The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is so far the largest emissions trading system in the world. A rigorous ex post empirical analysis of the scheme is presented. The effect of the scheme on firms' investment decisions in carbon-reducing technologies is analysed by using detailed firm-level data from Swedish industry. Based on difference-in-difference estimation as well as a before–after difference estimation, the results reveal that the EU ETS has not had a significant effect on firms’ decisions to invest in carbon-mitigating technologies.

Previous studies on improved cook stove adoption in developing countries use cross-sectional data, which make it difficult to control for unobserved heterogeneity and investigate what happens to adoption over time. We use robust non-linear panel data and hazard models on three rounds of panel data from urban Ethiopia to investigate the determinants of adoption and disadoption of electric cook stoves over time.

Highlights

• We develop the first comprehensive survey of residential energy consumption in China.

• A typical Chinese household in 2012 consumed 1426 kilograms coal equivalent.

• Space heating accounts for half of energy demand.

• A large rural–urban gap exists in terms of energy sources and end-use activities.

• Results reveal challenges and opportunities for China׳s energy policy.

Abstract

The U.S., Brazil and a number of European and other countries worldwide have introduced various support schemes for bioethanol and biodiesel. The advantage of these biofuels is that they are relatively easily integrated with the current fossil fuel-based transport sector, at least up to a certain point.

We analyze the role of targeted enforcement of emissions taxes when the regulator wants to minimize aggregate emissions via the adoption of new more environmentally friendly technology.

Biogas as a technology and the factors that affect its productivity have both been well studied. Research has previously been done to look at the impact of temperature, pH, organic loading rate, carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, microbial populations and hydraulic retention time on different scales of biogas operations. Small scale biogas installations, of which many millions have been constructed and seem to be performing well, have been chosen as the area of focus for this paper. Such systems allow energy generation on site, thereby eliminating the need for energy intensive transport.

Rising prices of fossil fuels, together with apprehension about the environmental harm created by them, have resulted in increasing efforts to search for alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Biofuels production is still a debatable issue regarding the opportunities it creates and the challenges it poses.

Cities around the world generate substantial quantities of municipal solid waste, including organic residues. These organic residues can be managed productively and given value, or they can simply be wasted.