Point and interval forecasting for carbon price based on an improved analysis-forecast system

Abstract

Effective analysis and forecasting of carbon prices, which is an essential endeavor for the carbon trading market, is still considered a difficult task because of the nonlinearity and nonstationarity inherent in carbon prices. Previous studies have failed at the analysis and interval prediction of carbon prices and are limited to point forecasts. Therefore, an improved carbon price analysis and forecasting system that consists of an analysis module and a forecasting module is established in this study; more importantly, the forecasting module includes point forecasting and interval forecasting as well. Aimed at investigating the characteristics of the carbon price series, a chaotic analysis based on the maximum Lyapunov exponent is performed, the determination of appropriate distribution functions based on our newly proposed hybrid optimization algorithm is conducted, and different distribution functions are effectively designed in the analysis module. Furthermore, in the point forecasting model, the phase space reconstruction technique is applied to reconstruct the sequences decomposed by variational mode decomposition due to the chaotic characteristics of the carbon price series, and the reconstructed sequences are considered as the optimal input–output variables of the forecasting model. Then, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system model is trained by the newly proposed hybrid optimization algorithm, which is developed for the first time in the domain of carbon price point forecasting. Moreover, based on the results of point forecasting and the distribution function of the carbon price series determined by the analysis module, the interval forecasting results can be obtained and implemented to provide more reliable information for decision making. Empirical results based on the carbon price data of the European Union Emissions Trading System and Shenzhen of China demonstrate that the proposed system achieves better results than other benchmark models in point forecasting as well as interval forecasting.