Cooperative approaches under the Paris Agreement discussed at COP 24
CEEPR Deputy Director Michael Mehling presented research on the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at a COP24 side event.
The Efficiency and Distributional Effects of Alternative Residential Electricity Rate Designs
In this paper, researchers find that low-income customers would face bill increases on average in a transition to more economically efficient electricity tariffs. However, they demonstrate that simple changes to fixed charges in two-part tariffs can mitigate these disparities while preserving all, or the vast majority, of the efficiency gains.
Challenges for Wholesale Electricity Markets with Intermittent Renewable Generation at Scale: The U.S. Experience
A paper written by Professor Paul L. Joskow examines the current and likely future effects on wholesale electricity markets and the challenges these markets face due to the rapid expansion of intermittent (or variable) renewable energy, primarily wind and solar, with close to zero marginal generating costs.
The Carbon Footprint of Bitcoin
Blockchain has its roots in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which was the first successful attempt to validate transactions via a decentralized data protocol. Participation in its validation process requires specialized hardware and vast amounts of electricity, which translate into a significant carbon footprint.
Governing Cooperative Approaches under the Paris Agreement
As Parties to the Paris Agreement convene in Poland for COP24, they will be negotiating guidance on the implementation of cooperative approaches, which allow countries to use internationally transferred mitigation outcomes towards their national climate pledges. A new CEEPR Working Paper offers insights from theory and practice to inform the negotiations.
The Rationale for Investment in Life Extension of Spanish Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear power provides more than 20% of Spain's electricity. As each of the 7 plants approaches its 40 year design life, a decision must be made whether to invest in a life extension, considering Spain's goal of reducing GHG emissions. This research shows that life extensions are the least-cost alternative for further reducing GHG emissions.
In The News
Dec 14, 2018
“Climate change will not wait for us”
CEEPR Deputy Director Michael Mehling and CEEPR graduate students Sruthi Davuluri and Anthony Fratto recently attended the COP24 held in Katowice, Poland. Read about their reflections here.
Oct 29, 2018
Carbon Capture is Messy and Fraught - But Might Be Essential
Who would pay for a company to sequester carbon underground? MIT economist Christopher Knittel discusses a potential solution in a Wired article here.
Oct 9, 2018
Carbon tax debate: Nobels and IPCC vs. Trump and Doug Ford
In an article in Grist, Professor Christopher Knittel comments on the carbon tax debate. Read the full article here.
Sep 14, 2018
Energy Efficiency, Information, and the Acceptability of Rent Increases
In this paper, the authors explore role of imperfect information and attentional biases in the context of energy efficiency investments by quantifying how alternative informational interventions...
Sep 6, 2018
MIT Energy Initiative study reports on the future of nuclear energy
In "The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World," released by the MIT Energy Initiative on Sept. 3, the authors analyze the reasons for the current global stall of nuclear energy...
Aug 15, 2018
Fair, Equitable, and Efficient Tariffs in the Presence of DERs
In a new CEEPR Working Paper, the authors delineate various aspects of equity and fairness that regulators must grapple with when designing electricity tariffs and show that more economically...
Jul 26, 2018
Coordinating Separate Markets for Externalities
In a new CEEPR Working Paper, the authors show that inefficiencies from having separate markets to correct an environmental externality are significantly mitigated when firms participate in an...