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Green industrial policies around renewable energy (RE) are growing increasingly prevalent in emerging economy contexts as a means to foster low-carbon industrialization pathways. However, policymakers often face a tradeoff in thei...
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Green industrial policies around renewable energy (RE) are growing increasingly prevalent in emerging economy contexts as a means to foster low-carbon industrialization pathways. However, policymakers often face a tradeoff in their policy designs. In this paper, we focus on the tradeoff between minimizing the cost of low-carbon energy generation to fuel traditional input-intensive industrialization strategies, and implementing potentially costly measures to build local industries around low-carbon energy technologies. Specifically, we utilize the cases of Mexico and South Africa to investigate how each country's distinct prioritization of these two objectives led to a divergence of their RE auction designs and outcomes. Specifically, using data on the involvement of local and foreign actors in Mexican and South African RE projects, policy documents, and interviews with public and private stakeholders in the two countries, we show how each country's policy design shaped RE market and bid price developments, and the formation of local RE value chains. We find that the prioritization of low-cost RE generation can result in a greater reliance on existing foreign value chains and capital, without building the local capabilities that could result in greater long-term benefits for the market. We further discuss the implications of our results for policymakers, focusing on providing recommendations for RE industrial policy design in general, and the calibration of local content incentives in particular. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Redesigning food production and consumption is key to limiting global warming, soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Yet, transforming the food system may involve political feasibility problems, as potentially effective policy inter...
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Redesigning food production and consumption is key to limiting global warming, soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Yet, transforming the food system may involve political feasibility problems, as potentially effective policy interventions interfere with citizens' daily lives. Here, we show that policy packaging-the systematic bundling of different policy measures-can help to mitigate the potential trade-off between political feasibility and problem-solving effectiveness. We use conjoint experiments with citizens from China, Germany and the United States to scrutinize support for different combinations of policies aimed at reducing food systems' environmental impacts. Our results do not support the widespread claim that costly market-based or push measures per se receive less support than non-market-based or pull measures. Instead, they show that citizens are likely to support even costly policies, but this support varies by country and depends on the specific combination of policy measures, their stringency and revenue earmarking.
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With cities being responsible for up to 70% of energy-related carbon emissions, municipal governments worldwide are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility to act. Many large cities have committed to mitigation by beco...
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With cities being responsible for up to 70% of energy-related carbon emissions, municipal governments worldwide are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility to act. Many large cities have committed to mitigation by becoming member of a municipal climate network, such as the C40 or the Compact of Mayors. However, there is no consistent assessment of whether membership of such networks translates into measurable outcomes. To fill this gap, we propose the use of novel outcome variables, combining financial data with geospatial information. As a starting point, this paper compares utility-scale investment in photovoltaics (PV) within the administrative boundaries of large global cities, combining the Bloomberg New Energy Finance database with information from Google Maps. We analyse 512 global cities with a population of above 1 million, and consider the impact of 5 networks and 2 reporting platforms. The results suggest that membership of the C40 network has a positive effect on utility-scale solar PV investment, while no such evidence is found for any of the other networks or reporting platforms under study. Based on our findings, we recommend that municipal climate networks increase their efforts to trigger city regulation that is conducive to solar PV investment. More generally, measuring early indicators, such as low-carbon investment, can help municipal climate networks in their role as 'commitment brokers' for climate action on the ever-more important city level.Key policy insights Cities have considerable policy space to foster utility-scale solar PV investment within their administrative boundaries. While some large global cities exhibited significant growth in utility-scale solar PV, many others with good solar potential did not have a single project by the end of 2016. Outside of China (where city boundaries often include rural areas), Tokyo tops the list with utility-scale solar PV projects by far, followed by San Diego and Rome. Membership of the C40 network appears to make a positive difference to PV investment, unlike other networks or reporting platforms. Outcome measures like low-carbon investment can be used more generally to assess the climate action performance of cities.
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Renewable energy technologies are a key lever to mitigate climate change. However, net energy analyses showing low energy returns on energy invested (EROIs) for these technologies raise the question of whether current prosperity c...
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Renewable energy technologies are a key lever to mitigate climate change. However, net energy analyses showing low energy returns on energy invested (EROIs) for these technologies raise the question of whether current prosperity can be maintained with an increasingly renewables-dependent energy sector. Here we argue that static net energy analyses disregard the inherent potential to improve technologies through innovation. We present energetic experience curves for power generation technologies utilizing hard coal, solar irradiation, and wind, and show that EROI of new technologies improves as more capacity is installed. By 2015, solar PV and onshore wind were already outperforming coal, with further improvements to be expected. Therefore, concerns that a large-scale transition to renewable energy sources jeopardizes societal net energy efficiency and prosperity seem unfounded.
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Background: Prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are novel enhancers of iron absorption from ferrous fumarate (FeFum). However, the mechanism(s) of this effect, and whether it occurs in the proximal or distal gut, are uncertai...
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Background: Prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are novel enhancers of iron absorption from ferrous fumarate (FeFum). However, the mechanism(s) of this effect, and whether it occurs in the proximal or distal gut, are uncertain. Objectives: We studied: 1) in vitro, the effect of GOS on iron solubility and dialyzability from FeFum: 2) in volunteers, the absorption kinetics of FeFum given with and without GOS using stable isotope appearance curves (SIAC). Methods: We measured iron solubility at various pH and dialyzability from FeFum with and without GOS. In crossover design, iron-depleted women [n = 11; median serum ferritin (SF) 15.2; IQR: 12.6-21.2 mu g/L] received 2 14-mg iron doses as labeled (Fe-57,Fe-58) FeFum 14 d apart with and without 15 g GOS in randomly assigned order. Multiple blood samples were collected over a time period of 24 h and 14 d later to determine SIAC and fractional iron absorption (FIA), respectively. SIAC data were fitted using nonlinearmixed effects modeling to a 1-compartment model with first-order absorption. and AUC and time of peak serum isotope concentration (t(max)) were calculated. Results: Iron dialyzability was 75% higher with GOS (P < 0.001) and iron solubility was more than doubled at pH 4 and 6 with GOS [both P < 0.001]. Mean +/- SD AUC (5830.9 +/- 4717.3 mu g/min with GOS, 4454.0 +/- 3260.7 mu g/min for control). and median (IQR) FIA (20.3% (8.6%-38.7%) with GOS, and 15.6% (10.6%-24.8% f)or control) were not different with compared to without GOS (P= 0.064: P = 0.080). Mean +/- SD t(max) was not altered with GOS (3.08 +/- 0.47 h with GOS; 2.80 +/- 050 h for control; P = 0.096). Iron bioavailability significantly increased with decreasing SF and this effect was significantly enhanced by GOS (P = 0.037, interaction of GOS with SF). Conclusions: GOS increases iron solubility from FeFum at physiological pH characteristic of the proximal duodenum. The absorption kinetics in vivo are consistent with effects on iron absorption in the proximal, rather than distal, parts of the gut. There was no overall effect of GOS on FIA in vivo, but the interaction of GOS and SF on HA might benefit iron-deficient women. an effect potentially mediated by the higher solubility shown in vitro.
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Despite a renaissance of policy design thinking in public policy literature and a renewed interest in agency in the policy process literature, agency in the policy design process has, so far, not received systematic attention. Und...
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Despite a renaissance of policy design thinking in public policy literature and a renewed interest in agency in the policy process literature, agency in the policy design process has, so far, not received systematic attention. Understanding the agency at play when designing policy, however, is crucial for better comprehension of policy design choices and variation in policy design across cases. Here, we build on the hierarchical structure of design elements that constitute each policy and analyse how actors position themselves during a policy design process in relation to individual design elements. Our aim is to establish different actors' roles in shaping the policy output in an inductive, single-case study using the empirical case of the Swiss renewable energy feed-in tariff. Notably, we find agency in the form of coalitions which emerge around particular design elements. Based on our representative analysis, we derive the generalisable concept of design coalitions that we define as relational structures of actors who gather around and advocate for specific policy design elements during the policy design process. Policy design coalitions are dynamic throughout the design process and strategic and constitute the determinants in translating policy problems into final policy designs during policy designing. Our approach allows us to shed light on the role of agency in the policy design process in general.
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The Paris Agreement will require national level mitigation action that takes advantage of economic and technological opportunities while redirecting finance towards low-carbon alternatives. However, climate change has been politic...
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The Paris Agreement will require national level mitigation action that takes advantage of economic and technological opportunities while redirecting finance towards low-carbon alternatives. However, climate change has been politicized in many countries, potentially blocking the introduction of climate policies and broader green industrial policies. Publicly funded green investment banks (GIBs) are one policy instrument that mobilizes private finance into national opportunities. However very little is known about the political decisions behind the establishment and design of these banks. Taking an exploratory approach, we analyse the parliamentary discourse behind the establishment and design of the UK's Green Investment Bank and Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation. We find that the debate on GIB establishment focused on arguments related to high-level policy goals and the role of the state. The debate on GIB design focused on technology target sectors, tasks and tools to be implemented, and organizational aspects. We find a difference in political controversy levels with Australia's debates displaying distinct partisanship on all debate topics, whereas the UK's debates displayed clear consensus on the majority of debated topics. We also find that debate on higher-level establishment concepts, especially the role of the state, received more attention in Australia, whereas in the UK there was greater discussion of design concepts, namely organizational aspects. We derive propositions on the politics of GIBs beyond our two cases, and conclude with an agenda for future research.
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Bjarne Steffen is a senior researcher at ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group. His research addresses policies related to energy innovation and the role of finance in the energy transition. He previously worked at MIT's Center for E...
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Bjarne Steffen is a senior researcher at ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group. His research addresses policies related to energy innovation and the role of finance in the energy transition. He previously worked at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, the World Economic Forum, and a strategy consultancy. Bjarne holds a Master's in economics from the University of Mannheim and a PhD in energy economics from the University of Duisburg-Essen.Florian Egli is a PhD candidate at ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group. His research focuses on the role of finance in the energy transition and climate finance more generally. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, is associated with the think tank foraus as its former vice president, and held a Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs in 2015 and 2016. Florian holds a Master's in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva.Michael Pahle is head of the working group "Climate and Energy Policy'' at the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research. His research focuses on carbon pricing and power market design. He holds a Master's in Physics from Potsdam University and a PhD in economics from TU Berlin. Tobias S. Schmidt is Assistant Professor and the head of ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group, an interdisciplinary group analyzing the interaction of energy policy and its underlying politics with technological change in the energy sector. His research covers both developed and developing countries.Tobias holds a Bachelor's and Master's of Science in electrical engineering (energy focus) from the Technical University-Munich and a PhD from ETH Zurich in management, technology, and economics.
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Although machine learning has been successful in recent years and is increasingly being deployed in the sciences, enterprises or administrations, it has rarely been discussed in philosophy beyond the philosophy of mathematics and ...
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Although machine learning has been successful in recent years and is increasingly being deployed in the sciences, enterprises or administrations, it has rarely been discussed in philosophy beyond the philosophy of mathematics and machine learning. The present contribution addresses the resulting lack of conceptual tools for an epistemological discussion of machine learning by conceiving of deep learning networks as 'judging machines' and using the Kantian analysis of judgments for specifying the type of judgment they are capable of. At the center of the argument is the fact that the functionality of deep learning networks is established by training and cannot be explained and justified by reference to a predefined rule-based procedure. Instead, the computational process of a deep learning network is barely explainable and needs further justification, as is shown in reference to the current research literature. Thus, it requires a new form of justification, that is to be specified with the help of Kant's epistemology.
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This paper identifies a necessary and sufficient condition for index-wise comparative statics, which can: (i) establish comparative statics of a single decision without solving the entire model and (ii) enable analysis in settings...
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This paper identifies a necessary and sufficient condition for index-wise comparative statics, which can: (i) establish comparative statics of a single decision without solving the entire model and (ii) enable analysis in settings where substitutability among variables otherwise precludes the use of current comparative statics methods. We prove this result with an extended version of lattice theory. By means of an example, we highlight the advantages as well as disadvantages offered by index-wise comparative statics. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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