This paper assesses the costs and effectiveness of several energy policies for light-duty motor vehicles in the United States, using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). The policies addressed are higher fuel taxes, tighter vehicle efficiency standards, and financial subsidies and...

Der Strom aus Sonne und Wind kann zwar den Atomstrom in Deutschland rechnerisch ersetzen. Da der Atomstrom selbst nur knapp 4,6% zur Endenergieversorgung der Bundesrepublik beiträgt und der Strom aus Wind- und Sonnenkraft 1,8% ausmacht, liegt diese Option im Bereich des Möglichen, wenn man die...

Die EU-Kommission hat einen Entwurf einer Energiesteuerrichtlinie vorgelegt, der eine grundlegende Reform der Energiebesteuerung vorsieht, um Anreize für eine Reduzierung des Treibstoffverbrauchs zu setzen. Nach Ansicht von Peter Ramsauer, Bundesminister für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung,...

This paper assesses the electricity sector reforms across small power systems while citing Nepal as an example. The on-going political instability and increasing electricity demand make power sector reform in Nepal and similar small systems a more complex process. As international reform...

When consumers exhibit present bias and are time-inconsistent, the standard solution to market failures caused by externalities--Pigouvian pricing--is suboptimal. I investigate policies aimed at externalities for time-inconsistent consumers. Welfare-maximizing policy in this case includes an...

Federal action addressing climate change is likely to emerge either through new legislation or via the U.S. EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act. The prospect of federal action raises important questions regarding the interconnections between federal efforts and state-level climate policy...

The scientific paper analyzes social policy, especially poverty like components of this. We identify the main objectives of social policy, the legal framework at national and European levels, making references at indicators that determine the level of poverty in our country. The poverty is a...

Despite political activities to foster a low-carbon energy transition, Germany currently sees a considerable number of new coal power plants being added to its power mix. There are several possible drivers for this "dash for coal", but it is widely accepted that windfall profits gained through...

Agricultural biofuels require the use of scarce land, and this land has opportunity cost. We explore the objective function of a social planner who includes a land constraint in the optimization decision to minimize environmental cost. The results show that emissions should be measured on a per...

The debate over a common European energy policy, its necessity and its establishment has been going on for a number of decades. The discussions have been recently brought back into the spotlight by the evolution of energy market fundamentals and the taking into account of environmental...