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Learning-by-doing and the costs of a backstop for energy transition and sustainability

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  • Jouvet, Pierre-André
  • Schumacher, Ingmar

Abstract

We assess the impact of being able to substitute an unlimited but costly energy substitute (like wind, solar) for a non-renewable resource (like oil, coal) in a model of sustainable growth. The prospects for sustainability on the optimal path depend crucially on the costs of this substitute. Furthermore, the poorer a country, measured in terms of capital stock at a given point in time, the later it should switch to the renewable substitute, and the more likely it will be unsustainable. Taking learning-by-doing in account, we find that this leads to an earlier switching time but does not guarantee sustainability.

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  • Jouvet, Pierre-André & Schumacher, Ingmar, 2012. "Learning-by-doing and the costs of a backstop for energy transition and sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 122-132.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:73:y:2012:i:c:p:122-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.10.007
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    3. Ekaterina Azarova & Hannah Jun, 2021. "Investigating Determinants of International Clean Energy Investments in Emerging Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Apetrei, Cristina I. & Strelkovskii, Nikita & Khabarov, Nikolay & Javalera Rincón, Valeria, 2024. "Improving the representation of smallholder farmers’ adaptive behaviour in agent-based models: Learning-by-doing and social learning," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 489(C).
    5. Xiangdong Zhu & Zhutong Gu & Canfei He & Wei Chen, 2024. "The impact of the belt and road initiative on Chinese PV firms’ export expansion," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25763-25783, October.
    6. Armon Rezai & Frederick Ploeg, 2017. "Second-Best Renewable Subsidies to De-carbonize the Economy: Commitment and the Green Paradox," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 409-434, March.
    7. Charles F. Mason & Rémi Morin Chassé, 2018. "The Transition to Renewable Energy," CESifo Working Paper Series 6889, CESifo.
    8. Jean-François Fagnart & Marc Germain, 2015. "Can the Energy Transition Be Smooth?," Working Papers 2015.04, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    9. Victor Court & Pierre-André Jouvet & Frédéric Lantz, 2018. "Long-term endogenous economic growth and energy transitions," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Backstop technology; Non-renewable resource; Resource substitution; Sustainability; Learning-by-doing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q21 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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