• Energy Research

There has been significant debate about the potential role that supply side and demand side policy initiatives might exert upon key participants within the National Electricity Market (NEM) in attempts to curb growth in carbon emissions. From the perspective of supply side policy initiatives, most debate and analysis has been focused upon assessing the impact that a ‘Cap-&-Trade’ carbon trading scheme, and more recently, a carbon tax scheme, might have on changing marginal cost relativities in order to promote increased dispatch and investment in less carbon emissions intensive types of generation technologies including gas-fired generation and renewable generation technologies. However, with any forthcoming move towards a carbon constrained economy, there are many uncertainties over policy settings that are required to achieve the environmental goal of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and about the resulting impact on the National Electricity Industry more generally. A complete understanding of the impacts on the electricity industry of carbon abatement policies requires that new renewable technology proposals be incorporated in a model containing many of the salient features of the national wholesale electricity market. These features include intra-regional and inter-state trade, realistic transmission network pathways, competitive dispatch of all generation technologies with price determination based upon marginal cost and branch congestion characteristics. It is only under such circumstances that the link between carbon emission reductions and generator based fuel switching can be fully explored and the consequences for carbon emission reductions and changes in wholesale and retail electricity prices can be determined.

In October 2005, the Crawford School (then the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government) within the Australian National University (ANU) initiated a major research project on China and East Asian Energy. The project is being undertaken under the schools East Asia Forum in conjunction with the China Economy and Business Program. The first conference in the series being organised under the auspices of the China and East Asian Energy Strategies Research Program was hosted in Beijing by the Energy Research Institute and the ANU on 1011 October 2005. It was the first of five annual conferences in the program. This book brings together the key papers presented at that conference.

Historical growth dynamics of energy technologies reveal a consistent relationship between the extent to which a technology�s installed capacity grows and the time duration of that growth. This extent � duration relationship is remarkably consistent across both supply-side and demand-side technologies, and both old and new energy technologies. Consequently, it can be used as a means of validating future scenarios of energy technology growth under carbon constraints. This validation methodology is tested on the extents and durations of growth for a range of low carbon technologies in scenarios generated by the MESSAGE energy system model which has been widely used by the IPCC. The key finding is that low carbon technology growth in the scenarios appears generally conservative relative to what has been evidenced historically. This is counterintuitive given the extremely rapid growth rates of certain low carbon technologies under tight carbon constraints. Reasons for the apparent scenario conservatism are explored. Parametric conservatism in the underlying energy system model seems the most likely explanation.

Energy is essential to socio-economic development in modern society. China is the largest developing country and the second largest energy producer and consumer in the world, as well as the second largest producer of CO2 emissions after the USA. CO2 emissions in China has become a common focus of academic communities and governments worldwide. Therefore, the study of China's CO2 emissions is not only helpful in terms of fully implementing scientific development, but also significant in working towards the sustainable development of China and mitigating global climate change. Beginning with energy use and CO2 emissions, Energy Economics: CO2 Emissions in China discusses topical issues related to the present CO2 emissions status and its historical evolution. In addition, it analyzes CO2 emission reduction technologies, the CO2 market and CO2 emissions reduction strategies and policies, in the hope of providing a reference resource for decision making in future CO2 emission reduction and climate change resolution strategies and policies in China. The book focuses on several key issues, which are discussed further as below. 1) Energy use and CO2 emissions; 2) Characteristics of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in China; 3) Factors affecting CO2 emissions at different economic development levels; 4) Evolution characteristics of CO2 emissions in CO2-intensive sectors; 5) The analysis of regional CO2 emissions in China; 6) Potential for, and impacts of, CO2 emission reduction technologies; 7) Simulation research on CO2 emission reduction policies; 8) International CO2 trading mechanism and its impact on emission reduction; 9) China's CO2 emissions prospects.

Indonesia is among the largest 25 carbon dioxide emitting countries when considering only fossil fuels, and among the top three or five when emissions due to deforestation and land use change are included. Emission per capita from fossil fuels are still low in comparison with other countries, but have been growing fast, and are likely to overtake those from deforestation and land use change in the future. This paper argues the importance for Indonesia to start developing strategies to mitigate its emissions from fossil fuel combustion. It analyses the main drivers of the increase in emissions, identifies the options and challenges in reducing the future growth in emissions. Policy options are reviewed that would enable the Indonesian economy to keep on growing, but with a much lower carbon output.