The degree of liberalization in OECD electricity markets varies considerably across countries. Commonly explained by diverging economic performances, corruption levels or government ideologies, this paper suggest another potential reason for cross-national differences in market reforms: given...

Climate change, security and cost of energy supplies, and the competitiveness of firms and economies have been focal points of the general political and economic policy debate in recent years. This article examines the choices in this field made at global level with the Kyoto Protocol and in...

The paper reviews the situation with regard to the electricity sector and the failure of policy and regulation. It argues for direct subsidy and a market oriented unbundling of the sector to take the sector forward. It also brings out the failure of the IPP policy and the costs that it has...

The European Commission has formally recognised that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. Yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services...

The increase in distributed generation and the increasingly pro-active role of mass consumers demand “smart” distribution networks. To this aim, regulation too must innovate, in order to promote innovative and additional infrastructural investments.This paper develops, first, a...

We measure firm-level productivity changes in the Indian electricity sector during a period that witnessed several pro-market regulatory changes. Using information collected from multiple sources we construct a unique panel of generating firms and transmission and distribution utilities spanning...

This article focuses on legal developments since mid-2011 relating to the control of both carbon dioxide (CO2) and conventional pollutants from coal-fired electric power plants. It deals as briefly as possible with pre-2011 issues that are discussed in the author's numerous publications over the...

Artificial photosynthesis (AP) is an area of well-advanced research involving large international groups at the cutting edge of synthetic biology and nanotechnology. In simple terms it offers to produce a cheap source of hydrogen for fuel through using sunlight to split water, as well as making...

We examine why and how coal liquefaction, or coal-to-liquids, makes its case in China. Different from Europe and the United States, China is actively developing coal-to-liquids technologies and projects. Different from conventional wisdom that in China the central government mandates and guides...