Search

In the context of global value chains (GVCs), the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on China's bilateral trade with Belt and Road countries (BRCs) is controversial. This study constructed a GVC accounting framework based on a multiregional input–output model, aiming to clarify the trends and transfer characteristics of the value added (VA) and the embodied carbon emissions (ECEs) in China–BRCs bilateral trade from 2000 to 2018 at the overall country, Belt and Road region (BRR), and typical country levels. The relevant results are threefold. (1) At the overall country level, the BRCs VA and ECEs imports and exports have shown overall increasing trends. (2) Most BRRs are net ECE exporters to China. Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia are the main ECEs destinations and sources. (3) In China–typical BRCs bilateral trade, China is a net ECEs exporter to most typical BRCs, and the net ECE transfers through route 1 (onefold value chain) are all positive, implying that route 1 can reduce ECEs in BRCs. These findings can help formulate policies and measures to reduce carbon emissions and provide a scientific basis for realizing the coordinated development of carbon emission reduction and economy in China and BRCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of renewable rnergy sources (RESs) into the power grid involves operational challenges due to the inherent RES energy-production variability. Imbalances between actual power generation and scheduled production can lead to grid instability and revenue loss for RES operators and aggregators. To address this risk, in this paper, we introduce a mutually beneficial bilateral trading scheme between a RES and a DR aggregator to internally offset real-time energy imbalances before resorting to the flexibility market. We consider that the DR aggregator manages the energy demand of users, characterized by uncertainty in their participation in DR events and thus the actual provision of flexibility, subject to their offered monetary incentives. Given that the RES aggregator faces penalties according to dual pricing for positive or negative imbalances, we develop an optimization framework to achieve the required flexibility while addressing the trade-off between maximizing the profit of the RES and DR aggregators and appropriately incentivizing the users. By using appropriate parameterization of the solution, the achievable revenue for the imbalance offsetting can be shared between the RES and the DR aggregators while keeping users satisfied. Our analysis highlights the interdependencies of the demand–production energy imbalance on user characteristics and the RES and DR aggregator profits. Based on our results, we show that a win–win outcome (for the RES and DR aggregators and the users) is possible for a wide range of cases, and we provide guidelines so that such bilateral agreements between RES and DR aggregators could emerge in practical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing carbon trading is an essential way to decarbonize the power system. Many existing studies mainly consider source-side unilateral carbon trading (UCT). However, there are still rare studies considering source-load bilateral carbon trading (BCT). The effect of source-load BCT on system-wide carbon mitigation is worth studying. To fill this research gap, a hierarchical low-carbon economic-dispatch model with source-load BCT based on the Aumann–Shapley method was proposed. In the first layer, economic-dispatch was conducted to minimize the power-generation costs and source-side carbon-trading costs. Then, based on the carbon-emission flow (CEF) theory, the actual load carbon emissions can be obtained and passed to the second layer. At the second layer, the demand-response optimization was performed to minimize the load-side carbon-trading costs. Finally, the proposed model was tested on the modified New England 39-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems using the MATLAB/YALMIP platform with the Gurobi solver. The results indicate that the proposed model can effectively facilitate peak-load shifting, wind-power consumption, and carbon mitigation. Furthermore, compared with the models only considering source-side or load-side UCT, the proposed source-load BCT model has obvious advantages in carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because electricity retailers must ensure that energy supply matches end-user demand, electricity that is not traded through bilateral contracts is typically traded in power exchanges which are subject to great price volatility. In Colombia, the spot price is a reflection of climate variability because approximately 70% of the country's electricity is generated by large hydropower stations. In this study, we forecast 2018′s prices and calculated its corresponding purchase margins using the 2015 to 2017 bilateral contract prices for electricity plus power exchange price information and climate information. Our forecasts included climate uncertainty and evaluated two multi-period portfolio methods for deciding among three purchasing strategies: bilateral contracts in the regulated market, bilateral contracts in the non-regulated markets, and purchases in the power exchange. The results indicate that retailers should follow a middle course that is neither conservative nor risky. Creation of portfolios independent of the multi-period method can balance purchases through bilateral contracts and in the power exchange in a way that considers climatic uncertainty. This type of balanced portfolio could control medium-term risks of price volatility and result in good levels of purchase margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of agreements related to climate change on bilateral trade, using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimator on a large dataset that requires computing high-dimensional fixed effects. This study develops the concordance between commodities based on harmonized systems (HS) and technologies defined by both international and cooperative patent classifications (IPC/CPC). Using the OECD ENV-TECH classification, covering 169 exporting countries and 179 importing countries worldwide from 1991 to 2019, we determined the relationship between HS commodities and IPC/CPC climate change technologies. The main findings show that, first, the Kyoto Protocol has increased international bilateral trade in the climate change industry, while the Montreal Protocol has led to the opposite effect. In addition, the impact of environmental stringency on international bilateral trade in climate-related industries was negative and significant, refuting the Porter Hypothesis. This result was consistent within the trade between the convention countries. Therefore, national and industrial perspectives are relative, and voluntary climate mitigation methods should be applied, considering the areas where carbon reduction is relatively difficult. In other words, the conventions and policies must shift to a global paradigm in environmental protection and a more inclusive approach, with recognition of diversity in governance types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to determine the influence of electrical energy market regulation reform in Ukraine on the competitive environment, the reproduction processes of financial and innovative support, and the energy efficiency of the national economy. The authors have put forward and verified the hypothesis that, under conditions of institutional maturity of the Ukrainian electrical energy market, its liberalization and separation of the kinds of activity related to generation, transmission, and distribution leads to a decrease in prices, and the level of economic concentration stimulates implementation of innovations and the formation of reports on sustainable development. Over the thirteen-year time interval, a steady trend of decreasing energy intensity of the Ukrainian economy was established, and the appropriateness of energy efficiency management based on strategic targets was substantiated. The electricity market model in Ukraine is defined as a hybrid one, with an emphasis on trade under bilateral agreements. It was statistically found that liberalization of the electrical energy market in Ukraine contributed to a decrease in prices, with the exception of the areas of largest household and non-household consumers. The high level of asset concentration in the accounts of large enterprises was revealed, and the conclusion concerning the improvement of the competitive environment in the electricity production sector and the existence of the features of natural monopolies in the areas of transmission and distribution of electricity was made. The assessment of the financial competitive ability and profitability of electrical energy market entities was made, the main entities of the investment activity and the sources of their financing were characterized, and innovations were emphasized. The role of the standards of the audit of integrated reporting of the Ukrainian energy holdings and their role in ensuring sustainable development was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]