Article

Optimal Timing of Carbon Capture and Storage Policies Under Learning-by-doing

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Gilles Lafforgue et Michel Moreaux

Résumé

Using a standard Hotelling model of resource exploitation, we determine the optimal consumption paths of three energy resources: dirty coal, which is depletable and carbon-emitting; clean coal, which is also depletable but carbon-free thanks to an abatement technology (CCS: Carbon Capture and Storage), and solar energy which is renewable and carbon-free. Carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere and we assume that the atmospheric carbon stock cannot exceed a given ceiling. We consider learning-by-doing in the abatement technology, implying that the marginal CCS cost is decreasing in the cumulative consumption of clean coal. We show the following results. i) Learning-by-doing does not imply "early" capture, i.e. the clean coal exploitation must begin at the earliest once the carbon cap is reached. ii) The energy price path can evolve non-monotonically over time. iii) When the solar cost is low enough, there may exist unusual energy consumption sequence along which solar energy is interrupted for some time and replaced by clean coal.

Mots-clés

Climate change; Energy substitution; Carbon Capture and Storage; Learning-by-doing;

Codes JEL

  • Q31: Demand and Supply • Prices
  • Q42: Alternative Energy Sources
  • Q54: Climate • Natural Disasters • Global Warming
  • Q55: Technological Innovation

Remplace

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Gilles Lafforgue et Michel Moreaux, « Optimal Timing of Carbon Capture Policies Under Alternative CCS Cost Functions », TSE Working Paper, n° 12-318, avril 2012.

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Gilles Lafforgue et Michel Moreaux, « Optimal Timing of Carbon Capture and Storage Policies Under Learning-by-doing », TSE Working Paper, n° 14-472, février 2014.

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Gilles Lafforgue et Michel Moreaux, « Optimal Timing of CCS Policies under Decreasing Returns to Scale », TSE Working Paper, n° 14-529, mai 2014.

Référence

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Gilles Lafforgue et Michel Moreaux, « Optimal Timing of Carbon Capture and Storage Policies Under Learning-by-doing », Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 78, juillet 2016, p. 23–37.

Voir aussi

Publié dans

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 78, juillet 2016, p. 23–37