Product launch - an event when a new product debuts for production in a plant - is an important phase in product development. But launches disrupt manufacturing operations resulting in productivity losses. Using data from North-American automotive plants from years 1999-2007, we estimate that a...

Bagasse power generation projects provide a useful framework for evaluating several key aspects of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. On the positive side, our analysis, which draws in part from a data set of 204 bagasse electricity generation projects at sugar mills,...

The long economic lifetime and development lead-time of many electric infrastructure investments requires that utility resource planning consider potential costs and risks over a lengthy time horizon. One long-term -- and potentially far-reaching -- risk currently facing the electricity industry...

The California Climate Action Registry (''Registry'') was initially established in 2000 under Senate Bill 1771, and clarifying legislation (Senate Bill 527) was passed in September 2001. The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been asked to provide technical...

Large-scale EE programs would modestly increase tariffs but reduce consumers' electricity bills significantly. However, the primary benefit of EE programs is a significant reduction in power shortages, which might make these programs politically acceptable even if tariffs increase. To increase...

Concerns about global climate change have substantially increased the likelihood that future policy will seek to minimize carbon dioxide emissions. As such, even today, electric utilities are making resource planning and investment decisions that consider the possible implications of these...