Carbon Dioxide Tax Research Articles

Case Study on Decarbonization Strategies for LNG Export Terminals Using Heat and Power from CSP/PV Hybrid Plants

The race towards decarbonization is driving major oil and gas companies to explore means to use renewable heat and power for their plants as part of their commitment to reduce their carbon intensity by 80% to 100% by 2050 [1]. In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, natural gas is considered the cleanest fossil fuel option available, and decarbonization of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects is on the radar of many LNG projects developers. In addition, LNG cargos will have to be certified in the future by accredited authorities to meet defined GHG emission levels [2].
 This research study investigates a concept of providing both heat and power from a photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) solar tower hybrid plant to meet the energy demand of LNG export terminals. Two locations have been investigated for potential future LNG projects: Karratha in Australia and Ras Laffan in Qatar. Both locations have direct normal irradiance (DNI) values higher than 2000 kWh/m2/year, which is the minimum level required for CSP technology [3]. A techno-economic assessment was carried-out taking into consideration the electricity price, the grid carbon intensity and the carbon dioxide (CO2) tax in the region.
 The results indicate that the CSP/PV hybrid plant significantly accelerates the decarbonization of energy supply to the “All electric” LNG Plant. The quantity of CO2 emitted between 2025 and 2050 is reduced by 81% for Karratha (Australia) and by 88% for Ras Laffan (Qatar) compared to a grid connected LNG plant.

Clean protectionism? Coal mining and crime in India

ABSTRACT Combating climate change requires new policies that may disrupt labour markets in mining-intensive areas and lead to unintended consequences. In this study, we use the universe of criminal cases filed in India over a decade, nearly 10 million cases, to study the effect of the ‘Clean Energy Cess’ on crime in coal-mining-intensive areas. This new carbon dioxide tax equivalent may disrupt local labour markets in coal-mining areas which could lead to higher crime rates. Surprisingly, we find that the new tax on coal had no effect on crime. This null result is consistent across all models and remains when we only consider criminal cases with male defendants. Country-wide data on domestic and imported coal shows that this may be due to the fact that only imported coal consumption fell after the Cess was introduced.

Equipment Selection for Coupling a Microgrid with a Power-to-Gas System in the Context of Optimal Design and Operation

This study proposes a one-layer deterministic Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming to design and schedule a PTG-integrated microgrid. The key contribution is that optimal equipment selection, design, and scheduling, considering the PTG system at the core of the problem, are determined just in a single formulation. Scenarios based on different carbon dioxide taxes and natural gas prices are investigated. Only one wind turbine farm is chosen when the carbon dioxide tax is increased from 50 $/ton to 100 $/ton. On the other hand, when the natural gas price is increased from 1.548 $/m3 to 1.72 $/m3, two wind turbine farms are selected. Solar panel arrays are not chosen in all the scenarios. Generated power by solar panels is not enough for installation despite their much lower carbon dioxide emissions and negligible operational costs. Consequently, the optimal equipment selections may change linked to the natural gas price and carbon dioxide tax.

TERA of Gas Turbine Propulsion Systems for RORO Ships

Recently, regulations on emissions produced by vessels from international maritime organizations, along with the instability of fuel prices, have encouraged researchers to explore fuels and technology that are cleaner than heavy fuel oil and diesel engines. In this study, we employed the TERA method to evaluate the feasibility of using gas turbine engines with cleaner fuels as a replacement for diesel engines as a propulsion system for RORO ships. A sensitivity evaluation and risk assessment were also conducted to investigate the impact of applied emission taxes on the economic results. The findings indicated that the diesel engine emitted higher nitrogen oxide emissions than the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas and hydrogen. The gas turbine with hydrogen had zero carbon dioxide emissions, making it a sustainable energy production option. The economic aspects were evaluated based on an international route, and they revealed that economic profitability significantly depended on fuel costs and consumption. The diesel engine fuelled by marine diesel oil and the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas were economically attractive, whereas the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen was less viable due to its high operating cost. However, in a scenario where a carbon dioxide tax was introduced, the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen showed high potential as a low-risk investment compared to the other technologies. In summary, this study demonstrated the usefulness of the TERA method in the maritime sector for selecting and comparing various propulsion systems.

Large-scale green hydrogen production using alkaline water electrolysis based on seasonal solar radiation

Abstract The research study provides a techno-economic analysis for the green hydrogen generation based solar radiation data for both the single and hybrid alkaline water electrolyzer and energy storage system systems. In addition, a carbon footprint study is conducted to estimate the developed system carbon dioxide emissions. The optimal size of the alkaline water electrolyzer and energy storage system is determined by a genetic algorithm that takes into account a carbon tax on carbon emissions. Based on itemized cost estimating findings, unit hydrogen production costs for a single system and a hybrid system were $6.88/kg and $8.32/kg respectively. Furthermore, capital cost it has been found as a key element in determining the optimal scale of the alkaline water electrolyzer and energy storage system, which are essential for minimizing the unit hydrogen production cost. Lastly, an effort to minimize the capital cost of producing green hydrogen is required when the rising trend of the carbon dioxide tax is taken into account.

Comparative analysis of associated cost of nuclear hydrogen production using IAEA hydrogen cost estimation program

The interest in non-electric applications of nuclear energy is rising ranging from hydrogen production, district heating, seawater desalination, and various industrial applications to provide long-term answers for a variety of energy issues that both present and future generations will confront. Hydrogen is a dynamic fuel that can be used across all industrial sectors to lower carbon intensity. This study, therefore, aims at estimating the cost of nuclear hydrogen production from some light water reactors using International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Hydrogen Calculator (HydCalc) program and comparing the result with similar existing studies conducted by other scholars using the Hydrogen Economic Evaluation Program (HEEP) program. The study employs six existing Light Water Reactors (LWRs) comprised of Korea Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MW electricity (APR1400), Russian VVER-1200, Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio, Prairie Island NPP in Minnesota, Nine Mile Point NPP in New York, and Arizona Public Service's Palo Verde NPP to evaluate the Levelized cost of nuclear hydrogen production. Estimation of hydrogen demand was performed without carbon dioxide (CO2) tax since nuclear power has zero CO2 emission. The Levelized costs obtained using IAEA HydCalc and HEEP Programme were compared as follows; APR1400 cost are 2.6$/kg and 3.18$/kg, VVER1200 cost are 3.8$/kg and 3.44$/kg; Exelon cost are 1.7$/kg and 4.85$/kg; Davis Besse cost are 3.9$/kg and 3.09$/kg; Parlo Verde cost are 3.5$/kg and 4.77$/kg; Xcel Energy cost are 3.63$/kg and 0.69$/kg. The cost of hydrogen production using HEEP for Xcel Energy's Prairie Island NPP is 0.69 $/kg. This is because the reactor utilizes High Temperature Steam Electrolysis, method of hydrogen production, while the other methods employs Low Temperature Electrolysis. The results shows that the final price of the hydrogen for each reactor technology depends not only on the production method but also on the cost of the nuclear power plant and the production rate of the hydrogen plant.

Outlook of industrial-scale green hydrogen production via a hybrid system of alkaline water electrolysis and energy storage system based on seasonal solar radiation

Hydrogen has been considered as a clean energy carrier by generating electricity via fuel cells without carbon dioxide emissions; however, in the current stage, most hydrogen is produced by a steam methane reforming, emitting carbon dioxide as a byproduct, together. In this context, a green hydrogen production system, which is consisted of water electrolysis and a renewable energy plant, should be expanded to prepare for the upcoming hydrogen society in the future. A techno-economic analysis is carried out for green hydrogen production based on seasonal solar radiation data in the case of the single and the hybrid system, which is designed as only alkaline water electrolyzer and a combination of alkaline water electrolyzer and energy storage system. In addition, a carbon footprint analysis is performed to quantify the carbon dioxide emissions for the proposed systems. And the optimal scale of alkaline water electrolyzer and energy storage system is figured out via a genetic algorithm considering a carbon tax on emitted carbon dioxide. Based on itemized cost estimation results, 6.55 and 6.88 USD kgH2−1 of unit hydrogen production costs were obtained for the case of a hybrid and a single system, respectively. Further, the results present that the hybrid system is preferred when Li-ion battery costs decrease to under 79.67 USD kWh−1. In addition, the capital cost is a crucial factor to figure out the optimized alkaline water electrolyzer scale and energy storage system capacity that set the optimized size is important to minimize the unit hydrogen production cost. Finally, the effort to reduce the capital cost to produce the green hydrogen is necessary when increasing trend of carbon dioxide tax is considered.

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION OF CASSAVA PRODUCTS IN THAILAND: SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODELING

Thailand is one of the world’s top export countries, sharing 72% of the global shipment, mainly in the agricultural and industrial products. Being a major logistics hub in ASEAN, Thai government has initiated several projects to support the transportation of people and goods. Road transportation is a major mode of goods transportation in Thailand. However, it incurs the highest logistics cost compared with water and rail modes. The use of multimode transportation is, therefore, considered to lower the logistics cost and reduce the environmental problems. This study examines the feasibility of multimodal transportation of cassava products in the long-term utilizing the system dynamics modeling approach. Six saving elements, including 1) saving in labor cost, 2) saving in fuel cost, 3) saving in carbon dioxide tax, 4) saving in truck rental cost, 5) saving in reimbursement cost, and 6) saving in accident cost, and four cost elements, including 1) handling cost, 2) tariff cost, 3) product return cost, and 4) product damaged cost, are considered in the dynamics model. The simulation results reveal that at the initial years, the net cash flow is negative due to high investments in double track system. Once the project continues, the savings increase. It is found that the project is feasible when it is continued for 10 years at the internal rate of return of 13.69%. The sensitivity analysis results also show that the saving in truck rental cost and the product damaged cost are two key elements in the multimodal transportation, as they highly affect the internal rate of return of the project. The developed dynamics model of multimodal transportation of cassava products can be used as a guideline for transportation companies and government to plan for their multimodal transportation to reduce logistic costs and achieve benefits in the long term.

DAMPAK PAJAK KARBON TERHADAP KELANGSUNGAN BISNIS

A Carbon Dioxide Tax is a tax imposed on the use of carbon-based fuels. Its application in Indonesia is based on UU No. 7/2021 on the Harmonization of Tax Regulations and Presidential Regulation No. 98/2021 on the Implementation of the NEK. Using the literature study research method to find and analyze the implementation of the carbon tax in Indonesia. The results of the study show that the impact of the carbon tax on business includes the relocation of aluminum, steel, and nickel smelters to other countries that have not implemented a carbon tax, and the increased price due to the carbon tax makes business actors substitute minerals that produce high carbon with low ones. and the use of renewable energy in the mining sector will increase

Projected electricity costs in international nuclear power markets

The nuclear power industries in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have lost global nuclear market share to Russian and Chinese firms. A recent OECD report claims, under restrictive assumptions, that (1) nuclear power units using OECD member country technologies are competitive with those using Russian and Chinese technologies, and (2) nuclear power has lower expected average costs than coal (with carbon dioxide taxes) and renewables. OECD based firms are hoping to catch up to Russia and China with Small Modular Reactors and advanced nuclear technologies. But unless OECD member governments and utilities are willing to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in financing their nuclear industries’ projects, it will be difficult to stop Russian and/or Chinese dominance of the global nuclear industry after 2030.

Why are carbon taxes unfair? Disentangling public perceptions of fairness

In order to reach climate goals, governments need to gain support from their voters for the necessary policy interventions, such as carbon dioxide taxes. Previous research concludes that people often do not support and legitimize such taxes because they perceive them as unfair. However, the notion of fairness implies a multitude of factors and despite attempts of the previous research to further nuance people’s fairness perceptions, we currently lack a more precise understanding of what people mean when they regard carbon taxes as unfair. In this article, we thoroughly investigate this problem by using original survey data from YouGov collected in the United States in 2018 and analyzing open-ended survey responses on why people think carbon taxes are unfair. Applying structural topic modeling, we unpack the multi-dimensional meaning of unfairness, as perceived by the US population. The results from our analysis show that people regard carbon taxes based on gas pricing as unfair because they perceive gas prices already being high, because of the need to drive, unfairness for the poor or rural population, lack of trust in government, or considerations that the purpose of the tax is unjustified. These findings help provide a more nuanced policy design to address fairness concerns related to carbon taxes.

Optimal design and operation of a waste tire feedstock polygeneration system

The optimal design and operation of a polygeneration system that uses a waste tire feedstock to produce a mix of electricity, fuels and chemicals is presented. Rigorous mass and energy balance models for the process are developed from which data are generated to fit surrogate models. The optimization problem is formulated as a nonconvex Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Program (MINLP) and solved to global optimality using ANTIGONE. The influence of variation in product prices and carbon dioxide (CO2) tax rates on the optimal process design and operation is also presented. In all scenarios studied, the optimal product portfolio favors generation of one fuel or chemical together with electricity. Electricity generation is favored in a base case with historically average market prices, while methanol, liquefied Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) and Dimethyl Ether (DME) are favored in relatively probable scenarios in which the corresponding product fetches higher prices. Pre-combustion CO2 capture is favored at lower CO2 tax rates while post-combustion CO2 capture is only optimal in scenarios with higher rates. The optimal product portfolio changes substantially with varying market conditions thus motivating future work on designing flexible polygeneration processes that have the capacity to adjust operating conditions in order to maximize profitability by exploiting price peaks.

Prospective Electric Power Cooperation among Northeast Asian Countries in the Context of Carbon Tax Sergei Podkovalnikov, Chudinova Lyudmila

The paper addresses the prospects for power grid formation in Northeast Asia in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide tax is implemented as a tool to quantitatively engage environmental issues in the study. A survey of the studies on the prospective NEA power grid has been done. The research employs a methodology and a mathematical model for the optimization of power system expansion and economic dispatching of power plants. Environmentally friendly scenarios of the NEA power grid were built and studied.

Near term carbon tax policy in the US Economy: limits to deep decarbonization

This paper explores carbon dioxide (CO2) tax policies from 2015 to 2030 in the United States economy using an energy system least-cost optimization model. We report limited near-term decarbonization opportunities outside of the electricity sector, which results in substantial CO2 tax revenue through 2030. Second, because the social cost of carbon is uncertain, we find asymmetric deadweight loss from implementing mistakenly high or low CO2 taxes, providing efficiency-based support for the precautionary principle. Third, despite CO2 reductions occurring mainly in the electric sector, the abatement estimated herein is consistent with the US nationally determined contributions established under the Paris Agreement.

Emergy evaluation of power generation systems

With the increasing demand of power sources, it is of great significance to evaluate different power generation systems and optimize the energy structure. The emergy is proved to be a comprehensive and powerful way to evaluate the sustainability of a system. In this paper, emergy is used to compare ten power generation systems by two calculation methods of emergy indices. The emergy data of integrated gasification combined cycle and wind power generation systems are gathered from the studies of life cycle assessment, while those of the other eight systems are taken from existing emergy evaluations and converted to the same baseline. The study of hydropower generation systems shows the influence of technical progress and geographical location to the sustainability. The comparison of ten power generation systems shows that the hydropower generation system has the best sustainability while the wind and solar systems demonstrate relatively low sustainability. Besides, the sustainability is relative to the carbon dioxide tax. The sustainability of wind and concentrated solar power generation systems is tend to be better than that of integrated gasification combined cycle power generation system with an increase in the carbon dioxide tax. The results indicate that the technology, investment cost and carbon dioxide emission are essential factors to sustainability of power generation systems.

Why are carbon taxes unfair? Disentangling public perceptions of fairness

In order to reach climate goals, governments need to gain support from their voters for the necessary policy interventions, such as carbon dioxide taxes. Previous research concludes that people often do not support and legitimize such taxes because they perceive them as unfair. However, the notion of fairness implies a multitude of factors and we currently lack an understanding of what people mean when they regard carbon taxes as unfair. In this article, we thoroughly investigate this problem by using original survey data from YouGov collected in the US in 2018 and analyzing open-ended survey responses on why people think carbon taxes are unfair. Applying structural text modeling, we unpack the multi-dimensional meaning of unfairness, as perceived by the US population. Results from our analysis help provide a more nuanced policy design to address fairness concerns related to carbon taxes.

Transaction Costs of Upstream Versus Downstream Pricing of hbox {CO}_{2} Emissions

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper comparing empirically the transaction costs of the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) required by two environmental regulations aimed to cost-efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions: a carbon dioxide (hbox {CO}_{2}) tax and an emissions trading system. We do this in the case of Sweden, where a set of firms are covered by both types of regulations—the Swedish hbox {CO}_{2} tax and the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Our results indicate that there is a significant degree of heterogeneity in the transaction costs of the firms in our sample. Moreover, for some of the firms, the transaction costs are high when compared with the actual cost of the hbox {CO}_{2} tax and the price of the EU ETS. Furthermore, we find that the MRV costs are lower for hbox {CO}_{2} taxation than for the EU ETS, which confirms the general view that regulating emissions upstream via a hbox {CO}_{2} tax yields lower transaction costs vis-á-vis downstream regulation via emissions trading.

Green vessel scheduling in liner shipping: Modeling carbon dioxide emission costs in sea and at ports of call

Abstract Considering a substantial increase in volumes of the international seaborne trade and drastic climate changes due to carbon dioxide emissions, liner shipping companies have to improve planning of their vessel schedules and improve energy efficiency. This paper presents a novel mixed integer non-linear mathematical model for the green vessel scheduling problem, which directly accounts for the carbon dioxide emission costs in sea and at ports of call. The original non-linear model is linearized and then solved using CPLEX. A set of numerical experiments are conducted for a real-life liner shipping route to reveal managerial insights that can be of importance to liner shipping companies. Results indicate that the proposed mathematical model can serve as an efficient planning tool for liner shipping companies and may assist with evaluation of various carbon dioxide taxation schemes. Increasing carbon dioxide tax may substantially change the design of vessel schedules, incur additional route service costs, and improve the environmental sustainability. However, the effects from increasing carbon dioxide tax on the marine container terminal operations are found to be very limited.

Can parked cars and carbon taxes create a profit? The economics of vehicle-to-grid energy storage for peak reduction

This article discusses a five-year, hourly economic model of vehicle-to-grid energy storage for peak reduction. Several scenarios are modeled for a participant using a 60kW-h capacity battery electric vehicle, such as the Tesla Model S or Chevrolet Bolt, in the New York City area using pricing data for the years 2010 through 2014. Sensitivity analysis identifies that variables such as one-way power efficiency and battery lifetime are the major factors influencing the economics of selling electricity back to the grid. Although it is shown that vehicle-to-grid electricity sales can create positive economic benefits, the magnitudes are small due to the cost of added degradation to the vehicle's battery and are not likely to entice the average electric vehicle owner to participate. However, over the five-year period, the potential economic benefits of this technology have shown a promising trend. A carbon dioxide tax is examined as a potential policy measure to encourage vehicle-to-grid adoption. The implementation of a carbon dioxide tax is shown to create additional opportunities for economic gain but, these benefits are dependent on the grid's electricity generation portfolio. Added benefits from the tax are also small in magnitude considering current international carbon prices.

Techno‐Economic Analysis of Methane Pyrolysis in Molten Metals: Decarbonizing Natural Gas

AbstractMethane pyrolysis using a molten metal process to produce hydrogen is compared to steam methane reforming (SMR) for the industrial production of hydrogen. Capital and operating cost models for pyrolysis and SMR were used to generate cash‐flow and production costs for several different molten pyrolysis systems. The economics were most sensitive to the methane conversion and the value obtained for the solid carbon by‐product. The pyrolysis system at 1500 °C is competitive with a carbon tax of $78 t−1; however, if a catalytic process at 1000 °C were developed using a conventional fired heater, it would be competitive with SMR without a carbon dioxide cost penalty. Several pyrolysis alternatives become competitive with increasing carbon dioxide taxes.