Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia

Contreras, Zaida; Ancev, Tihomir; Betz, Regina

doi:10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia
Authors:	Contreras, Zaida Ancev, Tihomir Betz, Regina
DOI:	10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon
Published in:	Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy
Volume(Issue):	3
Issue:	2
Page(s):	119
Pages to:	143
Issue Date:	2014
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Sheridan Press
ISSN:	2160-5882
Language:	English
Subjects:	Air pollution; Environmental policy; Monitoring; Pigouvian taxe; SUR model
Subject (DDC):	363: Environmental and security problems
Abstract:	This paper investigates the effects of environmental taxes on the emissions intensity (measured as mass per TWh) of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Oxides (SOx), Coarse Particulate Matter (CPM) and Fine Particulate Matter (FPM) from electricity generators in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Electricity generators in NSW are subject to environmental taxation on air pollution through the Load Based Licensing (LBL) scheme. This paper evaluates whether this environmental policy, after ten years of operation, has led to a reduction in the emissions intensity of these air pollutants. The econometric estimation, based on a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model with fixed effects, shows that except for SOx, there is no evidence of emissions reduction that can be attributed to the LBL in NSW. In terms of enabling low-cost abatement through specific monitoring methods, there is no evidence of reduction in NOx or SOx emission intensities due to generators implementing continuous monitoring. By contrast, generators using periodic monitoring methods have lower emission intensities of CPM and FPM. The findings suggest that environmental taxes in NSW have been too low compared with marginal abatement cost estimates and so, they have not created sufficient incentives for generators to reduce their emission intensities across air pollutants.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/16765
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

Files in This Item:

There are no files associated with this item.

Show full item record

Contreras, Z., Ancev, T., & Betz, R. (2014). Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia. Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, 3(2), 119–143. https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon

Contreras, Z., Ancev, T. and Betz, R. (2014) ‘Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia’, Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, 3(2), pp. 119–143. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon.

Z. Contreras, T. Ancev, and R. Betz, “Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia,” Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 119–143, 2014, doi: 10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon.

CONTRERAS, Zaida, Tihomir ANCEV und Regina BETZ, 2014. Evaluation of environmental taxation on multiple air pollutants in the electricity generation sector : evidence from New South Wales, Australia. Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy. 2014. Bd. 3, Nr. 2, S. 119–143. DOI 10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon

Contreras, Zaida, Tihomir Ancev, and Regina Betz. 2014. “Evaluation of Environmental Taxation on Multiple Air Pollutants in the Electricity Generation Sector : Evidence from New South Wales, Australia.” Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy 3 (2): 119–43. https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon.

Contreras, Zaida, et al. “Evaluation of Environmental Taxation on Multiple Air Pollutants in the Electricity Generation Sector : Evidence from New South Wales, Australia.” Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, vol. 3, no. 2, 2014, pp. 119–43, https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.3.2.zcon.