This paper explores climate-friendly projects that could be part of the COVID-19 recovery while jump-starting the transition of the European basic materials industry. Findings from a literature review on technology options in advanced development stages for climate-friendly production, enhanced...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for Europe regarding its unhealthy levels of dependence on the energy and metals fronts, and the associated threats this posed to its competitiveness. Meanwhile, the need to decarbonize the economy has become ever more pressing. Soon after the...

Only by decarbonizing its economy and reducing energy and raw-material dependencies can the EU safeguard its competitiveness in the global markets. Postponing policies to decarbonize the energy system will increase long-run welfare losses. Decarbonization offers great potential for improving...

This paper explores which climate-friendly projects could be part of the COVID-19 recovery while jump-starting the transition of the European basic materials industry. Findings from a literature review on technology options in advanced development stages for climate-friendly production and...

The debate seems to be well settled among economists in that the best policy instrument to reduce carbon emissions is a carbon tax. However and surprisingly, most of these discussions have taken place in a firstbest setting. We think instead that second-best settings should be incorporated to...

The nuclear debate is strong in many countries, with the discussion of its economics being a significant part of it. However, most of the estimates are based on a levelized-cost methodology, which presents several shortcomings, particularly when applied to liberalized electricity markets. Our...

Energy efficiency and conservation are major elements for the improvement of the environmental impact of the energy sector, particularly regarding climate change. Energy efficiency also contributes to reducing external dependence and vulnerabilities in the energy domain. In this paper we discuss...

There is an increasing concern in the energy sector about how to confront its growing water demand, in a global setting in which water is expected to become a scarcer good. Indeed, the increase in energy demand will require more water for cooling power plants, for growing biofuels, or for...