Renewable energy policy as an enabler of fossil fuel subsidy reform? Applying a socio-technical perspective to the cases of South Africa and Tunisia

Schmidt, Tobias S.; Matsuo, Tyeler; Michaelowa, Axel

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.05.004

Cited by 69 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Another estimate, drawing on integrated assessment modeling, suggests that up to a quarter of the pledges under the Paris Agreement can be achieved through fossil fuel subsidy reform, with most benefits to be achieved in fossil fuel exporting countries and regions such as Russia, the Middle East, and Latin America (Jewell et al, 2018). Possibly more emission reductions could be realized if the savings from reform are repurposed to promote renewable energy (Jakob & Hilaire, 2015;Merrill et al, 2015;Schmidt, Matsuo, & Michaelowa, 2017). More broadly, this could help countries achieve their development goals (Franks, Lessmann, Jakob, Steckel, & Edenhofer, 2018;Jakob, Chen, Fuss, Marxen, & Edenhofer, 2015).…”

Section: Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

Skovgaard

Asselt

2019

WIREs Climate Change

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The production and consumption of fossil fuels need to decrease significantly to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement's ambitious climate change goals. However, fossil fuels continue to receive significant amounts of government support. Although reforming fossil fuel subsidies can yield climate change mitigation benefits, the specific international and domestic political context and political economy of fossil fuel subsidies means that such reform is not straightforward and may not be aligned with traditional climate politics. Our objective in this review article is to examine the implications of the politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform for climate change mitigation. The first step of examining these implications is to review existing studies on the size and impacts of global fossil fuel subsidies. Subsequently, we discuss the international politics of fossil fuel subsidies, including the emerging norm of fossil fuel subsidy reform, and the respective roles played by the international climate regime and several international economic institutions. Finally, we examine why fossil fuel subsidies are introduced and maintained at the domestic level, how fossil fuel subsidy reform has functioned in practice, and whether and how such reform could be conceived as an instrument for climate policy. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance > Private Governance of Climate Change

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Section: Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

Skovgaard

Asselt

2019

WIREs Climate Change

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“…However, none of this has deterred high and growing reliance on fossil fuels-such as oil, coal, and natural gas-for societies' energy supply [9]. The development of capital-intensive infrastructures and the power-infused institutions of the fossil energy system [10,11] have ushered in "the age of oil" [12] with its "fossil economies" [13].…”

Section: The Fossil Energy Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chinese banks, for example, have surpassed the World Bank in their investments into the infrastructures of coal-fired power plants [26]. High subsidies for fossil energy supply and consumption and the tit-for-tat between mines and power plants maintain a cheap energy source [11,27], despite the associated social and environmental 'costs', and often make it difficult for renewable energy to compete. Despite the unsustainability of the fossil energy system, it is increasingly being bartered politically, in fully industrialized [28] as well as emerging economies [29].…”

Section: The Fossil Energy Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latecomers to the Fossil Energy Transition, Frontrunners for Change? The Relevance of the Energy ‘Underdogs’ for Sustainability Transformations

Schaffartzik

Fischer‐Kowalski

2018

Sustainability

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The global energy system subsumes both extreme wealth (and waste) and extreme poverty. A minority of the global population is consuming the majority of the fossil fuel-based energy and causing global warming. While the mature industrialized economies maintain their high levels of energy consumption, the emerging economies are rapidly expanding their fossil energy systems, emulating traditional patterns of industrialization. We take a global, socio-metabolic perspective on the energy transition phases—take-off, maturation, and completion—of 142 countries between 1971 and 2015. Even within our global fossil energy system, the transition to fossil energy is still ongoing; many countries are in the process of replacing renewable energy with fossil energy. However, due to globally limited supplies and sinks, continuing the fossil energy transition is not an indefinite option. Rather than a “Big Push” for renewable energy within pockets of the fossil energy system, a sustainability transformation is required that would change far more than patterns of energy supply and use. Where this far-reaching change requires pushing back against the fossil energy system, the energy underdogs—the latecomers to the fossil energy transition—just might come out on top.

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“…Growing demand of energy for different purposes such as economical and industrial activities and lack of fossil fuels in near future necessitate modification of existing energy systems. In addition, fossil fuels have unfavorable environmental effects which motivate societies to reduce their activity dependency on them . Consumption reduction of fossil fuels and substituting renewable energies enable societies to overcome these problems .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, fossil fuels have unfavorable environmental effects 3,4 which motivate societies to reduce their activity dependency on them. [5][6][7] Consumption reduction of fossil fuels and substituting renewable energies enable societies to overcome these problems. 8,9 Annual growth rate of renewable energies for the world between 1990 and 2014 was 2.2% which had higher rate than total primary energy supply (1.9%).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on solar‐assisted gas turbines

Ahmadi

Nazari

Ghasempour

et al. 2018

Energy Science & Engineering

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The thermal energy of the sun can be used for electricity generation. Solar thermal energy can be applied with fossil fuels or independently in order to reduce the cost of generated electricity and CO2 emission. Several cycles are introduced to extract solar thermal energy to be used in power plants. Brayton cycles, Rankine‐Brayton cycles, and supercritical Brayton cycles are among the most conventional ones. Based on the reviewed researches, using solar energy in addition to fossil fuels results in lower carbon dioxide emission and lower levelized cost of the generated electricity. Moreover, thermodynamic and economic analyses of the cycles revealed that heat recovery leads to higher efficiency while increase capital cost. The efficiency of solar‐assisted gas turbines depend on various parameters including pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, heat absorber geometry and the performance of the components. The enhancement in the efficiency of the cycles by applying each method depends on the configuration, operating condition. For instance, results have shown that 10% increase in turbine efficiency can led to 6%‐12% improvement in the efficiency of a closed‐Brayton cycle.

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Renewable energy policy as an enabler of fossil fuel subsidy reform? Applying a socio-technical perspective to the cases of South Africa and Tunisia

Cited by 69 publications

References 41 publications

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

Latecomers to the Fossil Energy Transition, Frontrunners for Change? The Relevance of the Energy ‘Underdogs’ for Sustainability Transformations

A review on solar‐assisted gas turbines

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