New thesis by Aemiro Melkamu Daniel provides attributes that demand flexibility contract providers can use to design compensation schemes and effectively market contracts for people willing to offer electricity demand flexibility. The thesis investigates concerns related to residential electricity demand flexibility (potential to reduce electricity consumption during peak load situations) in Sweden and household fuel choice in urban Ethiopia. Aemiro defends his thesis Friday April 3rd, 2020. Follow the dissertation online. (click on headline to learn more)
Paper I and paper II in the thesis respectively address household heterogeneity in valuing electricity demand flexibility attributes and in the use of choice decision rules for demand flexibility electricity contracts. Paper III examines the effect of disclosing pro-environmental information on preferences for load restrictions in Swedish households while the last paper explores the determinants of fuel choice in urban Ethiopia where households use one or more types of fuels to meet their energy demand.
Three CERE professors’ comments on a debate article on possible technical solutions as plan B if the price on carbon falls through. “If it is absolutely necessary to use technical solutions, we could for example put up solar panels in order to irrigate Sahara and by doing so, sequestering carbon. It is quicker than building a Fuglesang-Hassler parasol at the Lagrangian point and in all probability considerably cheaper and with by far less negative environmental impact.
CERE’s Runar Brännlund debates the new targets for battling emission in Umeå municipality. He finds the targets redundant and even damaging for individuals and businesses in Umeå without any effect on global emissions. Read the debate article “Skadliga utsläppsmål för Umeå" (Damaging emission targets for Umeå). Published on the Västerbottens Kuriren web on March 13th, 2020 (only in Swedish).
Temporary no-take zones are increasingly introduced in Sweden as a fisheries management tool to restore populations of specific target species. A paper published in the journal Marine Policy by CERE researchers show that cost-benefit analyses for the two no-take zones are positive in all scenarios relating to the most realistic case of no opportunity costs, i.e., assuming that all fishing activity could be relocated to adjacent areas without cost during the closed period. (Click on headline to read more)
“- Our plastic bags do not end up in the Pacific or in China, they are used for carrying and as garbage disposals. They end up in heat and power stations becoming heat or electricity. Furthermore, the majority of the Swedish plastic carrier bags are made by renewable sources.” Runar Brännlund comments on the new tax on plastic bags in fPlus (only in Swedish).
CERE's Runar Brännlund is interviewed in Expressen regarding Ellevios commitment to install new electricity meters. Runar comments that this is a question on demand flexbility, Ellevio is hoping that consumers will adapt to the situation on the electricity market. However, consumers are not that interested in adapting their life to the electric bill. (only in Swedish).
Runar Brännlund is skeptical to the new taxes, only two works according to Runar, carbon and sulfur taxes, the rest are symbolic and greenwashing. He names the departure tax as a good example for a poorly and expensively designed tax. It is taxed on each journey and would be the same regardless if the plane ran on air. (only in Swedish)
Tommy Lundgren, CERE, explains how the gaz price in Västerbotten is dependent on the conflict between the US and Iran in a Västerbotten radio morning show, only in Swedish.
