The EU-wide Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), established in 2005, is a key pillar of Europe¿s strategy to attain compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Under this scheme, CO2 allowances have thus far been allocated largely free of charge. This paper demonstrates that such cost-free allocation,...

In this paper we use panel data from a survey conducted on 30 Swiss utilities to estimate the impact of demand-side management (DSM) activities on residential electricity demand using DSM spending and an energy efficiency score. Using the variation in DSM activities within utilities and across...

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) has recently been receiving increasing recognition in policy debates. Various aspects of possible regulatory frameworks for its implementation are beginning to be discussed in Europe. One of the issues associated with the wide use of CCS is that it...

Electricity system operations are often affected by energy policies, but spatial differences in policy impacts are difficult to model. We develop a method for estimating zonal supply curves in transmission-constrained electricity markets that can be implemented quickly by policy analysts with...

The EU-wide Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), established in 2005, is a key pillar of Europe's strategy to attain compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Under this scheme, CO2 allowances have thus far been allocated largely free of charge. This paper demonstrates that such cost-free allocation,...

The role of policy (among various other factors) in determining the stability of the power supply and electricity rates is becoming more important. Policy-based pressure on rising electricity prices is expected to intensify as countries prepare stronger environmental regulations in an...

Facing the issues of global climate change, the European Union introduced the mandatory global carbon emissions trading mechanism under the Kyoto protocol model. In the Copenhagen Conference, China has promised that CO2 emissions per GDP in 2020 would decrease by 40% to 45% than that in 2005. In...

Households typically receive utility bills where all electricity use during a fixed period of time is lumped together. The lack of direct feedback in the form of marginal costs of using specific electric appliances reduces the attention people give to their energy consumption and potentially...

The European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Swedish-Norwegian Tradable Green Certificate System (Swedish-Norwegian TGC system) are two market-based instruments that have the overlapping goal to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by shifting economies to cleaner energy...

Italy promoted one of the most generous renewable support schemes worldwide which resulted in a high increase of solar power generation. We analyze the Italian day-ahead wholesale electricity market, finding empirical evidence of the merit-order effect. Over the period 2005-2013 an increase of 1...