governmental intervention approaches to promote renewable energies special emphasis on japanese feed in tariff abstract almost all countries have issued laws and regulations to promote renewable energy re however the applications and motivations of such laws as well as achievements have been different currently the japanese government has announced its targets to expand the electricity feed in tariff scheme for solar power along with other energy sources within two years to meet the goal set by the japanese prime minister who in the 15th united nations climate change conference cop15 held in september 2009 proclaimed to cut 25 of greenhouse gas ghg emissions from the 1990 levels by 2020 in this paper the current japanese energy policies and measures for promoting re in comparison to popular methods followed worldwide are explored furthermore a least cost feed in tariff lcfit simulation model for japanese case was developed to calculate the optimal mix of technologies to reach certain targets the lcfit also calculates the tariff that should be proposed for each technology and the total cost for the program with and without a carbon tax and estimates the premium added to the bill of the customer every month

an analysis of feed in tariff remuneration models implications for renewable energy investment recent experience from around the world suggests that feed in tariffs fits are the most effective policy to encourage the rapid and sustained deployment of renewable energy there are several different ways to structure a fit policy each with its own strengths and weaknesses this paper presents an overview of seven different ways to structure the remuneration of a fit policy divided into two broad categories those in which remuneration is dependent on the electricity price and those that remain independent from it this paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of these different fit models and concludes with an analysis of these design options with a focus on their implications both for investors and for society

green electricity policies in the united states case study while there has been interest in promoting the use of renewable energy in electricity production for a number of years in the united states the market share of non hydro renewable energy sources in electricity production has remained at about 2 percent over the past decade the paper reviews the principal energy resources used for electricity production considers the changing regulatory environment for the electricity industry and describes government policies that have been used to promote green electricity in the united states with an emphasis on measures adopted by state governments factors influencing the development of green power markets are also discussed including underlying economic issues public policy measures the regulatory environment external costs and subsidies without significant increases in fossil fuel prices much more stringent environmental regulations or significant changes in electricity customer preferences green electricity markets are likely to develop slowly in the united states

social exclusion causes people to spend and consume strategically in the service of affiliation when people s deeply ingrained need for social connection is thwarted by social exclusion profound psychological consequences ensue despite the fact that social connections and consumption are central facets of daily life little empirical attention has been devoted to understanding how belongingness threats affect consumer behavior in four experiments we tested the hypothesis that social exclusion causes people to spend and consume strategically in the service of affiliation relative to controls excluded participants were more likely to buy a product symbolic of group membership but not practical or self gift items tailor their spending preferences to the preferences of an interaction partner spend money on an unappealing food item favored by a peer and report being willing to try an illegal drug but only when doing so boosted their chances of commencing social connections overall results suggest that socially excluded people sacrifice personal and financial well being for the sake of social well being

life status changes and changes in consumer preferences and satisfaction a theoretical model linking measures of objectively defined changes in consumer life status to changes in brand preferences and overall satisfaction with product and service purchases is proposed and empirically tested bivariate and multiple equation analyses of cross sectional data in one metropolitan area indicate strong support for the model the results imply that households undergoing status change are more likely to be 1 undergoing spontaneous changes in brand preferences and 2 open to intervention by change agents in the future

demand pull technology push and government led incentives for non incremental technical change abstract rising expectations about future demand for new technologies increase the incentives for investments in innovation by enlarging payoffs to successful innovations how well does this notion of demand pull apply to non incremental technological change when demand is largely attributable to actions by governments in this case inventors of the most important inventions did not respond positively to strong demand pull policies filing of highly cited patents declined precipitously just as demand for wind power created a multi billion dollar market three explanations for this apparent inconsistency with the demand pull hypothesis played a role 1 the rapid convergence on a single dominant design limited the market opportunity for non incremental technical improvements 2 even though the policies implemented were stringent enough to stimulate demand uncertainty in their longevity dampened the incentives for inventions that were likely to take several years to pay off and 3 alternative explanations such as declining r d funding and weakening presidential engagement on energy appear to have been important

what is the cost of negative bidding by wind a unit commitment analysis of cost and emissions we use a unit commitment uc model to quantify the operational impacts of subsidizing wind generation when energy prices are negative such prices occur increasingly often in u s and european union eu markets subsidies such as production tax credits feed in tariffs and renewable energy credits motivate renewable generators to submit negative price offers this lessened flexibility increases system operation and management costs and in some cases hbox co 2 emissions when energy prices are negative our simulations of large negative bids can also be interpreted as representing eu policies of granting wind absolute dispatch priority applications to four hypothetical systems with high wind penetration and distinct generation mixes quantify the uc and dispatch effects of negative bids larger negative bids lead to less wind spillage reducing the 2 8 average curtailment under 0 bids to 1 0 more conventional plant startups higher system costs and in many cases higher total rm co 2 emissions by up to 2 in some systems wind power s effective incremental emissions are as high as coal s this impact depends strongly on generation mix carbon price and the size of the negative bids in general there can be significant economic and often environmental benefits to reforming renewable support policies to encourage flexibility in operations

local identification and valuation of ecosystem goods and services from opuntia scrublands of ayacucho peru abstract opuntia scrublands are important ecological economic systems in the andean area they perform a major role protecting slopes against erosion improving the soil properties and providing a variety of products employed in the human diet and in animal feeding as well as cochineal insects a highly valued source of dyes the collection of the insects has represented an important economic activity for the local communities since pre columbian times current peruvian production represents between 85 and 90 of the global market and is mainly based on collection of the insect in natural opuntia scrublands located in the poorest andean areas of ayacucho although much is known about the financial benefits of cochineal for exporters and dye manufacturers information about the value of standing opuntia scrubs to collectors and the relative contribution of opuntia scrubs to their household economies is scarce here we contribute to the estimation of the use value of opuntia scrublands to local communities in ayacucho by initially exploring the cultural domain of opuntia in order to identify the ecosystem goods and services recognized by peasants and later presenting empirical estimates of their importance to annual household income

soil erosion and labor shortages in the andes with special reference to bolivia 1953ndash 1991 implications for conservation with development abstract many claims in support of soil conservation policies have been flawed by excessively deterministic reasoning and unwarranted spatial overaggregation a case study remedying these flaws demonstrates that soil erosion in the bolivian andes worsened during recent decades 1953 91 due to changes in production as peasants shifted labor from conservation techniques to nonfarm employment these findings reflect in three policy issues concerning sustainable resource management oriented toward development conservation with development are discussed a environmental consequences and economic causes of increased nonfarm employment by part time peasant farmers b environment related aspects of technology innovation and technique modifications in labor scarce peasant production and c the environmental perceptions of peasant farmers in participatory development planning

renewable energy support mechanisms in the gulf cooperation council states analyzing the feasibility of feed in tariffs and auction mechanisms renewable energy will be a crucial ingredient in the transition to a more sustainable future the renewable energy sector requires a variety of financial support mechanisms in order to further consolidate and expand currently the most prominent renewable energy support mechanisms are feed in tariffs and renewable energy auctions although these mechanisms have been used and analyzed extensively in western countries and more recently economies in transition they have rarely been examined in the arab gulf region yet particularly the gulf cooperation council gcc states have undertaken important steps towards renewable energy adoption which could be greatly facilitated with the use of financial support mechanisms this paper analyzes the feasibility of feed in tariffs and renewable energy auctions adoption in gcc based on an extensive meta analysis of the literature on these two mechanisms in both developed and developing countries the paper identifies a set of conditions necessary for success and evaluates the presence of favorable these conditions in the gcc context our findings reveal that while conditions that would ensure political feasibility are largely absent for both types of mechanisms auctions could be a more successful strategy at the moment

policies and legislation driving taiwan s development of renewable energy abstract under the current wave of international responses to the growing threat of climate change taiwan cannot afford to step back from its goal of advancing its renewable energy strengthening its energy self sufficiency and energy security this paper will first analyze the high level dependency structure of taiwan s energy demands then we will explore taiwan current situation in terms of renewable energy development furthermore from an overview of the course of changes and development in taiwan s energy policy highlight the commitment to and aims of taiwan s renewable energy development made by the government at the annual national energy conference fourth we shall analyse technological r d incentives taxes market reforms and other related policy tools fifth in light of public announcements and budgets set in recent years for taiwan s renewable energy research plan highlight main strategies being given impetus by the government sixth the author will discuss the implications of recent significant legal reforms to the development of renewable energy in taiwan and from the correlating aspects of industrial structures and energy consumption take the first steps in emphasizing the urgent need for adjustments to be made to taiwan s industrial structure finally this paper will conclude by examining current policies legislation and strategies which are in place to promote this area in taiwan and discuss the potential competitiveness and future scenarios which the development of renewable energy could mean for taiwan

basic concepts for designing renewable electricity support aiming at a full scale transition by 2050 abstract renewable electricity supply is a crucial factor in the realization of a low carbon energy economy the understanding is growing that a full turn over of the electricity sectors by 2050 is an elementary condition for avoiding global average temperature increase beyond 2 c this article adopts such full transition as europe s target when designing renewable energy policy an immediate corollary is that phasing in unprecedented energy efficiency and renewable generation must be paralleled by phasing out non sustainable fossil fuel and nuclear power technologies the double phasing programme assigns novel meaning to nearby target settings for renewable power as share of total power consumption it requires organizing in the medium term eu wide markets for green power a highly demanding task in the present context of poorly functional markets in brown power the eu commission s 2007 2008 proposals of expanding tradable certificates markets were not based on solid analysis of past experiences and future necessities the keystone of sound policies on renewable electricity development is a detailed scientific differentiation and qualification of renewable electricity sources and technologies for measuring the huge diversity in the field we provide but structuring concepts about such qualification because implementation requires extensive research resources support for renewable electricity development is organized via feed in prices or premiums and via quota obligations connected to tradable green certificates green certificates are dependent on physical generated renewable power but separable and no joint products contrary to conventional wisdom we argue their separation in cost analysis but firm linking during trade a few graphs illustrate the importance of assigning qualities to different renewable power sources technologies feed in systems based on an acceptable qualification perform generally better than certificate markets imposing uniform approaches on a very diverse reality for a similar reason uniform and undifferentiated taxation of non sustainable energy sources cannot replace renewable energy support schemes capable of differentiation

post fukushima public acceptance on resuming the nuclear power program in china abstract this study investigates social perceptions electricity preference management instruments towards nuclear power in china and evaluates the extent of opposing nuclear power by estimating public willingness to pay wtp to prevent a nuclear power plant from being constructed in their local cities and the neighboring cities it is pretty important to understand the public sentiment towards recommencement of nuclear programs since public acceptance of nuclear energy is one of the determinants for government establishment of a new nuclear project especially the chinese government has resumed the approval of new nuclear power plants and planned to expand this industry in the post fukushima world the findings show that most of the respondents care about the development of nuclear power in china the publics are a bit skeptical about the security of nuclear power since they are worried about nuclear accidents in addition the government is requested to improve policy transparency which is seen as an essential way of alleviating the public nuclear anxieties in china

an overview of afghanistan s trends toward renewable and sustainable energies relentless environmental concerns steep hike in fossil fuel price and increasing demand of non renewable fossil fuels consumption have dramatically increased global search for alternative energies the world requests ever growing energy supplies to sustain economic development and improvement renewable and sustainable energy ever more becoming accepted and established a decisive place in energy system of the word due to ecologicallyresponsiveinsight and a decrease in equipment expenses consistent with its endowment of energy resources each country tried to figure out its own energy portfolio and employing technologies which are economically viable and socially equitable and have minimal adverse impacts this article attempts to review all possible renewable energy sources as a substitute of the current energy profile coal natural gas and petroleum in afghanistan the study found afghanistan power sector as one of the least development sector which its inadequate status is preventing the development of the country as well eventhough the energy is not the only panacea but cost effective energies in abundant quantity and quality on sustainable foundation will help to reach to demand socio economic development the results indicate that afghanistan due to its natural and geographical situations enjoys important prospective for renewable energy bases such as solar wind geothermal and micro hydro power renewable energies could offer the ultimate solution for afghanistan in general and rural areas in actual but switch to altered forms of energy is grounded in multifaceted interations the study indicates number of issues such as great upfront charges absence of providers insufficient funding appliances and feebleindorsed and methodologicalcapability overwhelm and affected the use of renewable energies and technologies in afghanistan however with sufficient investment and practical stages by government andnongovernment agencies and the public encourage these unbound sources could play a vital role not only in afghanistan s energy supply but also in poverty reduction social and political stability and improving living standard

sources of innovation in agricultural technology abstract this paper focuses attention on environmental and biological characteristics of agriculture which shape the process of technical innovation the interaction of natural selection and human purposive selection and experimentation is shown to result in a continuous process of innovation placing farmers in the informal r and d systems as well as scientists in formal r and d systems in an innovative treadmill the importance and limitations of informal r and d are reviewed a discussion of the characteristics and potential of formal r and d systems leads to the identification of some major problems of policy inherent in and specific to the organization and management of agricultural research resources these include genetic vulnerability choices between environmentally specific or widely adapted technologies the location of research activity the linkages between agricultural producers and scientists and methods for maintaining and strengthening informal r and d systems

nonconventional renewable energy governance in brazil lessons to learn from the german experience abstract this paper presents a comparative analysis of energy governance regarding nonconventional renewable energy sources ncres in brazil and germany brazil is a world leader in the use of conventional renewable energy sources such as hydro power while germany has been achieving outstanding results in fostering ncres the focus is on two critical issues the legal and regulatory framework and the institutions created to support the ncres market development the comparison shows that despite the very different energy situations and policy drivers valuables lessons can be extracted from the german experience the main lesson for brazil is to think ncres as a strategic opportunity to rely less on fossil fuel and large hydroelectric power plants to decentralize the electric power sector to use the huge solar biomass and wind power potential available in the country and to create a environment friendly ncres industry to this end three critical points were identified 1 the legal and regulatory framework should be improved 2 long term energy planning taking into account social economic and climate issues and 3 the current institutions supporting ncres in brazil should be upgraded and or new ones such as more specific energy agencies should be created

toward a new conception of the environment competitiveness relationship accepting a fixed trade off between environmental regulation and competitiveness unnecessarily raises costs and slows down environmental progress studies finding high environmental compliance costs have traditionally focused on static cost impacts ignoring any offsetting productivity benefits from innovation they typically overestimated compliance costs neglected innovation offsets and disregarded the affected industry s initial competitiveness rather than simply adding to cost properly crafted environmental standards can trigger innovation offsets allowing companies to improve their resource productivity shifting the debate from pollution control to pollution prevention was a step forward it is now necessary to make the next step and focus on resource productivity

financial deprivation prompts consumers to seek scarce goods consumers assess their well being subjectively largely by comparing the present state of their lives to the state of comparable others and to their own state earlier in time the authors suggest that consumers similarly assess their financial wellbeing and when these evaluations highlight a deficit in their financial position they pursue strategies that mitigate the associated sense of financial deprivation specifically consumers counteract the relative deficit in their financial resources by acquiring goods that are consequently unavailable to other consumers in their environment the results from five studies suggest that the inferiority and unpleasant affect associated with financial deprivation motivates consumers to attend to choose and consume scarce goods rather than comparable abundant goods these effects diminish when scarce goods are limited because other people have already obtained them and when consumers attribute their unpleasant feelings to a source unrelated to financial deprivation

japan s post fukushima challenge implications from the german experience on renewable energy policy the japanese electricity sector is facing serious challenges in the aftermath of the fukushima nuclear disaster the government has responded to the crisis with a new feed in tariff to promote increased utilization of renewable energy and proposed to reduce the dependence on nuclear power in this viewpoint we liken the transition implied by recently updated goals for the diffusion of renewables in japan to the transition in germany in the last decade we argue that some of the lessons learned in germany might prove valuable for the steps japan considers taking in particular we focus on the new japanese feed in tariff for solar photovoltaics in view of the recent developments in germany we emphasize the importance of the scheme s political legitimacy which needs to be maintained through adequate design of both policy instrument and political process we conclude with policy implications and a targeted research agenda

the effect of feed in tariffs on the production cost and the landscape externalities of wind power generation in west saxony germany although wind power is currently the most efficient source of renewable energy the cost of wind electricity still exceeds the market price subsidies in the form of feed in tariffs fit have been introduced in many countries to support the expansion of wind power these tariffs are highly debated proponents say they are necessary to pave the way for decarbonising energy production opponents argue they prevent a welfare optimal energy supply thus in a case study we try to shed light on the welfare economic aspect of fit by combining spatial modelling and economic valuation of landscape externalities of wind turbines we show for the planning region west saxony germany that setting fit in a welfare optimal manner is a challenging task if set too high the production costs are overly increased lowering social welfare if set too low energy production targets may not be reached and or external costs are overly increased again lowering social welfare taking a closer look at the tariffs offered by the german renewable sources energy act we find for west saxony that the tariffs quite well meet economic welfare considerations one should note however that this finding might apply only to the present data set

assessment of government support for the household adoption of micro generation systems in korea abstract this paper investigates how korean government support affects household adoption of renewable energy based micro generation systems by analyzing household preferences in relation to the costs and benefits of system installation and different kinds of government support the research adopts a discrete choice experiment approach and focuses on two micro generation technologies solar voltaic and solar thermal our empirical analysis revealed firstly that households prefer micro generation systems that have low installation costs but high energy saving benefits and long warranty periods and secondly that households prefer direct subsidies to low interest loans however we also found that households are reluctant to install photovoltaic or solar thermal systems in reality because they see the cost of system installation as being higher than the benefits they would receive from such installation in short while existing government supports are somewhat effective in promoting household adoption of micro generation systems there also exists the obstacle that the majority of households are unwilling to install such systems despite government support thus several policy improvements which focus on increasing the benefits and decreasing the installation costs of micro generation systems are suggested in this paper

a support strategy for the promotion of photovoltaic uses for residential houses in korea various policies such as feed in tariffs quota obligations and capital subsides were enacted to expand the uses of renewable energy re in many countries this study examined whether capital subsidies are cost effective in relation to the installation of solar photovoltaic pv facility to do this the capacity factor which is one of the crucial factors for determining the unit cost of electricity from a solar pv system was estimated from the monthly average clearness index data collected at various cities in korea thermoeconomic analysis was applied to calculate the unit cost of electricity based on the calculated capacity factor of the solar pv system instead of subsidizing the same percent of the capital cost of each pv system installation it is reasonable for the government to adopt a measure to match the subsidy paid to the payback period of the initial investment for all 5 million potential solar pv users in korea

a paradox regarding economic support to deploy renewable energy technologies abstract from an economic viewpoint a larger reduction in the level of economic support to facilitate renewable energy installations e g the purchase price of renewable electricity under a feed in tariff scheme is not necessarily rational in accordance with a larger decline in the observed cost of the installation if the expected cost decline of the renewable technology is to be revised in response to the newest statistical data observed during each passing time period this paper demonstrates this point through an analysis of a case of japanese photovoltaic power generation deployment

an overview of incentive policies for the expansion of renewable energy generation in electricity power systems and the brazilian experience abstract energy production from renewable sources is already a reality in many countries and with that different strategies for incentivizing investments in renewable energy generation have been proposed and used over the years in this study long term policies that have been applied in several countries such as feed in tariffs shares with commercialization of certificates auctions and net metering are overviewed and discussed the main advantages and disadvantages of these incentive strategies are emphasized focusing on applications some of these strategies that have already been applied in brazil are analyzed in greater depth emphasizing the potentialities and fragilities of these mechanisms observed within the country even though it is a country that stands out in relation to other latin american countries regarding electricity generation from non hydro renewable sources brazil still faces barriers that prevent a utilization compatible with its potential moreover the trend for renewable sources such as wind and solar power is to represent an energy capacity reserve to cover hydrological risks and also to contribute to a distributed generation spread through electricity distribution networks

two ways to success expansion of renewable energies in comparison between germany s federal states abstract expansion of renewable energies is a central pillar of the german energy transition towards a non nuclear renewable system the expansion rate is co determined to a significant degree at the level of the federal states and varies considerably from state to state apart from the existence of natural energy resources and general economic conditions do parties in government play an important role for the development at the state level we consider potentially influential factors in a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis fsqca focusing on the expansion of renewable electricity production in all 16 federal german states from 2004 to 2014 as a result two promising ways for accelerated expansion of renewable electricity production can be identified on the one hand a group of economically less developed states have succeeded in promoting expansion and uses it as part of an economic modernization strategy within the economically more developed states however the party political composition of the state governments green party s involvement plays a significant role these results also have implications for other federal countries beyond germany pointing to tailor made policy strategies that consider these specific circumstances

lead markets country specific drivers of the global diffusion of innovations abstract globally successful innovations have commonly been preferred first in one country or region before being adopted internationally countries that first adopt an internally successful innovation can be described as lead markets this paper presents the lead market concept of developing global innovations the lead role of a market is discussed first theoretically and then by use of a system of five country specific factors demand advantages price advantages export advantages transfer advantages and market structure advantages the applicability of this system of lead market factors is then evaluated in a detailed case study of the cellular mobile telephone industry it is finally suggested that companies can harness lead markets for the development of global innovations by developing and refining innovations in close interaction with the local environment of a lead market a company can focus on a narrow range of preferences and feedback lowering the risk of being locked into idiosyncratic environments and generate true global innovations a method for identifying potential lead markets is briefly discussed

renewable energy policy and electricity market reforms in china the article examines the potential effectiveness of the renewable energy policy in china and its regulatory law framework it frames the option of renewable energy technology within the background of the long lasting electricity problems that china has faced including serious supply shortages reliance on coal and severe environmental contamination its dual administrative and ownership system based on state and privately owned industry is discussed together with the market reform measures adopted in the sector current renewable energy policy is analysed and the scope of the 2005 renewable energy promotion law is investigated this is conducted within the context of the electricity sector reform that china adopted and its effects upon the prospects of encouraging as well as expanding the development of renewable energy this study draws upon primary information collected from interviews with stakeholders on the policy adequacy and identifies three main types of shortcomings that have interfered with a more successful expansion of renewable energy in china

money status and the ovulatory cycle each month millions of women experience an ovulatory cycle that regulates fertility previous consumer research has found that this cycle influences women s clothing and food preferences the authors propose that the ovulatory cycle actually has a much broader effect on women s economic behavior drawing on theory in evolutionary psychology the authors hypothesize that the week long period near ovulation should boost women s desire for relative status which should alter their economic decisions findings from three studies show that women near ovulation seek positional goods to improve their social standing additional findings reveal that ovulation leads women to pursue positional goods when doing so improves relative standing compared with other women but not compared with men when playing the dictator game for example ovulating women gave smaller offers to a female partner but not to a male partner overall women s monthly hormonal fluctuations seem to have a substantial effect on consumer behav

economic modelling of price support mechanisms for renewable energy case study on ireland abstract the irish government is considering its future targets policy and programmes for renewable energy for the period beyond 2005 this follows a review in 2003 of policy options that identified a number of different measures to stimulate increased deployment of renewable energy generation capacity this paper expands this review with an economic analysis of renewable energy price support mechanisms in the irish electricity generation sector the focus is on three primary price support mechanisms quota obligations feed in tariffs and competitive tender schemes the green x computer model is utilised to characterise the res e potential and costs in ireland up until and including 2020 the results from this dynamic software tool are used to compare the different support mechanisms in terms of total costs to society and the average premium costs relative to the market price for electricity the results indicate that in achieving a 20 res e proportion of gross electricity consumption by 2020 a tender scheme provides the least costs to society over the period 2006 2020 but only in case there is limited or no strategic bidding considering however strategic bidding a feed in tariff can be the more efficient solution between the other two support mechanisms the total costs to society are highest for feed in tariffs fit until 2013 at which point the costs for the quota system begin to rise rapidly and overtake fit in 2014 2020 the paper also provides a sensitivity analysis of the support mechanism calculations by varying default parameters such as the interim 2010 target the assumed investment risk levels and the amount of biomass co firing this analysis shows that a 2010 target of 15 rather than 13 2 generates lower costs for society over the whole period 2006 2020 but higher costs for the res e strategy over the period 2006 2010

promoting resource degradation in latin america tropical deforestation soil erosion and coastal ecosystem disturbance in ecuador throughout the developing world depletion of natural resources hampers the ability of many countries to meet expanding agricultural demands in africa asia and latin america the benefits of water resource management is being jeopardized by pollution the total impact of the depletion of natural resources in developing countries can be felt all over the world damage to natural ecosystems threatens biological diversity and the conversion of forests into agricultural land contributes to the greenhouse effect there are solutions such as pricing timber more realistically to end the waste of forest resources in several southeast asian countries and eliminating tax breaks that stimulate excessive land clearing in brazil to reduce deforestation the international agricultural research centers have failed to develop and implement sustainable farming practices for small holders in environmentally fragile areas it is difficult to identify and implement effective conservation strategies for developing countries because the use and management of natural resources remains at an incipient stage the complex of national policies contributing to renewable resource degradation in latin america is discussed in great detail primary attention is paid to ecuador with sections devoted to the causes of resource degradation governmental intervention in markets failure to invest in the national scientific base the causes extent and consequences of tropical deforestation soil erosion disturbance of coastal ecosystems and policies reform

consumer preferences for electricity tariffs does proximity matter abstract the introduction of renewable energy sources fosters the transformation to an energy system with distributed generation this alters the relation between consumers and power generation sites as generation and consumption spatially converge it allows for new configurations within the energy sector and provides opportunities for marketing regional energy we empirically investigate consumer preferences for electricity generation in proximity to end users focusing on the proximity of generation and providers and present representative data for germany in a discrete choice experiment a sample of 780 consumer households and 173 adopters of a renewable energy system prosumers chose from a range of different electricity tariffs we estimate the willingness to pay for the following attributes shares of regional generation power providers and electricity mixes we find evidence in favor of regional production but in spite of positive attitudes towards local generation from renewable sources willingness to pay is not responsive to higher shares of regional generation in addition a preference for regional providers exists the results show that renewable energy mixes are preferred particularly a solar and hydro mix adopters state slightly more distinct preferences as compared to consumer households thus we find there is potential for business models offering regionally generated electricity

effects of demographic and related microeconomic change on land quality in hills and mountains of developing countries abstract more than 70 empirical studies indicate that local population growth and its microeconomic manifestations in hills and mountains of developing countries do not necessarily threaten forest production agriculture livestock production or watershed stability population growth can make the cost of land relative to labor increase as this cost increases people often change their methods of managing economic plants and animals and make land improvements to offset initial declines in productivity that result from more frequent use of land thus the relationship between land productivity and relative land labor costs often resembles a u halting population growth or removing people from well settled areas might not improve productivity or reduce some off site damages

an empirical analysis of the fiscal incidence of renewable energy support in the european union abstract in liberalised energy markets electricity from renewable energy re using solar pv and wind turbines requires financial support because the expected number of generation hours is insufficient to induce private investment such support has a direct cost from the additional expenditure over what would have been incurred had fossil fuel generation been used and indirect costs arising from the random and distributed nature of the re output comparing european union countries between 2007 and 2017 we find the pricing structure of retail electricity is regressive and correlated to reliance upon re although initially the direct and indirect costs of re affects integrated utilities and aggregators the ultimate burden largely falls upon lower income cohorts given policy objectives for re these finding are worrisome though as a society we may benefit from reducing dependence upon fossil fuels the burden of this transition falls upon those with the lowest income raising questions over fairness explaining the reasons for fiscal regressiveness leads to suggestions on how it may be redressed

cost effectiveness of renewable electricity policies we analyze policies to promote renewable sources of electricity a portfolio standard rps raises electricity prices and primarily reduces gas fired generation a knee of the cost curve exists between 15 and 20 goals for 2020 in our central case and higher natural gas prices lower the cost of greater reliance on renewables a renewable energy production tax credit lowers electricity price at the expense of taxpayers which limits its effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions and it is less cost effective at increasing renewables than a portfolio standard neither policy is as cost effective as a cap and trade policy for achieving carbon emission reductions

how middle powers can manage resource weakness japan and energy the post world war ii world has seen the transformation of the international system from a configuration with several rival great powers into one with two superpowers and a set of lesser but still substantial powerssecond tier states with democratic politics and mixed economies one of the recurrent concerns of the latter has been to secure supplies of natural resources we argue that postwar conditions point to eight elements of prudent resource policy for middle level powers such states should i avoid military means 2 choose trade partners whose political interests overlap with their own and who enjoy political stability 3 seek to create in supplier and transit countries a structure of economic interests that will make supply agreements self enforcing 4 diversify with respect to commodity dependence supplier share and transit bottlenecks 5 tailor stockpiles to the urgency of demand 6 exploit technology to reduce dependence and enhance bargaining advantages 7 encourage the private sector and public enterprises to become intermediaries in the international resource trade and 8 pursue strategic interdependence among consumer nations by creating multilateral stakes in the maintenance of normal commerce in resources in this paper we develop a set of general prescriptions for the behavior of mid level powers with small endowments of natural resources we hold that states which follow these prescriptions will avoid endangering their economic performance indeed they may outperform others that apparently hold an advantage in terms of greater resource endowments and military power we use the case of japanese energy policy to develop our prescriptions and to demonstrate their feasibility the case has special interest because of the importance of energy resources in the world economy japan s extreme dependence on and thus policy efforts related to imported energy and the vigor of the japanese economy

the economic value of south korea s renewable energy policies rps rfs and rho a contingent valuation study abstract amid growing environmental awareness the diffusion of renewable energy has attracted greater attention from both the public and policymakers to respond to global environmental concerns the korean government implemented a renewable portfolio standard rps in the electric power sector in 2012 it plans to introduce a renewable fuel standard rfs and a renewable heat obligation rho in the transportation and heating sectors in 2015 and 2016 respectively as such this study applies the contingent valuation method to elicit the willingness of korean households to pay more for their energy bills in order to support enforcement of these three policies the analysis considers the economic values of each individual policy as well as the aggregate value at the national level respondents mean willingness to pay for rps rfs and rho are estimated as 3287 5 4432 9 and 3971 1 korean won per month respectively these are equivalent to 5 8 1 5 and 2 0 respectively of current average monthly electricity transportation and heating expenses although all three policies appear highly feasible a cautious approach is necessary given the large proportion of respondents with zero willingness to pay furthermore although the level of willingness to pay for renewable electricity in korea has increased in recent years it remains low when compared to other leading countries such as japan

evaluating options for the future energy mix of japan after the fukushima nuclear crisis the fukushima nuclear accident in march 2011 has increased social and political reluctance to embrace nuclear power in japan and elsewhere the japanese government has thus been considering four possible future energy mixes including a nuclear free pathway and three others with 10 35 nuclear supply coupled with a larger proportion of renewable energy and fossil fuels to replace nuclear here we use multi criteria decision making analysis mcdma to assess the potential negative economic levelised cost of electricity and energy security environmental greenhouse gas emissions land transformation water consumption heated water discharge air pollution radioactive waste and solid waste and social safety issues impacts of the four proposed pathways to determine which scenario most holistically minimises adverse future outcomes the nuclear free pathway has the highest overall potential for adverse outcomes score 2 49 out of 3 and the 35 nuclear power supply option yielding the lowest negative impact score 0 74 without weightings despite some sensitivity to the choice of criterion weights our analyses demonstrate clearly that from an empirical perspective a nuclear free pathway for japan is the worst option to pursue we recommend that mcdma methodology we used for japan can be applied to other countries to evaluate future electricity generation scenarios

wind power generation an impact analysis of incentive strategies for cleaner energy provision in brazil brazil has adopted various strategies to encourage alternative renewable energy sources in pursuit of cleaner and sustainable energy production to this end strategies should support the reduction of the financial risk for potential investors in the renewable energy market therefore this study aims to analyze the impact of incentive strategies on the financial risk of wind power generation projects in brazil in different marketing environments from a quantitative approach using monte carlo simulation in three scenarios we evaluate the impact of funding from the national development bank and participation in the clean development mechanism in the financial returns of the investor in a regulated contracting environment and free contracting environment measured by the net present value we conduct a statistical analysis to find out if there were statistically significant differences in investor risk in each scenario the main results of the study are as follows the wind speed the selling price of energy and disbursement for the investment have the most significant impact on the financial return the project viability probability is greater than 85 in all scenarios regardless of the marketing environment the regulated market is less risky for the producer than the free market since there is a statistically significant difference in net present value variances for all scenarios in the regulated contracting environment funding is critical to reducing risk and carbon credit trading is not a suitable policy for providing financial security to renewable energy producers thus we conclude that in brazil the contracting of projects from auctions in the regulated contracting environment with the support of the national development bank has been important for neutralizing the producer s financial risks

the two faces of market support how deployment policies affect technological exploration and exploitation in the solar photovoltaic industry the recent years have seen a strong rise in policies aiming to increase the diffusion of clean energy technologies while there is general agreement that such deployment policies have been very effective in bringing technologies to the market it is less understood how these policies affect technological innovation to shed more light on this important question we conducted comparative case studies with a global sample of 9 firms producing solar photovoltaic pv modules complemented by in depth interviews with 16 leading pv industry experts we propose that on the one hand policy induced market growth serves as an important catalyst for innovative activity as it raises the absolute level of firm investments in technological exploration on the other hand however deployment policies create an incentive for firms pursuing more mature technologies to shift their balance between exploitation and exploration toward exploitation firms focusing on less mature technologies cannot tap the potentials of exploitative learning to the same extent as those with more mature technologies therefore stimulating strong market growth may raise the barrier to market entry for less mature technologies we conclude that when designing deployment policies great care should be taken to avoid adverse effects on technological diversity and a premature lock in into more established technologies

use of economic instruments in the german renewable electricity policy this article surveys the economic instruments adopted in germany since the start of the previous decade and analyse the factors determining their effectiveness it is found out that their effect has always diminished in correspondence of increased uncertainty on the future of the system in particular while in two of these instances uncertainty was mainly due to national factors in the other the debate on the european renewable directive played a very important role recent changes in the production incentives have introduced a process simulating the effect of competition among renewable generators it is pointed out that the biennial revision of the rates can increase the uncertainty intrinsic in the policy on the other hand this process also provides a forum for the debate on the future of the renewable sector one can notice that currently germany the biggest renewable market in europe is granting one of the lowest production incentives this is rather curious as germany never relied on market competition in order to increase the renewable electricity production

product oriented climate policy learning from the past to shape the future abstract product oriented climate policies such as labels financial incentives and emission standards for vehicles and buildings have achieved considerable reductions in emissions and triggered innovations that offer very low emissions during the use phase in contrast to other climate policy instruments these policies are successfully applied in an increasing number of regions however a major proportion of global emissions namely those from industry remain outside the scope of most current forms of product oriented climate policies all economic activities could be included by extending product oriented policies to embodied emissions i e emissions resulting from manufacturing products to guide such a development we need a better understanding of the current state and potential future development of this policy approach therefore in this paper we review and evaluate policy evolution over the past decade in terms of both measures implemented and emissions addressed on this basis we synthesize a framework for developing policy towards greater stringency and broader scope the framework describes a step wise process to achieve increasingly stringent standards once established standards can extend their scope to include additional similar products and related embodied emissions our framework and policy review informs the reinforcement and extensions of current product oriented climate policies a relevant implication for international climate policy is that the regional adoption of such policies incentivizes the global diffusion of low ghg products international climate policy can foster this development by supporting the harmonization of carbon footprint norms for products in order to enhance conformity with international trade and facilitate the extension of product oriented climate policy to embodied emissions

the effect of stress on consumer saving and spending abstractin examining how stress influences consumer saving and spending the authors propose that consumers who experience a stressful situation allocate their resources strategically to gain control of their environment a series of studies shows that this strategic allocation of resources occurs in two ways consumers experiencing stress may show increased saving behavior which assures them that monetary resources will be available when needed alternatively consumers experiencing stress may show increased spending behavior directed specifically toward products that the consumer perceives to be necessities and that allow for control in an otherwise uncontrollable environment this conceptualization and the related findings can inform assessments of when stress will lead to beneficial or impulsive consumer behaviors

globalization and the connection of remote communities a review of household effects and their biodiversity implications abstract the remote regions of the world provide refuge to a disproportionate amount of the earth s biodiversity as globalization continues isolated human communities in these regions are increasingly connected to global market migration and technology networks we review the diffuse literature on the household effects of changing market access migration and technology adoption in remote regions and implications for native biodiversity market access affects biodiversity in remote communities through changes in household economics and social networks migration either to or from remote settlements affects biodiversity through changes in population remittances human capital and social networks finally we consider effects due to production public infrastructure and information and communication technologies there is much ambiguity surrounding these causal pathways and thus we also examine the roles of various ecological household community and institutional mediating factors in determining the impacts of global connection finally we explore the limitations of our current knowledge and research practices and propose directions for future work to address key uncertainties in theory and evidence as well as weaknesses in methodological approaches we recommend a broad and interdisciplinary mode of inquiry as the best means toward clarifying globalization s impacts on human settlements and the biodiversity harbored in the earth s remaining remote regions

vested interests energy efficiency and renewables in japan this paper sets out to analyze japanese renewable energy policy a default expectation is that countries with unsolved energy problems will have more ambitious renewable energy policies including energy efficiency the japanese case only partially conforms the theoretical proposition made here is that it is essential to analyze a country s vested interest structure before we can make any inferences about its renewable energy policies the vested interest perspective derived from a combination of joseph schumpeter and mancur olson and focusing on structural economic change both complements and rivals the default expectation structural economic change like the rise of renewables typically leads to resistance from the existing vested interest structure which feels that it stands to lose from the rise of new industries the position of a new industry vis a vis the existing vested interest structure is thus crucial in the japanese case the solar industry has been far more on the inside of this structure than wind this has made it far harder for the wind industry to rise than for solar energy efficiency is however the ultimate insider approach to energy policy not challenging any vested interest structures and has been the favored approach for over three decades

a note on soil depth failing markets and agricultural pricing comment abstract bulte and van soest bulte e van soest d 1999 a note on soil depth failing markets and agricultural pricing journal of development economics 58 245 254 argue that higher agricultural output prices result in greater soil conservation when labor markets function well but have ambiguous effects when labor markets are absent the latter result is not attributable to labor market failure but rather occurs whenever labor supply is less than perfectly elastic consistent with the more general model presented here empirical evidence from a number of developing countries suggests that well functioning labor markets are associated with decreases in investment in soils

residential solar photovoltaic market stimulation japanese and australian lessons for canada canada is a leading electricity consumer yet lags behind other industrial countries 14th out of 20 reporting iea countries in the installation of solar photovoltaic systems the factors environmental benefits health benefits network benefits need for new production capacity etc promoting solar or other renewable sources of electricity in other countries are also present in canada but effective policy mechanisms to stimulate canada s photovoltaic industry are only starting to appear discussions of policy options focused initially on renewable portfolio standards and then on feed in tariffs this paper reviews the japanese and australian experience with capital incentives to stimulate the residential market for photovoltaics it demonstrates the ability of a market sensitive program to stimulate industrial growth achieve unit cost reductions and shift the market to include a large grid tied share residential respondents to surveys report high costs as their primary barrier to installing photovoltaic systems and state a strong preference for capital incentives to reduce their investment costs the canadian government needs a market stimulation policy if it is to join those countries where a decentralized photovoltaic generation system strengthens the electricity supply system a balanced solar energy market stimulation program is proposed that combines a feed in tariff with a declining capital incentive