IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v36y2008i6p1915-1926.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tracking the genealogy of CO2 emissions in the electricity sector: An intersectoral approach applied to the Spanish case

Author

Listed:
  • Tarancón Morán, Miguel Ángel
  • del Ri­o, Pablo
  • Albiñana, Fernando Callejas

Abstract

This paper analyses the factors leading to CO2 emissions in the Spanish electricity generation sector in order to propose effective mitigation policies aimed at tackling those emissions. Traditionally, two broad categories of those factors have been considered in the literature: those related to the supply of electricity (technological features of the sector) and those related to the level of economic activity (demand factors). This paper focuses on an additional element, which has usually been neglected, the structural factor, which refers to the set of intersectoral transactions (related to the technologies used in other productive sectors) which connect, in either a direct or an indirect way, the general economic activity with the supply of electricity and, thus, with the emissions of the electricity generation sector. This analysis allows us to identify the so-called "sectors structurally responsible for emissions" (SSER), whose production functions involve transactions which connect the demand for goods and services with the emissions of the electricity generation sector. The methodology is based on an input-output approach and a sensitivity analysis. The paper shows that there are structural rigidities, deeply ingrained within the economic system, which lead to emissions from the electricity generation sector for which this sector cannot be held responsible. These rigidities limit the effectiveness of policies aimed at emissions mitigation in this sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarancón Morán, Miguel Ángel & del Ri­o, Pablo & Albiñana, Fernando Callejas, 2008. "Tracking the genealogy of CO2 emissions in the electricity sector: An intersectoral approach applied to the Spanish case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1915-1926, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:6:p:1915-1926
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(08)00005-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Alcantara, Vicent & Roca, Jordi, 1995. "Energy and CO2 emissions in Spain : Methodology of analysis and some results for 1980-1990," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 221-230, July.
    2. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2003. "Allocating the responsibility of CO2 over-emissions from the perspectives of benefit principle and ecological deficit," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 121-141, August.
    3. Lenzen, Manfred, 1998. "Primary energy and greenhouse gases embodied in Australian final consumption: an input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 495-506, May.
    4. Vicent Alcántara & Emilio Padilla, 2006. "An input-output analysis of the "key" sectors in CO2 emissions from a production perspective: an application to the Spanish economy," Working Papers wpdea0601, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    5. Manfred Lenzen & Lise-Lotte Pade & Jesper Munksgaard, 2004. "CO2 Multipliers in Multi-region Input-Output Models," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 391-412.
    6. Mette Wier, 1998. "Sources of Changes in Emissions from Energy: A Structural Decomposition Analysis," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 99-112.
    7. Luukkanen, Jyrki & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2002. "ASEAN tigers and sustainability of energy use--decomposition analysis of energy and CO2 efficiency dynamics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 281-292, March.
    8. Kaivo-oja, Jari & Luukkanen, Jyrki, 2004. "The European Union balancing between CO2 reduction commitments and growth policies: decomposition analyses," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(13), pages 1511-1530, September.
    9. Roca, Jordi & Serrano, Monica, 2007. "Income growth and atmospheric pollution in Spain: An input-output approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 230-242, June.
    10. Graham Treloar, 1997. "Extracting Embodied Energy Paths from Input-Output Tables: Towards an Input-Output-based Hybrid Energy Analysis Method," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 375-391.
    11. Mongelli, I. & Tassielli, G. & Notarnicola, B., 2006. "Global warming agreements, international trade and energy/carbon embodiments: an input-output approach to the Italian case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 88-100, January.
    12. Sanchez-Choliz, Julio & Duarte, Rosa, 2004. "CO2 emissions embodied in international trade: evidence for Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(18), pages 1999-2005, December.
    13. Rutger Hoekstra & Marco Janssen, 2006. "Environmental responsibility and policy in a two-country dynamic input-output model," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 61-84.
    14. Alcantara, Vicent & Padilla, Emilio, 2003. ""Key" sectors in final energy consumption: an input-output application to the Spanish case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(15), pages 1673-1678, December.
    15. Mark De Haan, 2001. "A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Pollution in the Netherlands," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 181-196.
    16. Kenneth Reinert & David Roland-Holst, 2001. "Industrial Pollution Linkages in North America: A Linear Analysis," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 197-208.
    17. Munksgaard, Jesper & Pedersen, Klaus Alsted, 2001. "CO2 accounts for open economies: producer or consumer responsibility?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 327-334, March.
    18. Labandeira, Xavier & Labeaga, Jose M., 2002. "Estimation and control of Spanish energy-related CO2 emissions: an input-output approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 597-611, June.
    19. Machado, Giovani & Schaeffer, Roberto & Worrell, Ernst, 2001. "Energy and carbon embodied in the international trade of Brazil: an input-output approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 409-424, December.
    20. Chang, Yih F & Lin, Sue J, 1998. "Structural decomposition of industrial CO2 emission in Taiwan: an input-output approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 5-12, January.
    21. Butnar, Isabela & Llop, Maria, 2007. "Composition of greenhouse gas emissions in Spain: An input-output analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 388-395, March.
    22. Alcantara, Vicent & Duarte, Rosa, 2004. "Comparison of energy intensities in European Union countries. Results of a structural decomposition analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 177-189, January.
    23. Alex Hoen & Machiel Mulder, 2003. "Explaining Dutch emissions of CO2; a decomposition analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 24.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    24. Liang, Qiao-Mei & Fan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2007. "Multi-regional input-output model for regional energy requirements and CO2 emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1685-1700, March.
    25. Gaspar J. Llanes Díaz- Salazar & Manuel Alejandro Cardenete & Carmen Rodríguez Morilla, 2005. "La SAMEA y la eficiencia económica y ambiental en España," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2005/09, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    26. Vicent Alcántara Escolano & Emilio Padilla Rosa, 2007. "Subsistemas Input-Output Y Contaminación: Una Aplicación Al Sector Servicios Y Las Emisiones De Co2 En España," Working Papers wpdea0708, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    27. Alex Hoen & Machiel Mulder, 2003. "Explaining Dutch emissions of CO2; a decomposition analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 24, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    28. Blanca Gallego & Manfred Lenzen, 2005. "A consistent input-output formulation of shared producer and consumer responsibility," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 365-391.
    29. Christoph Weber & Hermann Schnabl, 1998. "Environmentally Important Inter sectoral Flows: Insights from Main Contributions Identification and Minimal Flow Analysis," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 337-356.
    30. Leontief, Wassily, 1970. "Environmental Repercussions and the Economic Structure: An Input-Output Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 52(3), pages 262-271, August.
    31. J. W. Sun, 1999. "Decomposition of Aggregate CO2 Emissions in the OECD: 1960-1995," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 147-155.
    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. Alcántara, Vicent & Tarancón, Miguel-Angel & del Río, Pablo, 2013. "Assessing the technological responsibility of productive structures in electricity consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 457-467.
    2. Tarancon, Miguel Angel & Del Río, Pablo, 2012. "Assessing energy-related CO2 emissions with sensitivity analysis and input-output techniques," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 161-170.
    3. Tarancón, Miguel Angel & del Río, Pablo & Callejas Albiñana, Fernando, 2010. "Assessing the influence of manufacturing sectors on electricity demand. A cross-country input-output approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1900-1908, April.
    4. Tarancón, Miguel Ángel & del Río, Pablo & Callejas, Fernando, 2011. "Determining the responsibility of manufacturing sectors regarding electricity consumption. The Spanish case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 46-52.
    5. Meng, F.Y. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Bai, Y., 2014. "Sectoral comparison of electricity-saving potentials in China: An analysis based on provincial input–output tables," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 772-782.
    6. Ling Li & Ling Tang & Junrong Zhang, 2019. "Coupling Structural Decomposition Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis to Investigate CO 2 Emission Intensity in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Yan, Junna & Zhao, Tao & Kang, Jidong, 2016. "Sensitivity analysis of technology and supply change for CO2 emission intensity of energy-intensive industries based on input–output model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 456-467.
    8. Hristu-Varsakelis, D. & Karagianni, S. & Pempetzoglou, M. & Sfetsos, A., 2010. "Optimizing production with energy and GHG emission constraints in Greece: An input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1566-1577, March.

    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. Tarancon, Miguel Angel & Del Río, Pablo, 2012. "Assessing energy-related CO2 emissions with sensitivity analysis and input-output techniques," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 161-170.
    2. Tarancón, Miguel Angel & del Río, Pablo & Callejas Albiñana, Fernando, 2010. "Assessing the influence of manufacturing sectors on electricity demand. A cross-country input-output approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1900-1908, April.
    3. Tarancon Moran, Miguel Angel & del Rio Gonzalez, Pablo, 2007. "A combined input-output and sensitivity analysis approach to analyse sector linkages and CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 578-597, May.
    4. Tarancon, Miguel Angel & del Rio, Pablo, 2007. "CO2 emissions and intersectoral linkages. The case of Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1100-1116, February.
    5. Alcántara, Vicent & Padilla, Emilio, 2009. "Input-output subsystems and pollution: An application to the service sector and CO2 emissions in Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 905-914, January.
    6. Wiedmann, Thomas & Lenzen, Manfred & Turner, Karen & Barrett, John, 2007. "Examining the global environmental impact of regional consumption activities -- Part 2: Review of input-output models for the assessment of environmental impacts embodied in trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 15-26, February.
    7. Valeria Di Cosmo & Marie Hyland, 2015. "Decomposing patterns of emission intensity in the EU and China: how much does trade matter?," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(12), pages 2176-2192, December.
    8. Cadarso, María-Ángeles & López, Luis-Antonio & Gómez, Nuria & Tobarra, María-Ángeles, 2010. "CO2 emissions of international freight transport and offshoring: Measurement and allocation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1682-1694, June.
    9. Chen, G.Q. & Zhang, Bo, 2010. "Greenhouse gas emissions in China 2007: Inventory and input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6180-6193, October.
    10. Turner, Karen & Lenzen, Manfred & Wiedmann, Thomas & Barrett, John, 2007. "Examining the global environmental impact of regional consumption activities -- Part 1: A technical note on combining input-output and ecological footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 37-44, April.
    11. Wiedmann, Thomas, 2009. "A first empirical comparison of energy Footprints embodied in trade -- MRIO versus PLUM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1975-1990, May.
    12. Vinicius A. Vale & Fernando S. Perobelli & Ariaster B. Chimeli, 2018. "International trade, pollution, and economic structure: evidence on CO2 emissions for the North and the South," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 1-17, January.
    13. Li, You & Hewitt, C.N., 2008. "The effect of trade between China and the UK on national and global carbon dioxide emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1907-1914, June.
    14. Cansino, J.M. & Cardenete, M.A. & Ordóñez, M. & Román, R., 2012. "Economic analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in the Spanish economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 6032-6039.
    15. Misato Sato, 2014. "Embodied Carbon In Trade: A Survey Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 831-861, December.
    16. Glen Peters & Edgar Hertwich, 2006. "Structural analysis of international trade: Environmental impacts of Norway," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 155-181.
    17. Lixiao Zhang & Qiuhong Hu & Fan Zhang, 2014. "Input-Output Modeling for Urban Energy Consumption in Beijing: Dynamics and Comparison," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    18. Roca, Jordi & Serrano, Monica, 2007. "Income growth and atmospheric pollution in Spain: An input-output approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 230-242, June.
    19. Cano-Rodríguez, Sara & Rubio-Varas, Mar & Sesma-Martín, Diego, 2022. "At the crossroad between green and thirsty: Carbon emissions and water consumption of Spanish thermoelectricity generation, 1969–2019," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    20. Boya Zhang & Shukuan Bai & Yadong Ning & Tao Ding & Yan Zhang, 2020. "Emission Embodied in International Trade and Its Responsibility from the Perspective of Global Value Chain: Progress, Trends, and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-26, April.

    More about this item

    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:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:6:p:1915-1926. 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/enpol .

    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.