不同监管强度下碳排放权交易违约行为的实验研究

2017年底中国全国碳市场启动,全球正式运行的碳排放权交易体系达到21个。伴随碳排放权交易的广泛开展,加之产品市场不确定性的冲击,控排企业的违约行为也日益多样化和复杂化。基于此,根据中国碳市场试点地区的通行交易规则,通过在产品市场中引入随机冲击,分析在具有储蓄机制且存在不确定性需求的碳交易体系中,企业违约行为的方式以及监管强度对企业违约行为的影响。研究结果表明:抽查比例较高的强监管设置下被试不会产生系统动机来排放违约,弱监管设置下明显的报告违约会导致排放总量上升。即使面临不确定性冲击,储蓄机制依然能促进控排企业以一个相对有效的方式跨期分配生产量。因此给出如下建议:违约处罚应该分级,报告违约处罚力度应大于排放违约;为提高实际履约率,各地应提高排放报告抽查比例;完善配额储蓄机制。     

Trading biomass or GHG emission credits?

Global biomass potentials are considerable but unequally distributed over the world. Countries with Kyoto targets could import biomass to substitute for fossil fuels or invest in bio-energy projects in the country of biomass origin and buy the credits (Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI)). This study analyzes which of those options is optimal for transportation fuels and looks for the key variables that influence the result. In two case studies (Mozambique and Brazil), the two trading systems are compared for the amount of credits generated, land-use and associated costs. We found costs of 17–30 euro per ton of carbon for the Brazilian case and economic benefits of 11 to 60 euros per ton of carbon avoided in the Mozambique case. The impact of carbon changes related to direct land-use changes was found to be very significant (both positive and negative) and can currently only be included in emission credit trading, which can largely influence the results. In order to avoid indirect land-use changes (leakage) and consequent GHG emissions, it is crucial that bioenergy crop production is done in balance with improvements of management of agriculture and livestock management. Whatever trading option is economically most attractive depends mainly on the emission baseline in the exporting (emission credit trading) or importing (physical trading) country since both bio- and fossil fuel prices are world market prices in large scale trading systems where transportation costs are low. Physical trading could be preferential since besides the GHG reduction one could also benefit from the energy. It could also generate considerable income sources for exporting countries. This study could contribute to the development of a methodology to deal with bio fuels for transport, in Emission Trading (ET), CDM and the certification of traded bio fuels.     

Kyoto flexibility mechanisms in EU accession countries: will they make a difference?

What potential effect do flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol have on energy efficiency, fuel switching and the development of renewable energy sources for the eight post-communist EU Member States that accessed in 2004? These countries are chief candidates for hosting Joint Implementation (JI) projects and for participating in international emission trading, which may assist the implementation and financing of projects in these target areas. The potentials and barriers to Joint Implementation are reviewed, as well as the conditions under which international emission trading can influence the energy use of the selling country. Different strategies adopted by the host countries towards the application of these instruments, and their impact on sustainable energy development, are examined. The article concludes that the Kyoto flexibility mechanisms may play a positive, but rather limited, role in the sustainable energy development of the region, but the barriers to Joint Implementation may shift the emphasis towards transactions under the framework of international emission trading. If innovative mechanisms are tied to sustainable development goals, this may mobilize the energyefficiency potentials of these countries. An attractive opportunity exists to achieve energy efficiency and emission reductions, utilizing the revenues from allowance sales through ‘green investment’ schemes.     

Carbon emission trading and carbon taxes under uncertainties

The idea of market-based carbon emission trading and carbon taxes is gaining in popularity as a global climate change policy instrument. However, these mechanisms might not necessarily have a positive outcome unless their value reflects socioeconomic and environmental impacts and regulations. Moreover, the fact that they have various inherent exogenous and endogenous uncertainties raises serious concerns about their ability to reduce emissions in a cost-effective way. This paper aims to introduce a simple stochastic model that allows the robustness of economic mechanisms for emission reduction under multiple natural and human-related uncertainties to be analyzed. Unlike standard equilibrium state analysis, the model shows that the explicit introduction of uncertainties regarding emissions, abatement costs, and equilibrium states makes it almost impossible for existing market-based trading and carbon taxes to be environmentally safe and cost-effective. Here we propose a computerized multi-agent trading model. This can be viewed as a prototype to simulate an emission trading market that is regulated in a decentralized way. We argue that a market of this type is better equipped to deal with long-term emission reductions, their direct regulation, irreversibility, and “lock-in” equilibria.     

CO 2 emission trading model with trading prices

In this paper we consider the buying/selling prices of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission permits in trading models with uncertainty. Permission prices, although usually omitted from standard models, may significantly influence the trading market. We thus undertook to construct a more realistic trade model and to compare it with the standard one. To do this, we introduced several important changes to the standard model, namely, (1) a new optimized quality function; and (2) transactions with price negotiations between regions. We also enhanced the model using methods described in the literature to allow it to deal with reported emissions uncertainty. Additionally, we used an original method of simulating this kind of market based on a specialized evolutionary algorithm (EA).     

Searching for baselines constructing joint implementation project emission reductions

Joint implementation of emission reductions by countries is an important component of the Kyoto Protocol. The calculation of emission reductions from projects requires the definition of baselines that describe what would have happened in the absence of the JI projects. Baselines do not occur and are described as counterfactual. This paper applies a sociological perspective to analyse the arguments used to support different baselines by the actors involved in climate change policy. It concludes that environmental arguments should be given prominence in how baselines are defined to ensure that the environmental objectives of the Framework Convention on Climate Change are preserved.     

Joint implementation and EU accession countries

The EU accession countries have a high potential for low cost greenhouse gas emission reduction. As they cannot join the “bubble” agreement for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, project-based Joint Implementation (JI) could be a powerful strategy to integrate them into the EU climate policy strategy. An important question is whether the acquis communautaire will be used to define the baseline for the calculation of emission reductions from JI projects. A problem is that the grace periods for several environmental sectors differ considerably among countries. The EU should help accession countries to establish a predictable legal framework for JI preventing in this way the current legal uncertainty regarding JI procedures.     

Spain: words that succeed and climate policies that fail

Abstract

The two project-based Kyoto mechanisms, joint implementation (JI) and the clean development mechanism (CDM), require a determination of the “baseline”, the development of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the absence of the project. This paper examines, whether absolute (given in tCO₂ equivalent) or relative baselines (“benchmarks”, given, e.g. in tCO₂ equivalent/MWh) should be applied for JI/CDM projects in the energy sector. Accuracy of the GHG emission reduction and manageability of GHG emission balances are used as evaluation criteria. The results show that relative baselines are a more accurate instrument for the estimation of emission reductions in JI/CDM projects in the energy sector without posing significant additional risks to the management of GHG emission balances for large entities. In comparison to absolute baselines, relative baselines indicate in a more realistic and conservative manner the amount of emission reductions obtained in the energy system and give more appropriate incentives to project sponsors. The additional risks of relative baselines are likely to be small compared to the normal deviation of the domestic/internal GHG emissions. The findings are in line with the Marrakesh Accords, which set restrictions to application of absolute baselines.     

Compliance and emission trading rules for asymmetric emission uncertainty estimates

Greenhouse gases emission inventories are computed with rather low precision. Moreover, their uncertainty distributions may be asymmetric. This should be accounted for in the compliance and trading rules. In this paper we model the uncertainty of inventories as intervals or using fuzzy numbers. The latter allows us to better shape the uncertainty distributions. The compliance and emission trading rules obtained generalize the results for the symmetric uncertainty distributions that were considered in the earlier papers by the present authors (Nahorski et al., Water Air & Soil Pollution. Focus 7(4–5):539–558, 2007; Nahorski and Horabik, 2007, J Energy Eng 134(2):47–52, 2008). However, unlike in the symmetric distribution, in the asymmetric fuzzy case it is necessary to apply approximations because of nonlinearities in the formulas. The final conclusion is that the interval uncertainty rules can be applied, but with a much higher substitutional noncompliance risk, which is a parameter of the rules.     

Interval-fuzzy stochastic optimization for regional energy systems planning and greenhouse-gas emission management under uncertainty—a case study for the Province of Ontario,Canada

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction is usually associated with energy systems management. Management of regional energy systems is a complex task due to the strong interactions among energy supply, demand and conversion activities, as well as those among energy, environmental and economic factors. These complexities may be further compounded due to the presence of uncertainties in a variety of processes and the related costs, impact factors and objectives. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a dynamic interval-fuzzy two-stage stochastic regional energy systems planning model (DIFT-REM) and analysis GHG-emission reduction policies within a general energy management systems framework. The developed model is then applied to the Province of Ontario to demonstrate its applicability in supporting regional energy systems management and GHG-emission reduction analysis under uncertainty. The results indicated that DIFT-REM could address not only interactions among multiple energy-related activities, but also uncertainties in multiple forms and dynamics within a multi-period, multi-facility, multi-scale and multi-uncertainty context. The results also suggested that, when GHG-emission-credit trading is available for Ontario, the task of GHG-emission reduction could be accomplished with a lower system cost.     

全国碳排放权交易市场下电解铝行业基准线法研究

2011年以来,我国碳排放权交易市场建设不断加快,碳排放权交易机制不断健全完善,其中基准线法被确定为全国碳交易初始配额分配的主要方法。电解铝行业是我国能源消耗和碳排放的重点部门,尽早将该行业纳入碳市场对于行业减排、纵深推进全国碳市场交易以及应对国际碳边境调节机制政策均有重要意义。基于2018年电解铝行业直报的碳排放相关数据,确定了我国电解铝行业开展全国碳交易的基准线方案。结果显示,电解铝行业宜选取8.12~8.15 t CO₂/t铝作为基准线取值,不需设置区域差异调整系数。同时为保证电解铝行业碳交易的顺利开展,还需尽快确定行业配额方案,进一步完善企业排放量的监测、报告和核查以提高核查填报数据质量,以及进一步研究电解铝行业碳排放核算的范围。     

Uncertainty,cost-effectiveness and environmental safety of robust carbon trading: integrated approach

Carbon markets, like other commodity markets, are volatile. They react to stochastic “disequilibrium” spot prices, which may be affected by inadequate policies, speculations and bubbles. The market-based emission trading, therefore, does not necessarily minimize abatement costs and achieve emission reduction goals. We introduce a basic stochastic model integrating emissions reduction, monitoring and trading costs allowing us to analyze the robustness of emission and uncertainty reduction policies under environmental safety constraints asymmetric information and other multiple anthropogenic and natural uncertainties. Explicit treatment of uncertainties provides incentives for reducing them before trading. We illustrate functioning of the robust market with numerical results involving such countries as the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, EU27, Russia, Ukraine. In particular, we analyze if the knowledge about uncertainties may affect portfolios of technological and trade policies or structure of the market and how uncertainty characteristics may affect market prices and change the market structure.     

Design alternatives for a domestic carbon trading scheme in the United States

One critical aspect of the Kyoto Protocol is its flexibility in compliance. Countries or groups of countries are free to choose their own implementation strategies. Should the United States ratify the Protocol, it will most likely use emissions trading in some form to implement this accord. Two variations on a US domestic carbon trading system are presented here. One is an auction system controlling carbon at the point of energy production and distribution. The second is a hybrid system allocating permits to large combustors and controlling smaller sources through standards. Within this paper we describe and compare the main attributes of each system. Separate sections also discuss various methods for allocating permits and incorporating standards.     

Application of the Multiple Benchmark System (MBS) to selected case study projects

Abstract

Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have been established under the Kyoto Protocol as project-based instruments to mitigate greenhouse gases of the industrialized countries to the levels imposed by their Kyoto commitments. An unresolved issue associated with the implementation of these two flexibility mechanisms, concerns the choice of the appropriate baseline for calculating the emission reductions in JI or CDM projects. This article describes a computerized tool that constructs and compares different types of standardized baselines and benchmarks. The analysis focuses on the suitability of several different types of benchmarks for assessing the emission reductions of certain types of projects. The analysis is also expanded into a discussion of the extent to which benchmarks reduce the crediting of non-additional projects and limit the risk of missed additional investments. This tool has been applied to actual JI and CDM projects in the Russian Federation and Indonesia.     

Biomass strategies for climate policies?

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of the BEAP linear programming model that has been developed to study the optimal use of biomass and land for greenhouse gas emission reduction, notably the competition between food production, biomass production for energy and materials and afforestation. The model results suggest up to 100 EJ biomass use in case of global policies (about 20% of global primary energy use). The biomass is used for industrial and residential heating, transportation fuels and as a feedstock for plastics. In the electricity markets competing emission reduction options are more cost-effective than biomass. In case the Kyoto protocol is continued beyond 2010 the developed countries can rely in 2020–2030 on afforestation and land use change credits from developing countries, without any major use of other emission reduction strategies. However, in case of a planning perspective of more than half a century bioenergy is preferred instead of afforestation. The results indicate a limited impact on global agricultural trade, but food demand may be affected by CO₂ policies.     

Equity and the Kyoto Protocol: measuring the distributional effects of alternative emissions trading regimes

This paper offers a few preliminary steps in bringing the equity implications of building global emissions trading, Annex B trading only, and no trading to the fore as an issue to be considered in the negotiations of how to implement the Kyoto Protocol. All three policy regimes worked within the Charles Rivers State Impacts Assessment Model to make the distribution of per capita gross state product across the United States worse than it would be otherwise, but not significantly. In terms of the distribution of per capita consumption across the states, though, all three of the policy alternatives worked to improve equity (even more) modestly with the largest improvement associated with the “No Trade” option. The equity implications of alternative trading regimes were far more striking in the global context. Global trading did sustain the highest mean in per capita consumption, but the “No Trade” and “Annex B” trading alternatives reduced significantly the underlying inequity in the distribution of per capita. Weighted by a logarithmic utility function, the present value of the certainty equivalent level of mean per capita consumption would fall by more than five times the efficiency gain if global trading were allowed instead of limited Annex B trading. Moreover, this measure of willingness to pay to avoid inequity would be more than eight times larger than the efficiency gain if global trading were chosen over the “No Trade” alternative. The estimates reported here are, of course, highly speculative and extremely model-specific. Different models and, more importantly, different allocations of permits within the United States and/or across the globe would produce different results. The results do not mean that global trading in emissions permits should be shelved because the equity properties are so poor. Much like the other studies that have identified issues that need to be monitored carefully in the design of mechanisms with which the signators of Kyoto Protocol might meet their commitments, though, they do emphatically add equity to the list of fundamental concerns that must be considered.     

Analysing the interaction between emission trading and renewable electricity support in TIMES

As the number of instruments applied in the area of energy and climate policy is rising, the issue of policy interaction needs to be explored further. This article analyses the interdependencies between the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the German feed-in tariffs (FITs) for renewable electricity in a quantitative manner using a bottom-up energy system model. Flexible modelling approaches are presented for both instruments, with which all impacts on the energy system can be evaluated endogenously. It is shown that national climate policy measures can have an effect on the supranational emissions trading system by increasing emission reduction in the German electricity sector by up to 79 MtCO₂ in 2030. As a result, emission certificate prices decline by between 1.9 €/tCO₂ and 6.1 €/tCO₂ and the burden sharing between participating countries changes, but no additional emission reduction is achieved at the European level. This also implies, however, that the cost efficiency of such a cap-and-trade system is distorted, with additional costs of the FIT system of up to €320 billion compared with lower costs for ETS emission certificates of between €44 billion and €57 billion (cumulated over the period 2013–2020).

Policy relevance

In order to fulfil ambitious emission reduction targets a large variety of climate policy instruments are being implemented in Europe. While some, like the EU ETS, directly address CO₂ emissions, others aim to promote specific low-carbon technologies. The quantitative analysis of the interactions between the EU ETS and the German FIT scheme for renewable sources in electricity generation presented in this article helps to understand the importance of such interaction effects. Even though justifications can be found for the implementation of both types of instrument, the impact of the widespread use of support mechanisms for renewable electricity in Europe needs to be taken into account when fixing the reduction targets for the EU ETS in order to ensure a credible long-term investment signal.     

实现国家自主贡献目标背景下我国碳交易机制研究

以实现国家自主贡献目标为背景,运用电力行业细分的递推动态可计算一般均衡（CGE）模型,模拟我国统一碳市场下不同碳交易机制的实施效果及其经济影响。研究表明,全国统一碳市场有助于我国实现国家自主贡献目标,并且可以缓解碳减排对经济增长造成的负面影响;相比基于碳排放量免费分配初始碳配额的“祖父法则”,基于碳强度基准免费分配初始碳配额的“标杆法则”可以降低碳交易价格、增加碳配额交易量并扩大碳市场规模;采取拍卖方式有偿分配初始碳配额时碳市场中各行业面临更大的减排成本,但有利于增加政府收入;对碳市场未覆盖的行业和居民户征收碳税能有效控制其碳排放、增加政府财政收入、降低碳交易价格并促进我国国家自主贡献目标的实现;全国统一碳市场在抑制火电行业发展的同时将不同程度地促进清洁能源发电部门的发展。     

Benchmark-based emission allocation in a cap-and-trade system

Abstract

One of the important bottlenecks for the introduction of emission trading is how allowances should be distributed among the participants in a trading scheme. Both grandfathering on the basis of historic emissions and auctioning have important drawbacks. In this paper, we propose an allowance distribution rule based on benchmarking of production processes: each company's share in the total allowance is determined by its production level and a reference emission level per product. The scheme shows some important advantages compared to other schemes.     

Dutch climate policy: A victim of economic growth?

The Netherlands has ratified The Kyoto protocol and agreed to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. Since 1990 the goals were made less ambitious several times, but still the last goal for 2000 was not met. Economic growth surely has been one of the main culprits. The main reason economic growth results in higher CO₂ emissions, is the fact that it causes higher energy consumption. So far policy measures to reduce CO₂ emissions, including many energy efficiency and energy reduction measures, did not succeed in beating the effects of economic growth. The Netherlands did not manage to decouple economic growth and environmental pressure (measured here as CO₂ emissions). Absolute decoupling will require an economy that has a fuel mix with a large proportion of renewables, and a much higher energy efficiency level, and probably some major technological breakthroughs. It is not very likely that current policy measures will lead to the Kyoto goals. Therefore, it is concluded that emission trading and levies would offer good, and efficient options for further reductions of CO₂ equivalents. It might, however, make it difficult for The Netherlands to realise 50% of its reduction domestically, as CO₂ reduction abroad will most likely be at least five times cheaper. The Ministry of VROM will have to invent new policy measures to meet the Kyoto goals.