In this paper, we use a computable general equilibrium model (WIATEC) to study the potential impact of implementing Europe's 20-20-20 climate policy. The results show that the economic costs of implementing the policy are only moderate and within the range of recent empirical evidence. Furthermore, they also indicate that there is a possibility that the existing allocations to the Europena sectors ...
The positive impacts of an increasing share of renewable energy on the mitigation of climate change as well as on the decrease of the dependency of energy imports are indisputable. However, one persistent problem for the German economy has been its high level of unemployment in the recent past. Therefore, any policy strategy will be measured also by its net impact on the labor market. The paper describes ...
How does emissions trading influence the competitiveness of the German industry? By increasing the costs of domestic production, emissions trading may induce the relocation of industrial production and the associated emissions – e.g. to non-EU countries with few or no climate protection regulations. On behalf of the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at the Federal Environment Agency, the impacts ...
Tropical cyclones that make landfall on the coast of the USA are causing increasing economic losses. It is assumed that the losses are largely due to socio-economic developments, i.e. growing wealth and greater settlement of exposed areas. However, it is also thought that the rise in losses is caused by increasing frequency of severe cyclones resulting from climate change. The object of this paper ...
In a carbon constrained world, at least four classes of greenhouse gas mitigation options are available: Energy efficiency, fuel switching, introduction of carbon dioxide capture and storage along with renewable generating technologies, and reductions in emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases. The role of energy technologies is considered crucial in climate change mitigation. In particular, carbon capture ...
Global Warming Potential (GWP) is an index used to measure the cumulative radiative forcing of a tonne of greenhouse house gas (GHG) relative to that of a "reference" gas (CO2). Under the Kyoto Protocol, GWP can be used as a fixed index to govern the trade-off between different GHGs in a multi-gas approach to GHGs abatement. The use of fixed GWPs has been criticized for not being very cost effective ...
This study models maximum temperatures in Switzerland monitored in twelve locations using the Generalised Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The parameters of the GEV distribution are determined within a Bayesian framework. We find that the parameters of the underlying distribution underwent a substantial change in the beginning of the 1980s. This change is characterised by an increase both in the level ...
