An optimal electricity consumption decision with a limited carbon emission concept

Among studies of the factors that influence carbon emissions and related regulations, economic aggregates, industrial structures, energy structures, population levels, and energy prices have been extensively explored, whereas studies from the perspective of fiscal leverage, particularly of local government investment (LGI), are rare. Of the limited number of studies on the effect of LGI on carbon emissions, most focus on its direct effect. Few studies consider regulatory effects, and there is a lack of emphasis on local areas. Using a cointegration test, a panel data model and clustering analysis based on Chinese data between 2000 and 2013, this study measures the direct role of LGI in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction. First, overall, within the sample time period, a 1% increase in LGI inhibits carbon emissions by 0.8906% and 0.5851% through its influence on the industrial structure and energy efficiency, respectively, with the industrial structure path playing a greater role than the efficiency path. Second, carbon emissions to some extent exhibit inertia. The previous year’s carbon emissions impact the following year’s carbon emissions by 0.5375%. Thus, if a reduction in carbon emissions in the previous year has a positive effect, then the carbon emissions reduction effect generated by LGI in the following year will be magnified. Third, LGI can effectively reduce carbon emissions, but there are significant regional differences in its impact. For example, in some provinces, such as Sichuan and Anhui, economic growth has not been decoupled from carbon emissions. Fourth, the carbon emissions reduction effect in the 30 provinces and municipalities sampled in this study can be classified into five categories—strong, relatively strong, medium, relatively weak and weak—based on the degree of local governments’ regulation of carbon emissions. The carbon emissions reduction effect of LGI is significant in the western and central regions of China but not in the eastern and northeast regions. This study helps overcome the limitations of previous studies on the regulatory effects of LGI on carbon emissions, and the constructed model may more closely reflect actual economic conditions. Moreover, the current study can benefit countries similar to China that aim to objectively identify the impacts of their LGI on carbon emissions, and such countries can use it as a reference in the formulation of investment policies based on their economic and industrial characteristics.

I. INTRODUCTION II. HISTORY OF GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS-WHO WHO INVOLVED AND HOW? A. EPA Issues Legal Opinion Confirming its Authority over Carbon Dioxide B. Bush Administration EPA Disavows GHG Regulation C. D.C. Circuit Upholds Bush EPA's Decision Not to Regulate GHG Emissions From New Motor Vehicles D. The Supreme Court's First Move: Elucidating Parameters Governing Executive Branch Action on GHGs in Massachusetts v. EPA E. Senate Sub-committee Testimony Addresses Uncertainty in a Post-Massachusetts v. EPA World F. EPA Administrator Determines EPA Must Issue Positive Endangerment Finding but OMB Refuses to Open E-mail Containing Proposed Endangerment Finding G. Bush EPA Issues Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Solicit Comments on Regulating GHGs Under the Act H. Change of President, Change of EPA Guard: Obama-Appointed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Signals GHG Regulation I. The Supreme Court's Second Move: Reaffirming CPA's Authority to Regulate GHGs under the Act in ALP v. Connecticut III. CPA's GHG REGULATIONS AND THEIR UNDERLYING THEMES A. EPA Move Number One: A Science-Based Assessment of Endangerment B. EPA Move Number Two: Improving Fuel Economy with the Vehicle Rule 1. Efficiency of Compliance for Vehicle Manufacturers 2. Benefits for Consumers 3. Improving Energy Security C. EPA Move Number Three: Exempting Small Sources Through the Tailoring Rule D. EPA Move Number Four: Facilitating State Implementation with the Greenhouse Gas SIP Call IV. CHALLENGES TO CPA's RULES ARE DISPROPORTIONATE AND OFTEN DISCONNECTED FROM THESE RULES' ACTUAL IMPACTS A. The Non-Profit Coalition for Responsible Regulation and the Endangerment Finding B. States and the Vehicle Rule C. Large Emitters and the Tailoring Rule D. Texas and the GHG SIP Call V. CURRENT STATE OF THE LITIGATION CHALLENGING THE GHG REGULATIONS VI. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION This article analyzes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations and notes the cognitive dissonance between the temperance of the regulations and the intemperance of the challenges to them. Part II discusses the long history of GHG regulation under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), starting from 1998 when then-EPA General Counsel Jonathan Cannon issued a legal opinion concerning the possibility of GHG regulation under the Act and spanning to the present day. This turbulent history, driven by shifting administration policies and a seminal decision of the United States Supreme Court, has set the stage for EPA's current actions to regulate GHGs under the Act. Part III elucidates how this protracted history has resulted in EPA's existing GHG regulations being carefully transparent and based on efficiency. This part specifically evaluates four EPA actions that impact GHG emissions from mobile sources and stationary sources, analyzing the Agency's efficiency-based focus in disparate regulatory spheres. These actions include: 1) the Endangerment Finding--a science based determination that GHGs endanger human health or welfare; 2) the Vehicle Emission Standards--fleet-wide measures designed to reduce GHG emissions from cars and light trucks; 3) the Tailoring Rule--an action designed to smooth implementation of the Act's stationary source requirements and initially, to focus only on the largest sources of GHG emission; and 4) the State Implementation Rules--actions designed to allow sources in states currently lacking the authority to issue GHG permits to nonetheless obtain legally-required permits. Part IV analyzes the disproportionate challenges from various parties seeking to overturn EPA's GHG regulations. …

The development of a model of the World Refining for the POLES model ( Contract n°151559-2009 A08 FR – with the Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of Commission of the European Communities) aims to represent the oil product's supply at a world-wide level in a global energy model.\nThe World oil refining industry faces to several challenges such as the increasing oil derivatives demand in the transport sector, the improvement of the specifications of these products, the crude oil availability and the limitation of carbon emissions. An aggregated refining model linked to the POLES energy model has been developed to study these questions.\nThe OURSE (Oil is Used in Refineries to Supply Energy) model is a world-wide aggregated refining model which is designed to simulate the world oil product supply for the POLES (Prospective Outlook for the Long-term Energy System) model. OURSE is able to simulate the impact on the world refining industry of changes in the crude oil supply (in costs and qualities) as well as in the oil product demand (in terms of level, structure and specifications). \nOURSE also enables to assess the consequences of a carbon emission regulation (caps and taxes) as the adoption of various kinds of alternative fuel policies. More precisely, these impacts are evaluated as regards the world refining structure (investments), but also its balance (production and trade of petroleum products), its pollutant emissions (CO2 and SO2) and its costs (of production, investments, etc.).\nSimulations for 2030 were performed. Thus, the paper presents the results of a prospective exercise for the oil refining industry which has been carried out with the worldwide refining model OURSE according to the oil product demand projections of European Commission for Europe with the PRIMES model (European Commission, 2010) and the IFP projections for the rest of the World.

Optimal consumption and portfolio selection problems under loss aversion with downside consumption constraints

This paper presents the Scottish Electricity Dispatch Model (SEDM), a cost minimization power system optimization model designed as a tool to investigate potential development trajectories of the Great Britain (GB) power system with particular focus on the Scottish region. Results of SEDM studies investigating the impact of low carbon policies on carbon emissions, generation portfolios and system costs are described. Two potential policies are investigated: carbon pricing and emissions limits, compared to a base scenario with neither of these policies included, but featuring financial support for low carbon generation in line with current GB policy. Model results suggest that carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 95.6% by 2050 with strict emissions limits, achieved largely through an eighteen fold increase in renewable generation capacity. This results in an increase in system costs (including carbon pricing costs) of up to 23.4% compared to the base case, in which carbon emissions increase by 130.8% from present day to 2050. This suggests current policies will be insufficient to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions to the level suggested by the UK's Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

The rising concerns about carbon emissions due to drastic environmental changes globally has increased awareness of customers regarding the carbon footprint of the products they are consuming. Thus, compelled supply chain managers to reformulate strategies for controlling the carbon emissions. The various activities contributing to carbon emissions in a supply chain are procurement, transportation, ordering and holding of inventory. Operational decisions like selection of the right supplier of right lot-sizes can play a vital role in reducing the overall carbon footprint of a supply chain. This paper proposes a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP) for supplier selection along with determining the right lot-sizes in a dynamic setting having multi-periods, multi-products and multi-suppliers with a view of overall reduction in the supply chain cost as well as associated cost of carbon emissions. The model requires a range of real time parameters from both the buyer’s and supplier’s perspectives such as costs, capacities and carbon caps. These parameters have been mapped with the different dimensions of Big Data viz. volume, velocity and variety. The model provides an optimal supplier selection and lot-sizing policy along with the carbon emissions. For the purpose of evaluating the carbon emissions, three different carbon regulating policies viz., carbon cap-and-trade, strict cap on carbon emission and carbon tax on emissions, have been considered and insights are drawn. The validation of the proposed MINLP has been done using a randomly generated dataset having the essential parameters of Big Data, i.e. volume, velocity, and variety.

One of the major risks mankind has encountered during recent years is, without a doubt, the anthropogenic contribution to environmental pollution [...]

Estimation of the Effects of New Emission Standards on Motorcycle Emissions by Means of Modeling

Abstract. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represent a pivotal driver of global climate change, with vehicular emissions, particularly from light-duty vehicles, emerging as a prominent source of GHGs. Despite extensive research on gaseous pollutants, studies on GHG emissions within the framework of carbon neutrality remain scarce. This study delves into the emission characteristics of three primary GHGs (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O)) from various light-duty vehicles, encompassing conventional gasoline and hybrid vehicles and bi-fuel taxis. As anticipated, with advancements in emission standards and powertrains, vehicular GHG emissions have significantly decreased. However, our findings also revealed surprising trends. While engine technology upgrades reduced CO2, they unexpectedly increased CH4 and N2O emissions. Additionally, hot starts, beneficial for reducing CO2 and CH4 emissions, caused heightened N2O emissions, which is noteworthy under operating conditions with frequent start–stop events. Intriguingly, compressed natural gas (CNG), generally perceived as cleaner, increased CH4 emissions. Regarding the impact of three-way-catalyst (TWC) converters on GHG emissions, under “TWC deteriorated” conditions, N2O emissions from CNG-powered vehicles were approximately 3 times higher than those under “TWC worked” conditions, which can be attributed to the significant increase in nitrogen oxides (NOx). Considering the global warming potential (GWP), the “TWC deteriorated” scenario paradoxically decreased GWP values, highlighting the complex interaction between emission control technologies and their environmental impacts. This study provides crucial insights into vehicular GHG emissions, which are essential for developing effective strategies aimed at mitigating emissions and enhancing the efficiency of emission control systems.

This article characterizes optimal dynamic consumption and portfolio decisions in the presence of capital gains taxes and short-sale restrictions. The optimal decisions are a function of the investor's age, initial portfolio holdings, and tax basis. Our results capture the trade-off between the diversification benefits and tax costs of trading over an investor's lifetime. The incentive to rediversify the portfolio is inversely related to the size of the embedded gain and investor's age. Contrary to standard financial advice, the optimal equity holding increases well into an investor's lifetime in our model due to the forgiveness of capital gains taxes at death.

This article characterizes optimal dynamic consumption and portfolio decisions in the presence of capital gains taxes and short-sale restrictions. The optimal decisions are a function of the investor’s age, initial portfolio holdings, and tax basis. Our results capture the trade-off between the diversification benefits and tax costs of trading over an investor’s lifetime. The incentive to rediversify the portfolio is inversely related to the size of the embedded gain and investor’s age. Contrary to standard financial advice, the optimal equity holding increases well into an investor’s lifetime in our model due to the forgiveness of capital gains taxes at death. Taxes play an important role in the decision-making process of individuals concerning their consumption and investment plans. The taxation of returns on financial assets alters the benefits of saving for future consumption and thus affects the trade-off between current consumption and investment. Moreover, the ability of investors to defer the taxation of capital gains alters the relative valuation of stocks and bonds and thus affects the optimal portfolio composition of investors. The deferral feature of capital gains taxes also affects the trade-off investors face regarding taxes and diversification. Investors would like to maintain an optimally diversified portfolio over time,

Optimal investment, consumption and retirement choice problem with disutility and subsistence consumption constraints

The failure of carbon regulation in the U.S. Congress has undermined international negotiations to reduce carbon emissions. The global stalemate has, in turn, increased the likelihood that vulnerable developing countries will be severely damaged by climate change. This paper asks why the tragic American impasse has occurred, while the EU has succeeded in implementing carbon regulation. Both cases have involved negotiations between relatively rich regions and relatively poor (carbon-intensive) regions, with success contingent on two factors: the interregional disparity in carbon intensity, which proxies the extra mitigation cost burden for the Brown region, and the compensating incentives provided by the Green region. The European negotiation has succeeded because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is relatively small, and the compensating incentive (EU membership for the Brown region) has been huge. In contrast, the U.S. negotiation has repeatedly failed because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is huge, and the compensating incentives have been modest at best. The unsettling implication is that an EU-style arrangement is infeasible in the United States, so the Green states will have to find another path to serious carbon mitigation. One option is mitigation within their own boundaries, through clean technology subsidies or emissions regulation. The Green states have undertaken such measures, but potential free-riding by the Brown states and international competitors seems likely to limit this approach, and it would address only the modest Green-state portion of U.S. carbon emissions in any case. The second option is mobilization of the Green states’ enormous market power through a carbon added tax (CAT). Rather than taxing carbon emissions at their points of production, a CAT taxes the carbon embodied in products at their points of consumption. For Green states, a CAT has four major advantages: It can be implemented unilaterally, state-by-state; it encourages clean production everywhere, by taxing carbon from all sources equally; it creates a market advantage for local producers, by taxing transport-related carbon emissions; and it offers fiscal flexibility, since it can either offset existing taxes or raise additional revenue.

Cooperative sustainable supply chain for deteriorating item and imperfect production under different carbon emission regulations

Due to uncertainty factors such as renewable energy, imbalance between supply and demand has a great impact on the stable operation of the smart grid. The demand response (DR) program can effectively solve the imbalance issue by guiding users to adopt reasonable electricity consumption manner. In addition, users should be able to benefit from participating in DR by changing the habit of using energy. In the present study, a dynamic reward-punishment based user utility maximization model is proposed for optimal real-time pricing (RTP) in electricity energy supply to reach the supply-demand balance and provide the optimal reward and punishment for users. Based on the dynamic reward and punishment mechanism, the proposed model can obtain the optimal electricity consumption by maximizing user utility and encourage users to adopt a reasonable electricity consumption manner. From the perspective of algorithm implementation, a distributed algorithm is proposed to achieve the purpose of the supply-demand balance with the optimal electricity price and optimal electricity consumption. The simulation results show that the proposed utility model and distributed algorithm are reasonable and effective in dealing with the imbalance problem between supply and demand.