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With interest in topics such as climate change, energy security, and alternative energy sources being at an all-time high, the effects of today's decisions now rest on the shoulders of future generations. There are no easy answers to our energy issues, so costs and benefits must be considered when evaluating all energy alternatives; alongside that, prices must be right and need to reflect the full social costs to society of a given source of energy. Energy Economics outlines the fundamental issues and possible solutions to the challenges of energy production and use, and presents a framework for energy decisions based upon sound economic analysis. It considers market forces and policy goals, including economic prosperity, environmental protection, and other considerations that affect societal well-being. This book focuses on both energy choices and the impact of these choices on market performance, environmental conditions, and sustainability. The initial section covers the fundamental economic concepts for analyzing energy markets. Following this, a detailed analysis of established energy sources, specifically fossil fuels and nuclear energy, leads into consideration of energy alternatives such as renewable energy and next-generation alternatives. Electricity production and regulatory trends are covered in depth. The final section considers policy: environmental considerations, sustainability, and energy security. The concluding chapter is a comprehensive vision for our energy future. Drawing on current energy headlines, perspectives familiar from the popular press, and views outside economics, this text sharpens students' ability to understand, evaluate, and critique policy using appropriate economic analysis. The text builds a foundation that culminates in a view of a comprehensive energy policy that improves upon the vacillations of past decades.

"With interest in topics such as climate change, energy security, and alternative energy sources being at an all-time high, the effects of today's decisions now rest on the shoulders of future generations. There are no easy answers to our energy issues, so costs and benefits must be considered when evaluating all energy alternatives; alongside that, prices must be right and need to reflect the full social costs to society of a given source of energy.Energy Economics outlines the fundamental issues and possible solutions to the challenges of energy production and use, and presents a framework for energy decisions based upon sound economic analysis. It considers market forces and policy goals, including economic prosperity, environmental protection, and other considerations that affect societal well-being. This book focuses on both energy choices and the impact of these choices on market performance, environmental conditions, and sustainability. The initial section covers the fundamental economic concepts for analyzing energy markets. Following this, a detailed analysis of established energy sources, specifically fossil fuels and nuclear energy, leads into consideration of energy alternatives such as renewable energy and next-generation alternatives. Electricity production and regulatory trends are covered in depth. The final section considers policy: environmental considerations, sustainability, and energy security. The concluding chapter is a comprehensive vision for our energy future.? Drawing on current energy headlines, perspectives familiar from the popular press, and views outside economics, this text sharpens students' ability to understand, evaluate, and critique policy using appropriate economic analysis. The text builds a foundation that culminates in a view of a comprehensive energy policy that improves upon the vacillations of past decades.? "--Provided by publisher

AbstractEnergy economics is a vast topic. Many applied and agricultural economists today work on fuel economy, fossil fuel energy issues, energy sector economic analysis, electricity sector economic and policy issues, techno‐economic analyses of energy alternatives as well as agricultural energy issues such as biofuels, and energy use in agriculture. Energy economists also employ a wide variety of modeling and analytical tools. We cover six broad topics: externalities, policy analysis, energy demand and supply analyses, electricity pricing, biofuels, and techno‐economic analysis. Applied and agricultural economists have made and will continue to make major contributions to the literature and policy analysis in these areas.

The thesis at hand presents four 'stand-alone' essays in energy economics. The first essay is motivated by the basic idea that utility resulting from electricity consumption differs in every hour of the day. This hypothesis translates into a deeper analysis on demand elasticities of higher temporal resolution. The empirical results show that German hourly demand elasticity ranges from -0.02 to -0.13 with a distinct demand elasticity pattern. The second essay investigates the influences of regulation and gas prices on the emission levels of fossil power plants for all states in the U.S. It implicitly addresses the switch from coal-based generation to a less carbon-intense gas-fired generation over a thirteen years period. Besides best practice states, the results show that lower gas prices and stringent carefully designed CO2 regulations are suitable means to reduce CO2 emissions. Essays three and four investigate the impact on residential demand reduction through policy interventions specifically targeting a change in electricity use. As such, essay three investigates with the help of synthetic control groups the roll out of smart meters over a 13-year period and shows a significant negative impact of Advanced Metering Infrastructure on monthly residential electricity consumption that ranges from 6.1% to 6.4%. Essay four investigates conservation programs that have been established shortly after the Californian Energy Crisis in order to curb electricity consumption. The results show that short term programs have been effective leading to quarterly reductions between 6% to 12%. The essay furthermore provides evidence that some residential consumers must have been able to change consumption habits to uncover the majority of this reduction.