Paul Ekins - Böcker

Energy, and access to energy, are essential to human life, civilisation and development. A number of energy issues - including energy security, energy prices and the polluting emissions for energy use - now have high prominence on global agendas of policy and diplomacy. In addressing these and other global energy issues, the purpose of this book is to lay out the broad global energy landscape, exploring how these issues might develop in coming decades, and the implications of such developments for energy policy. There are great uncertainties, which will be identified, in respect of some of these issues, but many of the defining characteristics of the landscape are clear, and the energy policies of all countries will need to be broadly consistent with these if they are to be feasible and achieve their objectives. The book therefore provides information about and analysis of energy and related resources, and the technologies that have been and are being developed to exploit them that is essential to understanding how the global energy system is developing, and how it might develop in the future. But its main focus is the critical economic, social, political and cultural issues that will determine how energy systems will develop and which technologies are deployed, why, by whom, and who will benefit from them. The book has three Parts. Part I sets out the current global context for energy system developments, outlining the essential trends of global energy supply and demand, and atmospheric emissions, from the past and going forward, and their driving forces. Part II explores the options and choices, covering both energy demand and energy supply, facing national and international policymakers as they confront the challenges of the global context outlined in Part I. Part III of the book brings together the discussion in Parts I and II with consideration of possible global energy and environmental futures, and of the energy policy choices which will determine which future actually comes to pass.

Energy, and access to energy, are essential to human life, civilisation and development. A number of energy issues - including energy security, energy prices and the polluting emissions for energy use - now have high prominence on global agendas of policy and diplomacy. In addressing these and other global energy issues, the purpose of this book is to lay out the broad global energy landscape, exploring how these issues might develop in coming decades, and the implications of such developments for energy policy. There are great uncertainties, which will be identified, in respect of some of these issues, but many of the defining characteristics of the landscape are clear, and the energy policies of all countries will need to be broadly consistent with these if they are to be feasible and achieve their objectives. The book therefore provides information about and analysis of energy and related resources, and the technologies that have been and are being developed to exploit them that is essential to understanding how the global energy system is developing, and how it might develop in the future. But its main focus is the critical economic, social, political and cultural issues that will determine how energy systems will develop and which technologies are deployed, why, by whom, and who will benefit from them. The book has three Parts. Part I sets out the current global context for energy system developments, outlining the essential trends of global energy supply and demand, and atmospheric emissions, from the past and going forward, and their driving forces. Part II explores the options and choices, covering both energy demand and energy supply, facing national and international policymakers as they confront the challenges of the global context outlined in Part I. Part III of the book brings together the discussion in Parts I and II with consideration of possible global energy and environmental futures, and of the energy policy choices which will determine which future actually comes to pass.

When taxes are introduced on carbon and energy, and the revenue is used to reduce other taxes, will a positive effect be achieved both for the environment and for the economy? In 1990 Finland was the first country to introduce a tax on CO2. Later, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany and the UK followed suit with tax reforms that shifted taxation from labour to carbon and energy. Over the years, CO2 and energy taxes have gradually been raised, so that in Europe taxes of more than 25 billion Euros a year have been shifted. This book examines carbon-energy taxation in detail and looks at tax shifting programmes for lowering other taxes. It offers extensive analysis on the basis of historical data and seeks to answer important questions for policy-making, such as: What was the impact of tax shifting for economic performance and competitiveness? By how much were emissions of CO2 reduced? Could energy-intensive industries cut further down on their fuel demand or did they loose market shares? To what extent was there 'leakage' from Europe, so that production and CO2 emissions were shifted to other countries or regions without CO2-abatement policy? The use of unique and original data, including sector-specific energy prices and taxes, as well as the use of advanced statistical techniques, such as co-integration analysis and panel-regression techniques along with the time-series estimated macro-economic model E3ME, make this a truly comprehensive volume. On the basis of the lessons learned in Europe, this volume indicates how carbon-energy taxation could usefully be combined with emissions trading, and discusses implications for future international climate policy, including how the IPCC recommendations for a gradual escalation in carbon price could be accomplished while preventing carbon leakage.

Many people have serious concerns about the environment and wonder whether solving environmental problems is compatible with continuing economic growth. This book provides an in-depth exploration of a proposed reform to the national tax system, whereby the burden of taxes is shifted from conventional taxes, such as those levied on labour and capital, to taxes on environmentally related activities, that involve resource use, particularly energy, or environmental pollution. There is some experience of such 'environmental tax reform' (ETR) in Europe, and the book briefly reviews this before considering how a more ambitious ETR in Europe could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and material flows through the economy, while stimulating innovation and investment in the key 'clean and green' sectors of the economy which seem likely to play an increasing part in the creation of prosperity in Europe and elsewhere in the future. Case studies of renewable energy, construction, fuel-efficient vehicles, and waste management in Germany show how these fast-growing sectors are making an increasing contribution to employment, output, and exports in the German economy, while improving the environment. The book explores the implications of introducing it on a much wider scale throughout the European Union. A unique modelling exercise, using two macroeconomic models, delivers varied and complementary insights into the economic and environmental results of a large-scale ETR in Europe, and its effects on and implications for the rest of the world. The modelling suggests that such a policy has a key role in the achievement of Europe's targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and, if implemented with cooperative policy in other countries, could significantly reduce global emissions.The book is essential and hopeful reading for anyone who has wondered how, with today's intensifying environmental challenges, economic growth could become more environmentally sustainable.

First Published in 1986. Economics is in trouble. Its policy instruments are blunt, its experts disagree and its theories are in disarray in the face of global economics disorder: unprecedented levels of indebtedness, endemic inflation, high unemployment , deepening world poverty and gross environmental degradation. The Living Economy analyses conventional economic theory in the light of contemporary economic problems and finds its basic premises and assumptions flawed and its methodology suspect in several important respects. The Living Economy covers a variety of topics from agricultural methods and policy to health and world trade reform. Contributors come from a wide diversity of countries and continents including the USA, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. Each section is worth reading in its own right, for itself and, indeed, by itself. It is a book to be browsed through, reflected upon and enjoyed at one’s leisure. Together the contributions form a rich tapestry of insights and inspirations. They are in no way a simple repetition of Schumacher’s thoughts. Rather, they form an authentic part of a wider intellectual tradition of which he was also a part, albeit an early and important one.

Begins by identifying a global problematique, a coincidence of four sustained factors; war, insecurity and militarisation; the persistance of poverty, the denial of human rights; environmental destruction. The conventional policy approaches to these problems are analysed through a rigorous critique of the three United Nations reports of the 1980s. Describing the partial solutions of the Brandt, Palme and Bruntland Commissions, attention is turned to the individuals and organisations involved in policy and action at the grassroots level. Peace and security, human rights, economic development are all discussed. The author argues that if the root causes for crisis lie in Western scientism, developmentalism and the construct of the nations state, it is on the success of `alternative' work that a new world order, based on peace, human dignity and ecological sustainability, can be created.

The past fifty years have witnessed the triumph of an industrial development that has engendered great social and environmental costs. Conventional economics has too often either ignored these costs or failed to analyse them appropriately. This book constructs a framework within which the wider impacts of economic activity can be both understood and ameliorated. The framework places its emphasis on an in-depth understanding of real-life processes rather than on mathematical formalism, sressing the independence of the economy with the social, ecological and ethical dimensions of human life.

This book presents a range of current views on the use of economic measures to control greenhouse gas emissions. the authors discuss the responsiveness of the energy market to changes in prices, taxes and incomes. The book's concern with global warming involves analyses of possible energy use both in the long and short term.

This book presents a range of current views on the use of economic measures to control greenhouse gas emissions. the authors discuss the responsiveness of the energy market to changes in prices, taxes and incomes. The book's concern with global warming involves analyses of possible energy use both in the long and short term.

A key area of public policy in the last twenty years is the question of how, and how much, to protect vthe environment. At the heart of this has been the heated debate over the nature of the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Is environemental sustainability economic growth or `green growth', a contradiction in terms?Avoiding the confusion that often surrounds these issues, Ekins provides rigorous expositions of the concept of sustainability, integrated environmental and economic accounting, the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the economics of climate change and environmental taxation. Individual chapters are organised as self-contained, state-of-the-art expositions of the core issues of environmental economics, with extensive cross-referencing from one chapter to another, in order to guide the student or policy-maker through these complex problems.Paul Ekins breaks new ground in defining the conditions of compatibility between economic growth and environmental sustainability, and provides measures and criteria by which the environmental sustainability of economic growth, as it occurs in the real world, may be judged. It is argued that `green growth' is not only theoretically possible but economically achievable and the authors show what environmental and economic policies are required to achieve this.Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability will be welcolmed by students of and researchers in environmental economics and environmental studies, as well as all interested policy-makers.

A key area of public policy in the last twenty years is the question of how, and how much, to protect vthe environment. At the heart of this has been the heated debate over the nature of the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Is environemental sustainability economic growth or `green growth', a contradiction in terms?Avoiding the confusion that often surrounds these issues, Ekins provides rigorous expositions of the concept of sustainability, integrated environmental and economic accounting, the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the economics of climate change and environmental taxation. Individual chapters are organised as self-contained, state-of-the-art expositions of the core issues of environmental economics, with extensive cross-referencing from one chapter to another, in order to guide the student or policy-maker through these complex problems.Paul Ekins breaks new ground in defining the conditions of compatibility between economic growth and environmental sustainability, and provides measures and criteria by which the environmental sustainability of economic growth, as it occurs in the real world, may be judged. It is argued that `green growth' is not only theoretically possible but economically achievable and the authors show what environmental and economic policies are required to achieve this.Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability will be welcolmed by students of and researchers in environmental economics and environmental studies, as well as all interested policy-makers.

This book reviews how far East Asian nations have implemented green fiscal reform, and show how they can advance carbon-energy tax reform to realize low carbon development, with special reference to European policy and experience.East Asian nations are learning European experiences to adopt them in their political, economic and institutional contexts. However, implementation has been slow in practice, partly due to low acceptability that comes from the same concerns as in Europe, and partly due to weak institutional arrangements for the reform. The slow progress in the revenue side turns our eyes to the expenditure side: how East Asian nations have increased environmental-related expenditures, and how far they have greened sectorial expenditures. This "lifecycle" assessment of fiscal reform, coupled with the assessment of the institutional arrangement constitutes the features of this book.The book helps to provide an overall picture of green fiscal reform and carbon-energy tax reform in the East Asian region. The region has a variety of countries, from lowest income to high income nations. Nations have different interests in substance and barriers for reform. This book covers recent development of environmental fiscal reform and carbon-energy taxation in wider nations in the region, including South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan. In addition, the book’s holistic view helps to understand why a specific nation has interest and concern on some aspects of the reforms.

Written by one of the leading experts in the field, Paul Ekins, Stopping Climate Change provides a comprehensive overview of what is required to achieve ‘real zero’ carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and negative emissions thereafter, which is the only way to stop human- induced climate change.This will require innovation in socio-technical systems, and in human behaviour, on an unprecedented scale. Stopping Climate Change describes the changes required to meet this goal: in technologies, social institutions and individual activities. Paul Ekins examines in detail issues around the supply and demand of energy and materials, and the efficiency of their use. It also analyses greenhouse gas removal technologies, offsetting and geoengineering, and plots the reduction of the non- CO2 greenhouse gas-emitting activities. Having set out the changes required, Ekins considers the economic implications, in terms of both the innovation and investments that are necessary to bring them about, and the effects that these are likely to have on national economies. The evidence presented points clearly to the economic impacts of decarbonisation being positive for the majority of countries, and for the world as a whole, even before considering the benefits of avoided climate change. When the health benefits of stopping the burning of fossil fuels are factored in, the global net benefits of decarbonisation are unequivocal.Drawing on examples from the UK and Europe, but with wider relevance at a global scale, Stopping Climate Change clearly shows how determined policy action at different levels could stop climate change. It will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers researching and working in the field of climate change and energy policy.

Written by one of the leading experts in the field, Paul Ekins, Stopping Climate Change provides a comprehensive overview of what is required to achieve ‘real zero’ carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and negative emissions thereafter, which is the only way to stop human- induced climate change.This will require innovation in socio-technical systems, and in human behaviour, on an unprecedented scale. Stopping Climate Change describes the changes required to meet this goal: in technologies, social institutions and individual activities. Paul Ekins examines in detail issues around the supply and demand of energy and materials, and the efficiency of their use. It also analyses greenhouse gas removal technologies, offsetting and geoengineering, and plots the reduction of the non- CO2 greenhouse gas-emitting activities. Having set out the changes required, Ekins considers the economic implications, in terms of both the innovation and investments that are necessary to bring them about, and the effects that these are likely to have on national economies. The evidence presented points clearly to the economic impacts of decarbonisation being positive for the majority of countries, and for the world as a whole, even before considering the benefits of avoided climate change. When the health benefits of stopping the burning of fossil fuels are factored in, the global net benefits of decarbonisation are unequivocal.Drawing on examples from the UK and Europe, but with wider relevance at a global scale, Stopping Climate Change clearly shows how determined policy action at different levels could stop climate change. It will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers researching and working in the field of climate change and energy policy.

Begins by identifying a global problematique, a coincidence of four sustained factors; war, insecurity and militarisation; the persistance of poverty, the denial of human rights; environmental destruction. The conventional policy approaches to these problems are analysed through a rigorous critique of the three United Nations reports of the 1980s. Describing the partial solutions of the Brandt, Palme and Bruntland Commissions, attention is turned to the individuals and organisations involved in policy and action at the grassroots level. Peace and security, human rights, economic development are all discussed. The author argues that if the root causes for crisis lie in Western scientism, developmentalism and the construct of the nations state, it is on the success of `alternative' work that a new world order, based on peace, human dignity and ecological sustainability, can be created.

First Published in 1986. Economics is in trouble. Its policy instruments are blunt, its experts disagree and its theories are in disarray in the face of global economics disorder: unprecedented levels of indebtedness, endemic inflation, high unemployment , deepening world poverty and gross environmental degradation. The Living Economy analyses conventional economic theory in the light of contemporary economic problems and finds its basic premises and assumptions flawed and its methodology suspect in several important respects. The Living Economy covers a variety of topics from agricultural methods and policy to health and world trade reform. Contributors come from a wide diversity of countries and continents including the USA, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. Each section is worth reading in its own right, for itself and, indeed, by itself. It is a book to be browsed through, reflected upon and enjoyed at one’s leisure. Together the contributions form a rich tapestry of insights and inspirations. They are in no way a simple repetition of Schumacher’s thoughts. Rather, they form an authentic part of a wider intellectual tradition of which he was also a part, albeit an early and important one.

The past fifty years have witnessed the triumph of an industrial development that has engendered great social and environmental costs. Conventional economics has too often either ignored these costs or failed to analyse them appropriately. This book constructs a framework within which the wider impacts of economic activity can be both understood and ameliorated. The framework places its emphasis on an in-depth understanding of real-life processes rather than on mathematical formalism, sressing the independence of the economy with the social, ecological and ethical dimensions of human life.

Hydrogen could be a significant fuel of the future, with the potential to make a major contribution to the resolution of pressing social and environmental problems such as carbon emissions, energy security and local air pollution. This book, based on four years of detailed research, subjects the promise and potential of hydrogen to searching, in-depth socio-economic analysis. It discusses the different technologies for the production, distribution, storage and use of hydrogen, and analyzes the economics of these technologies and their current market prospects. It also describes various experiences with aspects of a hydrogen economy in two parts of the world – the UK and Canada – and then assesses the nature of different hydrogen futures that might develop depending on how the technology, economics, social acceptance and policy frameworks play out in different contexts. The book ends by setting out the policy drivers and levers which could stimulate a virtuous circle of research and development, innovation and investment that might ultimately generate a sustainable hydrogen economy. This is essential reading for economists, engineers, business leaders, investors, policy makers, researchers and students who are interested in the future of the energy system and the part that hydrogen might play in it.

This book reviews how far East Asian nations have implemented green fiscal reform, and show how they can advance carbon-energy tax reform to realize low carbon development, with special reference to European policy and experience.East Asian nations are learning European experiences to adopt them in their political, economic and institutional contexts. However, implementation has been slow in practice, partly due to low acceptability that comes from the same concerns as in Europe, and partly due to weak institutional arrangements for the reform. The slow progress in the revenue side turns our eyes to the expenditure side: how East Asian nations have increased environmental-related expenditures, and how far they have greened sectorial expenditures. This "lifecycle" assessment of fiscal reform, coupled with the assessment of the institutional arrangement constitutes the features of this book.The book helps to provide an overall picture of green fiscal reform and carbon-energy tax reform in the East Asian region. The region has a variety of countries, from lowest income to high income nations. Nations have different interests in substance and barriers for reform. This book covers recent development of environmental fiscal reform and carbon-energy taxation in wider nations in the region, including South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan. In addition, the book’s holistic view helps to understand why a specific nation has interest and concern on some aspects of the reforms.

The United Kingdom is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050, a target that will only be achieved by transforming the way that energy is supplied and used. At the same time there are anxieties about the security of energy provision in terms of European dependency on natural gas and the reliability of electricity supply. This book explores in detail those factors which could help or hinder the attainment of the UK's climate change targets, and how these factors interact with the parallel objective of maintaining a robust and secure energy system. The book is the result of a major national energy research effort by the UK Energy Research Centre, which includes some of the UK's leading energy experts. The results and recommendations are essential reading for policymakers, professionals, researchers, and anyone concerned with achieving large-scale reductions in carbon emissions, both from the UK and internationally. Energy 2050 begins by exploring the evolution of the UK energy system over recent decades: the trends, technologies and environmental impacts related to energy use, and the structures and institutions of governance that have influenced this evolution. It then moves on to changes in energy policy to emphasise decarbonization and resilience, and introduce the approach to scenarios and modelling used in the rest of the book. Later chapters explore different aspects of the uncertainties that may enable or constrain the creation of a low-carbon, resilient UK energy system, related to accelerated technology development, the creation of an infrastructure to support de-centralized energy and microgeneration, to lifestyle and behaviour change, and to public attitudes to wider environmental impacts associated with energy system change.

Trade liberalization, as promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), has become one of the dominant drivers and most controversial aspects of globalization. Trade sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) were introduced as a means of generating better understanding especially of the social and environmental impacts of trade liberalisation, and of making those impacts more consistent with sustainable development. This book takes a hard look at the experience of Trade SIAs to date, and the extent to which they have achieved their objectives and improved the outcomes of trade negotiations. It proposes several ways in which Trade SIAs could be made more effective, and illustrates these in respect of controversial sectors in which trade liberalisation has been implemented or proposed, including commodities, services and investment. Finally the book makes proposals beyond SIA through which some of the conflicts between trade liberalization and sustainable development could be more effectively addressed.Written by top researchers and experts on trade SIAs, this book is vital for researchers, academics, post-graduate students and policy makers working on any aspect of impact assessment, international trade or globalisation more generally. In addition, the book will provide a particularly useful background for those considering how the environment and trade interrelate at both global and regional levels, with some particular insights on climate change and trade policies.

Trade liberalization, as promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), has become one of the dominant drivers and most controversial aspects of globalization. Trade sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) were introduced as a means of generating better understanding especially of the social and environmental impacts of trade liberalisation, and of making those impacts more consistent with sustainable development. This book takes a hard look at the experience of Trade SIAs to date, and the extent to which they have achieved their objectives and improved the outcomes of trade negotiations. It proposes several ways in which Trade SIAs could be made more effective, and illustrates these in respect of controversial sectors in which trade liberalisation has been implemented or proposed, including commodities, services and investment. Finally the book makes proposals beyond SIA through which some of the conflicts between trade liberalization and sustainable development could be more effectively addressed.Written by top researchers and experts on trade SIAs, this book is vital for researchers, academics, post-graduate students and policy makers working on any aspect of impact assessment, international trade or globalisation more generally. In addition, the book will provide a particularly useful background for those considering how the environment and trade interrelate at both global and regional levels, with some particular insights on climate change and trade policies.

Hydrogen could be a significant fuel of the future, with the potential to make a major contribution to the resolution of pressing social and environmental problems such as carbon emissions, energy security and local air pollution. This book, based on four years of detailed research, subjects the promise and potential of hydrogen to searching, in-depth socio-economic analysis. It discusses the different technologies for the production, distribution, storage and use of hydrogen, and analyzes the economics of these technologies and their current market prospects. It also describes various experiences with aspects of a hydrogen economy in two parts of the world – the UK and Canada – and then assesses the nature of different hydrogen futures that might develop depending on how the technology, economics, social acceptance and policy frameworks play out in different contexts. The book ends by setting out the policy drivers and levers which could stimulate a virtuous circle of research and development, innovation and investment that might ultimately generate a sustainable hydrogen economy. This is essential reading for economists, engineers, business leaders, investors, policy makers, researchers and students who are interested in the future of the energy system and the part that hydrogen might play in it.

Government regulation is necessary to the economic life of all developed countries. However the costs of regulation, in particular the cost estimates employed in the policy-making process, are often hotly debated. Drawing on recent case studies from Europe, this innovative and thoroughly accessible book examines the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates and explores in detail how these costs are calculated, the apparent relationship between ex post and ex ante calculations and why this might be.This is an objective contribution to a debate often characterised by polemic and unfounded claims. With a firm empirical basis, a wide range of case studies are presented to test theories of cost estimation which cover a diverse range of regulation in the areas of air quality and energy, industrial processes and products and agriculture and food.It will be of great interest to academics and researchers of the economics of environmental regulation and public policy. Practical suggestions for improving the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates will be of interest to a variety of economists grappling with regulatory and other impact assessments. The rationale for regulation, outlined in the book, provides a knowledge of the ideas that underpin regulation that will help non-economists (for example from regulated industries and NGOs) to engage in the wider debate about environmental regulation.