The EU-wide Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), established in 2005, is a key pillar of Europe¿s strategy to attain compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Under this scheme, CO2 allowances have thus far been allocated largely free of charge. This paper demonstrates that such cost-free allocation,...

Under the EU-wide Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), CO2 allowances have thus far been allocated largely free of charge. This paper presents a didactic synthesis on the impact of the ETS and argues that such a cost-free allocation will lead to an increase in electricity prices even when strong...

The EU-wide Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), established in 2005, is a key pillar of Europe's strategy to attain compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Under this scheme, CO2 allowances have thus far been allocated largely free of charge. This paper demonstrates that such cost-free allocation,...

The ongoing transformation of the world’s energy systems requires an international monitoring to evaluate the transformation processes and to identify transferable leading practice policies. For this purpose, an independent scientific expert commission should be established for the G20. By...

The ongoing transformation of the world’s energy systems requires an international monitoring to evaluate the transformation processes and to identify transferable leading practice policies. For this purpose, an independent scientific expert commission should be established for the G20. By...

Many countries have introduced Energy Performance Certificates to mitigate the information asymmetry with respect to the thermal quality of houses. Drawing on a stylized theoretical model that is coupled with comprehensive data on real estate advertisements in the German housing market, this...

Drawing on a panel of German survey data spanning 1997-2013, this paper identifi es the correlates of non-recreational bicycling, focusing specifically on the roles of bicycle paths and fuel prices. Our approach conceptualizes ridership as a two stage decision process comprising the discrete...

Biofuels contribute to the mitigation of climate change. Directive 2003/30/EC thus aims at increasing the share of biofuels in total EU fuel consumption by up to 5.75 % by 2010. The rationale behind this directive can be found in potentially positive environmental impacts, most notably the...

Many countries have introduced Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to mitigate information asymmetry problems with respect to the thermal quality of houses. Using data on real estate advertisements that cover large parts of the German housing market, this paper empirically investigates the...