The dynamic impact of carbon reduction and renewable support policies on the electricity sector

Carbon reduction and renewable energy policies are implemented in Europe to improve the sustainability of the electricity sector while achieving security of supply. We investigate the interactions between these policies using a dynamic investment model. Our analysis indicates that both policies are necessary to achieve a sustainable power sector. However, renewable energy generation significantly affects carbon markets and could lead to very low prices. These would attract investments in carbon intensive technologies, locking the sector into future higher emissions. To contrast this effect, policy makers may introduce a floor price in the carbon market or adjust the emissions quota periodically.     

Sustainability policies to reduce pollution in energy supply and waste sectors in the V4 countries

Sustainability is directly connected with less natural resources consumption and consequently, with less pollution. However, carbon dioxide emissions could be controlled through policies that are designed starting from empirical results. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of electricity prices for non-household consumers, innovation and economic development on pollution in energy supply and waster sectors in V4 countries (2010–2021). The analysis is based on fixed-effect panel threshold and dynamic GMM models and revealed a U pattern for energy supply sector and an inverted U for waste sector. Higher electricity prices for non-households and more renewables consumption in waste sector are necessary, while more patents in environment-related technologies have expected impact on pollution only at higher levels of GDP. These empirical findings are subject to policy proposals.     

Roof-top wind turbines for microgeneration in urban houses in New Zealand

Microgeneration using roof-top wind turbines is at present not common in New Zealand. It is, however, being trialled by the electricity network company, Vector, in a range of urban locations. Limitations of size mean roof-top wind turbines may not satisfy the total energy requirement of New Zealand houses. Ensuring structural stability and complying with stringent noise standards in New Zealand are further issues. In addition, roof-top turbines may be inefficient in terms of net energy and carbon emissions, performance indicators that are fundamental for the adoption of this technology. This paper considers the feasibility of using roof-top wind turbines in urban houses in New Zealand and, using life cycle assessment, evaluates the net energy and carbon emissions associated with their use. The results indicate that the electricity-generating potential of centralised wind farms in New Zealand using large turbines is 11.3-7 times the generating potential of roof-top turbines mounted on urban houses. In spite of this the roof-top turbines that are currently being trialled, could have the potential to reduce the energy and carbon intensity of New Zealand electricity by 81% and 26%, respectively.     

Electricity from renewable energy resources: Sustainable energy transition and emissions for developed economies

Previous studies cover the connection between production-based carbon emissions and economic, financial, and environmental indicators. However, the comprehensive analysis still needs empirical evidence concerning the consumption-based carbon emissions. The present analyzes 21 industrialized countries during 1990–2020 by using the second-generation panel techniques. The study's results reveal the existence of the long-run equilibrium stable connection between the variables. Due to asymmetric data distribution, this research employed the novel method of moment quantile regression and found that economic growth is the leading factor of consumption-based carbon emission throughout the selected quantiles. However, electricity from renewable resources, research and development in renewable energy, environmental related taxes, and development of environmental related technologies substantially reduce consumption-based emissions and encourage environmental sustainability. This study concludes that an energy transition is an important tool for developed economies to confront the issue of degraded environmental quality.     

The carbon performance of the 100 largest US electricity producers

Efforts towards decarbonizing the energy system have to focus on individual actors within the system. Their current and potential future stake in energy consumption and contribution to climate change has to be analyzed when formulating energy policies targeting system-wide reduction efforts. Focusing on firms, this paper develops a framework for the assessment of corporate carbon performance. We use this framework for an empirical assessment of the 100 largest US electricity producers within three different carbon scenarios. Our results show that in a scenario without changes in the US institutional environment electricity producers will not face a severe increase of their carbon exposure and only a small improvement regarding the carbon intensity of the electricity mix is achieved. In a scenario with more carbon-constrained US energy market conditions some companies face a financial risk from using and emitting carbon that more than triples compared to today. However, in a scenario with strong investments in renewable energy technologies the carbon dependency of electricity production can be significantly reduced. We discuss these findings from a climate policy and financial markets perspective.     

European Union emissions trading scheme impact on the Spanish electricity price during phase II and phase III implementation

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is a cornerstone of the European Union's policy to combat climate change and its key tool for reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. The purpose of the present work is to evaluate the influence of CO₂ opportunity cost on the Spanish wholesale electricity price. Our sample includes all Phase II of the EU ETS and the first year of Phase III implementation, from January 2008 to December 2013. A vector error correction model (VECM) is applied to estimate not only long-run equilibrium relations, but also short-run interactions between the electricity price and the fuel (natural gas and coal) and carbon prices. The four commodities prices are modeled as joint endogenous variables with air temperature and renewable energy as exogenous variables. We found a long-run relationship (cointegration) between electricity price, carbon price, and fuel prices. By estimating the dynamic pass-through of carbon price into electricity price for different periods of our sample, it is possible to observe the weakening of the link between carbon and electricity prices as a result from the collapse on CO₂ prices, therefore compromising the efficacy of the system to reach proposed environmental goals. This conclusion is in line with the need to shape new policies within the framework of the EU ETS that prevent excessive low prices for carbon over extended periods of time.     

城镇化对建筑业碳排放的影响效应分析

为了针对城镇化发展对建筑业制定行之有效的减排措施和政策,对我国 30 个省份进行建筑业碳排放量的测算,据此划分了高排放、中排放和低排放 3 个区域。以三大碳排放区域为研究对象,探究城镇化对建筑业碳排放的影响效应,以便针对不同影响因素制定不同的措施来减少建筑业碳排放。通过 EKC 曲线模型确定了城镇化与对建筑业碳排放的相关性,将城镇化分解为人口规模、人均国内生产总值、建筑业能源消费结构和能源消耗强度 4 个变量,并通过拓展的 STIRPAT 模型去分析各个变量对建筑业碳排放的影响效应。结果表明,三大碳排放区域的城镇化水平与建筑业碳排放存在显著的相关关系,且 4 个变量均对建筑业碳排放产生显著影响。     

城市活动碳足迹计量及其对城市规划的启示——以北京市为例

在应对气候变化问题上,不论是一个国家、区域,还是一个城市,如果仅仅立足于本行政范围内从表面上来制定应对政策,很可能会导致全局碳排放的不减反增。为了评估一个区域或城市生产消费活动对碳排放的全局影响,就需要引入碳足迹的概念。本文利用投入产出模型,尝试构建了一种计算城市活动碳足迹的宏观方法,并以北京市为例,计算了北京市2007年主要城市活动对本地和外地的碳足迹,进而对其城市发展规划的制定提出了几点启示。     

高校宿舍碳排放现状调查与减排方案设计 ——以东南大学九龙湖校区为背景

高校宿舍有较大的减排潜力。研究以东南大学九龙湖校区为背景,测试对象为本科生200 人、宿舍40 间。应用问卷调查的方法分析大学生与碳排放相关的生活习惯,应用实地抽样调查的方法统计宿舍电器型号及使用情况,计算宿舍碳排放量;在定点模拟实验中,使用PowerBay 系列智能电力监测仪进行宿舍电热水器、空调的耗电量及碳排放测量,分别对其使用方案进行节电效果对比分析,计算减排效果,并最终给出具体、量化的高校宿舍碳减排设计方案。     

中国建筑业碳排放时空演变特征分析

建筑业碳排放对我国双碳目标实现影响重大,在中国建筑业碳排放测算的基础上,运用泰尔指数、Slope 值和探索性空间数据分析方法对我国2006~2017 年建筑业碳排放的时空格局演变特征进行研究和分析。研究表明:2006~2017 年,我国建筑业碳排放呈现明显的上升趋势,建筑业碳排放量呈现出明显的区域差异性,东南部地区排放量较大,其他区域排放量较低。大部分省份建筑业碳排放量为中速和缓慢增长型,建筑业碳排放的增长速度得到了有效控制。建筑业碳排放的总体差异、区域内差异和区域间差异呈缓慢波浪式上升态势。建筑业碳排放空间集聚程度呈现出增强－减弱－增强的波动变化趋势,集聚程度较低,但局部空间关联性较强。研究结果可为政府等相关部门制定建筑业碳减排管理的差异化政策和措施提供理论依据。     

Carbon curves for the assessment of embodied carbon in the wastewater industry

The water and wastewater industry has been tasked with reducing its greenhouse gas (or carbon) emissions. A key component of any emissions reduction strategy is emissions measurement. While operational emissions are reported by the sector on an annual basis, there is a lack of robust data on embodied carbon. The aim of this paper was to develop a practical solution for assessing the embodied carbon in wastewater assets. The analysis revealed a linear relationship between carbon emissions and capital investment in the construction of wastewater treatment works (1.3 tCO₂/£1000) and wastewater pumping stations (0.3 tCO₂/£1000). Carbon emissions from sewer construction were found to increase linearly with increasing pipe diameter, with ductile iron pipelines responsible for higher emissions than polyethylene. Operational carbon is the major component in the whole life carbon of wastewater treatment works, but future decarbonisation of the electricity grid may increase the relative importance of embodied carbon.     

Encouraging low carbon policies through a Local Emissions Trading Scheme (LETS)

Local authorities are important actors to mitigate climate change. They can implement policies which can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in sectors like transport, waste, agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). They can also implement policies which can increase carbon dioxide removals. The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is one of the most important initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the EU. It is a cap and trade scheme encompassing almost half of the European-wide carbon dioxide emissions. However, carbon dioxide removals and sectors associated with local authorities’ responsibilities are not included in the EU ETS. The main objective of this paper is to propose an original cap and trade system, called LETS, designed to involve local authorities. The LETS was then tested and applied to all the local authorities in the mainland of Portugal covering emissions and removals of a single greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in the LULUCF and the transport sectors. The system proved to have the necessary conditions to be implemented and adaptable to other country contexts.     

Evaluation of a turbine driven CCHP system for large office buildings under different operating strategies

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems use waste heat from on-site electricity generation to meet the thermal demand of the facility. This paper models a CCHP system for a large office building and examines its primary energy consumption (PEC), operational costs, and carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) with respect to a reference building using conventional technologies. The prime mover used in this investigation is a load share turbine, and the CCHP system is evaluated under three different operation strategies: following the electric demand of the facility, following the thermal demand of the facility, and following a seasonal strategy. For the various strategies, the percentages of total carbon dioxide emissions by source are presented. This paper explores the use of carbon credits to show how the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that is possible from the CCHP system could translate into economic benefits. In addition, the capital costs available for the CCHP system are determined using the simple payback period. Results indicate that for the evaluated office building located in Chicago the CCHP operation reduces the operational cost, PEC, and CDE from the reference building by an average of 2.6%, 12.1%, and 40.6%, respectively, for all the different operational strategies.     

Life cycle primary energy use and carbon emission of an eight-storey wood-framed apartment building

In this study the life cycle primary energy use and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission of an eight-storey wood-framed apartment building are analyzed. All life cycle phases are included, including acquisition and processing of materials, on-site construction, building operation, demolition and materials disposal. The calculated primary energy use includes the entire energy system chains, and carbon flows are tracked including fossil fuel emissions, process emissions, carbon stocks in building materials, and avoided fossil emissions due to biofuel substitution. The results show that building operation uses the largest share of life cycle energy use, becoming increasingly dominant as the life span of the building increases. The type of heating system strongly influences the primary energy use and CO₂ emission; a biomass-based system with cogeneration of district heat and electricity achieves low primary energy use and very low CO₂ emissions. Using biomass residues from the wood products chain to substitute for fossil fuels significantly reduces net CO₂ emission. Excluding household tap water and electricity, a negative life cycle net CO₂ emission can be achieved due to the wood-based construction materials and biomass-based energy supply system. This study shows the importance of using a life cycle perspective when evaluating primary energy and climatic impacts of buildings.     

天津京蓟圣光万豪酒店运营碳足迹研究

以国内首家三星级绿色建筑运行标识酒店——天津京蓟圣光万豪酒店为例构建了酒店运行阶段碳足迹模型,引入了客人碳足迹对酒店客人人均碳排放指标进行量化,并开发了碳足迹记录软件。本酒店理论碳减排19.7%,经过全年实际运营数据分析,酒店能源消耗碳排放强度为105.25 kgCO_2/(m~2·a),较普通酒店碳排放降低了35.63%,客房区域客人碳排强度为10.32~15.51 kgCO_2/(p·a),酒店客人人均碳排放强度为48.76 kgCO_2/(p·a),空调碳排放和照明碳排放是降低酒店碳排放的重点,研究内容为探索低碳酒店运行提供了参考。     

Life cycle emissions analysis of two nZEB concepts

The net-zero emissions building (nZEB) performance is investigated for building operation (EO) and embodied emissions in materials (EE) for Norway's cold climate. nZEB concepts for new residential and office buildings are conceived in order to understand the balance and implications between operational and embodied emissions over the building's life. The main drivers for the CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions are revealed for both building concepts through a detailed emissions calculation. The influence of the CO₂e factor for electricity is emphasized and it is shown to have significant impact on the temporal evolution of the overall CO₂e emissions balance. The results show that the criterion for zero emissions in operation is easily reached for both nZEB concepts (independent of the CO₂e factor considered). Embodied emissions are significant compared to operational emissions. It was found that an overall emissions balance including both operational and embodied energy is difficult to reach and would be unobtainable in a scenario of low carbon electricity from the grid. In this particular scenario, the net balance of emissions alone is nonetheless not a sufficient performance indicator for nZEB.     

Developing a local carbon dioxide emissions inventory based on energy demand and waste production

This paper reports the development of a carbon dioxide emissions matrix for the Oeiras municipality, one of the largest Portuguese municipalities, located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. This matrix takes into account greenhouse gas emissions, caused by an increase of electricity demand in buildings as well as solid and liquid wastes treatment, from the domestic and services sectors. Using emission factors that were calculated from the relationship between the produced energy and amount of treated wastes, greenhouse gas emissions in the Oeiras municipality, were estimated for a time series of six years (1998 to 2003). The results obtained showed that the electricity sector accounts for about 75% of the municipal emissions in 2003. This study constitutes a tool to define sectors for appropriate action, including energy planning and also public information.     

Influence of the carbon intensity of electricity on carbon savings from CHP

The carbon intensity of electricity is a key input to calculations of carbon emissions from buildings, and can be decisive in the selection of low- and zero-carbon technologies. The origin of the value for the carbon intensity of electricity is not well understood and its derivation is investigated. The carbon savings from gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) vary greatly depending on the carbon intensity of electricity. The current debate about the effectiveness of CHP centres on detailed considerations about which values for the carbon intensity of electricity should be used. The expected future decarbonization of the electricity supply grid would considerably reduce carbon intensities, thus the longer-term trends in carbon intensity and their effect on the carbon savings from CHP are of greater importance. A new expression has been developed to describe the carbon savings from CHP and trigeneration as a function of varying carbon intensity of electricity. While CHP can offer limited carbon savings in the short-term, the future decarbonization of the electricity grid means that CHP will soon be among the most carbon-intensive technologies, and the use of trigeneration will cease to provide carbon savings even sooner.

L'intensité carbone de l'électricité est un élément clé de calcul des émissions de carbone des bâtiments et peut être décisive dans le choix des technologies bas carbone et zéro carbone. L'origine de la valeur de l'intensité carbone de l'électricité n'est pas bien comprise et son mode de calcul est étudié. Les économies de carbone réalisées grâce à la production combinée chaleur-électricité (PCCE) issue du gaz varient considérablement selon l'intensité carbone de l'électricité. Les débats actuels sur l'efficacité de la production combinée chaleur-électricité (PCCE) se concentrent sur des considérations détaillées relatives aux valeurs qui devraient être utilisées concernant l'intensité carbone de l'électricité. La future décarbonisation prévue du réseau de distribution d'électricité réduirait considérablement les intensités carbone, de sorte que les tendances à plus long terme en matière d'intensité carbone et leur effet sur les économies de carbone réalisées grâce à la PCCE sont de la plus grande importance. Il a été élaboré une nouvelle expression permettant de décrire les économies de carbone réalisées grâce à la PCCE et à la trigénération comme étant une fonction de l'intensité carbone variable de l'électricité. Bien que la PCCE puisse assurer à court terme des économies de carbone limitées, la future décarbonisation du réseau de distribution d'électricité signifie que la PCCE figurera bientôt au nombre des technologies affichant les plus fortes intensités carbone et que l'utilisation de la trigénération cessera encore plus tôt d'assurer des économies d'énergie.

Mots clés: réglementation du bâtiment, émissions de carbone, intensité carbone de l'électricité, production combinée chaleur-électricité (PCCE), technologies bas carbone et zéro carbone, bâtiments bas carbone, trigénération     

Are shocks to electricity consumption transitory or permanent? Sub-national evidence from Turkey

This is the first study that aims to investigate policy shocks to energy consumption in terms of unit root properties by sector. More precisely, we analyze the stationarity of electricity consumption for 12 regions of Turkey by four sectors in addition to total electricity consumption by region (for a total of 60 cases). We find that 48 cases are non-stationary and 12 cases are stationary. Thus, policies to decrease or stimulate the use of electricity have permanent effects on electricity consumption in 80% of the cases and transitory effects in the rest. Findings and policy implications are further discussed.     

低碳建筑的评价指标初探

提出用建筑利用中的人均碳排放指标和建筑用能过程碳减排效率对低碳建筑进行评价。指出建筑碳排放实质上是人的碳排放,建筑只是使用者的能耗平台。因此,对建筑碳排放的评价要用强度指标,即建筑使用者人均碳排放指标。而对建筑设备的碳排放评价,是一个投入产出分析过程,即投入隐含碳、间接碳和直接碳,产出避免碳排放量的效率。同时计算得出我国太阳能光伏发电的隐含碳排放量。