The impact of trading on the costs and benefits of the Acid Rain Program

Abstract

NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

An Analysis of the Impact of the Emissions Trading System on the Green Total Factor Productivity Based on the Spatial Difference-in-Differences Approach: The Case of China

“…In 1990, Article 4 of the US "Clean Air Act" amendment proposed the "Acid Rain Plan", which was approved by Congress to use SO 2 emission allowance trading as a means of emission reduction. It was an early and successful environmental policy tool to achieve reductions through market-based emissions allowance trading [22,23]. Pollutant emission trading refers to the use of emission quota trading to reduce the emissions of major pollutants and reduce the negative impact on the environment.…”

Variability in Deeply Decarbonized Electricity Systems

“…Cross-sector integration will likely be higher for deeply decarbonized energy systems relative to those of today, since the many possible feedstocks, energy carriers, and conversion processes imply a greater need to integrate the production, transport, storage, and consumption of different low-carbon fuels . Given the variation in regional resources and system variability, there may be considerable economic and technical advantages to greater coordination across jurisdictions, sectors, and levels of government. − In particular, long-distance inter-regional transmission can expand balancing areas and increase trade, though the feasibility of such approaches to manage variability are subject to political economy constraints. − Coordination of not only physical systems but also simultaneous societal objectives, innovation processes, and other institutional and infrastructural transformations can help to lower costs, increase reliability, and minimize environmental impact. , Section discusses market design in electricity and broader low-emissions energy systems.…”

Source–Receptor Relationships Between Precursor Emissions and O3 and PM2.5 Air Pollution Impacts

“…Numerous tools have been developed that provide a simplified representation of emissions, dispersion, and chemical processes to quickly provide an estimate of air quality change and human health impacts to avoid the costs associated with photochemical grid model application . Some of these tools were based on a climatological dispersion model applied at the continental scale with a simplified representation of chemical transformation , and some based on air quality impacts predicted by a photochemical transport model. − These reduced complexity tools have been used extensively to provide an estimate of PM 2.5 air quality and related monetized health impact, − but few provide an estimate of O 3 air quality impacts. , Fewer still provide a quantitative evaluation against air quality changes due to changing emissions predicted by a more sophisticated modeling system (such as a photochemical grid model), which is the fundamental purpose of these tools …”