BizResearch

Power of Curiosity

Source: RSA

Almost every country in the world will face massive energy challenges over the next few decades. In the UK we are already faced with an energy ‘trilemma’ – three important goals that are pulling us in different directions. We need to aggressively reduce carbon emissions, while ensuring that a varied energy supply can reliably meet our energy needs, and we need to achieve this without exacerbating fuel poverty, by keeping energy bills at affordable levels.

In this context, we need fresh insight into energy supply, demand, and efficiency. The challenge is that innovative solutions will need to engage with the complex interplay of technology and behaviour, suggesting that the traditionally technology-led energy sector needs to become more curious about the foibles of human nature, and customers need to become more curious about their interaction with the energy technologies they rely on every day.

Unfortunately, most people are not particularly interested in their relationship to ‘energy’ as such, and a variety of attitude surveys suggest growing levels of ‘green fatigue’. We may think about the issue of ‘energy’ when we notice our gas and electricity bills are getting higher, but our curiosity is rarely piqued while turning up the heating or leaving the lights on.

Perhaps if we better understand the nature of curiosity in general, we might find ways to cultivate curiosity about our shared energy needs, both in the energy industry and the population at large. If we can do that, it may help us spur the kinds of social and technical innovation that are now political, economic and ecological imperatives.

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Creative Commons: Flickr: Leonid Mamchenkov

The True Cost of Energy

Source: IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research)

The cost of an average energy bill has risen dramatically in recent years: from £605 in 2004 to £1,060 in 2010 (CCC 2011b). Higher energy bills were a key factor in the increase in inflation in 2010/11 and are contributing to the squeeze in living standards faced by many families in the UK.

There has been a vigorous debate about the cause of these price rises, in particular the contribution that has been made by environmental and social policies.1 Evidence shows that the rises were mainly due to increases in the wholesale cost of gas (DECC 2011a). The government’s independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), calculated that the wholesale cost of gas added £290 to the average energy bill between 2004 and 2010, compared with £75 for environmental and social policies (CCC 2011b).

The level of profits made by energy supply companies has also been the focus of scrutiny. The energy supply market in the UK was opened to competition in the late 1980s. But there are a number of reasons for thinking that competition in the energy supply market is not in good health.

This report sets out to establish what impact a lack of competition in the energy supply market is having on consumers’ energy bills. In or der to answer this question we estimate the cost to energy companies of supplying households with gas and electricity. We do this through extensive analysis of data published by the energy markets regulator, energy companies and industry associations, among other sources.

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Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Leo Reynolds

The State of Renewable Energies in Europe

Source: EurObserv'ER

Extract from Foreword by Willian Gillett:

As the renewable energy sector shows promising signs of growth, we acknowledge the growing accuracy of EurObserv'ER's estimates. According to the official data published in November 2011 by Eurostat, the share of renewables in the EU in 2009 was 11.7%; EurObserv'ER’s estimation of the same figure published in last year's report was 11.6%. Such a good approximation confirms the accuracy of the EurObserv'ER methodology and its ability to provide policy makers and market actors with timely and reliable information on the evolution of the renewable energy sector.

This year’s edition presents the main statistics on the renewable energy market in the EU for the year 2010, for which official data will only be available next year. Its last chapter focuses on seven EU regions which have particularly high amounts of RES investments during the last year, and highlights how these regions have managed to create a favourable climate for new investments. Their experiences can hopefully inspire and help actors across Europe to make their regions more sustainable and create new jobs in the renewables sector.

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Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: by jeancliclac

Green and Ethical Consumer 2012

Source: Key Note

Extract from executive summary

The green and ethical consumerism market has changed significantly over the last decade, as have attitudes regarding the environment and ethical sourcing of products. As a result, a number of new products, ranging from items used in the home to transport, have been launched on the market to appeal to consumers who value the green and ethical qualities of the products that they purchase.

This report specifically examines the ethical food and drink, home, transport and holiday travel, fashion and beauty and finance markets. Overall, Key Note has estimated that total sales of ethically-sourced products in the UK reached £50.76bn in 2011. Furthermore, the market observed year-on-year increases between 2007 and 2011, with market value rising by 39.2% during the 5-year period. Despite this growth, however, factors such as the recession are believed to have dampened the market’s potential in recent years. This is principally because the price of ethical goods and services are often much higher than alternative products and, as a result, consumers were forced to put their ethical values on hold during the recession in order to save money.

Currently, new products, notably in the food and drink and beauty sectors, have helped to boost sales for the industry, as organic alternatives continue to become more mainstream. Retailers themselves have also implemented a number of changes, for example, by reducing their carbon emissions and waste output, in response to consumer’s opinion regarding the importance of the environment and sustainability. Furthermore, the purchase of second-hand clothing has become much more popular in recent years and has served to boost sales at clothing swapping events and charity shops. The fashion trend towards vintage clothing has gone some way in reducing the stigma previously attached to shopping at such outlets, and the purchase of second-hand garments and accessories is currently viewed as a much more ‘fashionable’ way to shop.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Twenty_Questions

Energy & Development Trends: the Role of Rapidly Emerging Countries

Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)

From the publication web page:

One of the least understood but potentially important trends in the energy field is how emerging economies’ development priorities are shaping energy markets. Emerging economies are expected to make up the bulk of growth in demand for energy in the coming decades, with countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) accounting for 83 percent of expected growth in energy demand between 2008 and 2035. As the global centers of expansion, these countries will increasingly influence how new energy markets evolve—commercial frameworks, technology sharing and development, regulations, and preferences for fuels and technologies that meet their societies’ needs. Many of these countries have integrated new notions of sustainable development—driven by concerns about local pollution, energy security, climate change, and social development—that are likely to bring about energy systems different from U.S. or European models of energy infrastructure and use.

These development frameworks also influence how companies compete and succeed in these markets by influencing technology decisions, efficiency or local pollution regulations, local rules about content, interaction with state-dominated sectors, and the dynamics of markets and physical infrastructure. Moreover, the influence these development policies have on the investments and strategies of energy companies and energy markets can materially impact investment and technology trends available to other developing countries. These strategies and experiences can open up opportunities for bringing energy to new areas in other countries. U.S. development efforts might gain useful insights through a survey of how Brazil, China, and India view meeting their energy needs within their development agenda, how companies are involved in these ventures, and what models could be useful for countries developing their systems. This report evaluates the role of rapidly emerging developing economies in energy development trends and recommends how the development programs of the United States, along with the international donor community, should shift to capitalize on these trends.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr:  urbangarden

Reinventing the wheel: a circular economy for resource security

Source: Green Alliance

Authors: Hannah Hislop and Julie Hill

Extract from Executive Summary

Green Alliance aims to promote the concept of the circular economy as a new approach to the use of all resources. We examine three crucial inputs to our society: metals, phosphorus and water. The way we use them provides ample demonstration of our overwhelmingly ‘linear’ economy, with its current problems and future risks.

This report makes the case for the more circular use of resources, as a way of avoiding at least some of the impacts of ever more extraction of natural resources, and to avoid the worst impacts of generating waste. We concentrate on the role of economic instruments in promoting a more circular economy, a concept which has influenced economic policy in both China and Japan and which is gaining traction in many other countries.

We examine the particular conditions for, and some of the inter-relationships between, the circulation of three major inputs to our modern economy: metals, phosphorus and water. Alongside means of generating energy, these resources are crucial to our future on this planet, yet their long term future is rarely fully and frankly examined.

Metals have been in the spotlight as part of the debate about ‘raw materials security’, but the emphasis has been on finding new sources and improving terms of trade with those nations where the resource is found. Instead, we advocate a major political push to promote the circulation of metals within the economy, rather than continuing to allow the loss of large amounts, whether dissipated in the environment or consigned to landfill.

Click here to read the full report

Creative Commons: Flickr: AlpenaMi

International Energy Outlook 2011

Source: US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Extract from press release

International Energy Outlook 2011 (IEO2011) published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) presents updated projections for world energy markets through 2035. The IEO2011 Reference case projection does not incorporate prospective legislation or policies that might affect energy markets.

Some key findings:

China and India lead the growth in world demand for energy in the future. The economies of China and India were among those least affected by the worldwide recession. They continue to lead world economic growth and energy demand growth in the Reference case. In 2008, China and India combined accounted for 21 percent of total world energy consumption. With strong economic growth in both countries over the projection period, their combined energy use more than doubles by 2035, when they account for 31 percent of world energy use in the IEO2011 Reference case. In 2035, China's energy demand is 68 percent higher than U.S. energy demand.

Renewable energy is projected to be the fastest growing source of primary energy over the next 25 years, but fossil fuels remain the dominant source of energy. Renewable energy consumption increases by 2.8 percent per year and the renewable share of total energy use increases from 10 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2035 in the Reference case. Fossil fuels, however, continue to supply much of the energy used worldwide throughout the projection, and still account for 78 percent of world energy use in 2035 While the Reference case projections reflect current laws and policies as of the start of 2011, past experience suggests that renewable energy deployment is often significantly affected by policy changes.

World oil prices remain high in the IEO2011 Reference case, but oil consumption continues to grow; both conventional and unconventional liquid supplies are used to meet rising demand. In the IEO2011 Reference case the price of light sweet crude oil (in real 2009 dollars) remains high, reaching $125 per barrel in 2035. Total world petroleum and other liquids fuel use increases by 26.9 million barrels per day between 2008 and 2035, but the growth in conventional crude oil production is less than half this amount at 11.5 million barrels per day, while production of natural gas plant liquids increase by 5.1 million barrels per day, World production of unconventional resources (including biofuels, oil sands, extra-heavy oil, coal-to-liquids, and gas-to-liquids), which totaled 3.9 million barrels per day in 2008, increases to 13.1 million barrels per day in 2035.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Eastpole

Renewable Energy Market Report

Executive Summary

This Key Note Market Report examines the renewable energy industry within the UK. Over the past year, consumption of renewable energy sources has increased by 9.8% from 6.9 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) to 7.6mtoe, while, over the 5-year period, consumption increased by a massive 60.3%.

Renewable energy is principally used for electricity and heat generation. Electricity generation accounted for 63.9% of all renewable energy produced in 2010, while heat generation represented just 15.8%. Biomass remained the most popular source of renewable energy throughout the review period, with 5.1mtoe consumed in 2010. Using renewable energy for transport fuel has increased dramatically over the past 5 years, with a massive surge in usage in 2008, when figures increased from 361,700 tonnes of oil equivalent to 844,500 tonnes of oil equivalent. Overall, the usage of renewable energy sources for transport fuel grew by 546.6% between 2006 and 2010.

The main factors which have had a significant impact on the renewable energy sector over the past few years have been legislative and the way in which renewable energy fits in with the UK’s low-carbon energy targets over the next four decades is an ongoing topic of debate. There is also much conjecture around whether the Government should incentivise and subsidise the market. As renewable energy projects are extremely capital intensive and, therefore, costly, they need investment and government support in order to make them commercially viable.

The market is forecast to grow dramatically over the next 4 years, as it is predicted that renewable energy will feature highly in the future fuel mix in order to secure more economically and environmentally viable energy supplies and a low-carbon future. By 2020 it is expected that the level of renewable energy used in the UK’s fuel mix will have grown, relative to 2011, by 236%.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Argonne National Laboratory

Renewables 2011 Global Status Report

The Renewables 2011 global status report, commissioned by REN21, shows that the renewable energy sector continues to perform well despite continuing economic recession, incentive cuts, and low natural-gas prices.

Highlights from the report

• Global solar PV production and markets more than doubled in comparison with 2009, thanks to government incentive programmes and the continued fall in PV module prices.
• Germany installed more PV in 2010 than the entire world added in 2009.  PV markets in Japan and the U.S. almost doubled relative to 2009.
• Globally, wind power added the most new capacity (followed by hydropower and solar PV), but for the first time ever, Europe added more PV than wind capacity.
• Renewable energy policies continue to be the main driver behind renewable energy growth. By early 2011, at least 119 countries had some type of policy target or renewable support policy at the national level, more than doubling from 55 countries in early 2005. More than half of these countries are in the developing world.
• At least 95 countries now have some type of policy to support renewable power generation. Of all the policies employed by governments, feed-in tariffs remain the most common.
• Last year, investment reached a record $211 billion in renewables -- about one-third more than the $160 billion invested in 2009, and more than five times the amount invested in 2004.
• Beyond Asia, significant advances are also seen in many Latin American countries, and at least 20 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa have active renewable energy markets, the report says.
• Developed countries still led the way in investment in small-scale power projects and R&D during 2010. Germany, Italy and the US were the top three.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Abi Skipp

Climate Change Policy and Business in Europe Evidence from Interviewing Managers

Source: Centre for Economic Performance

CEP Occasional Paper ; 27

Abstract: This report presents new evidence relating to the effects of climate policy in Europe, particularly the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The evidence is based on new data from almost 800 phone interviews we conducted with managers in manufacturing plants in six European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the UK. The interview design follows an innovative method that has recently emerged in the study of management practices and that mitigates well-known biases found in more conventional survey designs such as paper-based or web-based questionnaires. This report describes the interview design in detail and summarises the responses. For further analysis, we link the interview data with company data from a range of secondary sources including transaction data from the official EU ETS registry and performance data from both commercial and government sources. We use the combined data to analyse three aspects of the EU ETS in depth, namely (i) the behaviour of firms in the EU ETS, (ii) the vulnerability of firms in terms of negative impacts on employment and carbon leakage, along with an assessment of how well the proposed EU legislation to protect vulnerable firms does at identifying them, and (iii) alternative criteria for the allocation of free emission permits during the next phase of the EU ETS.

 

Review of Waste Policy in England 2011

Source: DEFRA

As part of the Government’s commitment to ensure that we are on the path towards a ‘zero waste’ economy, we have reviewed all aspects of waste policy and delivery in England. The Review’s findings were published in June 2011, alongside a series of actions for the future. These include commitments to:

Work with business on a range of measures to prevent waste occurring wherever possible, ahead of developing a full Waste Prevention Programme by December 2013;

Explore the potential for new voluntary responsibility deals to drive waste prevention and recycling, including in the hospitality sector and with the waste management industry and for direct mail, textiles, and construction waste;

Launch a grant funding scheme for innovative reward and recognition schemes which could incentivise people to do the right thing;

Encourage councils to sign new Recycling and Waste Services Commitments, setting out the principles they will follow in delivering waste services to households and businesses.

Provide technical support to councils and businesses who want to see recycling-on-the-go schemes grow,

Consult on the case for increased recovery targets for packaging waste, in time for  a final decision in the 2012 Budget;

Consult on introducing a restriction on the landfilling of wood waste and review the case for introducing landfill restrictions on other materials, including textiles and biodegradable waste;

Scrap unfair bin fines and taxes while bringing in powers to deal with repeat fly-tipping offenders and genuine nuisance neighbours

Key Facts

In 2009, 47.9 million tonnes of waste were generated by businesses. The industrial sector accounted for 24.1Mt and the commercial sector 23.8Mt.

Estimates show that 52% of C&I waste was recycled or re-used and 24 per cent was sent to landfill.

Small enterprises, with between 0 and 49 employees, produced 16.6 million tonnes of C&I waste in 2009, or 35 per cent of total C&I waste.

The UK exports approximately 15 million tonnes of waste for recycling per year

Businesses in England recycled & re-used 52% of their waste in 2009, up from 42% in 2002/03

Packaging recycling rates have doubled since 1997 to 62% in 2009, but the UK is only recycling 24% of its plastic packaging and 41% of its aluminium packaging.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative commons: Flickr: 4Rank

The State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2011

Source: World Bank

Extract from press release

The World Bank’s annual review of the global carbon market shows that 2010 was a watershed year as the market ended five years of robust growth with a slight decline compared to 2009.  The State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2011, shows that the total value of the global carbon market was estimated to be US$142 billion last year.

The report’s authors noted that several reasons help to explain the decline, including the continuing lack of clarity about the market after 2012 and the loss of political momentum on setting up new cap-and-trade schemes in several developed economies. Some buyers from industrialized countries, which in previous years had reached or surpassed targets, consequently made fewer purchases in 2010.  As well, lingering effects of the recession in several industrialized countries led to lower greenhouse gas emissions, easing emissions reduction compliance obligations

Furthermore, the primary Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) market, which accounts for the bulk of project-based transactions, fell by double digits for a variety of reasons, including lower demand for credits and competition from more predictable assets (Assigned Amount Units and secondary CERs). The CDM market is now at its lowest level since the Kyoto Protocol entered into force in 2005, having dropped by 46% to an estimated US$1.5 billion in new project-based transactions.  Similarly, other carbon markets also declined or stayed at their plateau. Nevertheless, cumulatively, primary offset transactions have reached almost US$30 billion since 2005 and are expected to have catalyzed much larger resources, mostly from the private sector. 

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: World Bank Philippines

The Future of Carbon Capture and Storage

The scientific evidence for climate change is abundant and irrefutable, as is the role that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can play in reducing emission levels. Despite calls to the contrary, CCS does not present insurmountable technical barriers. Only issues surrounding its commercial viability and the lack of credible policy incentives stand in the way of its wide-scale deployment.

Scope of this research

• A critique of the regulatory and policy framework proposed by the European Commission to drive the deployment of CCS across new fossil-fuel plants.

• Analysis of the wider EU 'green' policy landscape, how it lacks credibility and provides inadequate regulatory support for CCS.
• Reasons why the green 'New Deal' is a necessary but insufficient condition to drive a mass market transition to CCS.
• An objective review of the perceived limitations of CCS and the type of adaptive regulatory framework required to secure CCS' commercial deployment.

Research and analysis highlights

• Despite record growth in renewables, global emission levels will rise as fossil fuel power generation continue to dominate. CCS is the only technology option currently available that could allow abundant, flexible and entrenched fossil fuels to continue to be used for electricity generation without adding to the damaging effects of climate change.


• The potential for CCS is undeniable and stakeholders are competing to take the technological lead. However, the costs and risks of CCS - made more apparent by the lack of regulatory framework - stand in the way of its widespread deployment. It is unlikely that CCS will make a credible contribution without strong legislative and regulatory change.


• The potential for CCS is highest in Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece, based on annual levels of coal-powered generation. The benefits of CCS outweigh the liabilities, however, to implement CCS safely and economically requires an adaptive regulatory framework encompassing safety, investment, operation and responsibility elements.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Sustainability: The ‘Embracers’ Seize

This report on the second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study was conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. More than 3,000 business executives and managers from organizations around the world were included in the survey. In addition, a number of academic experts and senior executives from a range of different industries where also interviewed to gain a better understanding of some of the more practical issues facing organizations today.

The study reveals two distinct camps of companies: “embracers” — those who place sustainability high on their agenda — and “cautious adopters,” who have yet to focus on more than energy cost savings, material efficiency, and risk mitigation.

The report identifies seven specific practices exhibited by embracer companies, which together begin to define sustainability-driven management. These include the need to move early, even if you don’t have complete information; to be authentic and transparent both internally and with the external stakeholders; and to work aggressively to “de-silo” sustainability, integrating it throughout company operations.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: D Sharon Pruitt

Bringing it Home: Using behavioural insights to make green living policy work

 

Authors: Rebekah Phillips and Sylvia Rowley

Extract from Executive Summary

This report from Green Alliance is about how government could help us to live more sustainably through a better understanding of human behaviour. We have focused on resource use in the home: the energy and water we use, and the waste we create and dispose of, because these are sources of some significant environmental pressures. The home is also important to us as social beings; it helps to give us identity, and is the place where we form long-standing behaviours and habits.

The report begins by exploring the current state of affairs. How green are our households? As well as looking at national data we drew on insights from in-depth research with six households across the UK, reflecting a variety of circumstances and lifestyles. Researchers filmed the householders going about their daily lives at home (at the time they were unaware of what the research was about) and we subsequently interviewed them about their behaviours associated with energy, water and waste. We were curious to know the extent to which they are affected by competing pressures and signals, and whether existing policy helps or hinders them in making good environmental choices.

Our research revealed a marked difference between action on energy, water and waste. Recycling appears to have become reasonably normal across all of the households, and there is a broad awareness of the need for energy saving, though we found relatively low levels of action. But the households had almost no knowledge of the need to save water, and were confused about how this could be done.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Start the Day

Corporate Sustainability: A Progress Report

Extract from Press Release

There is widespread and growing acceptance of the increasing value that sustainability programs have in the private sector today, yet over 30% of businesses do not have a strategy for sustainable growth in place, according to a survey from KPMG’s global Climate Change and Sustainability practice.
Just over 60% of companies surveyed said that they currently have a working strategy for corporate sustainability - up from just over half polled in a similar survey in 2008. Of those that do not have a strategy, over 70% expect to do so within one to five years and 25% indicated they had no specific timeframe. Yet, nearly 50% of all executives surveyed believe that implementing sustainability programs will contribute to the bottom line, either by cost reduction or increased profitability.

These figures come from 'Corporate Sustainability: A Progress Report' a survey from KPMG’s Climate Change & Sustainability Services practice, conducted in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The survey captured three main reasons for slow progress on sustainability:

• A lack of common set metrics and tools – and information systems- for measurement and analysis of the impact of sustainability programs
• A lack of available financing that will put sustainability on par with operational programs that have a higher short-term return on investment (ROI)
• A lack of a clear and rigorous international framework of regulation within which companies can plan with confidence.

Larger, publicly listed companies are much more likely to have adopted a strategy than their smaller, privately held counterparts. Nearly 8 in 10 of the large companies polled have a strategy, compared with just under half of the smaller businesses.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Mish Mish

Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda

Source: World Bank

Climate change is affecting cities and their residents, especially the poor, and more severe impacts are expected as climate extremes and variability increase. Cities are often already overwhelmed by the number and complexity of services they need to provide. Adding climate change mitigation and adaptation to the other challenges facing cities is an enormous burden; and at the same time cities must accommodate another three million new residents every week. Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda discusses the link between climate change and cities, why cities should be concerned about climate change and adopt early preventative policies, and how the World Bank and other organizations can provide further support to cities on climate change issues.

Residents of cities are responsible for as much as 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time residents of cities are facing significant impacts from climate change. Up to 80 percent of the expected $80 billion to $100 billion per year in climate change adaptation costs are expected to be borne in urban areas; see the World Bank's Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change study. Nevertheless, climate change offers cities opportunities to alter course, implement smart policies, and develop sustainable communities. Well managed, well designed, dense cities are also the only way to meet GHG emission mitigation targets, while providing an acceptable quality of life for the soon-to-be 6.5 billion urban residents.

Included in this report is a living table of city-level per capita greenhouse gas emissions data which will be regularly updated online as new city data is available.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Markhsx

Climate Change Policy & Business in Europe: Evidence from Interviewing Managers

Source: Centre for Economic Performance occasional paper ; No 27

Abstract:
This report presents new evidence relating to the effects of climate policy in Europe, particularly the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The evidence is based on new data from almost 800 phone interviews we conducted with managers in manufacturing plants in six European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the UK. The interview design follows an innovative method that has recently emerged in the study of management practices and that mitigates well-known biases found in more conventional survey designs such as paper-based or web-based questionnaires. This report describes the interview design in detail and summarises the responses. For further analysis, we link the interview data with company data from a range of secondary sources including transaction data from the official EU ETS registry and performance data from both commercial and government sources. We use the combined data to analyse three aspects of the EU ETS in depth, namely (i) the behaviour of firms in the EU ETS, (ii) the vulnerability of firms in terms of negative impacts on employment and carbon leakage, along with an assessment of how well the proposed EU legislation to protect vulnerable firms does at identifying them, and (iii) alternative criteria for the allocation of free emission permits during the next phase of the EU ETS.

Green Energy in the UK

Published by Business Insights 2010

This report examines the growth of the UK renewable energy market, showing its current status and projecting where it is likely to grow to in the foreseeable future. It includes statistical data on the different types of energy generation, combines and contrasts them against each other to show the clear leaders, drivers to change and future growth.

Highlights

Given mounting fiscal deficit, the UK’s new collation government has put an end to the low-carbon buildings program grants. The UK government is to introduce the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme from April 2011. This is expected to cover heat pumps, solar thermal, biomass boilers, renewable CHP. The UK government plans to increase its renewable electric power generation to 30% by 2020.

Wind power is the second largest renewable energy source in the UK after biomass. The UK has set a target of increasing its installed wind power capacity to 28GW by 2020, of which 14GW would be onshore and 14GW would be offshore

Key questions answered

• What are the drivers shaping and influencing new capacity installed in the energy industry?
• How will renewable energy technologies capacity share perform to 2020? What are the opportunities?
• What is the policy framework governing the renewable energy market?
• Which renewable energy technology types are likely to grow strongly?
• What is the potential of various renewable energy technologies?

This Business Insights report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: the awkward scientist

Tackling High-Tech Trash

Despite the financial crisis the volume of electronics sold since 2009 has continued to grow. Americans now own around 3 billion electronic products, with a turnover rate of about 400 million units annually. These sales volumes and rapid turnover rates are creating the fastest growing waste stream in the world: in the US alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that over 372 million electronic units weighing 3.16 million tons entered the waste stream in 2007 and 2008. Less than 14% was recycled, while the rest went into dumps and incinerators. Much of what is recycled, moreover, is handled unsafely in developing countries, posing serious health and environmental risks.

This report from Dēmos assesses the scope of electronics consumption and resulting e-waste, the unique challenges policymakers face in handling this kind of waste, and steps we must take to gain control of the problem. Key aspects of the problem examined in Tackling High-Tech Trash include:

• Short product life-spans—the commercial and technological origins of rapid turnover in consumer electronics.
• The mounting scope of electronic waste—the downside of the surging worldwide electronics market.
• The major challenges of e-waste, including design and materials complexity, global supply chains, and unregulated recycling and e-scrap markets.
• The adverse health and environmental impacts of unregulated e-waste disposal, materials salvage, and recycling-for-reuse.
• Recent developments in e-waste export rules, private and public recycling initiatives, and green design and materials regulation to extend product life-spans and reduce overall toxicity.
• Assessing challenges to a more integrated life-cycle approach to electronics design, production, and recycling, with recommendations for specific policies to push for in the near term

[taken from executive summary]

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: SouthernPixel

What’s Next for Alternative Energy?

Conventional energy sources will remain the bulk of the world’s energy mix for at least the next few decades. Yet there are several alternative-energy technologies that are approaching inflection points in their development and could have an impact on the global energy landscape far sooner than commonly assumed. Other alternative-energy technologies, meanwhile, will remain largely vision and promise for the foreseeable future.  This report from the Boston Consulting Group looks at the prospects for a range of alternative-energy technologies.

Selected Findings from the Report

Advanced biofuels are moving rapidly down the cost curve and are on the path to becoming cost competitive in the next 5 years. Once they are cost competitive, they will face several structural barriers to rapid adoption, the biggest of which is likely to be the vast investments needed to build the necessary conversation capacities and other infrastructure.

Concentrated Solar Power CSP) is also moving quickly down the cost curve. With its ability to utilize thermal storage to provide on-demand power, CSP is a likely to disrupt the status quo in power generation by 2025,  if major barriers, such as limitations in transmission infrastructure can be overcome.

Solar PV’s costs are also declining rapidly and the technology will see accelerated adoption. However, without breakthrough declines in energy storage costs, inherent challenges posed by the intermittent nature of these technologies will limit their combined penetration to no more than approximately 25% of the total power-generation mix.

Offshore wind will struggle to move beyond purely subsidy-driven growth or to reach economic viability on its own before 2020

Electric vehicles will become economically attractive for lead market segments by 2030 but broader adoption will require major declines in battery costs.

Click here to read the full report

Authors: Balu Balagopal, Petros Paranikas, Justin Rose

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: JFPickard

Energy Predictions 2011 report

Deloitte’s Global Energy & Resources Group have just published its Energy Predictions 2011 report.  The report is based on in-depth interviews with clients, industry analysts, and senior energy practitioners from Deloitte member firms around the world.

Main Findings from the Report

Emerging markets break out as the fastest-growing area for M&A

M&A activity in the energy industry appears to be occurring in waves, with the oil and gas companies from emerging markets leading the way. A second wave of M&A is now occurring that involves state-owned companies from Russia, South Korea, Brazil, and Malaysia. The third wave, which is only now beginning to take shape, involves national oil companies from India and the CIS region.

Moving forward, a company’s post-merger integration skills will be paramount, particularly in emerging markets where complex financings, cultural differences, and uncertain regulatory environments often impede the realization of anticipated synergies.

China’s growing partnerships with resource-rich nations will likely provide an economic boost to the republic as well as to the global economy in the years ahead. These partnerships will have a positive effect on energy markets as well as on infrastructure and industry.

Prospects for renewables are looking up as solar goes mainstream

In 2011 and beyond, solar technologies will increasingly trickle down from industrial users to be embraced by residential consumers and small businesses.

Electric cars give auto markets a jolt

Consumers have always had plenty of options concerning the look and feel of their cars and trucks, but they will soon have just as many choices concerning what powers them. 

Hybrid electric vehicles will likely remain popular, but plug-in electric hybrids and pure electric vehicles are also likely to proliferate based on consumer demand.

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A Renewable World: Energy, Ecology, Equality

Herbert Girardet and Miguel Mendonca from the World Future Council have jointly written ‘A Renewable World’, a book that proposes concrete solutions to the most pressing challenges of the day – climate change and sustainability.  Each of the ten chapters addresses a key issue (e.g. Energy Change, Climate Change; Carbon and the Biosphere; Renewable Energy; The Green Collar Economy; Renewing the City; From Global to Local, etc.) and offers positive proposals, by citing examples of policies or innovations hat have turned problems into solutions through practical, new approaches.

Herbert Girardet sums up the key points of the book as follows:

 

• Climate change prospects are terrifying but the situation is still not irreversible;
• The challenge is no longer just to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions, but to reduce actual concentrations in the atmosphere;
• This means finding new ways absorbing (or sequestering) greenhouse gases, especially CO2;
  Geo-sequestration, or carbon capture and storage, is the solution favoured by politicians and engineers, but it can’t be made work on the scale that is needed;
• Bio-sequestration, or enhancing the capacity of the biosphere to absorb CO2, is a much better prospect;
• Mainstreaming Renewable Energy (RE) is of critical importance for a sustainable world;
• Technical breakthroughs have brought the cost of renewable energy down dramatically, but supporting policies, such as feed-in tariffs, are needed to accelerate the penetration of RE across the world;
• It is now evident that even large cities can be powered with 100% RE, but additional measures, such as major energy efficiency initiatives, are also needed to make our cities sustainable;
• RE and other environmental innovations are already major sources of new, green-collar jobs, and future prospects in this sector are very bright indeed;
• Localisation of food and energy supplies, and other ways to enhance local economies, are part of the sustainability trajectory outlined in the book;
• In the end it is our responsibility to future generations, and their prospects for a viable existence that must motivate our actions.

The book can be freely downloaded from the World Future Council’s website

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Carbon Disclosure Project 2010: Global 500 Report

In the 10 years since the launch of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the quality and quantity of reporting on climate change have increased dramatically. CDP is now looking beyond disclosure to identify the companies that are taking active steps toward a low-carbon economy. In 2010, the CDP asked the world’s 500 largest public companies in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (Global 500) more directly than ever to demonstrate that they are taking action on climate change. This report, prepared by CDP’s global adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), analyzes the responses from those corporations. For this report particular attention was paid to ways that organizations in every sector are capitalizing on commercial opportunities —in particular, those presented by emissions reductions.

Highlights from 2010 disclosures

Global emissions fell 1% last year on the back of the economic downturn, but Scope 1 emissions reported by the Global 500 rose to 3.4 billion metric tonnes CO2-e, now accounting for 11% of total global emissions. Given there was no shift towards intensive companies in the respondents in 2010 this increase reflects a greater focus on carbon management and reporting by the Global 500.

More companies identify significant opportunities than risks from climate change. 86% of the Global 500 respondents identify significant opportunities versus 78% who identify significant risks. Out of the S&P 500 respondents, 70% identify significant opportunity; 66% identify significant risks. It should be noted that last year’s questionnaire asked respondents to disclose whether they perceived opportunities associated with climate change. This year the question was refined to ask respondents instead to identify ‘significant’ climate change opportunities, which resulted in a slight decrease in reported risks and opportunities overall.

The Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index includes the companies with the highest disclosure scores and provides a valuable perspective on the range and quality of responses to CDP’s questionnaire. This year’s CDLI includes the top-scoring 10% of the Global 500 (51 companies) and S&P 500 (53 companies).

Click here for the Global 500 Report

Click here for the S&P 500 Report

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Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2010

The Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2010 has just been published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. With many detailed tables, supported by charts and commentary, the Digest provides comprehensive data for 2009 and an account of trends in energy supply and demand in the United Kingdom.

Main trends in energy in 2009:
• Overall there was a decrease in indigenous energy production of 5.7% and a decrease in primary energy consumption of 6.3% in the UK compared with 2008, largely driven by the recession.

• Overall primary fuel consumption was not met by indigenous production; this continues the trend from 2004 when the UK again became a net importer of fuel. The UK imported more coal, manufactured fuels, crude oil, electricity and gas than it exported; however the UK remained a net exporter of petroleum products.

• With the coal-gas price differential again high, the commercial attractiveness of gas for electricity generation remained high, while the amount of electricity generated from coal fell further, as nuclear stations returned from the outages of 2008 to increase output. Gas accounted for 45% of electricity supplied in 2009, with coal accounting for 28% and nuclear 18%.

• Overall there was a decrease of 6.7% in final energy consumption in the UK compared with 2008.

• The reduced demand for fossil fuels, and switching from coal to nuclear for electricity generation provisionally reduced the emissions of carbon dioxide by 9.7% in 2009.

• Electricity generated from renewable sources in the UK in 2009 represented 6.7% of total UK electricity generation, up from 5.6 per cent in 2008. On a renewable obligation basis, 6.7% of electricity sales came from eligible renewable sources, up from 5.3% in 2008. .

• Refinery production decreased by 7% and petroleum product exports decreased by 11%.

• In 2009 the energy industries’ accounted for 3.7% of GDP and 10.1% of total investment.

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Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2010

In 2009, for the second year in a row, both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear, according to twin reports launched by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).

Renewables accounted for 60% of newly installed capacity in Europe and more than 50% in the USA in 2009. This year or next, experts predict, the world as a whole will add more capacity to the electricity supply from renewable than non-renewable sources. The reports detail trends in the global green energy sector, including which sources attracted the greatest attention from investors and governments in different world regions.

Highlights from report:

Globally, nearly 80 GW of renewable power capacity was added in 2009, including 31 GW of hydro and 48 GW of non-hydro capacity. This combined renewables figure is now closing in on the 83GW of fossil-fuel, thermal capacity installed in the same year. If the trend continues, then 2010 or 2011 could be the first year that new capacity added in low carbon power exceeds that in fossil-fuel stations.

Investment in renewable energy power capacity (excluding large hydro) in 2009 was comparable to that in fossil-fuel generation, at around $100 billion each. If the estimated $39 billion of investment in large hydro is included, then total investment in renewables exceeded that in fossil-fuel generation for the second successive year.

China surpassed the US in 2009 as the country with the greatest investment in clean energy. China’s wind farm development was the strongest investment feature of the year by far, although there were other areas of strength worldwide in 2009, notably North Sea offshore wind investment and the financing of power storage and electric vehicle technology companies.

The reports also show that countries with policies encouraging renewable energy have roughly doubled from 55 in 2005 to more than 100 today – half of them in the developing world – and have played a critically important role in the sector’s rapid growth.

The full report can be downloaded form the UNEP website (pre-registration required)

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Building Bridges: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010

The Voluntary Carbon Market Report, released by Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, provides a market-wide perspective on trading volumes, credit prices, project types, locations, and the motivations of buyers in this market. Findings are based on data voluntarily reported by 200 offset suppliers, as well as exchanges and registries. Because of the challenges of inventorying and obtaining data from this disaggregated marketplace, numbers presented should be considered conservative.

The worldwide carbon markets can be divided into two segments: the voluntary markets and the regulatory (compliance) markets. As the name implies, the voluntary carbon markets include all carbon credit trades that are not required by regulation. The voluntary carbon markets themselves have two components: the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a voluntary but legally binding cap-and-trade system, and the broader, non-binding “Over-the-Counter” (OTC) offset market. The categories overlap in that numerous CCX validated offsets have actually been traded outside the exchange in OTC deals.

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The Billion Gallon Challenge: Getting Biofuels Back on Track

Biofuels could provide a means of reducing two major problems: oil dependence and global warming emissions from transportation. Yet despite numerous government programs and subsidies, biofuels are not yet measuring up to their potential. Corn ethanol production has more than tripled in the last five years, driven by mandates for biofuel consumption, tax credits, and other programs. While this support has launched a major industry, it has also had unintended consequences. Most important is that the increased demand for corn is straining the agricultural system and environment. Moreover, with almost a third of the US corn crop now going to ethanol, the continued growth of biofuels can no longer rely on making food crops into fuel. Instead, growth depends on the successful and timely commercialization of the next generation of biofuels: cellulosic biofuels made from grass, wood waste, or even garbage.

This report from the Union of Concerned Scientists sets out a plan for accelerating cellulosic biofuels to commercial scale and for cleaning up all biofuels. The first part of the plan is to establish “The Billion Gallon Challenge,” which would provide investment tax credits and loan guarantees to support the first 1 billion gallons of an¬nual cellulosic biofuels production capacity. The second part is to replace existing biofuels tax credits, as they expire, with a Biofuels Performance Tax Credit that supports all biofuels based on their performance in replacing oil and reducing global warming emissions.

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Global Ecolabel Monitor 2010: Towards Transparency

This report from the World Resources Institute, in collaboration with Big Room Inc summarizes the findings of the Global Ecolabel Monitor, a comprehensive survey on the performance and organizational structure of ecolabels around the world.  The aim of the survey is to increase the transparency of the different ecolabels for the benefit of both producers and consumers. It also sought to reduce confusion among ecolabels so that certifications can be more easily compared, and institutional buyers can recognize the different attributes of using one ecolabel or another.  The results will be published to an updated index of all ecolabels in the world in a standardized format at www.ecolabelindex.com to raise awareness about the attributes of different ecolabels and make it easier for people, companies, and others to use them.

From introduction to the report:

Demand for products with ecolabels is growing, though confusion about which companies are truly environmentally responsible persists. For example, the numbers of ecolabeled organic food products and forestry practices have grown at 20-30% per year since the late 1990s and early 2000s (USDA, 2007). A 2009 Mintel study showed that the green market outperformed the US economy as a whole in 2009 and grew by over 40% from 2004 to 2009.

More than a third of US consumers now say they are willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly products (according to a March 2010 Mintel study). In some cases this is even higher, for example 53% of US consumers would be willing to pay a premium for a greener television, according to the Consumer Electronics Association3. In the UK, according to a 2009 Carbon Trust study, 44% of UK consumers want more information on what companies are doing to be green, but 70% do not feel confident about identifying which companies are environmentally responsible4.

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The Future of Natural Gas

Natural gas has moved to the centre of the current debate on energy, security and climate. This study, ‘The Future of Natural Gas’ is the third in a series of MIT multidisciplinary reports examining the role of various energy sources that may be important for meeting future demand under carbon dioxide emissions constraints

The overarching conclusions from the report are that:

• Abundant global natural gas resources imply greatly expanded natural gas use, with especially large growth in electricity generation.
  
• Natural gas will assume an increasing share of the US energy mix over the next several decades, with the large unconventional resource playing a key role.
  
• The share of natural gas in the energy mix is likely to be even larger in the near to intermediate term in response to CO2 emissions constraints. In the longer term, however, very stringent emissions constraints would limit the role of all fossil fuels, including natural gas, unless capture and sequestration are competitive with other very low-carbon alternatives.
  
• The physical properties of natural gas, the high degree of concentration of the global resource and the history of US energy policy have profoundly influenced the use of natural gas and the market structure governing its trade:
  
• the substantially lower carbon footprint of natural gas relative to other fossil fuels, combined with the development of North American unconventional natural gas supply and the high cost and slow pace of lower carbon alternatives, has focused attention on natural gas as a “bridge” to a low-carbon future;
  
• there are regionalized markets in North America, Europe and industrialized Asia, each with a different market structure; and
  
• “feast or famine” expectations for US natural gas supply, associated with price swings and policy changes, have often led to costly investment decisions.

A full report with additional analysis addressing a broader set of issues will follow later this year.

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Annual Energy Outlook 2010

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) have just released their Annual Energy Outlook 2010 (AEO2010). The projections are based on results from the EIA’s National Energy Modeling System and focus on the factors that shape US energy markets in the long term. Under the assumption that current laws and regulations remain unchanged throughout the projections, the AEO2010 Reference case provides the basis for examination and discussion of energy market trends and the direction they may take in the future. It also serves as a starting point for the analysis of potential changes in energy policies, rules, or regulations.  This year’s report also includes 38 sensitivity cases which explore important areas of market, technological, and policy uncertainty in the US energy economy.  In addition to considering alternative scenarios for oil prices, economic growth, and the uptake of more energy-efficient technologies, the AEO2010 includes cases that examine the impact of changes in selected policies, such as the extension of existing policies that are currently scheduled to sunset as well as the sensitivity of natural gas shale production to variations in drilling activity and the size of the resource base.

Key results highlighted in AEO2010 include: moderate growth in energy consumption; increased use of renewables; declining reliance on imported liquid fuels; strong growth in shale gas production; and projected slow growth in energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the absence of new policies designed to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  AEO2010 also includes in-depth discussions on topics of special interest that may affect the energy market outlook. They include: impacts of the continuing renewal and updating of Federal and State laws and regulations; end-use energy efficiency trends in the AEO2010 Reference case; the sensitivity of projections to alternative assumptions about US shale gas development; the implications of retiring nuclear plants after 60 years of operation; the relationship between natural gas and oil prices in US markets; and the basis for world oil price and production trends in AEO2010.

Click here for the full report

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US Carbon Dioxide Emissions & Intensities Over Time

Greenhouse gas emissions have increased markedly since the pre-industrial era and are increasing at such a rate that their concentration in the atmosphere is producing a warming influence on the global climate. In order to make well-informed decisions on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is important to understand how the different economic sectors contribute to the production of greenhouse gases, which sectors are relatively carbon dioxide (CO2) intensive, and how these patterns have evolved over time. This report from the US Department of Commerce analyzes energy-related CO2 emissions and intensities for 349 industries, Government (Federal, state and local), and Households from 1998 to 2006.

The primary findings of the report are as follows:

A large number of industries in the US have seen declines in emissions intensity over the past decade. These improvements at the industry level have contributed significantly to the overall pattern of greater emissions efficiency in the economy.

Energy-related CO2 emissions in the US increased more slowly than overall output growth during 1997 to 2007, indicating that the CO2 intensity of the economy declined. If not for these improvements in emissions efficiency, we estimate that CO2 emissions in the US would have been about 25% higher than actual emissions in 2007.

The Manufacturing sector was responsible for about one-quarter of total CO2 emissions in 2006, reducing its CO2 intensity between 1998 and 2006. The level of CO2 output as well as the gain in efficiency varies significantly within the Manufacturing sector. For example, between 1998 and 2006, Chemicals had a significant emissions efficiency gain, while Nonmetallic Mineral Products had an efficiency loss.

The Transportation Services sector, which accounts for about 15 percent of total emissions in the U.S., increased its emissions and showed only slight gains in emissions efficiency.

The Household sector, accounting for almost a third of total emissions, was the largest emitter of energy-related CO2 by 2006. Household emissions levels and intensities both increased between 1998 and 2006. While emissions per household are low, the large number of households makes the cumulative effect of the Household sector a significant factor in total emissions.

In addition to direct emissions, this report provides the total carbon footprint of industries by estimating indirect emissions (emissions associated with inputs that are purchased from other industries). Indirect emissions occur both domestically and abroad since many inputs to production are imported from foreign trading partners. According to the report, emissions associated with total imports are a small fraction of total US emissions.

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Measuring the Green Economy

The first of the two reports from the US Department of Commerce, “Measuring the Green Economy,” provides an important initial step toward measuring the size and composition of the emerging green economy and the number of green jobs it has created. By using publicly-available data on more than 20,000 products and services, the report shows that the green economy is well-poised for growth.

Principal Findings:

Green products and services comprised 1% to 2% of the total private business economy in 2007.  The lower estimate is based on a narrow definition of products and services over which there would likely be little debate about their classification as green. 

Employment generated by the production of green products and services is assumed to result in green jobs. According to the survey, the number of green jobs ranged from 1.8 million, using the narrow definition to 2.4 million using a broader definition.

The services sector accounted for roughly three-fourths of green business activity; manufacturing accounted for about 13%. Construction and agriculture made up the remaining share.

Energy and resource conservation and pollution control accounted for the predominant share of green business activities, making up about 80% to 90% of green shipments/receipts and employment. Renewable/alternative energy and environmental assessments accounted for a smaller share.

Between 2002 and 2007, the share of green shipments and green jobs in manufacturing remained fairly constant, ranging between 0.9% and 1.3%. Green manufacturing jobs fell over this period as did jobs in all manufacturing.

The green economy is in a position to grow quickly, but the relatively small size of the green economy suggests that a majority of the jobs that will be created during this recovery are likely to come from the production of products and services outside of the green economy.

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From Shop Floor to Top Floor: Best Business Practices in Energy Efficiency

Leading firms that give greater attention to energy efficiency not only make huge financial savings but avoid creating millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions according to the Pew Center’s latest research.  The report documents leading-edge energy efficiency strategies, describes best practices, and provides guidance and resources for other businesses seeking to reduce energy use in their internal operations, supply chains, and products and services

The report covers efficiency strategies encompassing internal operations, supply chains, products and services, and cross-cutting issues.  A key finding is that climate change has reframed corporate energy strategies. On average, companies surveyed for this study reported spending less than 5% of total revenues on energy.  But when these companies calculate their carbon footprint, they typically find that their energy consumption accounts for the great majority of their directly measurable emissions impact. Suddenly, energy shifts from a small cost item to the biggest piece of their carbon footprint. Viewed from this perspective, energy efficiency becomes a sustainability imperative.

The research also identifies common barriers that companies typically face in developing and implementing energy efficiency these include: lack of project funding; lack of personnel with the appropriate skill sets; inadequate management tools; and insufficient technical information.  Augmenting the report are case studies of six unique and highly effective corporate energy efficiency programs. These case studies add depth and detail to the major trends and conclusions identified in the body of the report.  The case study subjects are: The Dow Chemical Company, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), and IBM (integrated approaches); Toyota (internal operations); PepsiCo (supply chain); and Best Buy (products and services).

Click here to read the full report

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Utilities 2010

In this latest market assessment report, Key Note examine the UK utilities market, covering electricity, gas and water services (water supply and sewerage). It provides data on industry turnover and household consumption for each of the three services, it also examines industry structure. In financial terms, the electricity sector has the largest turnover of the three types of service — much of this being due to the cost of converting primary fuels (principally coal and gas) into electrical power. The next largest sector is gas, major markets being direct use and also as a fuel for power generation.

The UK energy market (electricity and gas) is dominated by a small number of large companies, most of which were power companies but have now expanded to supply gas. Energy can also be obtained through marketing companies with no physical involvement in the production or distribution of electricity or gas. Some of the large energy companies operating in the UK are subsidiaries of major European energy companies.

Important issues have to be addressed by the UK energy industry, a major topic being climate change and the need for a reduction in the use of fossil fuel to cut carbon emissions. Developments here include a greater use of renewable energy and a new programme to build nuclear power stations to replace existing power stations. Gas will still be an important fuel for the UK and, as the UK’s own gas production decreases, new sources of imported gas will have to be arranged. Some of this future gas supply will be from politically unstable regions of the world.

The current economic situation is affecting the utility sector: difficulties in the financial sector have restricted borrowing, and some customers have reduced their requirement for energy or water due to poor market conditions for their business. However, even though energy demand in the next few years is expected to show little or no growth, energy prices are expected to rise to fund the large investment needed to develop a secure energy supply with reduced carbon emissions.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-z list of library databases via Portal.

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A 2020 Low Carbon Economy

The need to end our dependence on carbon dioxide releasing fossil fuels is perceived to be a defining issue of our time. Concerns about climate change and energy security are increasing interest in technologies and processes, which reduce our reliance on carbon dioxide producing activities.  This paper from The Work Foundation considers the potential for the low carbon economy through scenario based analysis.

The scale of UK low carbon economic activities:

DTI & Defra – £16bn valuation of the environmental goods and services sector in 2004, employing 400,000;

UK CEED (2006) – 400,000 workers in emerging markets in the environmental sector;

Innovas (2010) – £112bn valuation of the market for low carbon environmental goods and services in 2008/09, 50% of these sales were identified within the emerging low carbon sector.

Analysis of trade data and FDI flows, conducted by Ernst & Young (2009), identified the following five key industries as potential areas for exploitation of strengths related to this agenda, related to specific sub-sectors: software; electronic equipment; business services; financial services; and machinery equipment.

Existing UK low carbon economic strengths (as noted by Innovas (2009): Renewable energies – wind, photovoltaics, wave and tidal in particular;  Nuclear power (operation in particular); Alternative fuels; Building technologies; Green finance.

The analysis confirms that the low carbon agenda represents a major opportunity to create significant new employment in an area of expanding global activity. There is likely to be a focus on low skill employment for the installation and construction of many of the technologies and infrastructures associated with the low carbon agenda. There is also potential to create a wide range of highly innovative activities, which would demand high-level technical as well as soft management or consumer product development skills. These will be developed by expanding advanced manufacturing and service offers that help to meet domestic and global demands to cut carbon dioxide emissions. This is particularly positive since the wider low carbon agenda does place some existing employment at risk.

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Building a Solar Future

America has the potential to obtain a large and increasing share of its energy from the sun. In the near term, America should aim for at least 10% more of its total energy consumption from the sun by 2030 according to a report Environment America.  Achieving this target would produce more energy than currently provided by the State’s nuclear power plants, or nearly half as much currently obtained from burning coal.  There are now many technologies available to take advantage of the sun’s energy. Solar energy can be converted to electricity, or used for lighting, heating and cooling, but the report argues that a comprehensive set of public policy strategies are needed in order to overcome barriers to solar energy development and help to make this vision a reality.

These include:

• Financial incentives, such as grants, tax credits and feed-in tariffs help to compensate homeowners and businessowners for the benefits their investments in solar energy deliver to society and can create a robust early market for solar technologies, building the economies of scale needed to lower the price of solar energy.

• Renewable electricity standards (RES) can ensure that utilities integrate solar into their energy profiles. Solar carve-outs, which require that a share of the RES be met with solar energy, can ensure a diversified mix of renewable resources and encourage the development of distributed renewable resources.

• Advanced building codes and standards: solar-ready building standards will guarantee that new homes are built with solar energy in mind. These can also be broadened to require that solar energy be offered as an option on new homes.

• Public education and workforce development efforts are critical to expanding the use of solar energy. Meanwhile, energy labelling requirements for buildings can ensure that the energy-saving value of passive and active solar energy systems is fully understood when properties change hands.

• Investments in a solar grid:  a well-designed “smart grid” can ensure that solar power is an asset to the electric grid, while limited investments in new transmission capacity can help to tap the nation’s best solar resources.

• Research and development programs: these will help to ease the integration of existing solar technologies, further develop emerging technologies with great promise for the future, and investigate new potential uses for solar energy.

Click here to read the full report

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Recycling – From E-Waste to Resources

Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years.  And, unless action is stepped up to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health, according to UN experts in a landmark report released by UNEP.

The report used data from 11 developing countries to estimate current and future e-waste generation - which includes old and dilapidated desk and laptop computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and televisions.  Indeed, global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year

In South Africa and China for example, the report predicts that by 2020 e-waste from old computers will have jumped by 200 to 400 percent from 2007 levels and by 500% in India.  By that same year in China, e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about 7 times higher than 2007 levels and, in India, 18 times higher. Countries like Senegal and Uganda can expect e-waste flows from PCs alone to increase 4 to 8-fold by 2020.  

E-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to 2 times higher in China and India while in India e-waste from discarded refrigerators will double or triple by 2020.  Despite having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries.  Moreover, most e-waste in China is improperly handled, much of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold - practices that release steady plumes of far-reaching toxic pollution and yield very low metal recovery rates compared to state-of-the-art industrial facilities.

The study, structured in three parts, has the following three main objectives:

1) Analysis of the market potential of relevant technologies for the e-waste recycling sector in selected developing countries,

2) Examination of the application of the ‘Framework for UNEP Technology Transfer Activities in Support of Global Climate Change Objectives’ in order to foster the transfer of innovative technologies in the e-waste recycling sector,

3) Identification of innovation hubs and centres of excellence in emerging economies relevant for e-waste recycling technologies.

Click here to read the full report

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Getting a Grip On Cruise Ship Pollution

With the enormous growth of the cruise industry in the past 10 years, Friends of the Earth has taken an extensive look at the environmental footprint and practices of the cruise industry, an industry that has long avoided comprehensive environmental regulation and pollution controls.  'Getting a Grip On Cruise Ship Pollution' looks at all aspects of the cruise industry from its pollution streams, to its history of environmental violations, to the modest number of environmental laws that govern the industry.  The report also contains a wide-ranging set of recommendations that provide solutions for comprehensive environmental reform of the cruise industry.

At the end of 2008, the industry was operating 189 cruise ships worldwide with close to 10 million passengers departing from North American ports in 2008 alone.  At the same time, the environmental pollution generated by cruise ships is enormous:

Cruise Ship Air Pollution:
Cruise ships emit more heat-trapping carbon dioxide per passenger mile than aircraft and trains.  Most cruise ships burn bunker fuel, which is 1,000 times dirtier than the fuel burned in diesel trucks.

Cruise Ship Water Pollution:
In one week, an average cruise ship generates 210,000 gallons of human sewage (filling approximately ten swimming pools) and 1 million gallons (40 more swimming pools) of gray water (from sinks, baths, showers, laundry, and galleys), all of which can be legally dumped untreated just 3 nautical miles from U.S. shores.

Cruise Ship Environmental Violations:
Between 1993 and 1998, the US Government charged 104 cruise ships with illegal discharges of oil, garbage, and/or hazardous wastes, resulting in over $55 million in fines for the industry since 1998.

Click here to read the report

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Renewable energy 2009

This Key Note Market Report analyses the UK renewable energy market, with particular emphasis on biomass, hydropower, wind/wave power and solar energy. UK renewable energy use in 2008 was 5.9 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), an increase of 14.4% on the previous year. Biomass was the main contributor to this total, with the next most significant renewable sources being transport fuels, wind power and hydropower. Recent years have shown rapid growth in wind power, especially offshore wind farms.  There has also been strong growth in renewable transport fuels (biodiesel and bioethanol). Generation of electricity is the major use of renewables, the main sources here being landfill gas, followed by wind and wave power and hydropower. The use of renewables for generating heat is dominated by biomass (mostly wood combustion).

Key Note suggests that the market for renewable energy is being driven by two main factors: energy security and a reduction in carbon emissions. Energy security is becoming a more significant factor as output from the UK’s offshore oil/gas industry decreases. Unless changes are made to the UK’s energy sourcing strategy, more imports of fossil fuels would be required to make up for this decline in indigenous production.

In terms of reducing carbon emissions, in July 2009 the Government published The UK Renewable Energy Strategy to show how the UK can reach its goal of producing 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.  The UK Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, another government report also published in July 2009, gave details of the UK’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Again, this will involve a major contribution by the renewable energy market (as well as nuclear power). Nuclear power has now received the government go-ahead and major energy companies are planning to renew the UK’s ageing nuclear power stations.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal

A hardcopy of this report can be found in the market reports collection located on the first floor of the library.

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The Carbon Management and Offsetting Trends Survey Results 2009

This report from EcoSecurities in partnership with ClimateBiz and Baker & McKenzie provides an authentic insight into the thoughts and opinions of multinational and regional organisations with regards to carbon management strategies and offsetting. Furthermore, the report examines the critical factors which drive end-users to purchase carbon offsets as well as the buyers’ desires in terms of project type, location and standard. This year’s survey involved over 300 corporations, covering a wide variety of geographies and industry sectors.  Specifically, 280 responses were received from a diverse range of organisations and an additional 31 responses received from carbon companies. Encouragingly, despite the gloomy outlook for the world’s economy in 2009, green issues have remained high on the agenda with both senior management and corporate boards.
 
Some of the key findings include:

Over three quarters of companies have implemented or have started developing a carbon management strategy

Two thirds of respondents have already offset their carbon emissions or will consider offsetting in the future

Environmental benefits (91%) were highlighted as one of the main motivations for interest in carbon offsets, closely followed by carbon neutrality and marketing (89%)

72% of participants nominated the US as the most desirable geographic region for purchasing offsets; this may reflect the desire for domestic projects as 56% of the respondents came from North America. Africa and South America were also rated as highly desirable locations for emission reduction projects

Respondents prefer renewable energy projects above any other project type with solar scoring 92% and wind 86%

The full report can be downloaded from the EcoSecurities’s website (pre-registration required)

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Simpler, Smaller and More Stable: Designing Carbon Markets for Environmental and Financial Integrity

The type of carbon trading system that would be created by the energy bill recently passed by the House of Representatives would be complex, volatile and prone to gaming. That’s the conclusion of a new report released today by Friends of the Earth. It also finds that emerging proposals to regulate derivatives are necessary but not sufficient to ensure the integrity of carbon markets. Instead, the report concludes, if policymakers wish to use a cap-and-trade system as a tool to reduce global warming pollution, they must design the system to be much simpler, smaller, and more stable than current proposals.

In general, it argues that the more “bells and whistles” included in carbon market design e.g. strategic reserves, trigger prices, offsets, banking, borrowing, free allocations, the more chances there are to game the system. Therefore, a prudent rule of thumb is to design carbon markets to be as simple as possible.  It goes on to say that carbon markets should be large enough to satisfy the environmental objective of the system, but not so large that they become simply another way that financial speculators can make money off of money. Excessively large markets are harder to regulate, and can create systemic risks without providing proportional policy benefits. A managed price approach, in combination with principles of simple market design (i.e. prohibiting offsets, free allowance allocations, and banking/ borrowing) would not only reduce opportunities for gaming, but keep the size of the carbon markets manageable.  In addition, adopting this hybrid approach, with its predictable and stable carbon prices, would incentivize more rapid and significant investments in low carbon technologies and infrastructure, thus addressing a structural weakness in emissions trading schemes.

The report also concludes that policymakers must take a realistic view of how even the most robust regulatory regimes developed today will erode in effectiveness over time as they are whittled away.

Click here to read the full report

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Geo-Engineering – Giving us time to act?

This report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers argues that geo-engineering could be a vital component for tackling climate change, providing the world with extra time to decarbonise the global economy.

With global temperatures continuing to raise due to greenhouse gases many believe that we are fast approaching a critical point in dealing with climate change.  The consensus is that we cannot allow global average temperature to rise by 2oC above pre-industrial levels.  If we do, many believe that this will cause dramatic changes to our climate which could jeopardise modern civilisation.  For many years, governments have primarily focused reducing the amount of CO2 each nation emits into the atmosphere.  More recently, climate change adaptation has been embraced: an approach which sets out to ensure that critical assets, such as power generation, transport links and the urban environment, are redesigned and rebuilt to protect against future changes in climate.   A third, less explored approach, is geo-engineering: where technology is used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, or where the planet is cooled by reflecting solar radiation back into space. 

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has undertaken an assessment of a range of potential geo-engineering options available under its ‘Cooling the Planet’ programme.  Of the many options reviewed, the three most promising have been outlined in this report. 

• Artificial trees: research is being undertaken into building machines which, like trees, can remove CO2 from the atmosphere.  This occurs when air passes through the device and CO2 sticks to a sorbent material.  The CO2 is then removed and buried underground in the same way as conventional carbon capture and storage (CCS).  

• Algae-coated buildings: algae naturally absorbs CO2 through photosynthesis.  Strips of algae can be fitted to the outside of buildings and then periodically harvested from e the surfaces and used as biofuel.  

• Reflective buildings: reducing the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the earth’s climate has the potential to cool the planet. This can simply be achieved by making surfaces more reflective and thus lowering the heating effect the sun’s rays have on us. 

The Institution proposes a climate change roadmap over the next 75 to 100 years, in which geo-engineering is an integrated supporting element in global climate mitigation and adaptation plans.

Click here to read the report

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Renewable Energy Capacity in the EU

The EU-27 countries are trying to lower carbon emissions and build an inter-connected, efficient energy system. New targets created by the EC call for the following by 2020: the reduction of greenhouse gas emission by a least 20%; improved energy efficiency by 20%; a 20% rise in the share of renewable energy; and a 10% increase in the level of biofuels transport fuel. In trying to meet these objectives, a new energy market is beginning to evolve.

In the last decade newly installed renewable energy technologies are starting to gain a notable share of the market. ‘This latest report from Business Insights documents the growth of this new market, showing its current status and projecting where it is likely to grow to in the foreseeable future. This report gathers the statistical data on the different types of energy generation and combines and contrasts them against each other to show the clear leaders, drivers to change and future growth.

Report highlights:

A fast growing wind market (7.9%) has recently overtaken the market share of fuel oil (6.9%). Biomass (1.0%), Solar (1.2%) and Geothermal (1.0%) maintain almost equal shares and are currently the minority parties in the capacity market.

There is little question that wind power is the success of the renewable electricity generation technologies in terms of recent capacity installed: the EU represents 55.1% of the global total installed capacity of wind power. It is clear that Europe is leading the world in the rapid installation of this technology, as North America has a market share of 23.4%, and Asia accounts for 20.7%.

Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the UK accounted for over 70% of new capacity installed in 2008. At the end of 2008, Germany and Spain accounted for over 60% of all European wind capacity (cumulative).

Solar capacity installed in the EU in 2008 recorded the industry’s largest one year growth volume.  Germany and Spain lead the field with Germany installing in 2008 1,505MW in addition to the countries existing 3,846MW, and Spain installing 2.6GW giving the county a total of 3.4GW.

The EEA forecasts growth of energy consumption at 19% (2004-2030), while the EIA forecasts 12.8% (2005-2030), in both cases well ahead of population growth rates.

Under this report’s the reference scenario forecast for wind and solar power generation, generation growth could increase from 172.3TWh in 2008 to 583.5TWh in 2020.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from the Business Insights database which can be found of the A-Z of library databases via Portal

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EU ETS Exchange Trading in First Half 2009 Exceeds Full Year 2008

EU ETS Exchange Trading in First Half 2009 Exceeds Full Year 2008

Trading in the rapidly expanding global carbon markets jumped 61 per cent in 2008, with the volume of carbon dioxide emissions transacted worldwide rising from 2.98 billion tonnes of CO2 to 4.81 billion tonnes.

This finding is reported in the latest edition of the Carbon Markets report from International Financial Services London (IFSL), the independent organisation promoting UK financial services around the world, which also reveals that London is continuing to build on its leading position in global carbon markets.
 
EU ETS: The EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) continues to dominate international activity in allowance-based markets. Exchange trading on EU ETS totalled 3.2 billion tonnes of CO2 in the first half of 2009, exceeding the full year total of 2.7 billion tonnes in 2008. Spot trading on EU ETS has mushroomed since last autumn as companies have used allocated allowances as a ready source of finance. Trading in EU ETS futures and options has risen in parallel with the spot market.
 
The bulk of futures and options trading in EU ETS takes place on the London-based European Climate Exchange (ECX), with 92 per cent of exchange trading in 2008 and 99 per cent in the first half of 2009. Trading of energy brokers in London rose by 82 per cent to 1.13 billion tonnes CO2 in the first five months of 2009, up from 618 million tonnes in 2008.
 
Project Market: China dominates the project-based market with 84 per cent of volumes supplied under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 2008. India, Brazil and Mexico are also important countries for CDM investment, although projects tend to be smaller. CDM investment has slowed since mid-2008 due to the financial crisis; constraints in the registration process; and uncertainty about the outcome of the Copenhagen summit in December.
 
Duncan McKenzie, IFSL’s Director of Economics, said, “Alongside the dominant position of ECX in the EU ETS and prominent role of London-based energy brokers, the UK remains the leading investor in project-based transactions with 39 per cent of CDM credits purchased in 2008. Major verification agencies are based in the UK and LSE’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is a magnet for companies developing renewable technologies.”

A total of 78 companies developing renewable technologies are listed on AIM raising a cumulative £1.6 billion. About 70 of these companies have joined AIM since 2004 although less favourable market conditions meant that there were only 2 IPOs in 2008.

Read the report

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Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009 Report

This report presents the financial perspective on the current state of play in the development of sustainable energy. The analysis consists of actual data on the different types of capital flows and their movement over time, combined with analysis of regional and sectoral trends. The information is intended to serve as a strategic tool to be used by decision makers in the policy and finance communities globally as they weigh-up commitments to the sustainable energy sector.  The report was commissioned by UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economic (DTIE) under its Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative and was produced in collaboration with New Energy Finance.

Report highlights

Last year was another milestone for investment in sustainable energy, especially given the overall investment climate. Last year a total of $155 billion was invested in companies and projects globally, a modest increase of 5% over 2007. Following several years of over 50% growth, this marks a dramatic slowdown as a result of the global economic downturn.  Some improvement has been seen during the second quarter of 2009, but the sector has a long way to go this year to reach previous levels of investment.

The drivers that have propelled investment in the sustainable energy sector for the past five years, however, are still at work – climate change, energy insecurity, fossil fuel depletion and new technologies. As well, political support remains strong, with an estimated $180 billion of fiscal stimulus committed to sustainable energy. While the $155 billion of investment in 2008 and $180 billion of government support in 2009 are impressive, investment needs to reach half a trillion dollars per annum by 2020 to help ensure a peak in greenhouse gas emissions.

Investment in new energy generation projects (wind, solar, biofuels etc.) grew by 13% during 2008, to $117 billion, and new private investment in companies developing and scaling-up new technologies, including energy efficiency, increased by 37% from 2007 to $13.5 billion.  Capital raised via the public stock markets for equipment manufacturing and project pipelines fell 51% to $11.4 billion, as clean energy share prices lost 61% of their value during 2008. Total transaction value in the sustainable energy sector during 2008 – including corporate acquisitions, asset re-financings and private equity buy-outs – was $223 billion, an increase of 7% over 2007.

The full report and accompanying resources, including a data set for the report’s graphs and a PowerPoint presentation, can be downloaded from the UNEP SEFI website  (pre-registration required)

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The International Energy Outlook 2009

The International Energy Outlook 2009 presents the latest outlook for international energy markets from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).  The report begins with a review of world trends in energy demand and the major macroeconomic assumptions used in deriving the IEO2009 projections, along with the major sources of uncertainty in the forecast. The time frame for historical data begins with 1980 and extends to 2006, and the projections extend to 2030. The projections are meant to provide an objective, policy-neutral reference case that can be used to analyze international energy markets. Models are abstractions of energy production and consumption activities, regulatory activities, and producer and consumer behaviour. Trends depicted in the analysis are indicative of tendencies in the real world rather than representations of specific real-world outcomes

Report highlights

• World marketed energy consumption is projected to grow by 44% between 2006 and 2030, driven by strong long-term economic growth in the developing nations of the world, according to the reference case projection.

• The current global economic downturn will dampen world energy demand in the near term, as manufacturing and consumer demand for goods and services slows. However, with economic recovery anticipated to begin within the next 12 to 24 months, most nations are expected to see energy consumption growth at rates anticipated prior to the recession.
  
• World oil prices have fallen sharply from their July 2008 high mark. As the world’s economies recover, higher world oil prices are assumed to return and to persist through 2030. Total liquid fuels and other petroleum consumption in 2030 is projected to be 22 million barrels per day higher than the 2006 level of 85 million barrels per day.

The full report is available for download from the EIA website

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A World Beyond Recession: Utilities Global Survey 2009

Utility companies are facing a difficult challenge as they balance the constraints of the downturn with the investment required to meet future energy demand, security of supply, and climate change concerns. This year’s annual Utilities global survey highlights the dilemmas of steering through the downturn while remaining focused on the long-term.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers  survey goes to the heart of boardroom interviewing 69 senior executives from 65 utility companies across 39 countries. Research covered the four major regions of the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The survey sample is comprised of power and gas utilities (suppliers, transmission companies, traders or generators) that have developed a broad range of interests in a number of complementary utility sectors or other regions.

Key observations from the report:

• Two thirds (67%) of survey respondents reported that a shortage of capital is having a high or very high impact on their activities.

• The development of new generation capacity and the renewal of existing generation plant is a priority area for most companies. 83% are seeking to make medium to large investment in new generation and 79% are seeking to do likewise in transmission.

• 86% of respondents indicated that reduced liquidity in energy trading markets was having an impact on their companies with 60% of all respondents rating this impact as high or very high. Customer credit risk is also identified as an area of major concern. Asked if the economic recession would slow down responses to climate change, 79% felt it would with two thirds of those saying it would have a high or very high slowdown impact.

• 59% feel that their renewable energy investment programmes are being affected by the lack of clarity from governments on renewable energy targets and financial support for renewable energy.

The full report can be downloaded from the PricewaterhouseCooper’s website

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Environmental, Economic and Policy Aspects of Biofuels

 
Foundations and Trends® in Microeconomics
Volume 4 Issue 5

Foundations and Trends provides state of the art review articles in business and economics by opinion/research leaders in accounting, econometrics, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and microeconomics.

Students, staff and faculty of the London Business School can access the reviews via the list of databases in the Library Services section of Portal. 

Environmental, Economic and Policy Aspects of Biofuels

"This review provides a timely summary of the current understanding of the various impacts and contributes positively to the policy debate.

We have several key conclusions: (1) Biofuels are diverse and evolving; (2) Greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits vary significantly across various types of biofuels and are dependent on market conditions and policy situation; (3) Increase in income in the developing world would increase the demand for both food and fuel; (4) A diverse set of policies, which has been introduced or proposed, impacts biofuels directly; and (5) Much of the impact assessments of biofuels thus far are ex-ante estimates based on either optimization or equilibrium models.

The short-term economic impacts of biofuels will depend on a variety of factors such as the harvest in any given year, the oil price, economic growth, strength of the dollar, and level of inventory. The long-term impacts will depend on factors such as investment in technological change, population and economic growth, climate change, and long-term policies toward energy, agriculture, and the environment. The biofuel policy debate is likely to be an ongoing one in the near future.

Source:

Deepak Rajagopal and David Zilberman (2008) "Environmental, Economic and Policy Aspects of Biofuels",
Foundations and Trends® in Microeconomics: Vol. 4: No 5, pp 353-468.
http:/dx.doi.org/10.1561/0700000029

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Energy, Transport and Environment Indicators

This latest pocketbook from Eurostat presents a broad set of data collected by Eurostat and the European Environment Agency. It gives an overview of Energy, transport and environment Indicators for the 27 EU Member States, the EFTA and candidate countries, with a particular focus on sustainable development.  The main data source for indicators is the harmonised EU Energy Statistics whilst the bulk of data on emissions has been provided by the European Environment Agency.

Energy indicators include supply, final consumption, renewable sources, and the structure of the industry; energy dependency, energy efficiency, and energy prices. Transport indicators cover infrastructure, equipment, transport of passengers and freight and road safety. The Environment chapter includes indicators on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, waste, water use, biodiversity, toxic chemicals and pesticides, environmental protection expenditure and environmental accounts.

The pocketbook can be downloaded from the Eurostat website