Growing concerns about climate change and energy dependence are driving specific policies to support renewable or more efficient energy sources in many regions, particularly in the production of electricity. These policies have a non-negligible cost, and therefore a careful assessment of their...

The debate seems to be well settled among economists in that the best policy instrument to reduce carbon emissions is a carbon tax. However and surprisingly, most of these discussions have taken place in a firstbest setting. We think instead that second-best settings should be incorporated to...

There is an increasing concern in the energy sector about how to confront its growing water demand, in a global setting in which water is expected to become a scarcer good. Indeed, the increase in energy demand will require more water for cooling power plants, for growing biofuels, or for...

Demand Response (DR) programs, which aim to reduce electricity consumption in times of high energy cost or network constraints by allowing customers to respond to price or quantity signals, are becoming very popular in many electricity systems, frequently associated to smart-grid developments....

One of the objectives of energy security is the uninterrupted physical availability of energy. However, there is limited information about how much is the cost of energy supply interruptions. This information is essential to optimize investment and operating decisions to prevent energy...

The nuclear debate is strong in many countries, with the discussion of its economics being a significant part of it. However, most of the estimates are based on a levelized-cost methodology, which presents several shortcomings, particularly when applied to liberalized electricity markets. Our...

Buildings are crucial to control present and future energy demand and, therefore, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. In this chapter we suggest that, due to a number of general and specific barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency in buildings, energy prices and...

Spain faces a complex situation regarding its climate change policies. On the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions have shown an important increase since 1990, being far from the Kyoto commitments. On the other hand, Spain is likely to suffer important impacts from climate change. However, there...

The sharp increase in energy prices and growing concern on environmental issues, among other things, are behind the renewed interest in energy demand estimation. However, there is sparce academic literature that takes the real situation of energy suppliers into account: high quality but...

Household energy consumption, mostly due to residential heating, is a large component of energy demand in developed countries and thus a target for public policies aimed at reducing negative environmental effects and energy dependence. This paper uses detailed Spanish household micro data to...