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The Intergenerational Transfer of Solar Radiation Management Capabilities and Atmospheric Carbon Stocks

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  • Timo Goeschl
  • Daniel Heyen
  • Juan Moreno-Cruz

Abstract

Solar radiation management (SRM) technologies are considered one of the likeliest forms of geoengineering. If developed, a future generation could deploy them to limit the damages caused by the atmospheric carbon stock inherited from the current generation, despite their negative side effects. Should the current generation develop these geoengineering capabilities for a future generation? And how would a decision to develop SRM impact on the current generation’s abatement efforts? Natural scientists, ethicists, and other scholars argue that future generations could be more sanguine about the side effects of SRM deployment than the current generation. In this paper, we add economic rigor to this important debate on the intergenerational transfer of technological capabilities and pollution stocks. We identify three conjectures that constitute potentially rational courses of action for current society, including a ban on the development of SRM. However, the same premises that underpin these conjectures also allow for a novel possibility: If the development of SRM capabilities is sufficiently cheap, the current generation may for reasons of intergenerational strategy decide not just to develop SRM technologies, but also to abate more than in the absence of SRM. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Timo Goeschl & Daniel Heyen & Juan Moreno-Cruz, 2013. "The Intergenerational Transfer of Solar Radiation Management Capabilities and Atmospheric Carbon Stocks," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 56(1), pages 85-104, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:56:y:2013:i:1:p:85-104
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-013-9647-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Dengler, Sebastian & Gerlagh, Reyer & Trautmann, Stefan T. & van de Kuilen, Gijs, 2018. "Climate policy commitment devices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 331-343.
    2. Johannes Emmerling & Vassiliki Manoussi & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2016. "Climate Engineering under Deep Uncertainty and Heterogeneity," Working Papers 2016.52, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Heyen, Daniel, 2015. "Strategic Conflicts on the Horizon: R&D Incentives for Environmental Technologies," Working Papers 0584, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    4. Ming, Tingzhen & de_Richter, Renaud & Liu, Wei & Caillol, Sylvain, 2014. "Fighting global warming by climate engineering: Is the Earth radiation management and the solar radiation management any option for fighting climate change?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 792-834.
    5. Daniel Heyen, 2016. "Strategic Conflicts On The Horizon: R&D Incentives For Environmental Technologies," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(04), pages 1-27, November.
    6. Johannes Emmerling & Massimo Tavoni, 2017. "Quantifying Non-cooperative Climate Engineering," Working Papers 2017.58, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    7. Buchholz Wolfgang & Heindl Peter, 2015. "Ökonomische Herausforderungen des Klimawandels," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 324-350, December.
    8. Heyen, Daniel, 2016. "Strategic conflicts on the horizon: R&D incentives for environmental technologies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68104, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Todd Sandler, 2018. "Collective action and geoengineering," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 105-125, March.
    10. Manoussi, Vassiliki & Xepapadeas, Anastasios & Emmerling, Johannes, 2018. "Climate engineering under deep uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 207-224.
    11. repec:sae:envval:v:25:y:2016:i:1:p:29-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Piergiuseppe Pezzoli & Johannes Emmerling & Massimo Tavoni, 2023. "SRM on the table: the role of geoengineering for the stability and effectiveness of climate coalitions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-21, October.
    13. Garth Heutel & Juan Moreno-Cruz & Katharine Ricke, 2016. "Climate Engineering Economics," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 99-118, October.
    14. Max Meulemann, 2017. "An Empirical Assessment Of Components Of Climate Architectures," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(04), pages 1-36, November.
    15. Dovern, Jonas & Harnisch, Sebastian & Klepper, Gernot & Platt, Ulrich & Oschlies, Andreas & Rickels, Wilfried, 2015. "Radiation Management: Gezielte Beeinflussung des globalen Strahlungshaushalts zur Kontrolle des anthropogenen Klimawandels," Kiel Discussion Papers 549/550, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Quaas, Martin F. & Quaas, Johannes & Rickels, Wilfried & Boucher, Olivier, 2017. "Are there reasons against open-ended research into solar radiation management? A model of intergenerational decision-making under uncertainty," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-17.
    17. Oschlies, Andreas & Held, Hermann & Keller, David & Keller, Klaus & Mengis, Nadine & Quaas, Martin & Rickels, Wilfried & Schmidt, Hauke, 2017. "Indicators and Metrics for the Assessment of Climate Engineering," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 226354, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Klepper, Gernot & Dovern, Jonas & Rickels, Wilfried & Barben, Daniel & Goeschl, Timo & Harnisch, Sebastian & Heyen, Daniel & Janich, Nina & Maas, Achim & Matzner, Nils & Scheffran, Jürgen & Uther, Ste, 2016. "Herausforderung Climate Engineering: Bewertung neuer Optionen für den Klimaschutz," Kieler Beiträge zur Wirtschaftspolitik 8, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geoengineering; Climate change; Intergenerational issues; Strategic behavior; D9; O33; Q54; Q55;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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