An interesting reaction to low fuel prices

What do you do when energy prices fall? Binyamin Appelbaum writes an interesting article in the New York Times about the reaction of Americans that “don’t make much sense.” Is this your reaction too? When Gas Becomes Cheaper, Americans Buy More Expensive Gas When gas prices fall, Americans reliably do two things that don’t … Continue reading An interesting reaction to low fuel prices →

The role of taxes in promoting sustainability

The International Institute for Sustainable Development wrote about a new report from the International Monetary Fund on the role of taxes to provide the right price signals to promote sustainability. IMF Stresses Role of Taxes for Sustainable Energy Pricing The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a book for policy makers on how to … Continue reading The role of taxes in promoting sustainability →

Treading water?

A new survey in the UK found that that while many companies have invested in energy efficiency, the savings have been erased by the energy prices they are paying. Andrew Bounds writes in the FT about the situation in the UK. What it fails to show is what would have happened if those companies had … Continue reading Treading water? →

Energy prices in Europe will stay high

Barbara Lewis writes for the Reuter’s news service about the IEA’s chief economist, Fatih Birol, speaking in Brussels recently about a range of energy policy concerns. There are no signs of energy prices coming down as they did in the US. If Europe is to remain competitive, there will have to be other measures put … Continue reading Energy prices in Europe will stay high →

New OECD book on carbon prices

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a book, titled 'Effective Carbon Prices,' which synthesizes a number of case studies on carbon prices in 15 selected countries and sectors. The book provides estimates of the costs to society of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in 15 countries using different policy instruments in five sectors: … Continue reading New OECD book on carbon prices →

Important new report on energy and competitiveness from eceee

On May 21st, the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy published a discussion paper entitled “European competitiveness and energy efficiency: Focusing on the real issue”. So, what is the real issue? Everyone is worried about the price of energy and that Europeans are paying so much more than in most other regions of the … Continue reading Important new report on energy and competitiveness from eceee →

Renewable energy impact on European power prices

David Thorpe writes for Energy and Environmental Management (EAEM) about how renewable energy output in Germany has had a positive affect in lowering European power prices recently. German renewable energy helped cut European power prices in April Record output from German wind and solar plants helped to reduce European power prices in April, according … Continue reading Renewable energy impact on European power prices →

A Q&A on a carbon tax versus cap-and-trade

Luca Taschini, Simon Dietz and Naomi Hicks of Grantham Research Institute recently provided a Q&A in the Guardian comparing a carbon tax against cap-and-trade. This is a useful article for all EiD readers. Carbon tax v cap-and-trade: which is better? Economists argue that, if the market is left to operate freely, greenhouse gas emissions … Continue reading A Q&A on a carbon tax versus cap-and-trade →