Each week, I review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted over at the RFF Library Blog.
Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Experience with Cap-and-Trade
This essay provides an overview of the major emissions trading programs of the past thirty years on which significant documentation exists, and draws a number of important lessons for future applications of this environmental policy instrument. References to a larger number of other emissions trading programs that have been implemented or proposed are included. - via Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ.
U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2014
- Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by 50 million metric tons (MMmt), from 5,355 MMmt in 2013 to 5,406 MMmt in 2014.
- The increase in 2014 was influenced by the following factors:
- Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.4%;
- The carbon intensity of the energy supply (CO2/Btu) declined by 0.3%; and
- Energy intensity (British thermal units[Btu]/GDP) declined by 1.2%.
- Therefore, with GDP growth of 2.4% and the overall carbon intensity of the economy (CO2/GDP) declining by about 1.5%, energy-related CO2 grew 0.9%.
- via US Energy Information Administration
Loss and Damage: Climate Reality in the 21st Century
…The creation at the UN of the Warsaw International Mechanism in 2014 was an outright recognition of climate change hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems. But the mechanism needs to be extended beyond its 2016 lifespan, which according to the report, must be addressed in Paris. Poor nations need new knowledge and skills, finance and material resources to deal with the new challenges of sea level rise, glacial melt and oceans turning acidic. - via World Wildlife Fund
100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight: All–Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World
[Inside Climate News] A new study claims to leave little room for doubt that the world can run 100 percent on renewable energy, and it even maps how individual countries should best make this transition—by mid-century. - via Stanford University
Pricing Carbon
[Blog Post] In a new brief, Warwick McKibbin, Adele Morris, and Peter Wilcoxen explain that pricing carbon would be “the most cost effective means to reduce emissions,” arguing that a carbon price—whether from a market, a tax, or a hybrid policy—creates broad and efficient incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the authors outline why parallel carbon price consultations are needed, what they should cover, and why the U.S. could contribute. - via Brookings Institution
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