Trade, technology, and the environment: Does access to technology promote environmental regulation?

Focusing specifically on regulation of coal-fired power plants, we examine how technological innovation by early adopters influences the timing of new environmental regulation in non-innovating countries. We build a general equilibrium model of an open economy to identify the political-economy determinants of regulation. With a newly created dataset of SO₂ and NO_x regulations for coal-fired power plants and a patent-based measure of the technology frontier, we estimate the determinants of environmental regulation diffusion. Our findings support the hypothesis that international economic integration eases access to environmentally friendly technologies and leads to earlier adoption, ceteris paribus, of regulation in non-innovating countries. However, we also find evidence that domestic trade protection promotes earlier adoption allowing shifts of regulatory costs to domestic consumers. Furthermore, international market power permits large countries to shift costs to foreign consumers. Other political economy factors, such as the quality of domestic coal, are also important determinants.     

Directing technical change from fossil-fuel to renewable energy innovation: An application using firm-level patent data

In this paper we provide an analysis of directed technical change in the sector of electricity generation. We rely on patent data in fossil-fuel (FF) and renewable energy (REN) technologies for 5471 European firms over the 1978–2006 period. The novelty of our approach is in the focus on firm׳s heterogeneity in driving technological change. We make a distinction between small specialized firms, which innovate in only one type of technology, and large mixed firms, which innovate in both technologies, to analyse how REN patents can replace FF ones at the sector level both through a shift in innovation activities within existing firms and through firms׳ entry and exit. We use zero-inflated count data estimation techniques to identify the factors that affect specialized versus mixed firms׳ patenting behaviour both at the intensive (i.e., levels of innovation) and extensive (i.e., technological entry) margins. We further investigate the implications of our firm-level estimations for reducing the gap between REN and FF innovation at the aggregate level. We establish two key findings: (1) a decrease in the FF-REN technology gap mainly comes about through technological entry of specialized REN firms following an increase in REN market size; (2) increases in FF prices, FF market size, and FF knowledge stocks all increase the technology gap by increasing mixed firms FF innovation rates. An important implication of our results is that policies aimed at increasing REN innovation should focus on helping small firms to start and sustain innovation in the long-run.     

Moving policy and regulation forward for single-use plastic alternatives

Single-use plastics are often used once or cannot be reused for extended periods. They are widely consumed with the rapid development of social economy. The waste generated by single-use plastics threatens ecosystem health by entering the environment and ultimately restricts sustainable human development. The innovation of sustainable and environmentally friendly single-use plastic alternative materials and the joint participation of governments, enterprises and the public are promising technologies and management approaches that can solve the problem of single-use plastics wastes. The development of single-use plastic alternative products can be promoted fundamentally only by improving relevant legislation and standards, providing differentiated industrial policies, encouraging scientific and technological innovation and expanding public participation.     

Innovation and diffusion of clean/green technology: Can patent commons help?

This paper explores the characteristics of 238 patents on 90 inventions contributed by major multinational innovators to the “Eco-Patent Commons”, which provides royalty-free access to third parties to patented innovations on green technologies. We compare the pledged patents to other patents in the same technologies or held by the same multinationals to investigate the motives of the contributing firms as well as the potential for such commons to encourage innovation and diffusion of climate change related technologies. We find pledged patents to protect environmentally friendly technologies and to be of similar value as the average patent in a pledging firm's patent portfolio but of lower value than other patents in their class. Our analysis of the impact of the patent commons on diffusion of patented technologies suggests that making patents accessible royalty-free did not result in any significant increase in diffusion as measured by citing patents. This study, therefore, indirectly provides evidence on the role of patents in the development and diffusion of green technologies.     

Natural resources and the marshallian effects of input-reducing technological changes

Input-reducing technologies are often cited as potential solutions to the pressure for over-harvesting natural resources. The underlying implicit assumption that technological change reducing the Hicksian input demand also reduces the Marshallian input demand neglects the impacts of input-reducing technological changes on Marshallian supplies. This reasearch shows that Marshallian supply effects generally offset the impacts of technological change on Hicksian input demands, and, if the offset is large enough, Marshallian input demands could even increase. As an example, I statistically determine the extent increased technological efficiency in lumber production reduced the demand for sawlogs in the Pacific Northwest. The statistical results indicate that input-reducing technological changes did not reduce the overall Marshallian demand for sawlogs. Resource conservation policies which rely solely on the implementation of input-reducing technologies may be ineffective or even counterproductive.     

Non-cooperative and cooperative climate policies with anticipated breakthrough technology

Global warming can be curbed by pricing carbon emissions and thus substituting fossil fuel with renewable energy consumption. Breakthrough technologies (e.g., fusion energy) can reduce the cost of such policies. However, the chance of such a technology coming to market depends on investment. We model breakthroughs as an irreversible tipping point in a multi-country world, with different degrees of international cooperation. We show that international spill-over effects of R&D in carbon-free technologies lead to double free-riding, strategic over-pollution and underinvestment in green R&D, thus making climate change mitigation more difficult. We also show how the demand structure determines whether carbon pricing and R&D policies are substitutes or complements.     

Secondary materials and international trade

The paper develops the international trade dimensions of recycling. It begins by outlining the sources of demand and supply that determine the volume, composition and direction of trade in waste materials. The model is intended to describe factors affecting international flows of any type of secondary material, although its usefulness in an empirical context is restricted in many cases by data limitations and complex lag structures on the supply side. Parts of the model are then applied to the case of waste paper, focusing on observed differences in national recycling rates and the role of trade in reconciling those differences.     

Effects of ecotourism on forest loss in the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot based on counterfactual analyses

Ecotourism is developing rapidly in biodiversity hotspots worldwide, but there is limited and mixed empirical evidence that ecotourism achieves positive biodiversity outcomes. We assessed whether ecotourism influenced forest loss rates and trajectories from 2000 to 2017 in Himalayan temperate forests. We compared forest loss in 15 ecotourism hubs with nonecotourism areas in 4 Himalayan countries. We used matching statistics to control for local-level determinants of forest loss, for example, population density, market access, and topography. None of the ecotourism hubs was free of forest loss, and we found limited evidence that forest-loss trajectories in ecotourism hubs were different from those in nonecotourism areas. In Nepal and Bhutan, differences in forest loss rates between ecotourism hubs and matched nonecotourism areas did not differ significantly, and the magnitude of the estimated effect was small. In India, where overall forest loss rates were the lowest of any country in our analysis, forest loss rates were higher in ecotourism hubs than in matched nonecotourism areas. In contrast, in China, where overall forest loss rates were highest, forest loss rates were lower in ecotourism hubs than where there was no ecotourism. Our results suggest that the success of ecotourism as a forest conservation strategy, as it is currently practiced in the Himalaya, is context dependent. In a region with high deforestation pressures, ecotourism may be a relatively environmentally friendly form of economic development relative to other development strategies. However, ecotourism may stimulate forest loss in regions where deforestation rates are low.     

Global cooperation among diverse organizations to reduce illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is prevalent globally and has detrimental effects on commercial fish stocks and nontarget species. Effective monitoring and enforcement aimed at reducing the level of IUU fishing in extensive, remote ocean fisheries requires international collaboration. Changes in trade and vessel activities further complicate enforcement. We used a web-based survey of governmental and nongovernmental organizations engaged in reducing IUU fishing in the Southern Ocean to collect information on interorganizational collaborations. We used social-network analyses to examine the nature of collaborations among the identified 117 organizations engaged in reducing IUU fishing. International collaboration improved the ability to control and manage harvest of commercially important toothfish (Dissostichus spp.) stocks and reduced bycatch of albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and petrels (Procellariidae) in longlines of IUU fishing vessels. The diverse group of surveyed organizations cooperated frequently, thereby making a wide range of resources available for improved detection of suspected IUU vessels and trade flows, cooperation aimed at prosecuting suspected offenders or developing new policy measures. Our results suggest the importance of a central agency for coordination and for maintaining commonly agreed-upon protocols for communication that facilities collaboration. Despite their differences, the surveyed organizations have developed common perceptions about key problems associated with IUU fishing. This has likely contributed to a sustained willingness to invest in collaborations. Our results show that successful international environmental governance can be accomplished through interorganizational collaborations. Such cooperation requires trust, continuous funding, and incentives for actors to participate.     

Ecological network analysis of an urban energy metabolic system: Model development, and a case study of four Chinese cities

Urban metabolism research faces difficulties defining ecological trophic levels and analyzing relationships among the metabolic system's energy components. Here, we propose a new way to perform such research. By integrating throughflow analysis with ecological network utility analysis, we used network flows to analyze the metabolic system's network structure and the ecological relationships within the system. We developed an ecological network model for the system, and used four Chinese cities as examples of how this approach provides insights into the flows within the system at both high and low levels of detail. Using the weight distribution in the network flow matrix, we determined the structure of the urban energy metabolic system and the trophic levels; using the sign distribution in the network utility matrix, we determined the relationships between each pair of the system's compartments and their degrees of mutualism. The model uses compartments based on 17 sectors (energy exploitation; coal-fired power; heat supply; washed coal; coking; oil refinery; gas generation; coal products; agricultural; industrial; construction; communication, storage, and postal service; wholesale, retail, accommodation, and catering; household; other consuming; recovery; and energy stocks). Analyzing the structure and functioning of the urban energy metabolic system revealed ways to optimize its structure by adjusting the relationships among compartments, thereby demonstrating how ecological network analysis can be used in future urban system research.     

Would hotelling kill the electric car?

In this paper, we show that the potential for endogenous technological change in alternative energy sources may alter the behaviour of resource-owning firms. When technological progress in an alternative energy source can occur through learning-by-doing, resource owners face competing incentives to extract rents from the resource and to prevent expansion of the new technology. We show that in such a context, it is not necessarily the case that scarcity-driven higher traditional energy prices over time will induce alternative energy supply as resources are exhausted. Rather, we show that as we increase the learning potential in the substitute technology, lower equilibrium energy prices prevail and there may be increased resource extraction and greenhouse gas emissions. We show that the effectiveness and the incidence of emissions reduction policies may be altered by increased potential for technological change. Our results suggest that treating finite resource rents as endogenous consequences of both technological progress and policy changes will be important for the accurate assessment of climate change policy.     

Climate policies and skill-biased employment dynamics: Evidence from EU countries

The political acceptability of climate policies is undermined by job-killing arguments, especially for the least-skilled workers. However, evidence of the distributional impacts for different workers remains scant. We examine the associations between climate policies, proxied by energy prices, and workforce skills for 14 European countries and 15 industrial sectors over the period 1995–2011. Using a shift-share instrumental variable estimator and controlling for the influence of automation and globalization, we find that climate policies have been skill biased against manual workers and have favoured technicians. The long-term change in energy prices accounted for between 9.2% and 17.5% (resp. 4.2% and 8.0%) of the increase (resp. decrease) in the share of technicians (resp. manual workers).     

Environmental policies,competition and innovation in renewable energy

We investigate the effect of environmental policies on innovation under different levels of competition. Using information regarding renewable energy policies, competition and green patents for OECD countries since the late 1970s, we develop a pre-sample mean count-data econometric specification that accounts for the endogeneity of policies. We find that renewable energy policies are more effective in fostering green innovation in countries with liberalized energy markets. We also find that environmental policies are crucial only in the generation of high-quality green patents, whereas competition enhances the generation of low-quality green patents.     

Recent advances in 2D nanopores for desalination

Water shortage is a major problem facing the world today, although 70% of the earth is covered with water. With 95% of this water in seas and oceans, man has to find the most energy-efficient way of desalination for sustainable freshwater supply. Conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation involve large amounts of energy, especially for high salt rejection. In comparison, the discovery of two-dimensional materials such as graphene and its structural analogs boron nitride and molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) has fostered been tremendous progress for energy-saving desalination using nanopores of these materials. This article reviews the recent developments in this technology with experimental and molecular simulation literature survey over the past few years. It explains the role of nanopores in desalination in terms of structure, energy, cost-effectiveness and process efficiency.     

Development of a low-carbon economy in China

Under the pressures of climate change, many countries are trying to adapt to a low-carbon economy. In this paper, we review the development pattern of the low-carbon economy of major countries and its impact on the world economy. We then argue that economic development and abatement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China should be balanced. The challenges that China faces should also be considered carefully. It is necessary for China to find an approach to solve the issues of climate change, which should include new technologies and establishing incentive mechanisms and reform-oriented policies. These guidelines can adjust the structure of the economy and energy use, improve energy efficiency, promote the development of alternative and renewable energy, enhance the potential of carbon sinks, and develop advanced technology to perfect a 'Clean Development Mechanism' and sustainable development through international cooperation.     

Urban fuelwood demand and markets in a small town in South Africa: Livelihood vulnerability and alien plant control

Fuelwood is the primary energy for most households throughout the developing world. With increasing urbanization and declining local availability of fuelwood, a growing proportion of households obtain their fuelwood by purchasing it. These fuelwood markets are the key nexus in supply and demand scenarios and can be potentially significant points for intervention to address energy security amongst the urban poor. This paper reports on the fuelwood demand and marketing in a small town in South Africa. Despite the availability of more modern fuels and state subsidization of electricity, fuelwood was still used by half the households. Annual demand was 1.2 t per household. Over half of the households bought their fuelwood requirements because local stocks were limited. Those households that did collect their own fuelwood were significantly poorer than households that purchased fuelwood, as well as households that did not use fuelwood at all. Fuelwood markets operated through 45-60 vendors who transported fuelwood from further afield. Income from the fuelwood trade was low, but was strongly linked to hours worked. Thus, vendors working a full week did earn a meaningful income, especially in the context of high unemployment in the area. Fuelwood vendors also provided casual employment opportunities for unskilled labour. Most vendors harvested fuelwood from commonage lands, with most of the wood being from alien species. Local stocks of wood are declining in the face of constant transformation of commonage to residential areas, and a national water and biodiversity conservation programme to eradicate alien plants. This decline poses a threat to the financial viability of fuelwood markets. Yet, an opportunity exists to incorporate the vendors into the alien plant clearing programme, since they already perform such a function.     

欧洲国家控制农业养分污染水环境的管理措施

近年来欧洲国家为控制农业养分污染水环境采取了一系列行政、法律和经济等环境管理措施,鼓励和刺激农民采取更加有利于环境的耕作方法,限制化肥、厩肥等养分投入,以最大限度地减轻氮、磷等养分流失对地下水和地表水体的污染,取得了显著的成效。本文对此作了详细介绍,以资借鉴。     

Determinants of the marginal willingness to pay for improved domestic water and irrigation in partially electrified Rwandan villages

Access to water for domestic and irrigation uses remains limited across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural areas. While the technical feasibility of implementing innovative technologies to improve water supply has been often evaluated, less is known about the drivers that motivate users to pay for obtaining the inherent benefits of improved water supply. In this article, the determinants of the marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) for improved domestic and irrigation water are investigated. For this purpose, a contingent valuation study is performed in rural Rwanda. This study uses survey data from 316 households situated in 8 villages, in which ~20% of the households receive electricity thanks to microgrids powered by solar energy. It is found that the mWTP for improved domestic water supply is influenced by the proportion of children in the household, business ownership, and satisfaction with water quantity and quality. The mWTP for irrigation is determined by respondent education, business ownership and crop area planted. This paper contributes to the literature by allowing a comparison of the determinants of the mWTP for improved domestic water supply to the determinants of the mWTP for irrigation. Another contribution is to examine the mWTP for improved water infrastructure in partially electrified villages. Identifying areas with high marginal benefits from water can guide infrastructure investment and electrification efforts while improving well-being and increasing revenues in rural areas.     

Aquaculture and the displacement of fisheries captures

In modern aquaculture, animal-production technology is used to increase aquatic food sources. Such controlled rearing of seafood can, in principle, shift the pressure off wild stocks and aquatic ecosystems by reducing fishing activities, which may advance marine conservation goals. We examined resource displacement—the reduced consumption of a resource due to its replacement with a more environmentally benign substitute—in fisheries. We employed panel regression techniques in an analysis of time-series data from 1970 through 2014 to assess the extent to which aquaculture production displaced fisheries captures for all nations for which data were available. We estimated 9 models to assess whether aquaculture production suppresses captures once other factors related to demand have been controlled for. Only 1 model predicted significant suppression of fisheries captures associated with aquaculture systems within nations over time. These results suggest that global aquaculture production does not substantially displace fisheries capture; instead, aquaculture production largely supplements fisheries capture.     

Technological change and fisheries sustainability: The point of view of Adaptive Dynamics

The analysis of a simple model shows that exploitation of fish stocks can entrain in the long run the substantial decline or even the collapse of the stock, as well as difficulties in stock recovery, loss of fishery resilience, and reduction of the mean fish size. The results are in agreement with numerous observations, even though they are obtained with a simple model in which the harvesting fleet and the fish stock are considered as unstructured predator and prey. The study is carried out for the typical case of fleet dimension not too sensitive to the year-to-year fluctuations of the stock and assuming that the sole cause of evolution is technological innovation. The analysis is performed by means of Adaptive Dynamics, an approach born in theoretical biology which is used here in the context of technological change. Although the results are qualitatively consistent with those obtained long ago through the principles of bioeconomics, it is fair to stress that the underlying assumptions are different. In fact, in the bioeconomic approach fleet technology does not evolve and fishing effort varies to produce economic optimization, while in the Adaptive Dynamics approach technological innovation is the key driver. The paper is purely theoretical and the proposed model can hardly be tuned on any real fishery. No practical guidelines for managers can therefore be drawn, if not the general conclusion that long-term sustainability of exploited fish stocks can only be achieved if strategic parameters influencing technological change are kept under strict control.