Tag: environmental policy
In the article below, Ashley Seager from the Guardian argues that the government is doing little to encourage the take-up and adoption of alternative forms of energy generation for households. Indeed he argues hat the situation has got worse and not better in recent months with changes in the system. Only 270 houses were helped with the fitting of photovoltaic systems last year. In Germany the equivalent figure was 130,000.
Reasons to see red over green energy Guardian (18/2/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Assess the external costs and external benefits resulting from installing a photovoltaic electricity generation system on a house. |
| 2. |
Using diagrams as appropriate, show how the installation of photovoltaic cells on houses will alter the socially optimal market equilibrium. |
| 3. |
Evaluate two policies that the government could use to encourage the more widespread adoption of alternative methods of generating power. |
Al Gore’s contribution to the global climate change debate is not in question and he has, along with the IPCC, been awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in raising awareness. If you haven’t seen his film “An inconvenient truth” then do get hold of the DVD – it may just be the most interesting PowerPoint presentation you will ever see! However, does he really understand the nature of the debate? The article below suggests that he has not yet taken account of the most fundamental trade-off in dealing with climate change – the trade-off between our own quality of life and that of our descendants in the future.
Save the earth in six hard questions MSN Slate (22/10/07)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain what is mean by a trade-off “between the quality of our own lives and the quality of our descendants’ [lives]”. |
| 2. |
What is meant by the term ‘risk-averse’ and how is this relevant in the climate change debate? |
| 3. |
Consider the questions raised by the article. Discuss how relevant the conclusion reached is in the light of these questions. |
Cement may be quietly emerging as one of the biggest obstacles to lowering carbon emissions to reduce the extent of global warming. The cement industry rarely features in media analysis of the ‘worst polluters’, but in fact the industry is responsible, because of the high energy requirements of manufacture, for more than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions. A building boom globally has fuelled demand for the material. Concrete is the second most used product on the planet, after water, so what can be done to reduce the impact of the industry on the environment?
The unheralded polluter: cement industry comes clean on its impact Guardian (12/10/07)
Questions
| 1. |
With reference to the article, identify the main external costs resulting from the production of cement. |
| 2. |
Discuss the view expressed by Dimitri Paplexopoulos, managing director of Titan Cement that “.. [c]ement is needed to satisfy basic human needs, and there is no obvious substitute, so there is a trade-off between development and sustainability“. |
| 3. |
Discuss policies that governments could adopt to try to move the market for cement towards a more socially optimal level of production. |
A report from Cycling England has suggested that a £70m investment in cycling each year could save the government £520m per year. The savings result from the positive benefits of increased cycling – lower carbon dioxide emissions and lower NHS costs as we become healthier. But, do the numbers add up?
Investment in cycling could save £520m, government told Guardian (17/9/07)
Questions
| 1. |
Define the terms (i) external benefits (ii) external costs and (iii) marginal social benefit. |
| 2. |
Identify three external benefits that result from increased cycling. |
| 3. |
Using diagrams as appropriate, show how the market equilibrium and the socially optimum level of cycling will differ. |
| 4. |
Discuss policies that the government could adopt to move the market closer to the social optimum. |
The widening of the M6 will cost £3bn or £1000 an inch. What does this fact tell us about the government’s green priorities? Are we really leading the world on climate change as the government likes to claim? In the article below Ashley Seager (Economics Correspondent for the Guardian) looks at these issues and argues that we may be the poor man of Europe when it comes to ‘green’ policies.
Green means slow to this government Guardian (6/8/07)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain what Ashley Seager means by the sentence “What the government has also not done is send out new “price signals”, as economists call them” (paragraph 7). |
| 2. |
Explain what is meant by a feed-in tariff (FIT). Why does Ashley Seager argue that this is a vital policy tool in the fight against climate change? |
| 3. |
Discuss two policies that the government could adopt to help raise the proportion of renewable energy generated in the UK. |