This paper analyzes the impact of the Fukushima accident on the future of nuclear power around the world. We begin with a discussion of the “but for” baseline and the much discussed “nuclear renaissance.” Our pre-Fukushima benchmark for growth in nuclear generation in the U.S. and other developed countries is much more modest than many…
2012
Regulation and Customer Engagement
The utility regulation framework developed in the UK in the 1980s, and widely adopted internationally, was intended to improve on the restrictive, inefficient and burdensome regulatory approach in the U.S. But the UK regulatory process has itself now become increasingly burdensome. Meanwhile, utilities and customer groups in the U.S. and Canada have developed methods of…
How a “Low Carbon” Innovation Can Fail–Tales from a “Lost Decade” for Carbon Capture, Transport, and Sequestration (CCTS)
This paper analyzes the discrepancy between the high hopes placed in Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage (CCTS) and the meager results that have been observed in reality, and advances several explanations for what we call a “lost decade” for CCTS. We trace the origins of the high hopes placed in this technology by industry and…
Reforming Competitive Electricity Markets to Meet Environmental Targets
The UK and other EU countries are concerned to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable electricity, to meet challenging targets for decarbonisation and renewable energy. The UK Government has consulted and concluded that the present electricity market arrangements will not deliver all three goals, and has proposed a major Electricity Market Reform (EMR). This article describes…
Global Climate Games: How Pricing and a Green Fund Foster Cooperation
The most efficient global climate policy is to price carbon. The Kyoto-Copenhagen agenda was intended to do this with a system of international cap and trade. We view these negotiations as a game in which countries choose their quantity targets based on self interest. Like the analogous public-goods game, in which countries choose their abatement…