resulting plant dispatch sequence. Because the chosen operating point in a flexible CO2 capture system affects net power plant efficiency, fuel prices also influence which CO2 capture operating point may be the most economical and the resulting dispatch of power plants with CO2 capture. Several coal and natural gas price combinations are investigated to determine their impact on flexible CO2 capture operation and the resulting economic and environmental impacts at the power plant and electric grid levels. This study investigates the costs and benefits of flexible CO2 capture in a framework of a carbon-constrained future where the effects of major energy infrastructure changes on fuel prices are not entirely clear.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Bernal ◽  
Juan Carlos Molero ◽  
Fernando Perez De Gracia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of fossil fuel prices – crude oil, natural gas and coal – on different electricity prices in Mexico. The use of alternative variables for electricity price helps to increase the robustness of the analysis in comparison to previous empirical studies. Design/methodology/approach The authors use an unrestricted vector autoregressive model and the sample covers the period January 2006 to January 2016. Findings Empirical findings suggest that crude oil, natural gas and coal prices have a significant positive impact on electricity prices – domestic electricity rates – in Mexico in the short run. Furthermore, crude oil and natural gas prices have also a significant positive impact on electricity prices – commercial and industrial electricity rates. Originality/value Two are the main contributions. First, this paper explores the nexus among crude oil, natural gas, coal and electricity prices in Mexico, while previous studies focus on the US, UK and some European economies. Second, instead of using one electricity price as a reference of national or domestic electricity sector, the analysis considers alternative Mexican electricity prices.


2010 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 988-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahriar Shafiee ◽  
Erkan Topal
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document