January-February 2021 Putting a high value on climate action indicates that the costs of the steps taken to cut carbon emissions are worth something in lives saved, better health, preservation of coasts and forests, agricultural productivity and property. Michael Greenstone, a University of Chicago economist who served as chief economist for Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was a co-author of a …
The murkiness of voluntary RECs–a controversial financial device called renewable energy certificates
The real work of carbon reduction is so much more difficult than tossing a few bucks into the tip jar. Bundled RECs are tied to the actual production of renewable energy at a specific time, location and facility. They are sold in conjunction with the actual energy produced. Unbundled RECs are more sketchy… see What the Heck is a REC? Think of renewable …
Utility customers engage about 8 minutes per year with energy provider: automation is key to time-based pricing success
Nov. 16, 2020, by ecobee As North America transitions to a clean energy future, dynamic rates such as time-of-use (TOU) pricing are becoming an increasingly popular tool to manage demand. But as more regulators and utilities look to shape baseline loads with these programs, concerns about customer education, adoption, and satisfaction are front and center. Currently, about 5% of U.S. residential customers are on …
Time of Renewables instead of Time of Use: Electric vehicles can boost resilience for California’s electricity grid
While critics have argued that electric cars could put a strain on the grid, experts disagree. They point out that electric vehicles can make use of surplus wind or solar power by charging when demand is low, and unplugging during peak demand. In addition, regulators and automakers are working to allow EVs to sell their power back to the grid, …
A near-term to net zero alternative to the social cost of carbon for setting carbon prices, which have been proposed ranging from under US$0 per ton of CO2 to over US$2,000 per ton
Also see: http://www.rapidshift.net/central-value-in-ultimate-cost-of-carbon-is-about-100000-per-ton/ A simpler, more useful way to tax carbon. A new proposal for how carbon taxes can play well with other policies. By David Roberts @drvoxdavid@vox.com Aug 17, 2020 For most of the 21st century, putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions (either a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system) has been seen as the serious person’s climate-change policy, preferred …
Half of Americans Want Drivers Who Drive More to Pay More: And people who drive big, fuel inefficient cars should pay even more
By Kea Wilson, StreetsBlog, Jul 20, 2020 Nearly half of Americans think it’s time to rethink how we fund our road infrastructure by switching from a federal gas tax — which theoretically rewards drivers for choosing greener cars, but doesn’t always deter excessive driving itself — and replacing it with a tax based on how many miles drivers actually travel, a …
The Case for Congestion Pricing in LA
It’s Time to Try Congestion Pricing in L.A.: Los Angeles will pilot a toll program for freeway drivers at peak hours in 2021. Can America’s most car-centric city embrace traffic congestion charges? Donald Shoup in Bloomberg, July 2, 2020 During the Covid-19 lockdowns that have kept millions of people at home, drivers in Los Angeles and other big cities experienced something …
Effectiveness of CO2-based feebate systems in the European passenger vehicle market: CO2-based vehicle taxation contributes to reductions in new-vehicle emissions rates
ICCT Consultant report 2014.03.28 CambridgeEconometrics_ICCT_feebate_rpt_Nov2013.pdf The ICCT commissioned Cambridge Econometrics to carry out this analysis of the effectiveness of CO2-based vehicle taxation in reducing passenger-transport CO2 emissions. The study sought to identify the extent to which the observed reductions in CO2 emissions rates in the Netherlands and the UK can be attributed to CO2-based vehicle taxation. Econometric techniques were applied to model demand …
Central value in ultimate cost of carbon is about $100,000 per ton
The Universal Cost of Carbon applies over a different timescale than how the social cost of carbon has been calculated. Assuming that the climate impacts from fossil carbon use will persist much longer than any economic infrastructure that we use fossil fuels today to build, the UCC can be seen as a first approximation of our culpability to future generations, …
Customers with rooftop solar lower the system peak demand, thus reducing the need for costly generation and transmission capacity: Rooftop solar is worth 24¢/kWh in Michigan study. Incentives for daytime use (time of renewables or real-time TOU) are needed
Articles by Will Driscoll in PV Magazine https://pv-magazine-usa.com/author/william-l-driscoll/ Rooftop solar is worth 24¢/kWh in the Michigan territory served by Consumers Energy, well above the 14¢ to 17¢/kWh that the utility’s net metering customers currently receive for the electricity they send to the grid. The Solar Energy Industries Association’s Director of Rate Design Kevin Lucas presented that finding in testimony in a Consumers …