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On assessing climate effects of electrifying the transport sector

Author

Listed:
  • Carlén, Björn

    (VTI)

  • Mandell, Svante

    (VTI)

Abstract

Shifting transportation to electrified modes, e.g., rail, is a politically attractive way of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. There is a vivid debate about the effects such a shift has on GHG emission and how these should be assessed and appraised. We argue that this debate largely originates from differences in how the debaters characterize the situation at hand, in particular how markets are organized and which policy instruments are in place. To shed light on this, we start by identifying the appropriate assessment approach in a hypothetical situation without any climate or energy policies and then gradually add realistic circumstances into the equation. Our main conclusion is that evaluating the climate impacts from a transportation shift is a highly complex task in the initial situation. The closer we move towards a climate-policy architecture of the current EU-type, the simpler the task becomes. Given a comprehensive global climate treaty, there is no need for any special treatment of the GHG effects since all relevant effects then would be internalized in producer and consumer prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlén, Björn & Mandell, Svante, 2012. "On assessing climate effects of electrifying the transport sector," Working papers in Transport Economics 2012:11, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2012_011
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    File URL: http://www.transportportal.se/SWoPEc/CTS2012-11.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mandell, Svante & Nilsson , Jan-Eric & Vierth , Inge, 2014. "Freight transport, policy instruments and climate," Working papers in Transport Economics 2014:5, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate; Transport; Cost-benefit analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

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