Putting it into Perspective: China’s Carbon Intensity Target

Natural Resources Defense Council / by David Cohen-Tanugi http://tinyurl.com/2w3lre2 [Barbara Finamore's Switchboard Blog from NRDC] NRDC recently released a working paper analyzing China’s commitment to reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.  In our analysis, we examined three scenarios based in part on different assumptions about China’s energy intensity [...]

Implementing Cost-Effective Policies in the United States to Mitigate Climate Change

OECD Working Paper / David Carey http://tinyurl.com/2aj995f [Abstract] The consensus view of scientists is that the build-up of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere is causing global warming. To reduce the probability of severe climate-change impacts and costs occurring, global GHG emissions need to be reduced substantially over coming decades. The United States agreed to [...]

Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis Proposed Rulemaking to Establish Light- Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

US EPA www.epa.gov/OMS/climate/regulations/420d09003.pdf The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. This comprehensive national program is projected to reduce GHG emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save [...]

The Financial Crisis and its Impacts on Global Agriculture

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5431 / Justin Yifu Lin and Will Martin http://tinyurl.com/2dgm2om [Summary] The financial crisis arose in the industrial countries, but has affected developing countries through higher interest rates, sharp changes in commodity prices, and reductions in investment, trade, migration and remittances. For most low-income countries, shocks that affect food prices [...]

Financial Protection of the State Against Natural Disasters : a Primer

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5429 / Francis Ghesquiere and Olivier Mahul http://tinyurl.com/2dfo2mn [Summary] This paper has been prepared for policy makers interested in establishing or strengthening financial strategies to increase the financial response capacity of governments of developing countries in the aftermath of natural disasters, while protecting their long-term fiscal balances. It analyzes [...]

Costs of Taxation and Benefits of Public Goods with Multiple Taxes and Goods

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5410 / James E. Anderson and Will Martin http://tinyurl.com/25xbuab [Summary] The recent public economics literature involves an apparent consensus that income effects reduce the costs of raising revenues and hence increase the desirable level of public good provision. Higher taxes can indeed reduce the demand for leisure — and [...]

Equity in Climate Change: an Analytical Review

World Bank Policy Research Paper 5383 / Aaditya Mattoo and Arvind Subramanian http://tinyurl.com/244ulnh [Summary] How global emissions reduction targets can be achieved equitably is a key issue in climate change discussions. This paper presents an analytical framework to encompass contributions to the literature on equity in climate change, and highlights the consequences — in terms [...]

Advanced Biofuel Technologies : Status and Barriers

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5411 / Jay Cheng and Govinda Timilsina http://tinyurl.com/285oa8c [Summary] Large-scale production of crop based (first generation) biofuels may not be feasible without adversely affecting global food supply or encroaching on other important land uses. Because alternatives to liquid fossil fuels are important to develop in order to address greenhouse [...]

Technoeconomic Analysis of Biofuels: a Wiki-based Platform for Lignocellulosic Biorefineries

Biomass and Biofuels (article in press) vXXX pp.1-8 / by Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer, Piotr Oleskowicz-Popiel, Blake A. Simmons and Harvey W. Blanch (open access) http://www.lbl.gov/tech-transfer/publications/2678pub.pdf (paper) http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2010/10/28/biofuels-wiki/ (press release) We present a process model for a lignocellulosic ethanol biorefinery that is open to the biofuels academic community. Beyond providing a series of static results, the wiki-based [...]

California’s National Parks in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption

Rocky Mountain Climate Organization / Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.rockymountainclimate.org/images/CalifParksInPeril-full.pdf [From report website] Human-caused climate disruption could make Yosemite National Park hotter this century than Sacramento has been, according to a new report from RMCO and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report includes new local climate projections for ten national parks in California. [...]