IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_9707.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Extending the Limits of the Abatement Cost

Author

Listed:
  • Guy Meunier
  • Jean-Pierre Ponssard

Abstract

The paper examines the relevant cost benefit framework for public authorities investigating the potential of local projects to mitigate climate change. Because these projects are typically limited in time and space, continuation pathways need be introduced to capture the benefits provided by a project over the longer term. This issue is particularly acute in the transition toward carbon neutrality, which aims for the full abatement of emissions by a future end date. The relevant question is not whether or not to decarbonize an activity but when to do so, and how. We propose a new metric that incorporates into the analytical framework the dynamic interactions between a project and its continuation. This metric is defined as the annual overall discounted cost divided by the long term annual abatement. The new metric is a non trivial extension of the standard cost of abatement. It determines when precisely to launch a given project and addresses the question of how to compare competing projects using their on going emissions up to their respective optimal launch dates. Two illustrations make clear the novelty of our approach: the choice of the optimal mix of technologies for the electricity sector and the comparison between competing green technologies for mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Guy Meunier & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2022. "Extending the Limits of the Abatement Cost," CESifo Working Paper Series 9707, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp9707.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fabian Kesicki & Paul Ekins, 2012. "Marginal abatement cost curves: a call for caution," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 219-236, March.
    2. Anna Creti & Alena Kotelnikova & Guy Meunier & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2018. "Defining the Abatement Cost in Presence of Learning-by-Doing: Application to the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(3), pages 777-800, November.
    3. Paul L. Joskow, 2011. "Comparing the Costs of Intermittent and Dispatchable Electricity Generating Technologies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 238-241, May.
    4. Erin D. Baker & Seyedeh Nazanin Khatami, 2019. "The levelized cost of carbon: a practical, if imperfect, method to compare CO2 abatement projects," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(9), pages 1132-1143, October.
    5. Guy Meunier & Lucie Moulin & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2022. "Why local initiatives for the energy transition should coordinate: The case of cities for fuel cell buses in Europe," Revue d'économie industrielle, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 21-54.
    6. Kenneth Gillingham & James H. Stock, 2018. "The Cost of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 53-72, Fall.
    7. Anna Creti & Alena Kotelnikova & Guy Meunier & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2018. "Correction to: Defining the Abatement Cost in Presence of Learning-by-Doing: Application to the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(3), pages 801-801, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Meunier, Guy & Ponssard, Jean-Pierre, 2020. "Optimal policy and network effects for the deployment of zero emission vehicles," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Stephen P. Holland & Erin T. Mansur & Andrew J. Yates, 2021. "The Electric Vehicle Transition and the Economics of Banning Gasoline Vehicles," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 316-344, August.
    3. Jiang, Hong-Dian & Dong, Kangyin & Qing, Jing & Teng, Qiang, 2023. "The role of technical change in low-carbon transformation and crises in the electricity market: A CGE analysis with R&D investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    4. Lifeng Du & Yanmei Yang & Luli Zhou & Min Liu, 2024. "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Potential and Economics of Green Hydrogen via Water Electrolysis: A Systematic Review of Value-Chain-Wide Decarbonization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-37, May.
    5. Sander Akkermans & Juan Luis Martín-Ortega & Ioannis Sebos & María José López-Blanco, 2023. "Exploring long-term mitigation pathways for a net zero Tajikistan," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Neupane, Deependra & Kafle, Sagar & Karki, Kaji Ram & Kim, Dae Hyun & Pradhan, Prajal, 2022. "Solar and wind energy potential assessment at provincial level in Nepal: Geospatial and economic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 278-291.
    7. Durmaz, Tunç, 2016. "Precautionary Storage in Electricity Markets," Discussion Papers 2016/5, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    8. Carsten Helm & Mathias Mier, 2020. "Steering the Energy Transition in a World of Intermittent Electricity Supply: Optimal Subsidies and Taxes for Renewables Storage," ifo Working Paper Series 330, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    9. Saujot, Mathieu & Lefèvre, Benoit, 2016. "The next generation of urban MACCs. Reassessing the cost-effectiveness of urban mitigation options by integrating a systemic approach and social costs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 124-138.
    10. Behrang Shirizadeh, Quentin Perrier, and Philippe Quirion, 2022. "How Sensitive are Optimal Fully Renewable Power Systems to Technology Cost Uncertainty?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    11. Keppler, Jan Horst & Quemin, Simon & Saguan, Marcelo, 2022. "Why the sustainable provision of low-carbon electricity needs hybrid markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    12. Ladislava Volková, 2022. "Carbon reporting: evidence from the Czech financial sector [Uhlíková stopa: Udržitelné výkaznictví českého finančního sektoru v ČR]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2022(2), pages 69-87.
    13. Simshauser, P., 2019. "On the impact of government-initiated CfD’s in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1901, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Karsten Neuhoff & Nils May & Jörn C. Richstein, 2018. "Renewable Energy Policy in the Age of Falling Technology Costs," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1746, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    16. Jeffrey C. Peters & Thomas W. Hertel, 2017. "Achieving the Clean Power Plan 2030 CO2 Target with the New Normal in Natural Gas Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 5).
    17. Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2023. "GHG emissions and firm performance: The role of CEO gender socialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    18. Martinsson, Gustav & Sajtos, László & Strömberg, Per & Thomann, Christian, 2022. "Carbon Pricing and Firm-Level CO2 Abatement: Evidence from a Quarter of a Century-Long Panel," Misum Working Paper Series 2022-10, Stockholm School of Economics, Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum).
    19. Alexis Tantet & Philippe Drobinski, 2021. "A Minimal System Cost Minimization Model for Variable Renewable Energy Integration: Application to France and Comparison to Mean-Variance Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-38, August.
    20. Gawel, Erik & Lehmann, Paul & Purkus, Alexandra & Söderholm, Patrik & Witte, Katherina, 2017. "Rationales for technology-specific RES support and their relevance for German policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 16-26.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cost benefit analysis; abatement cost; time value of money; learning-by-doing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_9707. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    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.