IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v56y2016icp422-431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy caps: Alternative climate policy instruments for China?

Author

Listed:
  • Karplus, Valerie J.
  • Rausch, Sebastian
  • Zhang, Da

Abstract

Decoupling fossil energy demand from economic growth is crucial for China's sustainable development, especially for addressing severe local air pollution and global climate change. An absolute cap on coal or fossil fuel consumption has been proposed as a means to support the country's energy and climate policy objectives. We evaluate potential energy cap designs that differ in terms of target fuel, point of control, and national versus regional allowance trading using a global numerical general equilibrium model that separately represents 30 provinces in China. First, we simulate a coal cap and find that relative to a cap on all fossil fuels, it is significantly more costly and results in high localized welfare losses. Second, we compare fossil energy cap designs and find that a national cap on downstream fossil energy use with allowance trading across provinces is the most cost effective. Third, we find that a national fossil energy cap with trading is nearly as cost effective as a national CO2 emissions trading system that penalizes energy use based on carbon content. As a fossil energy cap builds on existing institutions in China, it offers a viable intermediate step toward a full-fledged CO2 emissions trading system.

Suggested Citation

  • Karplus, Valerie J. & Rausch, Sebastian & Zhang, Da, 2016. "Energy caps: Alternative climate policy instruments for China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 422-431.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:56:y:2016:i:c:p:422-431
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2016.03.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988316300573
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2016.03.019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christoph Böhringer & Jared C. Carbone & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2018. "Embodied Carbon Tariffs," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(1), pages 183-210, January.
    2. Choi, Yongrok & Zhang, Ning & Zhou, P., 2012. "Efficiency and abatement costs of energy-related CO2 emissions in China: A slacks-based efficiency measure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 198-208.
    3. Lam, Pun-Lee, 2004. "Pricing of electricity in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 287-300.
    4. Wang, Ke & Zhang, Xian & Wei, Yi-Ming & Yu, Shiwei, 2013. "Regional allocation of CO2 emissions allowance over provinces in China by 2020," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 214-229.
    5. Liu, Zhu & Geng, Yong & Lindner, Soeren & Guan, Dabo, 2012. "Uncovering China’s greenhouse gas emission from regional and sectoral perspectives," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 1059-1068.
    6. Wei, Chu & Löschel, Andreas & Liu, Bing, 2013. "An empirical analysis of the CO2 shadow price in Chinese thermal power enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 22-31.
    7. James B. Bushnell & Erin T. Mansur, 2011. "Vertical Targeting and Leakage in Carbon Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 263-267, May.
    8. Cong, Rong-Gang & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2010. "Potential impact of (CET) carbon emissions trading on China’s power sector: A perspective from different allowance allocation options," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 3921-3931.
    9. Jotzo, Frank, 2013. "Emissions trading in China: Principles, design options and lessons from international practice," Working Papers 249405, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    10. Guo, Ju’e & Zhang, Zengkai & Meng, Lei, 2012. "China’s provincial CO2 emissions embodied in international and interprovincial trade," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 486-497.
    11. Christoph Bohringer & Jared Carbone & Thomas F. Rutherford, "undated". "Embodied Carbon Tariffs," Working Papers 2013-24, Department of Economics, University of Calgary, revised 11 Oct 2013.
    12. He, Y.X. & Zhang, S.L. & Yang, L.Y. & Wang, Y.J. & Wang, J., 2010. "Economic analysis of coal price-electricity price adjustment in China based on the CGE model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6629-6637, November.
    13. Wang, Xin, 2011. "On China's energy intensity statistics: Toward a comprehensive and transparent indicator," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7284-7289.
    14. Zhang, Zhong Xiang, 1998. "Macroeconomic Effects of CO2 Emission Limits: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis for China," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 213-250, April.
    15. Zhang, Da & Rausch, Sebastian & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Xiliang, 2013. "Quantifying regional economic impacts of CO2 intensity targets in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 687-701.
    16. repec:zbw:hohpro:340 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Zhou, P. & Zhang, L. & Zhou, D.Q. & Xia, W.J., 2013. "Modeling economic performance of interprovincial CO2 emission reduction quota trading in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1518-1528.
    18. Dai, Hancheng & Masui, Toshihiko & Matsuoka, Yuzuru & Fujimori, Shinichiro, 2011. "Assessment of China's climate commitment and non-fossil energy plan towards 2020 using hybrid AIM/CGE model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2875-2887, May.
    19. Wei, Chu & Ni, Jinlan & Du, Limin, 2012. "Regional allocation of carbon dioxide abatement in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 552-565.
    20. Zhao, Xiaofan & Ortolano, Leonard, 2010. "Implementing China's national energy conservation policies at state-owned electric power generation plants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6293-6306, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Qianling & Li, Tao & Gong, Liutang, 2022. "The effect of tax incentives on energy intensity: Evidence from China's VAT reform," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Zhang, Xu & Ou, Xunmin & Yang, Xi & Qi, Tianyu & Nam, Kyung-Min & Zhang, Da & Zhang, Xiliang, 2017. "Socioeconomic burden of air pollution in China: Province-level analysis based on energy economic model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 478-489.
    3. Zhou, Qianling & Cui, Xiaoyong & Ni, Hongfu & Gong, Liutang, 2022. "The impact of environmental regulation policy on firms' energy-saving behavior: A quasi-natural experiment based on China's low-carbon pilot city policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Tol, Richard S.J., 2017. "The structure of the climate debate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 431-438.
    5. Ian Parry & Baoping Shang & Nate Vernon & Philippe Wingender & Tarun Narasimhan, 2020. "Evaluating policies to implement the Paris Agreement: a toolkit with application to China," Chapters, in: Graciela Chichilnisky & Armon Rezai (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Climate Change, chapter 2, pages 32-67, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Guo, Jin & Du, Limin & Wei, Chu, 2019. "Equity-efficiency trade-off in China's energy capping policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 57-65.
    7. Zaman, Rafia & Brudermann, Thomas & Kumar, S. & Islam, Nazrul, 2018. "A multi-criteria analysis of coal-based power generation in Bangladesh," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 182-192.
    8. Wang, Dingqing & Liao, Hongwei & Liu, Aiguo & Li, Dongdong, 2023. "Natural resource saving effects of data factor marketization: Implications for green recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    9. Zhang, Zhonghua & Zhao, Yuhuan & Su, Bin & Zhang, Yongfeng & Wang, Song & Liu, Ya & Li, Hao, 2017. "Embodied carbon in China’s foreign trade: An online SCI-E and SSCI based literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 492-510.
    10. Dongdong Song & Yuewen Liu & Tianbao Qin & Hongsong Gu & Yang Cao & Hongjun Shi, 2022. "Overview of the Policy Instruments for Renewable Energy Development in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    11. Wang, Feng & Liu, Xiying & Nguyen, Tue Anh, 2018. "Evaluating the economic impacts and feasibility of China's energy cap: Based on an Analytic General Equilibrium Model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 114-126.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cheng, Beibei & Dai, Hancheng & Wang, Peng & Xie, Yang & Chen, Li & Zhao, Daiqing & Masui, Toshihiko, 2016. "Impacts of low-carbon power policy on carbon mitigation in Guangdong Province, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 515-527.
    2. Jiang, Jingjing & Xie, Dejun & Ye, Bin & Shen, Bo & Chen, Zhanming, 2016. "Research on China’s cap-and-trade carbon emission trading scheme: Overview and outlook," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 902-917.
    3. Wu, Rui & Dai, Hancheng & Geng, Yong & Xie, Yang & Masui, Toshihiko & Tian, Xu, 2016. "Achieving China’s INDC through carbon cap-and-trade: Insights from Shanghai," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1114-1122.
    4. Zhang, Weijie & Zhang, Ning & Yu, Yanni, 2019. "Carbon mitigation effects and potential cost savings from carbon emissions trading in China's regional industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-11.
    5. Ni, Jinlan & Wei, Chu & Du, Limin, 2015. "Revealing the political decision toward Chinese carbon abatement: Based on equity and efficiency criteria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 609-621.
    6. Du, Limin & Hanley, Aoife & Wei, Chu, 2015. "Estimating the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve of CO2 Emissions in China: Provincial Panel Data Analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 217-229.
    7. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Wang, Ao-Dong & Da, Ya-Bin, 2014. "Regional allocation of carbon emission quotas in China: Evidence from the Shapley value method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 454-464.
    8. Wu, Jianxin & Ma, Chunbo & Tang, Kai, 2019. "The static and dynamic heterogeneity and determinants of marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions in Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 685-694.
    9. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Huang, Zhimin, 2016. "Potential gains from carbon emissions trading in China: A DEA based estimation on abatement cost savings," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 48-59.
    10. Dai, Hancheng & Xie, Yang & Liu, Jingyu & Masui, Toshihiko, 2018. "Aligning renewable energy targets with carbon emissions trading to achieve China's INDCs: A general equilibrium assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 4121-4131.
    11. Shixiong Cheng & Wei Liu & Kai Lu, 2018. "Economic Growth Effect and Optimal Carbon Emissions under China’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Policy: A Time Substitution DEA Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-23, May.
    12. Cui, Lian-Biao & Fan, Ying & Zhu, Lei & Bi, Qing-Hua, 2014. "How will the emissions trading scheme save cost for achieving China’s 2020 carbon intensity reduction target?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 1043-1052.
    13. Minxing Jiang & Bangzhu Zhu & Julien Chevallier & Rui Xie, 2018. "Allocating provincial CO2 quotas for the Chinese national carbon program," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 62(3), pages 457-479, July.
    14. Tang, Ling & Shi, Jiarui & Bao, Qin, 2016. "Designing an emissions trading scheme for China with a dynamic computable general equilibrium model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 507-520.
    15. Chen, Zhenling & Yuan, Xiao-Chen & Zhang, Xiaoling & Cao, Yunfei, 2020. "How will the Chinese national carbon emissions trading scheme work? The assessment of regional potential gains," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    16. Weidong Chen & Qing He, 2016. "Intersectoral burden sharing of CO 2 mitigation in China in 2020," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-14, January.
    17. Chen, Anping & Groenewold, Nicolaas, 2015. "Emission reduction policy: A regional economic analysis for China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 136-152.
    18. Luo, Xiaohu & Caron, Justin & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Da & Zhang, Xiliang, 2016. "Interprovincial migration and the stringency of energy policy in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 164-173.
    19. Zhou, P. & Wang, M., 2016. "Carbon dioxide emissions allocation: A review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 47-59.
    20. Guo, Zhengquan & Zhang, Xingping & Zheng, Yuhua & Rao, Rao, 2014. "Exploring the impacts of a carbon tax on the Chinese economy using a CGE model with a detailed disaggregation of energy sectors," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 455-462.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy; Energy cap; China; Computable general equilibrium modeling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:56:y:2016:i:c:p:422-431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.