Germany's Energy Transition Under Attack: Is There an Inscrutable German Sonderweg ?

The German energy transition repeatedly faces harsh critiques questioning its economic and environmental merits. This article defends the energy transition and argues that Germany has chosen an economically efficient and particularly forceful approach to securing a sustainable energy supply. Though current expenditures are high, the long-term benefits of transforming the energy system to a renewables-based system are likely to outweigh present investment costs. Furthermore, support policies for renewables are not redundant-as some critics claim-but instead complement other policy instruments, such as the emissions trading scheme. This article also addresses the motives behind the discrediting attacks on the German energy policy regime. Defensive actions by beneficiaries of the former energy market structure are only to be expected, but the attacks from liberal economists are astonishingly fierce.

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The Impossible Transplant of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme: The Challenge of Energy Market Regulation

Transnational Environmental Law ◽

10.1017/s2047102516000133 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 59-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Anatole Boute

Keyword(s):

Emerging Economies ◽

Emissions Trading ◽

Energy Market ◽

Market Regulation ◽

The European Union ◽

Emissions Trading Scheme ◽

Trading Scheme ◽

The Cost ◽

The Impact ◽

The Eu

AbstractFollowing the European Union (EU) experience, an increasing number of countries are establishing an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The EU ETS often serves as a ‘model’ despite fundamental differences in the receiving environment. In the EU liberalized energy markets, carbon prices are intended to raise the cost of carbon-intensive energy and thereby stimulate cleaner alternatives. In contrast, many emerging economies continue to regulate energy investments and prices, which may insulate consumers and producers from the impact of an ETS. To avoid this risk, energy economists advocate EU-style energy market reforms as a prerequisite to the introduction of the ETS concept abroad. By focusing on the cases of China, Kazakhstan, and Russia, this article highlights the limits on the exportation of the EU liberalization model and argues that, instead of energy reform, the ETS must be reconceptualized as a mechanism that integrates the regulated energy market paradigm in emerging economies.

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Initial Long-Term Scenarios for COVID-19’s Impact on Aviation and Implications for Climate Policy

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/03611981211045067 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 036119812110450

Author(s):

Lynnette Dray ◽

Andreas W. Schäfer

Keyword(s):

Emissions Trading ◽

Aviation Fuel ◽

Historical Trends ◽

Systems Model ◽

Carbon Offsetting ◽

Emissions Trading Scheme ◽

Trading Scheme ◽

New Policies ◽

The Eu

The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on aviation in 2020, and the industry’s future is uncertain. In this paper, we consider scenarios for recovery and ongoing demand, and discuss the implications of these scenarios for aviation emissions-related policy, including the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Using the Aviation Integrated Model (AIM2015), a global aviation systems model, we project how long-term demand, fleet, and emissions projections might change. Depending on recovery scenario, we project cumulative aviation fuel use to 2050 might be up to 9% below that in scenarios not including the pandemic. The majority of this difference arises from reductions in relative global income levels. Around 40% of modeled scenarios project no offset requirement in either the CORSIA pilot or first phases; however, because of its more stringent emissions baseline (based on reductions from year 2004–2006 CO2, rather than constant year-2019 CO2), the EU ETS is likely to be less affected. However, if no new policies are applied and technology developments follow historical trends, year-2050 global net aviation CO2 is still likely to be well above industry goals, including the goal of carbon-neutral growth from 2019, even when the demand effects of the pandemic are accounted for.

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