IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v99y2016icp319-328.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The coal question that emissions trading has not answered

Author

Listed:
  • Pearse, Rebecca

Abstract

Can emissions trading assist with the task of placing a limit on coal production and consumption in Australia? This paper outlines a critical political economy perspective on coal and a flagship ‘market mechanism’ for emissions reduction. The prospects for an effective emissions trading scheme in coal-dominated economies are considered in light of its theoretical justifications as well as recent attempts to price carbon in Australia. Emissions trading is a weak instrument that does not address real-world failures of coal governance. At their theoretical best, carbon prices produce marginal changes to the cost structure of production. In practice, the Australian case demonstrates emissions trading is an attempt to displace the emissions reduction task away from coal, through compensation arrangements and offsetting. In light of the urgent need to rapidly reduce global emissions, direct regulation and democratisation of coal production and consumption should be flagship climate policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Pearse, Rebecca, 2016. "The coal question that emissions trading has not answered," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 319-328.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:99:y:2016:i:c:p:319-328
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.05.053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151630283X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.05.053?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. Florini, Ann & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2009. "Who governs energy? The challenges facing global energy governance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5239-5248, December.
    2. Fankhauser, Samuel & Hepburn, Cameron, 2010. "Designing carbon markets. Part I: Carbon markets in time," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4363-4370, August.
    3. Goldthau, Andreas & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2012. "The uniqueness of the energy security, justice, and governance problem," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 232-240.
    4. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, September.
    5. Richard Heede, 2014. "Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 229-241, January.
    6. Garnaut,Ross, 2011. "The Garnaut Review 2011," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107691681, September.
    7. Lynne Chester, 2006. "THE CONUNDRUMS FACING AUSTRALIA's NATIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 25(4), pages 362-377, December.
    8. Passey, Robert & Bailey, Ian & Twomey, Paul & MacGill, Iain, 2012. "The inevitability of ‘flotilla policies’ as complements or alternatives to flagship emissions trading schemes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 551-561.
    9. K D Gibson, 1990. "Australian Coal in the Global Context: A Paradox of Efficiency and Crisis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(5), pages 629-646, May.
    10. Fankhauser, Samuel & Hepburn, Cameron, 2010. "Designing carbon markets, Part II: Carbon markets in space," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4381-4387, August.
    11. Bakker, Karen & Kooy, Michelle & Shofiani, Nur Endah & Martijn, Ernst-Jan, 2008. "Governance Failure: Rethinking the Institutional Dimensions of Urban Water Supply to Poor Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1891-1915, October.
    12. Peter Tulip, 2014. "The Effect of the Mining Boom on the Australian Economy," RBA Bulletin (Print copy discontinued), Reserve Bank of Australia, pages 17-22, December.
    13. Peter Williams, 2014. "The 'Panelization' of Planning Decision-Making in Australia," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 426-447, August.
    14. Perry, Neil & Rosewarne, Stuart & White, Graham, 2013. "Clean energy policy: Taxing carbon and the illusion of the equity objective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 104-113.
    15. Garnaut,Ross, 2008. "The Garnaut Climate Change Review," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521744447, September.
    16. Diesendorf, Mark, 1996. "How can a "competitive" market for electricity be made compatible with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 33-48, April.
    17. Matthew T Huber & Jody Emel, 2009. "Fixed Minerals, Scalar Politics: The Weight of Scale in Conflicts over the ‘1872 Mining Law’ in the United States," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(2), pages 371-388, February.
    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. Galina Nyashina & Pavel Strizhak, 2018. "Impact of Forest Fuels on Gas Emissions in Coal Slurry Fuel Combustion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Tan, Xiujie & Sun, Qian & Wang, Meiji & Se Cheong, Tsun & Yan Shum, Wai & Huang, Jinpeng, 2022. "Assessing the effects of emissions trading systems on energy consumption and energy mix," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    3. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2017. "The impact of Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and the choice of coverage industry in ETS: A case study in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1512-1527.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2019. "Impacts of carbon price level in carbon emission trading market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 157-170.
    5. Zhang, Lirong & Li, Yakun & Jia, Zhijie, 2018. "Impact of carbon allowance allocation on power industry in China’s carbon trading market: Computable general equilibrium based analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 814-827.
    6. Sinha, Avik & Gupta, Monika & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sengupta, Tuhin, 2019. "Impact of Corruption in Public Sector on Environmental Quality: Implications for Sustainability in BRICS and Next 11 Countries," MPRA Paper 94357, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Jun 2019.
    7. Fang, Guochang & Tian, Lixin & Liu, Menghe & Fu, Min & Sun, Mei, 2018. "How to optimize the development of carbon trading in China—Enlightenment from evolution rules of the EU carbon price," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1039-1049.
    8. Marshall, Jonathan Paul, 2016. "Disordering fantasies of coal and technology: Carbon capture and storage in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 288-298.
    9. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2018. "Impact of quota decline scheme of emission trading in China: A dynamic recursive CGE model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 190-203.

    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. Sheng, Yu & Xu, Xinpeng, 2019. "The productivity impact of climate change: Evidence from Australia's Millennium drought," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 182-191.
    2. Nelson, Tim & Pascoe, Owen & Calais, Prabpreet & Mitchell, Lily & McNeill, Judith, 2019. "Efficient integration of climate and energy policy in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 178-193.
    3. Garnaut, Ross, 2012. "The contemporary China resources boom," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(2), pages 1-22.
    4. Chua, Wai Fong & Fiedler, Tanya & Boedker, Christina, 2024. "Projecting, infrastructuring and calculating: From an In vitro to an In vivo carbon market," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    5. Perry, Neil & Rosewarne, Stuart & White, Graham, 2013. "Clean energy policy: Taxing carbon and the illusion of the equity objective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 104-113.
    6. Cameron Hepburn & Benito Müller, 2010. "International Air Travel and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Proposal for an Adaptation Levy1," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 830-849, June.
    7. Rob Dellink & Elisa Lanzi & Jean Chateau, 2019. "The Sectoral and Regional Economic Consequences of Climate Change to 2060," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(2), pages 309-363, February.
    8. Jayanthi Kumarasiri & Christine Jubb, 2017. "Framing of Climate Change Impacts and Use of Management Accounting Practices," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 13(2), pages 45-68.
    9. Cai, Yiyong & Newth, David & Finnigan, John & Gunasekera, Don, 2015. "A hybrid energy-economy model for global integrated assessment of climate change, carbon mitigation and energy transformation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 381-395.
    10. Caiado, Nathália & Guarnieri, Patricia & Xavier, Lúcia Helena & de Lorena Diniz Chaves, Gisele, 2017. "A characterization of the Brazilian market of reverse logistic credits (RLC) and an analogy with the existing carbon credit market," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 47-59.
    11. Adrian Amelung, 2016. "Das "Paris-Agreement": Durchbruch der Top-Down-Klimaschutzverhandlungen im Kreise der Vereinten Nationen," Otto-Wolff-Institut Discussion Paper Series 03/2016, Otto-Wolff-Institut für Wirtschaftsordnung, Köln, Deutschland.
    12. Holt, Charles A. & Shobe, William M., 2016. "Reprint of: Price and quantity collars for stabilizing emission allowance prices: Laboratory experiments on the EU ETS market stability reserve," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 69-86.
    13. Brauneis, Alexander & Mestel, Roland & Palan, Stefan, 2013. "Inducing low-carbon investment in the electric power industry through a price floor for emissions trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 190-204.
    14. Guest, Ross, 2010. "The economics of sustainability in the context of climate change: An overview," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 326-335, October.
    15. Doda, Baran & Quemin, Simon & Taschini, Luca, 2019. "Linking permit markets multilaterally," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    16. Huw McKay & Ligang Song, 2010. "China as a Global Manufacturing Powerhouse: Strategic Considerations and Structural Adjustment," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 18(1), pages 1-32, January.
    17. Walker, Sara Louise & Hope, Alex & Bentley, Edward, 2014. "Modelling steady state performance of a local electricity distribution system under UK 2050 carbon pathway scenarios," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 604-621.
    18. Samuel Fankhauser & Cameron Hepburn & Jisung Park, 2010. "Combining Multiple Climate Policy Instruments: How Not To Do It," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(03), pages 209-225.
    19. Dobes Leo & Jotzo Frank & Stern David I., 2014. "The Economics of Global Climate Change: A Historical Literature Review," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 65(3), pages 281-320, December.
    20. Larry Kreiser & Ana Yábar Sterling & Pedro Herrera & Janet E. Milne & Hope Ashiabor (ed.), 2012. "Carbon Pricing, Growth and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15052.

    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:99:y:2016:i:c:p:319-328. 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.