Effectiveness of US state policies in reducing CO2 emissions from power plants

Grant, Don; Bergstrand, Kelly; Running, Katrina

doi:10.1038/nclimate2385

Cited by 37 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The facility-level characteristics include if the primary fuel source for the plant is coal relative to other fossil-fuels, plant size, plant age, capacity utilization rate, and heat rate. Consistent with past research on power plants [6,8], we expect that plant-level CO 2 emissions will be positively associated with each of these characteristics. Many estimated Environ.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Our dependent variable is total pounds of CO 2 emitted by a plant in the year 2009, the most recent year for which these data are currently available. Because the CO 2 data are highly positively skewed, and consistent with past research on plant-level emissions [6,8], we convert them into logarithmic form (base 10) for our statistical analysis. We obtained these data from the Center for Global Development's 'Carbon Monitoring for Action' (CARMA) database [41,42], which is consistent with prior studies of plant-level emissions [5][6][7][43][44][45].…”

Section: Dependent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…With these factors in mind, an emerging body of research on fossil-fuel power plants seeks to identify how facility-level characteristics and broader contextual factors, such as national development, political circumstances and openness to the global economy, are associated with CO 2 emissions at the plant level. Many of these studies involve the analysis of large datasets of fossil-fuel burning power plants in nations throughout the world [5][6][7], while some instead focus on plants within just one nation, such as the United States [8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analyses of power plants in nations throughout the world provide an important lens for assessing relatively broad-based socioenvironmental relationships [6], while studies within one nation allow for more nuanced assessments of sub-national conditions that might influence plant-level emissions [8,11,12]. As important, we suggest, is a type of middle-level approach that is generally absent so far [13,14], where studies are conducted of CO 2 emissions from plants within a macro-region that might consist of multiple nations that share similar sociohistorical characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of economic and political integration on power plants’ carbon emissions in the post-soviet transition nations

Jorgenson

Longhofer

Grant

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The combustion of fossil fuels for electricity generation, which accounts for a significant share of the world's CO 2 emissions, varies by macro-regional context. Here we use multilevel regression modeling techniques to analyze CO 2 emissions levels in the year 2009 for 1360 fossil-fuel power plants in the 25 post-Soviet transition nations in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. We find that various facility-level factors are positively associated with plant-level emissions, including plant size, age, heat rate, capacity utilization rate, and coal as the primary fuel source. Results further indicate that plant-level emissions are lower, on average, in the transition nations that joined the European Union (EU), whose market reforms and environmental directives are relevant for emissions reductions. These negative associations between plant-level emissions and EU accession are larger for the nations that joined the EU in 2004 relative to those that joined in 2007. The findings also suggest that export-oriented development is positively associated with plant-level CO 2 emissions in the transition nations. Our results highlight the importance in macro-regional assessments of the conjoint effects of political and economic integration for facility-level emissions.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Dependent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of economic and political integration on power plants’ carbon emissions in the post-soviet transition nations

Jorgenson

Longhofer

Grant

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Direct rebounds among commercial and industrial producers have received far less attention, despite the fact that one sector -electric utilities -is the single largest source of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions (IEA, 2015). The few studies done on the subject have compared the scale of direct rebounds of specific producer sectors within a single nation or the combined direct rebounds of producers across nations (Grant et al, 2014a). They find that the electric utilities sector is the most responsive ("elastic") to changes in energy prices and consumer demand as well as the most able to substitute a cheaper energy input for others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How organizational and global factors condition the effects of energy efficiency on CO2 emission rebounds among the world's power plants

2016

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The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and several nations suggest that energy efficiency is an effective strategy for reducing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Skeptics contend that because efficiency lowers the price of energy and energy services, it may actually increase demand for them, causing total emissions to rise. While both sides of this debate have researched the magnitude of these so-called rebound effects among end-use consumers, researchers have paid less attention to the conditions under which direct rebounds cause CO 2 emissions to rise among industrial producers. In particular, researchers have yet to explore how organizational and global factors might condition the effects of efficiency on emissions among power plants, the world's most concentrated sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Here we use a unique dataset containing nearly every fossil-fuel power plant in the world to determine whether the impact of efficiency on emissions varies by plants' age, size, and location in global economic and normative systems. Findings reveal that each of these factors has a significant interaction with efficiency and thus shapes environmentally destructive rebound effects.

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Can polycentric governance lower industrial greenhouse gas emissions: Evidence from the United States

et al. 2023

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The governance challenges embedded in climate change are daunting. Conventional logic holds that national and international action is necessary. While the United States is a major source of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions – second only to China – national action on climate change has been lacking. However, hundreds of subnational US governments and thousands of industrial facilities are actively engaged in addressing climate change. Given the potential mismatch between the global nature of the problem and the policy reach of subnational governments, we evaluate the extent to which polycentric variation in subnational climate action is associated with changes in GHG emissions. We develop a unique data set that incudes facility‐level GHG emissions from major industrial sectors in the United States over 8 years and subnational climate governance action across all 50 states. This large‐N data set allows us to systematically test hypothesis from polycentric governance. This type of comparative analysis can help to better understand the conditions under which polycentric governance is associated with improved climate change outcomes, that is, declining GHG emissions. Our results suggest that even when controlling for past emissions, some elements of polycentric governance are associated with decreases in GHG emissions. Future research would benefit from augmenting the large N comparative analysis presented here with mixed methods research to more fully understand the dynamic processes shaping both climate policy and GHG emissions.

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Effectiveness of US state policies in reducing CO2 emissions from power plants

Cited by 37 publications

References 20 publications

The effects of economic and political integration on power plants’ carbon emissions in the post-soviet transition nations

The effects of economic and political integration on power plants’ carbon emissions in the post-soviet transition nations

How organizational and global factors condition the effects of energy efficiency on CO2 emission rebounds among the world's power plants

Can polycentric governance lower industrial greenhouse gas emissions: Evidence from the United States

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