Carbon Pricing Lessons

2018 ◽  
pp. 185-204
Author(s):  
Barry G. Rabe

This chapter attempts to distil key lessons from recent decades of experience with carbon pricing. It notes that American emissions have actually dropped despite the lack of national carbon pricing and that future attempts to develop carbon pricing need to draw directly from past experience. This includes careful attention to building political constituencies, developing effective management systems, and setting politically realistic goals. The chapter also explores other forms of energy taxation that might serve to impose a carbon price but do so at the point of extracting fossil fuels from below the surface of the ground. Nearly all states that produce oil and gas impose severance taxes and they generally retain broad political support across partisan lines.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-166
Author(s):  
Irja Vormedal ◽  
Lars H. Gulbrandsen ◽  
Jon Birger Skjærseth

There is a long and continuing debate in the literature on corporate political power about whether businesses that advocate public-interest regulation do so for strategic political reasons or because they anticipate economic gains. Previous research on Big Oil’s strategies in climate politics has largely converged on the first view, arguing that global majors feign support for moderate carbon pricing largely to prevent the adoption of more drastic and costly policies. In contrast, this article argues that Big Oil’s growing stake in natural gas expansion is its economic motive for supporting favorably designed carbon pricing. The article finds that policy, technology, and energy market changes have paved the way for a shift toward natural gas and that a moderate carbon price, by triggering coal-to-gas switching, supports the realization of a gray transition in which “Big Gas” can expand its market share at the expense of coal and become a major bridge fuel next to renewables. Our findings underscore the importance of studying the competitive rivalry that underpins evolving industry demands for climate policy and regulation.


Author(s):  
Frederick van der Ploeg

AbstractEconomists have adopted the Pigouvian approach to climate policy, which sets the carbon price to the social cost of carbon. We adjust this carbon price for macroeconomic uncertainty and disasters by deriving the risk-adjusted discount rate. We highlight ethics- versus market-based calibrations and discuss the effects of a falling term structure of the discount rate. Given the wide range of estimates used for marginal damages and the discount rate, it is unsurprising that negotiators and policy makers have rejected the Pigouvian approach and adopted a more pragmatic approach based on a temperature cap. The corresponding cap on cumulative emissions is lower if risk tolerance and temperature sensitivity are more uncertain. The carbon price then grows much faster than under the Pigouvian approach and discuss how this rate of growth is adjusted by economic and abatement cost risks. We then analyse how policy uncertainty and technological breakthrough can lead to the risk of stranded assets. Finally, we discuss various obstacles to successful carbon pricing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 557
Author(s):  
Barry A. Goldstein

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence (Adams 1770). Some people unfamiliar with upstream petroleum operations, some enterprises keen to sustain uncontested land use, and some people against the use of fossil fuels have and will voice opposition to land access for oil and gas exploration and production. Social and economic concerns have also arisen with Australian domestic gas prices tending towards parity with netbacks from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. No doubt, natural gas, LNG and crude-oil prices will vary with local-to-international supply-side and demand-side competition. Hence, well run Australian oil and gas producers deploy stress-tested exploration, delineation and development budgets. With these challenges in mind, successive governments in South Australia have implemented leading-practice legislation, regulation, policies and programs to simultaneously gain and sustain trust with the public and investors with regard to land access for trustworthy oil and gas operations. South Australia’s most recent initiatives to foster reserve growth through welcomed investment in responsible oil and gas operations include the following: a Roundtable for Oil and Gas; evergreen answers to frequently asked questions, grouped retention licences that accelerate investment in the best of play trends; the Plan for ACcelerating Exploration (PACE) Gas Program; and the Oil and Gas Royalty Return Program. Intended and actual outcomes from these initiatives are addressed in this extended abstract.


2021 ◽  
pp. 95-116
Author(s):  
Ilya Stepanov ◽  
Karina Galimova

In the context of transition to low-carbon development, carbon price is rapidly gaining ground all over the world. Discussions on its implementation are under way in Russia as well. However, the use of carbon price as an indicator can be compounded by certain risks. In practice, to overcome them depends on the ability of carbon price designing to take into account the specifics of a country or industries where the regulation is introduced. The regulator needs to determine the specifics of carbon pricing, identify the acceptable degree of regulation and coverage of carbon price; consider the consequences for vulnerable sectors of population, companies, etc. The study aims at systematizing theory and practice of carbon pricing across various countries and regions of the world economy. Drawing on the analysis of fundamental and empirical works, the authors identify the factors that limit the effective use of carbon price; classify the key elements of carbon pricing design. Based on the analysis of international experience, the article provides recommendations on the development of a system for regulating carbon in Russia.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-333
Author(s):  
F. Van den Abeele ◽  
J. Vande Voorde

The worldwide demand for energy, and in particular fossil fuels, keeps pushing the boundaries of offshoreengineering. Oil and gas majors are conducting their exploration and production activities in remotelocations and water depths exceeding 3000 meters. Such challenging conditions call for enhancedengineering techniques to cope with the risks of collapse, fatigue and pressure containment.On the other hand, offshore structures in shallow water depth (up to 100 meter) require a different anddedicated approach. Such structures are less prone to unstable collapse, but are often subjected to higherflow velocities, induced by both tides and waves. In this paper, numerical tools and utilities to study thestability of offshore structures in shallow water depth are reviewed, and three case studies are provided.First, the Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) approach is demonstrated to combine the effects of fluid flowon the structural response of offshore structures. This approach is used to predict fluid flow aroundsubmersible platforms and jack-up rigs.Then, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed to calculate the turbulent Von Karmanstreet in the wake of subsea structures. At higher Reynolds numbers, this turbulent flow can give rise tovortex shedding and hence cyclic loading. Fluid structure interaction is applied to investigate the dynamicsof submarine risers, and evaluate the susceptibility of vortex induced vibrations.As a third case study, a hydrodynamic analysis is conducted to assess the combined effects of steadycurrent and oscillatory wave-induced flow on submerged structures. At the end of this paper, such ananalysis is performed to calculate drag, lift and inertia forces on partially buried subsea pipelines.


2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110614
Author(s):  
Holly Jean Buck

Can fossil-based fuels become carbon neutral or carbon negative? The oil and gas industry is facing pressure to decarbonize, and new technologies are allowing companies and experts to imagine lower-carbon fossil fuels as part of a circular carbon economy. This paper draws on interviews with experts, ethnographic observations at carbontech and carbon management events, and interviews with members of the public along a suggested CO2 pipeline route from Iowa to Texas, to explore: What is driving the sociotechnical imaginary of circular fossil carbon among experts, and what are its prospects? How do people living in the landscapes that are expected to provide carbon utilization and removal services understand their desirability and workability? First, the paper examines a contradiction in views of carbon professionals: while experts understand the scale of infrastructure, energy, and capital required to build a circular carbon economy, they face constraints in advocating for policies commensurate with this scale, though they have developed strategies for managing this disconnect. Second, the paper describes views from the land in the central US, surfacing questions about the sustainability of new technologies, the prospect of carbon dioxide pipelines, and the way circular carbon industries could intersect trends of decline in small rural towns. Experts often fail to consider local priorities and expertise, and people in working landscapes may not see the priorities and plans of experts, constituting a “double unseeing.” Robust energy democracy involves not just resistance to dominant imaginaries of circular carbon, but articulation of alternatives. New forms of expert and community collaboration will be key to transcending this double unseeing and furthering energy democracy.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Markham ◽  
Martin Young ◽  
Arianne Reis ◽  
James Higham

Aviation emissions are an important contributor to global climatic change. As growth in travel demand continues to outstrip improvements in the fuel efficiency of air travel, the aviation contribution to climate change is likely to grow substantially. Consequently, measures that effectively reduce travel demand are required if atmospheric carbon concentrations are to be limited. The efficacy of the Australian Clean Energy Future policy which placed a $23.00AUD (FY 2012) to $24.15 AUD (FY 2013) per tonne levy on carbon-dioxide equivalent emissions from July 2012 to June 2014 is tested. Specifically, time-series regression is used to estimate the effect of this carbon price policy on the level of domestic passenger kilometres flown in Australia, while adjusting for costs of production (i.e. fuel and labour costs), economic activity (i.e. gross domestic product), competitive effects (i.e. airline capacity), and exogenous shocks. There was no evidence that the carbon price reduced the level of domestic aviation in Australia. Carbon pricing measures may have to be levied at a greater rate to affect behavioural change, particularly given the limited potential for future aviation efficiency gains.


2021 ◽  
pp. 95-116
Author(s):  
Ilya Stepanov ◽  
Karina Galimova

In the context of transition to low-carbon development, carbon price is rapidly gaining ground all over the world. Discussions on its implementation are under way in Russia as well. However, the use of carbon price as an indicator can be compounded by certain risks. In practice, to overcome them depends on the ability of carbon price designing to take into account the specifics of a country or industries where the regulation is introduced. The regulator needs to determine the specifics of carbon pricing, identify the acceptable degree of regulation and coverage of carbon price; consider the consequences for vulnerable sectors of population, companies, etc. The study aims at systematizing theory and practice of carbon pricing across various countries and regions of the world economy. Drawing on the analysis of fundamental and empirical works, the authors identify the factors that limit the effective use of carbon price; classify the key elements of carbon pricing design. Based on the analysis of international experience, the article provides recommendations on the development of a system for regulating carbon in Russia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Abdullah A. Abdullah

The element carbon Carbon dioxide emissions are increasing primarily as a result of people's use of fossil fuels for electricity. Coal and oil are fossil fuels that contain carbon that plants removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis over millions of years; and in just a few hundred years we've returned carbon to the atmosphere. The element carbon Carbon dioxide concentrations rise primarily as a result of the burning of fossil fuels and Freon for electricity. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas produce carbon plants that were photosynthesized from the atmosphere over many years, since in just two centuries, carbon was returned to the atmosphere. Climate alter could be a noteworthy time variety in weather designs happening over periods ranging from decades to millions of a long time. The permanent change in climatic conditions, or in the time period of long-term natural conditions, indicates irregularity in climatic conditions. Discuss toxins are pollutants that have an adverse impact on the ecosystem through interferometry's with the climatic environment, plant physiology, creature organisms, complete biological systems and human property in the form of agricultural or human crops. We list the best climate to represent the fact that global climate change has been identified as one of the major environmental problems facing humanity in the 21st century. In this context, the list of "classic" poisons must be included alongside substances such as oxides of nitrogen or sulfide. Certain environment limiting agents – the most crucial of them being carbon dioxide – which otherwise do not damage life formations. On the other hand, climate research has linked some compounds that have long been known to discuss toxin (occasionally dark CO2) with the warming of the climate.


2018 ◽  
pp. 163-184
Author(s):  
Barry G. Rabe

California may be on the way toward replicating the experience of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as it moves beyond early stages into full operation as a cap-and-trade system. It formally partners with one Canadian province, Quebec, and has begun to expand beyond its original focus on electricity. The program has experienced a number of significant challenges to longer-term operations but has retained a strong base of political support and could be poised to become a leading example of cap-and-trade effectiveness.


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