IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v34y2006i18p3898-3909.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firing the furnace? An econometric analysis of utilities' fuel choice

Author

Listed:
  • Tauchmann, H.

Abstract

This paper attempts to predict the potential effects of CO2 emissions trading on fuel choice in the German electric power industry. By analyzing panel data (1968-1998) of major utilities, we show that the fuel mix of electric utilities is price inelastic. As a consequence, the implementation of a CO2 trading scheme will, if anything, only slightly induce interfuel substitution. Accordingly, low-carbon fuels will hardly replace lignite and hard coal through CO2 emissions trading, as long as abatement targets are not extremely ambitious. However,one cannot rule out that fuel prices may become more important for the utilities' fuel mix as a result of deregulation in the German power sector.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Tauchmann, H., 2006. "Firing the furnace? An econometric analysis of utilities' fuel choice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3898-3909, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:34:y:2006:i:18:p:3898-3909
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(05)00257-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joskow, Paul L & Mishkin, Frederic S, 1977. "Electric Utility Fuel Choice Behavior in the United States," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(3), pages 719-736, October.
    2. Bound, John & Krueger, Alan B, 1991. "The Extent of Measurement Error in Longitudinal Earnings Data: Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Bousquet, Alain & Ivaldi, Marc, 1998. "An individual choice model of energy mix," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 263-286, September.
    4. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February.
    5. Soderholm, Patrik, 2000. "Fuel flexibility in the West European power sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 157-170, September.
    6. Ellis, Randall P & Zimmerman, Martin B, 1983. "What Happened to Nuclear Power: A Discrete Choice Model of Technology Adoption," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(2), pages 234-242, May.
    7. Seifi, Ahmad & McDonald, John F., 1986. "Fuel choice in new fossil fuel electric power plants," Resources and Energy, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 21-34, March.
    8. Maddala, G S & Wu, Shaowen, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 631-652, Special I.
    9. Atkinson, Scott E & Halvorsen, Robert, 1976. "Interfuel Substitution in Steam Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(5), pages 959-978, October.
    10. Pindyck, Robert S, 1979. "Interfuel Substitution and the Industrial Demand for Energy: An International Comparison," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(2), pages 169-179, May.
    11. Griffin, James M, 1977. "Inter-fuel Substitution Possibilities: A Translog Application to Intercountry Data," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(3), pages 755-770, October.
    12. John F. Stewart, 1979. "Plant Size, Plant Factor, and the Shape of the Average Cost Function in Electric Power Generation: A Nonhomogeneous Capital Approach," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(2), pages 549-565, Autumn.
    13. Gollop, Frank M & Roberts, Mark J, 1983. "Environmental Regulations and Productivity Growth: The Case of Fossil-Fueled Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 654-674, August.
    14. Soderholm, Patrik, 2001. "Fossil fuel flexibility in west European power generation and the impact of system load factors," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 77-97, January.
    15. Timothy J. Considine, 2000. "Cost Structures for Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Power Generation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 83-104.
    16. Harald Tauchmann, 2005. "Co2 Abatement and Fuel Mix in German Electric Power Generation — Is the “Ecological Electricity Tax†Ecologically Effective?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 16(2), pages 255-271, March.
    17. Laurits R. Christensen & William H. Greene, 1978. "An Econometric Assessment of Cost Savings from Coordination in U.S. Electric Power Generation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(2), pages 139-155.
    18. Manuel Frondel & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2002. "The Capital-Energy Controversy: An Artifact of Cost Shares?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 53-79.
    19. Phillips, Peter C B & Ouliaris, S, 1990. "Asymptotic Properties of Residual Based Tests for Cointegration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 165-193, January.
    20. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    21. Christensen, Laurits R & Greene, William H, 1976. "Economies of Scale in U.S. Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages 655-676, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hyun, Minwoo & Kim, Yeong Jae & Eom, Jiyong, 2020. "Assessing the impact of a demand-resource bidding market on an electricity generation portfolio and the environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Matisoff, Daniel C. & Noonan, Douglas S. & Cui, Jinshu, 2014. "Electric utilities, fuel use, and responsiveness to fuel prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 445-452.
    3. Neuhoff, K. & Grubb, M. & Keats, K., 2005. "Impact of the allowance allocation on prices and efficiency," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0552, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Michelsen, Carl Christian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Switching from fossil fuel to renewables in residential heating systems: An empirical study of homeowners' decisions in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 95-105.
    5. Kim Keats Martinez & Karsten Neuhoff, 2005. "Allocation of carbon emission certificates in the power sector: how generators profit from grandfathered rights," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 61-78, January.
    6. Gao, Jing & Nelson, Robert & Zhang, Lei, 2013. "Substitution in the electric power industry: An interregional comparison in the eastern US," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 316-325.
    7. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Popp, Stephan, 2009. "Can the electricity market be characterised by asymmetric behaviour?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4364-4372, November.
    8. Mikael Linden, Matti Makela, and Jussi Uusivuori, 2013. "Fuel Input Substitution under Tradable Carbon Permits System: Evidence from Finnish Energy Plants 2005-2008," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    9. Pettersson, Fredrik & Söderholm, Patrik & Lundmark, Robert, 2012. "Fuel switching and climate and energy policies in the European power generation sector: A generalized Leontief model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1064-1073.
    10. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema & Smyth, Russell, 2008. "Are oil shocks permanent or temporary? Panel data evidence from crude oil and NGL production in 60 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 919-936, May.
    11. Colm McCarthy & Jeremiah O'Dwyer & Richard Troy, 2006. "Measuring fuel diversity in power generation," Working Papers 200618, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Harald Tauchmann, 2004. "Firing the Furnace? – An Econometric Analysis of Utilities’ Fuel Choice," RWI Discussion Papers 0017, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    2. repec:zbw:rwidps:0017 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Harald Tauchmann, 2005. "Co2 Abatement and Fuel Mix in German Electric Power Generation — Is the “Ecological Electricity Tax†Ecologically Effective?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 16(2), pages 255-271, March.
    4. Matisoff, Daniel C. & Noonan, Douglas S. & Cui, Jinshu, 2014. "Electric utilities, fuel use, and responsiveness to fuel prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 445-452.
    5. Pettersson, Fredrik & Söderholm, Patrik & Lundmark, Robert, 2012. "Fuel switching and climate and energy policies in the European power generation sector: A generalized Leontief model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1064-1073.
    6. Gao, Jing & Nelson, Robert & Zhang, Lei, 2013. "Substitution in the electric power industry: An interregional comparison in the eastern US," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 316-325.
    7. Papageorgiou, Chris & Saam, Marianne & Schulte, Patrick, 2013. "Elasticity of substitution between clean and dirty energy inputs: A macroeconomic perspective," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-087, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Valeria Costantini & Elena Paglialunga, 2014. "Elasticity of substitution in capital-energy relationships: how central is a sector-based panel estimation approach?," SEEDS Working Papers 1314, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised May 2014.
    9. Peñasco, Cristina & del Río, Pablo & Romero-Jordán, Desiderio, 2017. "Gas and electricity demand in Spanish manufacturing industries: An analysis using homogeneous and heterogeneous estimators," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-60.
    10. Bernstein, Ronald & Madlener, Reinhard, 2011. "Responsiveness of Residential Electricity Demand in OECD Countries: A Panel Cointegation and Causality Analysis," FCN Working Papers 8/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    11. Elena Lagomarsino & Karen Turner, 2017. "Is the production function Translog or CES? An empirical illustration using UK data," Working Papers 1713, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics.
    12. Olimpia Neagu, 2019. "The Link between Economic Complexity and Carbon Emissions in the European Union Countries: A Model Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Lundmark, Robert & Söderholm, Patrik & Lundmark, Robert, 2003. "Structural changes in Swedish wastepaper demand: a variable cost function approach," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 41-63.
    14. Vanessa Berenguer‐Rico & Josep Lluís Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, 2006. "Testing for Multicointegration in Panel Data with Common Factors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(s1), pages 721-739, December.
    15. Rajesh Sharma & Samaresh Bardhan, 2017. "Finance growth nexus across Indian states: evidences from panel cointegration and causality tests," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Breitung, Jörg & Pesaran, Mohammad Hashem, 2005. "Unit roots and cointegration in panels," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2005,42, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    17. Stephen Redding & Mercedes Vera-Martin, 2006. "Factor Endowments and Production in European Regions," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 142(1), pages 1-32, April.
    18. In Choi, 2012. "Panel Cointegration," Working Papers 1208, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    19. Bayer, Christian & Hanck, Christoph, 2008. "Is double trouble? How to combine cointegration tests," Technical Reports 2008,10, Technische Universität Dortmund, Sonderforschungsbereich 475: Komplexitätsreduktion in multivariaten Datenstrukturen.
    20. Wagner, Martin, 2008. "The carbon Kuznets curve: A cloudy picture emitted by bad econometrics?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 388-408, August.
    21. Thorsten Beck, 2009. "The Econometrics of Finance and Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Terence C. Mills & Kerry Patterson (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of Econometrics, chapter 25, pages 1180-1209, Palgrave Macmillan.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:34:y:2006:i:18:p:3898-3909. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.