At the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society's 57th Annual Conference, CEEM convened a mini-symposium:
Reducing Carbon Emissions from the Electricity Sector: Design Experiences and Challenges
Australia has had a emissions trading scheme (ETS) since 2012, and will bilaterally link with the European Union's ETS from 2018. This mini-symposium focuses on the design of market mechanisms to incentivise greenhouse gas ("carbon") emissions reductions from the electricity sector, as electricity is one of the biggest carbon emitters in Australia and holds the highest mitigation potential. It explores questions of market design that affect the effectiveness of trading schemes, and presents empirical insights into the effects of carbon pricing schemes on the electricity industry.
- Elizabeth Bernold, University of Sydney, presents the results of experiment on different market designs and their effects on mitigation in the electricity sector.
- Frank Jotzo, Australian National University, presents the results of a survey of experts on how uncertainty around the Australian carbon price affects electricity sector investment decisions.
- Richard Evans, University of New South Wales, uses comprehensive transaction data from the EU ETS to show how the electricity industry has traded to maximise profits over both carbon and electricity markets.
- Stefan Trück, Macquarie University, investigates the effect of Australia's new carbon price on electricity prices using futures contracts for regional electricity markets.