摘要:

The familiar concept of Pigouvian taxes has finally caught the interest of politicians as the various proposals for a pollution tax, often simplified to an energy tax, document. This paper reviews these proposals critically and points at some wrong presumptions. The suggestion to make the polluter liable for all damages is in general inefficient. In order to sell new taxes, politicians argue that Pigouvian taxes would not lower disposable income, because the associated revenues allow one to reduce other taxes (in particular, income taxes) correspondingly. However, strategic, noncompetitive energy producers may themselves attempt to “internalize the external costs” rather than to leave these tax revenues to the treasuries of the consuming countries. Moreover, the revenues from a commodity tax are potentially volatile. Finally, the conservation impact from Pigouvian energy taxes may fall short of expectations, in particular, if the tax is too “low”.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909059

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

This paper describes some lessons for the United States from the restructuring of the Electricity Supply Industry in the United Kingdom. The British found that the policy objective of introducing competition into the generation of electricity was not consistent with the desire to expand their nuclear power industry in the private sector. Recently passed U.S. legislation to introduce competition in the generation of electricity might have the same effect as the restructuring of the British Electricity Supply Industry. The British pressurized water reactors are U.S. designed/ constructed and the regulatory system is similar to one that now exists in the United States. The British experience suggests that the disincentives resulting from the introduction of competition could weight any benefits from regulatory reform. The British experience also shows the problems that can occur when decommissioning cost estimates begin to escalate rapidly. Comparisons of the decommissioning cost estimates in the two countries suggest that the U.S. estimates are optimistic.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909060

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

This paper evaluates the feasibility of policies to increase exploration and development by the oil industry. To do so, we estimate a new model for well completions in the United States that includes the effect of price expectations from survey data, that separates exploratory from development wells, and that uses a deflator based on the cost of drilling a well. The regression results indicate that the price elasticity of drilling is considerably smaller than previous estimates. When combined with recent analyses of drilling success, the results indicate that the own price elasticity of U.S. oil supply is relatively small. The low price elasticity of supply indicates that efforts to increase domestic oil supplies by increasing well completions may be more expensive than believed previously.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909061

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Power system operational planning to utilize the existing capacity in the best possible manner is of prime importance and is particularly relevant in a developing economy. This modeling exercise presents an integrated approach for the multiarea short-term operational planning of the power system. It considers various related activities like coal mining, transportation, generating unit maintenance and generation scheduling, demand-side management options, and unmet energy distribution among different areas in case of inadequate system capacity. The power system operations are required to meet multiple objectives, namely minimizing the total costs, minimizing the total emissions, and maximizing the generating system reliability (minimizing the loss of load expectation). A compromise programming approach is adopted to arrive at the best compromise among these noncompensatory objectives. Thus it is a systems approach to power system planning that uses a multiobjective framework to integrate all related activities in system operation. Finally, a number of potential applications of the model for policy analysis purposes have been suggested.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909062

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The recent crisis in the Gulf (Iraq's temporary annexation of Kuwait) will presumably inflict enormous damage on future oil markets on both sides, consumers and producers. Consumers will be aware of the potential insecurity of the oil supply from the Arab-Persian Gulf ironically, at a time when OPEC members (others than Iraq and Kuwait) stood up to their commitment. The reason for this lack of confidence is that political objectives may dominate conventional economic goals so that the future oil market becomes unpredictable and potentially insecure. As a consequence, consumers may “consewe” even in periods of low oil prices so that billions and billions of (opportunity) dollars might be wasted. Vertical integration may be a way to mitigate this insecurity and to increase the credibility of a reliable supply. Presumably the easiest way to regain some of the consumers' confidence seems to be to again offer the international oil companies larger responsibility for the oil market.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909063

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Geothermal energy is known today as one of the alternative renewable energy sources which has proven itself technically and economically to be feasible. It is commercially available to the public as a nonpollutant electric power source. Worldwide, 17 countries now operate geothermal power plants. The total usable capacity is 5 gigawatts, with units varying in capacity from a few hundred kilowatts to 135 megawatts (Di Pippo, 1988). The discovered untapped reserves, however, are measured in the tens of gigawatts (Di Pippo, 1988). This article aims at reviewing the potential of the geothermal resources in northwest Iran and looks to the future for possible growth scenarios in Iran.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909064

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Latent thermal energy storage is one of the favorable kinds of thermal energy storage methods considered for renewable energy source utilization, as in solar photothermal systems. Heat is stored mostly by means of the latent heat of phase change of the medium. The temperature of the medium remains more or less constant during the phase transition. A large number of materials have been identified for low, intermediate, and high operating temperatures for application as latent thermal energy storage media. In the present paper a method for characterization of alkanes (C1,-C100) and paraffin waxes for application as the low-temperature (298-323 K) phase change energy storage medium is introduced. A computational technique is introduced by which the alkanes and paraffin waxes could be evaluated, and possibly upgraded, as the phase change energy storage media. It is demonstrated that the family of n-alkanes has a large spectrum of latent heats, melting points, densities, and specific heats so that the heat storage designer has a good choice of n-alkanes as storage materials for any particular low-temperature thermal energy storage application. As an example of the proposed method, a particular paraffin wax for which appropriate experimental data are available is analyzed and the results of the analysis are presented.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909065

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

A water heating system in thermosyphonic flow using polypropylene finned tubes was built and used to perform experiments. The system consisted of 36 parallel polypropylene finned tubes each with 19-mm inside diameter and 1 m long made especially for this study. Experiments were performed at Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Experiments were usually started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 3:00 p.m. during the months of September, October, and November when the ambient temperatures varied from 20 to 30°C. During each experiment, ambient, inlet, and outlet water temperature and the slope of the collector relative to the horizon were measured. It was found that the best collector slope was 36°.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909066

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

This paper investigates the effects of a broad-based energy tax on the United Stales economy in general and the agricultural sectors in particular. The analytical approach used in the analysis consisted of a general equilibrium model composed of 14 producing sectors, 14 consuming sectors, 6 household categories classified by income, and a government. The effects of imposing a lax on natural gas, coal, and nuclear power of 25.7 cents per million Btu's and a tax on refined petroleum products of 59.9 cents per million Btu 's on prices and quantities'are examined. The results are revealing. For example, a Btu tax on energy imposed at the point of production wilt result in lower output by the producing sectors (by about $122.4 billion), a decrease in the consumption of goods and services (by about $64.6 billion), and a reduction in welfare (by about $66.6 billion). The government would realize an increase in revenue of about $50.5 billion. In the case of the Btu tax being imposed at the point of consumption, there will be lower output by the producing sectors (by about $83.7 billion), a reduction in the consumption of goods and services (by about $48.3 billion), and a reduction in welfare (by about $49.5 billion). The government would realize an increase in revenue of $41.5 billion. The agricultural sectors would be measurably affected. For example, if the Btu tax is imposed at the point of production, output in the program crops sector will fall (by $637 million), output in the livestock sector will decline (by $257 million), output in the all other agriculture commodities sector will be reduced (by $54 million), and output in the forestry sector wilt rise (by $144 million). If the Btu tax is imposed at the point of consumption, output in the program crops sector will fall (by $720 million), output in the livestock sector will decline (by $453 million), output in the all other agriculture commodities sector will be reduced (by $371 million), and output in the orestry sector will rise (by $25 million). Finally, when subjected to a sensitivity analysis, the results are reasonably robust with regard to the assumption of the values of the substitution elasticities.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909067

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The collaborative process involves utilities and nonutility parties (NUPs) in a joint effort to address issues of common concern and achieve mutually advantageous results. The outcomes of these collaborative efforts can be divided into two general categories: (1) product-related outcomes that are related to the demand-side management (DSM) plans or other products developed by the collaborative groups and (2) participant-related outcomes that are related primarily to the participants and their organizational needs. Each of these general outcome areas can be further subdivided into individual measures of collaborative success. Among the 14 cases of utility-NUP collaboration that were studied, consensus was reached more frequently on the content of DSM programs than on any of the related policy issues that were addressed. DSM budgets and energy savings projected to result from the collaborative-developed programs were substantially greater than those associated with earlier utility efforts. In addition, relations among collaborative participants generally improved in terms of mutual trust, understanding, communication, and personal contact. Product-related objectives were widely satisfied in early collaboratives, but it was still too early to tell about this in many of the more recent cases.

ISSN:0090-8312    

DOI:10.1080/00908319408909068

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor