Greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters haven’t faced the costs of using the atmosphere. Limiting climate change requires internalizing that economic externality. Trading GHG emissions is a possible solution, yet the trading implemented to date is based on the issuance of permits, which are licenses to emit, meaning net-positive emissions. To attain net-zero, positive emissions must be traded against negative emissions. Modeling an economy in which GHG credits are earned for removing emissions reveals a GHG-Sector through which economic activity limits climate change. Analysis of the model indicates that if direct air capture of CO2 is part of attaining net-zero, then market prices will direct all pre-emission captured CO2 (e.g., flu gas) to sequestration. The policy implications of a GHG-Sector for sustainable transitions in aviation, food production, and elsewhere are discussed.
{"title":"Attaining Net-Zero through a GHG-Economic Sector","authors":"Charles Polk","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3888819","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3888819","url":null,"abstract":"Greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters haven’t faced the costs of using the atmosphere. Limiting climate change requires internalizing that economic externality. Trading GHG emissions is a possible solution, yet the trading implemented to date is based on the issuance of permits, which are licenses to emit, meaning net-positive emissions. To attain net-zero, positive emissions must be traded against negative emissions. Modeling an economy in which GHG credits are earned for removing emissions reveals a GHG-Sector through which economic activity limits climate change. Analysis of the model indicates that if direct air capture of CO2 is part of attaining net-zero, then market prices will direct all pre-emission captured CO2 (e.g., flu gas) to sequestration. The policy implications of a GHG-Sector for sustainable transitions in aviation, food production, and elsewhere are discussed.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132244984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Curious Case of the Green Transition: Managing a Historic Shift in Oil Exporting Countries While the Middle East and North African (MENA) region is home to only 6% of the world’s population, it controls 60% of the world’s known oil resources and almost half of the world’s natural gas reserves (Hilmi et al. 30). An additional source strengthens this statement exhibiting that total production of oil in MENA countries accounts for 34,418 thousands barrels per day while that of natural gas amounts to 798.3 billion cubic metres per year (Exhibit 3). Due to scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change, oil is considered a controversial energy source and therefore deserves special attention. Trends towards non-carbon based and sustainable energy sources are gaining momentum worldwide. Meanwhile, trends towards clean energies are gaining momentum worldwide. Given its large number of oil-dependent countries, this will have profound ramifications for the MENA region. Although the classification of strong and weak green performers has been a contentious process, these data are nonetheless the most reliable sources available to date. Under this classification, Saudi Arabia ranks fourth and is considered a modest performer. Algeria, ranked fifth, is considered a slightly weaker performer (Tagliapietra, 2017, 20). Saudi Arabia is presumed to be in the top group of oil exporters, meaning that oil revenues account for 40% of GDP. Algeria ranks in the second tier, which consists of countries whose oil revenues range from 20 to 40% of their GDP (Tagliapietra, 2017 16). If taken as a common denominator, ‘green energy’ is analytically useful in comparing Saudi Arabia and Algeria as they embark on the path to non-carbon energy solutions. There are several foundational, yet still unanswered, questions about energy sector transformations in petroleum exporting countries. First, why would MENA countries transition to green energy before they exhaust their petroleum reserves? Second, when will commercially viable oil reserves be depleted? Lastly, what are the tradeoffs between economic development and a Green Transition? As Eckart Woertz, the Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies in Hamburg, argues, the use of clean energy is still limited in the region, particularly compared to Europe (Cochrane). If this is the case, then what incentive structures are likely to influence decision making in this domain? While a complete analysis of these questions is beyond the scope of this paper, establishing a basic understanding of both supply-and demand-side incentive structures serve as a foundation for rational economic and policy decisions. Certainly, reforms and programs are undertaken in MENA countries to switch to clean energy. Both Saudi Arabia and Algeria have proposed programs and reforms that incorporate sustainable objectives. Examples include Algeria’s National Strategy for the Fight Against Poverty (2005–2015) and Five-Year Plan (2010–2014)
绿色转型的奇特案例:管理石油出口国的历史性转变虽然中东和北非(MENA)地区的人口仅占世界人口的6%,但它控制着世界上60%的已知石油资源和几乎一半的世界天然气储量(Hilmi et al. 30)。另一个来源证实了这一说法,中东和北非地区国家的石油总产量为34,41.8万桶/天,而天然气的产量为7983亿立方米/年(表3)。由于科学对人为气候变化的共识,石油被认为是一种有争议的能源,因此值得特别关注。全球范围内,非碳基和可持续能源的发展势头正在增强。与此同时,清洁能源的发展趋势在世界范围内正在加速。鉴于中东和北非地区有大量依赖石油的国家,这将对该地区产生深远影响。尽管对绿色绩效强弱的分类一直是一个有争议的过程,但这些数据仍然是迄今为止最可靠的来源。在这一分类中,沙特阿拉伯排名第四,被认为表现一般。阿尔及利亚排名第五,被认为表现稍弱(Tagliapietra, 2017,20)。沙特阿拉伯被认为是最大的石油出口国之一,这意味着石油收入占国内生产总值的40%。阿尔及利亚排在第二梯队,由石油收入占其GDP的20%至40%的国家组成(Tagliapietra, 2017年16)。如果把“绿色能源”作为一个共同点,在比较沙特阿拉伯和阿尔及利亚走上非碳能源解决方案的道路时,“绿色能源”在分析上是有用的。关于石油出口国的能源部门转型,有几个基本的、但仍未得到解答的问题。首先,为什么中东和北非国家要在耗尽石油储备之前转向绿色能源?其次,商业上可行的石油储量何时会枯竭?最后,经济发展和绿色转型之间的权衡是什么?正如位于汉堡的GIGA中东研究所所长埃卡特•沃尔茨所言,该地区对清洁能源的利用仍然有限,尤其是与欧洲相比(科克伦)。如果是这样,那么什么样的激励结构可能会影响这个领域的决策?虽然对这些问题的全面分析超出了本文的范围,但建立对供给侧和需求侧激励结构的基本理解是理性经济和政策决策的基础。当然,中东和北非国家正在进行改革和项目,以转向清洁能源。沙特阿拉伯和阿尔及利亚都提出了包含可持续目标的方案和改革。例如,阿尔及利亚的国家反贫困战略(2005-2015年)和五年计划(2010-2014年)以及沙特阿拉伯的2030年愿景(Tagliapietra el a. 4)。因此,鉴于这些经济体中的主要行业预计将通过绿色转型从根本上发生转变,使用横向方法来分析这些复杂的变化是有用的。本文探讨了中东和北非国家可持续发展的概念和影响,因为石油依赖型经济体面临的挑战最为严峻。具体来说,如果中东和北非国家成功地过渡到主要(如果不是完全)以非碳为基础的可持续能源,未来会是什么样子?中东和北非地区的绿色转型旨在改革石油开采、提炼和出口过程。
{"title":"The Green Transition in Oil Dependent Economies in the MENA Region 'Turning off the Pumps, Breaking the Oil Addiction, and Greening the Desert' Case Study: A Non-Oil Future for Saudi Arabia and Algeria?","authors":"A. Gaillard","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3877500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3877500","url":null,"abstract":"The Curious Case of the Green Transition: Managing a Historic Shift in Oil Exporting Countries While the Middle East and North African (MENA) region is home to only 6% of the world’s population, it controls 60% of the world’s known oil resources and almost half of the world’s natural gas reserves (Hilmi et al. 30). An additional source strengthens this statement exhibiting that total production of oil in MENA countries accounts for 34,418 thousands barrels per day while that of natural gas amounts to 798.3 billion cubic metres per year (Exhibit 3). Due to scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change, oil is considered a controversial energy source and therefore deserves special attention. Trends towards non-carbon based and sustainable energy sources are gaining momentum worldwide. Meanwhile, trends towards clean energies are gaining momentum worldwide. Given its large number of oil-dependent countries, this will have profound ramifications for the MENA region. Although the classification of strong and weak green performers has been a contentious process, these data are nonetheless the most reliable sources available to date. Under this classification, Saudi Arabia ranks fourth and is considered a modest performer. Algeria, ranked fifth, is considered a slightly weaker performer (Tagliapietra, 2017, 20). Saudi Arabia is presumed to be in the top group of oil exporters, meaning that oil revenues account for 40% of GDP. Algeria ranks in the second tier, which consists of countries whose oil revenues range from 20 to 40% of their GDP (Tagliapietra, 2017 16). If taken as a common denominator, ‘green energy’ is analytically useful in comparing Saudi Arabia and Algeria as they embark on the path to non-carbon energy solutions. There are several foundational, yet still unanswered, questions about energy sector transformations in petroleum exporting countries. First, why would MENA countries transition to green energy before they exhaust their petroleum reserves? Second, when will commercially viable oil reserves be depleted? Lastly, what are the tradeoffs between economic development and a Green Transition? As Eckart Woertz, the Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies in Hamburg, argues, the use of clean energy is still limited in the region, particularly compared to Europe (Cochrane). If this is the case, then what incentive structures are likely to influence decision making in this domain? While a complete analysis of these questions is beyond the scope of this paper, establishing a basic understanding of both supply-and demand-side incentive structures serve as a foundation for rational economic and policy decisions. Certainly, reforms and programs are undertaken in MENA countries to switch to clean energy. Both Saudi Arabia and Algeria have proposed programs and reforms that incorporate sustainable objectives. Examples include Algeria’s National Strategy for the Fight Against Poverty (2005–2015) and Five-Year Plan (2010–2014) ","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129718408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In rejoining the Paris Agreement, the United States should be working to limit global temperature increases as a result of climate change caused by atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. We are not currently on track to achieve this goal, requiring further consideration of the ways we regulate greenhouse gas emitting activities. Among other regulatory tools, the United States regulates greenhouse gas emitting activities through tax. The utility of regulating through tax in the context of climate change is two-fold. First, as others have noted, tax is particularly well-suited to make GHG emitting activities comparatively more expensive in a way that can force taxpayers to bear externalized social costs of GHG emitting activities resulting in climate change. Second, tax is able to address climate change as a problem that will disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized groups. The tax code does not currently adequately fulfill either of these regulatory purposes. In part, this may be because of the view shared by many that there is a conflict between regulating to limit GHG emissions through a carbon tax and regulating to advance progressive policy. This article uses the non-refundable credit for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration in section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code and an implicit regressive carbon tax on the public created by failing to curb climate change to advocate for an end to arguments pitting a carbon tax or improved Pigouvian subsidies (such as a revised section 45Q as discussed herein) against progressive goals. It’s time to move past a perpetuation of current policy—which is a poor tool for curbing GHG emissions and which is entrenching regressive results of climate change--and to try implementing policy that is intentionally designed to both actualize green goals and progressive results.
{"title":"Captured: Regulating to 1.5C through Tax, Section 45Q and Escaping from Regressive Pitfalls","authors":"R. Gurule","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3825873","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3825873","url":null,"abstract":"In rejoining the Paris Agreement, the United States should be working to limit global temperature increases as a result of climate change caused by atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. We are not currently on track to achieve this goal, requiring further consideration of the ways we regulate greenhouse gas emitting activities. Among other regulatory tools, the United States regulates greenhouse gas emitting activities through tax. The utility of regulating through tax in the context of climate change is two-fold. First, as others have noted, tax is particularly well-suited to make GHG emitting activities comparatively more expensive in a way that can force taxpayers to bear externalized social costs of GHG emitting activities resulting in climate change. Second, tax is able to address climate change as a problem that will disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized groups. The tax code does not currently adequately fulfill either of these regulatory purposes. In part, this may be because of the view shared by many that there is a conflict between regulating to limit GHG emissions through a carbon tax and regulating to advance progressive policy. This article uses the non-refundable credit for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration in section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code and an implicit regressive carbon tax on the public created by failing to curb climate change to advocate for an end to arguments pitting a carbon tax or improved Pigouvian subsidies (such as a revised section 45Q as discussed herein) against progressive goals. It’s time to move past a perpetuation of current policy—which is a poor tool for curbing GHG emissions and which is entrenching regressive results of climate change--and to try implementing policy that is intentionally designed to both actualize green goals and progressive results.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"171 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124157675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A significant Eskom’s grid electricity is generated from the thermal coal-fired plants. The study focused on modelling the generated electricity during the “before and after” outage of a typical unit, in one of the Eskom Benson’s thermal coal power plants rated at 600 MW and mechanical conversion efficiency of 35%. The dataset for the chosen input parameters are collected from the metering cards and the generated electrical power are obtained from the installed power meters to the designated unit in the power plant. Multiple linear regression models (MLR) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for both the “before and after outage” power generated are developed, tested and validated with the input parameters as the average air heater temperature, average main stream super-heater temperature, average high pressure heater’s temperature, the total mass of coal burnt, average of the condenser well pressure and temperature and the auxiliary power consumed. The MLR models and the ANNs for both the “before and after” outage power generated gave excellent correlation coefficients of over 0.950. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the ANNs gave better predictions over the counterparts MLRs model based on the correlation coefficients and the mean square errors derived from the models.
{"title":"The Comparison of Regression Models and Artificial Neural Networks in Predicting Power Generation in a Thermal Coal Power Plant","authors":"S. Tangwe, K. Kusakana","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3736905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3736905","url":null,"abstract":"A significant Eskom’s grid electricity is generated from the thermal coal-fired plants. The study focused on modelling the generated electricity during the “before and after” outage of a typical unit, in one of the Eskom Benson’s thermal coal power plants rated at 600 MW and mechanical conversion efficiency of 35%. The dataset for the chosen input parameters are collected from the metering cards and the generated electrical power are obtained from the installed power meters to the designated unit in the power plant. Multiple linear regression models (MLR) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for both the “before and after outage” power generated are developed, tested and validated with the input parameters as the average air heater temperature, average main stream super-heater temperature, average high pressure heater’s temperature, the total mass of coal burnt, average of the condenser well pressure and temperature and the auxiliary power consumed. The MLR models and the ANNs for both the “before and after” outage power generated gave excellent correlation coefficients of over 0.950. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the ANNs gave better predictions over the counterparts MLRs model based on the correlation coefficients and the mean square errors derived from the models.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131866016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper summarizes the research work with reference to artificial lift methods to increase oil production form mature oil wells in Gulf of Mexico.
Increase oil production or oil recovery from oil reservoirs is very important. If the average worldwide recovery factor from hydrocarbon reservoirs can be increased beyond current limits, it will alleviate a number of issues related to global energy supply. Currently the daily oil production comes from mature or maturing oil fields and reserves replacement is not keeping pace with the growing energy demand.
This paper presents big picture overview of artificial lift methods for mature oil wells in Gulf of Mexico.
{"title":"Evaluation of Artificial Lift Methods to Increase Oil Production from Depleting Oil Wells in Gulf of Mexico","authors":"Saurabh Goswami, T. Chouhan","doi":"10.31033/ijemr.10.5.22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31033/ijemr.10.5.22","url":null,"abstract":"This paper summarizes the research work with reference to artificial lift methods to increase oil production form mature oil wells in Gulf of Mexico. <br><br>Increase oil production or oil recovery from oil reservoirs is very important. If the average worldwide recovery factor from hydrocarbon reservoirs can be increased beyond current limits, it will alleviate a number of issues related to global energy supply. Currently the daily oil production comes from mature or maturing oil fields and reserves replacement is not keeping pace with the growing energy demand. <br><br>This paper presents big picture overview of artificial lift methods for mature oil wells in Gulf of Mexico.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114362370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-30DOI: 10.15587/2706-5448.2020.215074
O. Kondrat, S. Matkivskyi
The object of research is gas and gas condensate reservoirs developed under the conditions of the manifestation of the water pressure mode of development and the negative effect of formation water on the process of natural gas production. In order to improve the existing technologies for the development of natural gas fields in the conditions of the manifestation of a water-driven mode of development of productive reservoirs, a study was carried out using the main tools of hydrodynamic modeling Eclipse and Petrel from Schlumberger (USA). On the basis of a three-dimensional digital model of gas condensate, the influence of the density of injection wells on the coefficient of natural gas extraction during the injection of carbon dioxide into productive reservoirs on the verge of a gas-water contact was investigated. The study was carried out for a different number of injection wells (4, 6, 8, 12, 16 wells), which are evenly spaced along the perimeter of the initial gas-water contact. According to the results of the calculations, it was found that the production of formation water decreases with an increase in the density of the well grid. In the case of using 4 wells to inject carbon dioxide into a productive reservoir, the accumulated production of formation water at the end of development amounted to 169.71 thousand m3. With an increase in the number of injection wells to 16 units, the accumulated production of produced water decreased to 0.066 m3. This result is achieved due to a more complete coverage of the perimeter of gas content with carbon dioxide and the creation of an artificial barrier between water and natural gas, which leads to a more effective blocking of the movement of produced water into productive reservoirs. According to the results of statistical processing of the calculated data, the optimal value of the number of injection wells was determined when injecting carbon dioxide into the reservoir. The optimal value of the number of injection wells at the time of the breakthrough of carbon dioxide into the first production well is 7.86 (8) wells. The maximum value of the number of injection wells according to the results of statistical processing is 6.8 (7) wells. The final gas recovery ratio for the given optimal injection value is 61.88 %. On the basis of the calculations, the technological efficiency of using as an agent for injecting carbon dioxide at the boundary of the gas-water contact was established in order to prevent selective watering of productive reservoirs and production wells.
{"title":"Research of the Influence of the Grid Density of Injection Wells on the Gas Extraction Coefficient When Injecting Carbon Dioxide into Reservoir","authors":"O. Kondrat, S. Matkivskyi","doi":"10.15587/2706-5448.2020.215074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15587/2706-5448.2020.215074","url":null,"abstract":"The object of research is gas and gas condensate reservoirs developed under the conditions of the manifestation of the water pressure mode of development and the negative effect of formation water on the process of natural gas production. In order to improve the existing technologies for the development of natural gas fields in the conditions of the manifestation of a water-driven mode of development of productive reservoirs, a study was carried out using the main tools of hydrodynamic modeling Eclipse and Petrel from Schlumberger (USA). On the basis of a three-dimensional digital model of gas condensate, the influence of the density of injection wells on the coefficient of natural gas extraction during the injection of carbon dioxide into productive reservoirs on the verge of a gas-water contact was investigated. The study was carried out for a different number of injection wells (4, 6, 8, 12, 16 wells), which are evenly spaced along the perimeter of the initial gas-water contact. According to the results of the calculations, it was found that the production of formation water decreases with an increase in the density of the well grid. In the case of using 4 wells to inject carbon dioxide into a productive reservoir, the accumulated production of formation water at the end of development amounted to 169.71 thousand m3. With an increase in the number of injection wells to 16 units, the accumulated production of produced water decreased to 0.066 m3. This result is achieved due to a more complete coverage of the perimeter of gas content with carbon dioxide and the creation of an artificial barrier between water and natural gas, which leads to a more effective blocking of the movement of produced water into productive reservoirs. According to the results of statistical processing of the calculated data, the optimal value of the number of injection wells was determined when injecting carbon dioxide into the reservoir. The optimal value of the number of injection wells at the time of the breakthrough of carbon dioxide into the first production well is 7.86 (8) wells. The maximum value of the number of injection wells according to the results of statistical processing is 6.8 (7) wells. The final gas recovery ratio for the given optimal injection value is 61.88 %. On the basis of the calculations, the technological efficiency of using as an agent for injecting carbon dioxide at the boundary of the gas-water contact was established in order to prevent selective watering of productive reservoirs and production wells.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"14 5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126046697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the wake of 25 United Nations Climate Change Conferences of the Parties (and counting), international cooperation on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to avoid substantial and potentially irreversible climate change remains an important challenge. The limited impact of the Kyoto Protocol on curbing emissions, and the gap between the ambitions of its successor and the Paris Agreement's lack of sanctioning mechanisms for addressing noncompliance, demonstrates both the difficulties in negotiating ambitious environmental agreements and the reluctance of countries to comply with their agreed emission targets once they have joined the treaty. Therefore, a better understanding of the obstacles and opportunities that the interactions between domestic and international policy pose for the design of successful international climate cooperation is of utmost importance. To shed light on the roots of the stalemate (and suggest possible ways out), this article reviews and draws lessons from a growing theoretical, experimental, and empirical literature that accounts for the hierarchical interplay between domestic political pressure and international climate policy. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
{"title":"Domestic Pressure and International Climate Cooperation","authors":"A. Tavoni, Ralph Winkler","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3721899","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3721899","url":null,"abstract":"In the wake of 25 United Nations Climate Change Conferences of the Parties (and counting), international cooperation on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to avoid substantial and potentially irreversible climate change remains an important challenge. The limited impact of the Kyoto Protocol on curbing emissions, and the gap between the ambitions of its successor and the Paris Agreement's lack of sanctioning mechanisms for addressing noncompliance, demonstrates both the difficulties in negotiating ambitious environmental agreements and the reluctance of countries to comply with their agreed emission targets once they have joined the treaty. Therefore, a better understanding of the obstacles and opportunities that the interactions between domestic and international policy pose for the design of successful international climate cooperation is of utmost importance. To shed light on the roots of the stalemate (and suggest possible ways out), this article reviews and draws lessons from a growing theoretical, experimental, and empirical literature that accounts for the hierarchical interplay between domestic political pressure and international climate policy. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"86 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116630999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Efforts like carbon credits that incentivize GHG emissions reduction are hampered by an inability to account for quantity and impact of emissions in transparent and uniform ways. Authoritative entities like the UN have espoused blockchain’s potential to address transparency and novel Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems for climate action constitute the state-of-the-art in research and industry to use blockchain to address the transparency need. However, impact of such efforts are diluted if there is not sufficient uniformity: Different blockchains idiosyncratically quantifying carbon credits and reporting them based on standards not widely adopted may offer only some improvement over the status quo. In this paper, we specify a top-level architecture that uses Semantic Web ontologies to complement a blockchain-based MRV system to address the need for uniformity and sharability. We pose this within the context of the real-life Reciclo Orgánicos project, an international collaboration to reduce GHG emissions from Chile’s municipal waste sector. Our design conceptualizes transforming “smart standards” that are efficiently designed and harmonized using IT into ontologies of quantification methodologies and verification standards, which in turn can be used develop smart contracts executable on, and interoperable between, different blockchain platforms. Though preliminary, our design makes a potentially important contribution towards a Digital MRV system that effects impactful climate action.
{"title":"Towards Ontology and Blockchain Based Measurement, Reporting, and Verification For Climate Action","authors":"Henry M. Kim, T. Baumann, M. Laskowski","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3717389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3717389","url":null,"abstract":"Efforts like carbon credits that incentivize GHG emissions reduction are hampered by an inability to account for quantity and impact of emissions in transparent and uniform ways. Authoritative entities like the UN have espoused blockchain’s potential to address transparency and novel Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems for climate action constitute the state-of-the-art in research and industry to use blockchain to address the transparency need. However, impact of such efforts are diluted if there is not sufficient uniformity: Different blockchains idiosyncratically quantifying carbon credits and reporting them based on standards not widely adopted may offer only some improvement over the status quo. In this paper, we specify a top-level architecture that uses Semantic Web ontologies to complement a blockchain-based MRV system to address the need for uniformity and sharability. We pose this within the context of the real-life Reciclo Orgánicos project, an international collaboration to reduce GHG emissions from Chile’s municipal waste sector. Our design conceptualizes transforming “smart standards” that are efficiently designed and harmonized using IT into ontologies of quantification methodologies and verification standards, which in turn can be used develop smart contracts executable on, and interoperable between, different blockchain platforms. Though preliminary, our design makes a potentially important contribution towards a Digital MRV system that effects impactful climate action.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130477239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract How much carbon is in the price of power? The answer to this question determines many economic consequences of climate policies, i.e. in terms of costs for downstream industries. It requires, however, to first identify the cost impact of carbon pricing on the price-setting entity on the power market. Economic theory tells us that power prices are determined by the cost of the marginal plant. We propose two simple approaches to conclude on marginal technologies in electricity wholesale from public data. Both approaches are complementary, easy to implement, and based upon assumptions which are commonly used in more complex energy system models. We exemplify their use with a policy example on the compensation for indirect emission costs from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. We find that the current policy design severely overweighs CO 2 emissions from lignite power plants in the Central Western European power market, which may lead to overcompensation of industrial power users and therefore to a distortion with regard to the policy’s stated goal.
{"title":"How Marginal is Lignite? Two Simple Approaches to Determine Price-Setting Technologies in Power Markets","authors":"Robert Germeshausen, N. Wölfing","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3444825","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3444825","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract How much carbon is in the price of power? The answer to this question determines many economic consequences of climate policies, i.e. in terms of costs for downstream industries. It requires, however, to first identify the cost impact of carbon pricing on the price-setting entity on the power market. Economic theory tells us that power prices are determined by the cost of the marginal plant. We propose two simple approaches to conclude on marginal technologies in electricity wholesale from public data. Both approaches are complementary, easy to implement, and based upon assumptions which are commonly used in more complex energy system models. We exemplify their use with a policy example on the compensation for indirect emission costs from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. We find that the current policy design severely overweighs CO 2 emissions from lignite power plants in the Central Western European power market, which may lead to overcompensation of industrial power users and therefore to a distortion with regard to the policy’s stated goal.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124386672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-27DOI: 10.15587/1729-4061.2020.201110
O. Monchenko, Yelyzaveta Kutniak, Hanna Martyniuk, Nadiia Marchenko
A universal mathematical model of a noise signal in pipeline systems from the point of its origin to the observation point was presented. Due to the indicator function introduced into it, the model makes it possible to use different types of components and perform appropriate actions depending on the task, and the indicator function in some cases will be zero. The developed model advantage consists in that it is universal for the leak detection methods which use two signal receivers regardless of their physical nature. This model was implemented in the study on an example of a method of acoustic leakage detection, which uses the inter-correlation function. A block diagram of an acoustic system for detecting leakage location, its main blocks, and their parameters were presented. To test the working capacity of the mathematical model, a computer measuring experiment was conducted in the MATLAB software system. The algorithm of the computer experiment with indicator function was presented and the results of detecting leakage location according to the corresponding sample were given. A universal formula for calculating coordinates of the fluid leakage location both along the axis of the pipeline and the pipeline circumference was presented. This formula features accounting of the distance from the transducer to the possible leakage location and the sample number. This formula serves a universal model of the noise signal and confirms the results of the computer experiment. As a result of the experiment, dependences of the values of the fluid leakage location on the sample number and the distance to the receiver of the acoustic noise signal were obtained. To test the model adequacy, a diagram of influential factors was constructed in a form of Ishikawa diagram. The diagram shows the cause-and-effect relationships that affect the computer experiment built on the proposed mathematical model of acoustic signals to implement the universal method of leak detection. Adequacy of the proposed universal model was verified and confirmed by statistical methods. The results obtained can be used in technical diagnostics of pipelines and for reducing costs of repair and restoration of technological systems by identifying breakdown sites.
{"title":"Development a Mathematical Model of Acoustic Signals for the Implementation of a Universal Leak Detection Method","authors":"O. Monchenko, Yelyzaveta Kutniak, Hanna Martyniuk, Nadiia Marchenko","doi":"10.15587/1729-4061.2020.201110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2020.201110","url":null,"abstract":"A universal mathematical model of a noise signal in pipeline systems from the point of its origin to the observation point was presented. Due to the indicator function introduced into it, the model makes it possible to use different types of components and perform appropriate actions depending on the task, and the indicator function in some cases will be zero. \u0000 \u0000The developed model advantage consists in that it is universal for the leak detection methods which use two signal receivers regardless of their physical nature. This model was implemented in the study on an example of a method of acoustic leakage detection, which uses the inter-correlation function. A block diagram of an acoustic system for detecting leakage location, its main blocks, and their parameters were presented. To test the working capacity of the mathematical model, a computer measuring experiment was conducted in the MATLAB software system. The algorithm of the computer experiment with indicator function was presented and the results of detecting leakage location according to the corresponding sample were given. \u0000 \u0000A universal formula for calculating coordinates of the fluid leakage location both along the axis of the pipeline and the pipeline circumference was presented. This formula features accounting of the distance from the transducer to the possible leakage location and the sample number. This formula serves a universal model of the noise signal and confirms the results of the computer experiment. \u0000 \u0000As a result of the experiment, dependences of the values of the fluid leakage location on the sample number and the distance to the receiver of the acoustic noise signal were obtained. To test the model adequacy, a diagram of influential factors was constructed in a form of Ishikawa diagram. The diagram shows the cause-and-effect relationships that affect the computer experiment built on the proposed mathematical model of acoustic signals to implement the universal method of leak detection. Adequacy of the proposed universal model was verified and confirmed by statistical methods. \u0000 \u0000The results obtained can be used in technical diagnostics of pipelines and for reducing costs of repair and restoration of technological systems by identifying breakdown sites.","PeriodicalId":234456,"journal":{"name":"Politics & Energy eJournal","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125478841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}