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Protecting the forest from the trees: the social costs of energy production in Sweden

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  • Miranda, Marie Lynn
  • Hale, Brack

Abstract

This paper addresses the current debate over the expansion of biomass-based fuels. Using full social cost analysis, we estimate production and environmental costs for various forest residue, coal, oil, and natural gas energy production systems, using Sweden as our case example. We aggregate and compare these costs to assess energy policy options. Our analysis indicates that while forest residues may constitute a reasonable replacement for coal, natural gas remains the dominant energy choice in Sweden in terms of combined economic and environmental costs. Our analysis also demonstrates the site specificity of environmental cost estimation, and the difficulty in monetizing all environmental impacts.

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  • Miranda, Marie Lynn & Hale, Brack, 2001. "Protecting the forest from the trees: the social costs of energy production in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(9), pages 869-889.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:26:y:2001:i:9:p:869-889
    DOI: 10.1016/S0360-5442(01)00037-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Börjesson, Pål & Gustavsson, Leif, 1996. "Regional production and utilization of biomass in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(9), pages 747-764.
    2. Bernow, Stephen & Biewald, Bruce & Marron, Donald, 1991. "Full-cost dispatch: Incorporating environmental externalities in electric system operation," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 20-33, March.
    3. Miranda, Marie Lynn & Hale, Brack, 1997. "Waste not, want not: the private and social costs of waste-to-energy production," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 587-600, May.
    4. Gustavsson, Leif & Börjesson, Pål & Johansson, Bengt & Svenningsson, Per, 1995. "Reducing CO2 emissions by substituting biomass for fossil fuels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(11), pages 1097-1113.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anabela Botelho & Lina Lourenço-Gomes & Lígia Pinto & Sara Sousa & Marieta Valente, 2016. "Using stated preference methods to assess environmental impacts of forest biomass power plants in Portugal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1323-1337, October.
    2. Söderholm, Patrik & Pettersson, Fredrik, 2008. "Climate policy and the social cost of power generation: Impacts of the Swedish national emissions target," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4154-4158, November.
    3. Gustavsson, L & Karlsson, Å, 2003. "Heating detached houses in urban areas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 851-875.
    4. Miettinen, Jenni & Ollikainen, Markku & Nieminen, Tiina M. & Ukonmaanaho, Liisa & Laurén, Ari & Hynynen, Jari & Lehtonen, Mika & Valsta, Lauri, 2014. "Whole-tree harvesting with stump removal versus stem-only harvesting in peatlands when water quality, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation matter," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 25-35.
    5. Lígia M. Costa Pinto & Sara Sousa & Marieta Valente, 2021. "Explaining the Social Acceptance of Renewables through Location-Related Factors: An Application to the Portuguese Case," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-13, January.
    6. Flisberg, Patrik & Frisk, Mikael & Rönnqvist, Mikael & Guajardo, Mario, 2015. "Potential savings and cost allocations for forest fuel transportation in Sweden: A country-wide study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 353-365.
    7. Evans, Annette & Strezov, Vladimir & Evans, Tim J., 2010. "Sustainability considerations for electricity generation from biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 1419-1427, June.
    8. Pinto, Lígia Costa & Sousa, Sara & Valente, Marieta, 2022. "Forest bioenergy as a land and wildfire management tool: Economic valuation under different informational contexts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Carneiro, Patrícia & Ferreira, Paula, 2012. "The economic, environmental and strategic value of biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 17-22.
    10. Broberg, Thomas & Dijkgraaf, Elbert & Meens-Eriksson, Sef, 2022. "Burn or let them bury? The net social cost of producing district heating from imported waste," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    11. García, A.E. & Carmona, R.J. & Lienqueo, M.E. & Salazar, O., 2011. "The current status of liquid biofuels in Chile," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2077-2084.

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