Evaluating automobile fuel/propulsion system technologies

Traditionally electric power systems are operated in such a way that the total fuel cost is minimized regardless of emissions produced. With increased requirements for environmental protection, alternative strategies are required. This paper presents a summary of algorithms of environmental-economic dispatch in electric power systems since 1970. The algorithms attempt to reduce the production of atmospheric emissions such as NO/sub x/ and SO/sub x/ caused by the operation of fossil-fueled thermal generation. Such reduction is achieved by including emissions either as a constraint or as a weighted function the objective of the overall dispatching problem. >

A summary of environmental/economic dispatch algorithms

An activity analysis model of the environmental performance of firms—application to fossil-fuel-fired electric utilities

This report reviews current perspectives on market barriers to energy efficiency. Ratepayer-funded utility energy-efficiency programs are likely to change in scope, size, and nature as the deregulation process proceeds; the authors research focuses on understanding to what extent some form of future intervention may be warranted and how they might judge the success of particular interventions, especially those funded by ratepayers. They find that challenges to the existence of market barriers have, for the most part, failed to provide a testable alternative explanation for evidence suggesting that there is a substantial ``efficiency gap`` between a consumer`s actual investments in energy efficiency and those that appear to be in the consumer`s own interest. They then suggest that differences of opinion about the appropriateness of public policies stem not from disputes about whether market barriers exist, but from different perceptions of the magnitude of the barriers, and the efficacy and (possibly unintended) consequences of policies designed to overcome them. They conclude that there are compelling justifications for future energy-efficiency policies. Nevertheless, in order to succeed, they must be based on a sound understanding of the market problems they seek to correct and a realistic assessment of their likely efficacy. This understanding can only emerge from detailed investigations of the current operation of individual markets.

/pdf/market-barriers-to-energy-efficiency-a-critical-reappraisal-2gdp6un17f.pdf

Market barriers to energy efficiency: A critical reappraisal of the rationale for public policies to promote energy efficiency

This paper provides an order-of-magnitude assessment of the marginal social costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The calculations are based on a stochastic greenhouse damage model in which key parameters are random. This allows a closer representation of current scientific understanding and also enables calculation of a damage probability distribution. Thus, we account explicitly for the uncertain nature of the global warming phenomenon. We estimate social costs of CO{sub 2} emissions in the order of 20 $/tC for emissions between 1991 and 2000, a value which rises over time to about 28 $/tC in 2021-2030. Similar figures for CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O are also provided. As a consequence of the prevailing uncertainty, the standard deviation of the estimates is rather high. The distribution is positively skewed, which implies that the currently predominant method of using best guess values will lead to an underestimation of the expected costs of emissions. 50 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.

The Social Costs of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An Expected Value Approach*

The so-called Pace Study' (Pace University Center for Environmental Legal Studies) is becoming a landmark for the measurement of environmental costs for the generation of electricity It will be a reference concerned with measuring and incorporating the environmental damages into utility ratemaking There are several reasons for this The first is conceptual Rather than associating the environmental costs with the clean-up costs, it addresses the damage function of various emissions resulting from electric generation by type of generation Second, it presents damage cost estimates Additionally, it will serve as a reference concerning calculations of environmental damage by type of generation in a variety of settings Sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the US Department of Energy, it serves as an extensive review of the literature on the subject The authors present the material in an easy-to-reference manner according to, first, emissions source, and then by generation source The authors recognize the need for further research and, apparently, the size of the task They state simply, the report is intended to assist utilities, government regulators, legislators, policy analysts and public interest groups in estimating the costs of the environmental impacts of pollutants It will domore » that« less

Environmental Costs of Electricity

This article proposes a new formula for a post-Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The article critiques the Kyoto Protocol insofar as it allocates emissions reduction entitlements to some countries but not to others. All countries, and not just developed countries, must be allocated emissions entitlements. The article further critiques the Kyoto Protocol for imposing emission reduction obligations on only the developed countries, leaving developing countries without emission reduction and/or avoidance obligations. The article refutes the assumption underlying the Kyoto Protocol that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities necessarily exempts developing countries on account of their historically low GHG emissions from emissions reductions and/or avoidance obligations. Our proposal assigns real, common, but equitably differentiated responsibilities to all nations of the world, and requires that all countries maximize the efficiency of their use of energy. The post-Kyoto Protocol climate change mitigation regime must 1) stipulate an absolute cap on allowable GHG emissions, which the global atmospheric system can tolerate without dangerous climate change; 2) allocate GHG emissions under that cap to all countries on the based on a combination of four factors: the Human Development Index; the efficiency of energy use; historical and present per capita emissions; and projected future per capita emissions; 3) allow all countries to use flexible mechanisms in meeting reduction commitments; and 4) provide for technology transfer and capacity building to enable poor countries to embark on a sustainable development path based on low carbon, energy efficient, and renewable energy technologies.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1300461_code940398.pdf?abstractid=1162770&rulid=29997&mirid=5

Designing a Global Post-Kyoto Climate Change Protocol that Advances Human Development

One powerful response to the complaint that principles of sustainable development are not incorporated into legal systems is what are known as environmental impact statement (EIS) or assessment (EA or EIA) laws, which are now part of the jurisprudence of nearly every country of the world. These laws are central to international organizations and multilateral banking and are prominent expectations in international agreements. These EIS, EIA or EA (hereinafter commonly referred to as EIS) requirements represent a nearly universal adoption of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), enacted in the United States in 1970. At its core, the EIS process requires that each government decision-maker incorporate environmental concerns into the decision-making process at each stage of evaluation so that the final outcome will reflect an integration of all inputs: economic, environmental, political, and social. In theory, EIS laws that are now ubiquitous in national and international legal systems, will, by the gradual, but insistent, accretion of project decisions, inevitably advance the world along the road to sustainable development. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The widespread existence of NEPA-like laws has created a false sense of environmental security. Instead of advancing sustainability, EIS laws allow a project's unsustainability to be masked by a process that purports to promote sustainability. In the United States, NEPA not only fails to promote sustainable development, it allows decision-makers to dress up unsustainable proposals with a veneer of sustainability, providing a false sense of security that the decisions of the government "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans." NEPA, copied throughout the world, has become a worldwide public relations vehicle to paint decisions that significantly affect the environment as sustainable, when nothing could be further from the truth. This article will demonstrate how NEPA fails to require sustainable decisions, and how NEPA can be modified to promote sustainable development.

The Role of Law in Defining Sustainable Development: NEPA Reconsidered

This Article will examine critically the Clean Water Act's triangular structure of federal, state and citizen enforcement. It will conclude that a triangulated federalist enforcement program can be successful only if citizens are unimpaired in their ability to fill the substantial gaps that exist in state and federal enforcement programs. Even in the most earnest federal and state enforcement programs, there are substantial institutional and political obstacles to adequate enforcement. Unfortunately, the present system does more to hinder citizen enforcement than to promote it. If this trend continues, and as states continue to compete with each other for business development by relaxing enforcement activity, the regulated community will realize that it cannot justify voluntary compliance with permit requirements. Under the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments the CWA's enforcement system soon will be applied to the control of urban air quality, toxic air pollutants, and acid deposition. Thus, not only will the cleanliness of our water depend on the efficacy of the CWA's triangulated federalist enforcement system, but so will the nation's hopes for clean air.

Enforcement of Environmental Law in a Triangular Federal System: Can Three Not Be a Crowd When Enforcement Authority is Shared by the United States, the States, and Their Citizens?

David R. Hodas

Papers

Environmental Costs of Electricity

Designing a Global Post-Kyoto Climate Change Protocol that Advances Human Development

Designing a Global Post-Kyoto Climate Change Protocol that Advances Human Development

The Role of Law in Defining Sustainable Development: NEPA Reconsidered

Enforcement of Environmental Law in a Triangular Federal System: Can Three Not Be a Crowd When Enforcement Authority is Shared by the United States, the States, and Their Citizens?