In January 2008 the European Commission (EC) presented an integrated Climate and Energy package to cut emissions for the 21st Century, including proposals for specific targets on renewable energy (20% by 2020) and greenhouse gas emissions reduction (20% by 2020). The package, amongst others,...

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol offers developing countries the opportunity to participate in the effort to reduce global greenhouse gas levels while also benefitting from sustainable development opportunities. To date, the majority of CDM investments have gone to...

On 3 June 2008, the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament hosted a half-day workshop entitled: "Effort sharing under the Climate Package - assessing the role of the Clean Development Mechanism". [...] The workshop explored the role of CDM under the...

Trading schemes for emission allowances have become a panacea for nations aspiring toreduce their aggregate emissions of greenhouse gases from industry in a cost-effectivemanner. The contention of this paper is that an emissions trading scheme (ETS) shouldnot be based on blanket coverage of...

I study several policy instruments for carbon mitigation with a focus on subsidies for renewable energies, emission taxes and emission allowances. In Chapter 1, I analyze the optimal design and the welfare implications of two policies consisting of an emission tax for conventional fossil-fuel...

Public policy has played a critical role in creating and shaping global renewable energymarkets. Yet 30 years since the passage of the first federal program in the U.S., under thePublic Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), renewable power generation still constitutesless than three percent...

This honors thesis will examine current and theoretical "cap and trade" emissions trading schemes in an attempt to make recommendations on how to improve this regulated commodity market. The various control mechanisms available to regulators will be discussed: including allocation methodology,...

Nearly ninety percent of people in rural northern Ghana are without electricity. Many off-grid projects undertaken by the Ghanaian Government to provide electricity to this region have been largely unsuccessful due to the fiscal burdens that prevent the coverage of operational and maintenance...