Working paper

Equilibrium Transitions from Non Renewable Energy to Renewable Energy under Capacity Constraints

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Alain Ayong Le Kama, and Michel Moreaux

Abstract

We study the transition between non renewable and renewable energy sources with adjustment costs over the production capacity of renewable energy. Assuming constant variable marginal costs for both energy sources, convex adjustment costs and a more expensive renewable energy, we show the following. With sufficiently abundant non renewable energy endowments, the dynamic equilibrium path is composed of a first time phase of only non renewable energy use followed by a transition phase substituting progressively renewable energy to non renewable energy before a last time phase of only renewable energy use. The investment into renewable energy may either begin before actual production of renewable energy or be delayed until the energy price achieves a sufficient gap with respect to the renewable energy cost. With an initially abundant non renewable resource, the features of the transition between non renewable and renewable energy do not depend upon the initial resource stock.

Keywords

non renewable resource; renewable energy; adjustment costs; resources transition; capacity constraints;

JEL codes

  • D92: Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
  • Q30: General
  • Q40: General
  • Q42: Alternative Energy Sources

Replaced by

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Alain Ayong Le Kama, and Michel Moreaux, Equilibrium Transitions from Non Renewable Energy to Renewable Energy under Capacity Constraints, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, vol. 55, 2015, pp. 89–112.

Reference

Jean-Pierre Amigues, Alain Ayong Le Kama, and Michel Moreaux, Equilibrium Transitions from Non Renewable Energy to Renewable Energy under Capacity Constraints, TSE Working Paper, n. 13-440, October 2013, revised March 2015.

See also

Published in

TSE Working Paper, n. 13-440, October 2013, revised March 2015