Publisher Summary Public concern and scientific research on health, safety, and environmental externalities (HSE) lured a number of economists to apply their tools and models to these issues. The materials balance model and the environmental models of are examples of incorporating HSE externalities into standard economic models. These enriched models have attracted a good deal of attention from both theorists and applied economists. The chapter reviews the economics of health, safety, and environmental regulation cites work of a large number of people trained in disciplines other than economics. The lesson appears to be that economists are narrowly bound by the models and view of what are interesting problems and approaches. When a movement as sweeping and important as the environmentalist–consumerist movement occurs, economists should not be complaining two decades later that government programs are not efficient. Tackling HSE issues is inherently difficult, because they involve some of the thorniest issues in economics: paternalism, public goods, information, and incentives for innovation, uncertainty, valuing nonmarket goods and services, and modeling unanticipated consequences of actions. Indeed the set of issues is so large and fascinating, it would provide employment for a great many theorists. The economics of HSE regulation has come from somewhat sterile arguments about Coase versus Pigou to a rich array of models, parameter estimates, and policy advice.

Chapter 26 The economics of health, safety, and environmental regulation

This study summarizes the available information on the technical characteristics and costs of those sulphur abatement technol¬ogies in operation at present or coming into operation in the near future. Relying on disaggregated source data and using engineering cost functions and various technical and economic assumptions, the least cost curves of sulphur abatement for all the European countries have been derived and some examples are presented. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of abatement strategies and costs to some alternative assumptions about energy futures is presented

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/32588/1/so2costs.pdf

An evaluation of the direct costs of abatement under the main desulphurisation technologies

This study summarizes the available information on the technical characteristics and costs of those sulfur abatement technologies in operation at present or coming into operation in the near future. Relying on disaggregated source data and using engineering cost functions and various technical and economic assumptions, the least cost curves of sulfur abatement for all the European countries have been derived, and some examples are presented. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of abatement strategies and costs to some alternative assumptions about energy futures is presented.

Evaluation of the Direct Cost of Sulfur Abatement Under the Main Desulfurization Technologies

This study summarises the available information on the costs of those nitrogen oxides abatement technologies in operation at present or coming into operation in the near future. Relying on disaggregated source data and using engineering cost functions and various technical and economic assumptions, the least cost curves of nitrogen oxides abatement for all the European countries have been derived and some examples are presented.

Evaluating the direct costs of controlling NOx emissions in Europe

UK energy policy

Sulphur dioxide from electricity generation Policy options for pollution control

The effects on electricity prices in england and wales of notional sulphur dioxide emission standards for power stations

Electricity generation from fossil fuels leads to the emission of a number of pollutants to the atmosphere. These include sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and particulates. In the U.K. a 2000MW power station burning coal with an average sulphur content of approximately 1.5 per cent would emit 130,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide (SO2) per annum and 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. ' In recent years in the U.K., Western Europe and the U.S.A. considerable attention has been given to problems arising from the emission of sulphur oxides. A principal reason for this is that, whilst the use of tall stacks is effective in alleviating local effects, sulphur oxides may be transported over long distances and may have an impact on distant environments possibly outside national boundaries. The concern is therefore with the aggregate volume of SO 2 emitted. Examples of transboundary pollution include deposition of sulphur compounds in Scandinavia which are partly the result of emissions from France, Germany and the U. K. and depositions in New England resuiting from emissions in States to the West. Although there is substantial evidence that sulphur dioxide and sulphate levels in the atmosphere have increased in recent years and that these compounds can travel hundreds of miles, 2 there is less firm agreement about their effects on the environment. For a number of reasons, the identification and measurement of any benefit from SO 2 abatement pose formidable problems. 3 In such circumstances estimates of the cost of abatement are an important input to decision making. This paper is concerned with the costs of abating SO 2 emissions from Central Electricity Generating Board (C. E. G. B.) power stations in England and Wales. The approach taken is to estimate the least cost methods, given various possible abatement technologies, for reducing aggregate C.E.G.B. emissions of SO2 to * Acknowledgement is made to the Social Science Research Council for the provision of a research grant to study the effects on electricity prices of the imposition of notional standards for the control of sulphur dioxide emissions from power stations in England and Wales. Only the authors are responsible for the views expressed in this paper. ' These figures assume that the power station operates at 60 per cent load factor. This would imply a rate of coal consumption of about 4.4 million tonnes per annum. 2 The OECD Programme on Long Range Transport of Air Pollutants, Measurements and Find ings, [8]. See Pickles and Proctor, [101.

Nicolas H. Highton

Papers

Sulphur dioxide from electricity generation Policy options for pollution control

The effects on electricity prices in england and wales of notional sulphur dioxide emission standards for power stations

Pollution abatement costs in the electricity supply industry in england and wales

On the economics of pollution control for sulphur dioxide emissions

Electricity supply and pollution control