Endogenous Resource Substitution under a Climate Stabilization Policy: Can Nuclear Power Provide Clean Energy?
Abstract
The declared long-term goal of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the stabilization of carbon concentration in the atmosphere. In this paper we impose a carbon target concentration on a partial equilibrium model of the global energy sector. Specifically, we ask whether nuclear power can provide carbon free energy as fossil fuel resources become costly due to scarcity and externality costs. We find that nuclear power can reduce the cost of generating clean energy significantly and relatively quickly. However, beyond a few decades the role of nuclear power may be considerably reduced as uranium becomes scarce and renewables become economical. The cost of carbon when nuclear power supplies a significant share of energy is much lower than that of other studies. A policy implication is that current political and regulatory impediments to the expansion of nuclear generation may prove to be costly if large volumes of clean energy need to be supplied over a relatively short period of time.Download Info
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Paper provided by University of Alberta, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 2009-19.Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: 16 Apr 2009
Date of revision: 01 Sep 2010
Handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2009_019
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Related research
Keywords: energy resources; global warming; hotelling models; resource substitution;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development
- Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply
- Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2009-04-25 (All new papers)
- NEP-ENE-2009-04-25 (Energy Economics)
- NEP-ENV-2009-04-25 (Environmental Economics)
- NEP-REG-2009-04-25 (Regulation)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- van der Zwaan, B. C. C. & Gerlagh, R. & G. & Klaassen & Schrattenholzer, L., 2002. "Endogenous technological change in climate change modelling," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
- Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Krulce, Darrell L, 1994. "Heterogeneous Demand and Order of Resource Extraction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(6), pages 1445-52, November.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Hubert, Marie-Hélène & Moreaux, Michel, 2009.
"Politiques pro-biocarburants et climatique américaines : impact sur les choix énergétiques du Brésil et des Etats-Unis et bilan carbone,"
TSE Working Papers
09-105, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
- Ujjayant Chakravorty & Marie-Hélène Hubert & Michel Moreaux, 2010. "Politiques pro-biocarburants et climatique américaines : impact sur les choix énergétiques du Brésil et des Etats-Unis et bilan carbone," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 61(1), pages 213-247.
- Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Hubert, Marie-Hélène & Moreaux, Michel, 2009. "Politiques pro-biocarburants et climatique américaines : impact sur les choix énergétiques du Brésil et des Etats-Unis et bilan carbone," IDEI Working Papers 568, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
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