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Economic and Environmental Implications of Hydropower Concession Renewals: A Case Study in Southern France / Federico Pontoni, Anna Creti et Marc Joëts, Revue économique, vol. 69, n° 2, 2018, pp. 241-266 https://www.cairn.info/revue-economique-2018-2-page-241.htmIn the coming years, a consistent number of French hydropower concessions will be re-assigned through a competitive public procedure, in which bidders will submit an environmental offer and an economic one. This procedure is likely to generate a trade-off between monetary transfers and environmental pledges. In particular, we expect bidders to couple higher monetary compensation to local authorities with lower mitigation measures and vice-versa. This paper aims at investigating the reasons under which local authorities would prefer either environmental protection or monetary transfers. Through an innovative discrete choice experiment (DCE) carried out in the Aspe valley, where more than 100 MW of hydro capacity is installed, we translate monetary offers into immediate rebates on the electricity bill and we test whether local respondents prefer higher rebates or stronger environmental improvements. From a methodological perspective, we calculate our results both with the standard preference space approach and with the WTP space approach. According to our results, locals value considerably more environmental pledges than monetary offers; hence, we argue that bidders should give clear priority to environmental mitigation measures.Décisions d’investissement en efficacité énergétique dans le secteur résidentiel : incitations et obstacles à la rénovation / Dorothée Charlier, Revue économique, vol. 69, n° 2, 2018, pp. 335-366 https://www.cairn.info/revue-economique-2018-2-page-335.htmL’efficacité énergétique (EE) dans le secteur résidentiel peut permettre de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et la consommation énergétique. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’impact des décisions d’investissement et des montants dépensés en EE dans le secteur résidentiel français en analysant plus particulièrement le rôle des gains énergétiques potentiels. Dans cet article, nous proposons une procédure pour étendre un ensemble de données existantes afin d’obtenir des estimations des gains énergétiques pour chaque type de rénovation potentielle. Cette extension est l’une des caractéristiques les plus importantes de notre approche. En examinant les dépenses de rénovation avec un modèle Tobit multivarié, cette étude apporte deux contributions majeures. Tout d’abord, il est possible d’expliquer l’adoption lente des investissements en EE, la décision d’investir étant finalement déterminée par des déterminants économiques tels que les gains énergétiques potentiels. Deuxièmement, les résultats montrent que les bénéficiaires des mesures politiques devraient être les ménages vivant dans le secteur locatif.Nuclear Energy Data 2017. Paris : OECD, March 2018, 104 p. https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2017/7365-ned-2017.pdfNuclear Energy Data is the Nuclear Energy Agency’s annual compilation of statistics and country reports documenting nuclear power status in NEA member countries and in the OECD area. Information provided by governments includes statistics on total electricity produced by all sources and by nuclear power, fuel cycle capacities and requirements, and projections to 2035, where available. Country reports summarise energy policies, updates of the status in nuclear energy programmes and fuel cycle developments. In 2016, nuclear power continued to supply significant amounts of low-carbon baseload electricity, despite strong competition from low-cost fossil fuels and subsidised renewable energy sources. Three new units were connected to the grid in 2016, in Korea, Russia and the United States. In Japan, an additional three reactors returned to operation in 2016, bringing the total to five under the new regulatory regime. Three reactors were officially shut down in 2016 – one in Japan, one in Russia and one in the United States. Governments committed to having nuclear power in the energy mix advanced plans for developing or increasing nuclear generating capacity, with the preparation of new build projects making progress in Finland, Hungary, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Further details on these and other developments are provided in the publication’s numerous tables, graphs and country reports.After the Gazprom-Naftogaz arbitration: commerce still entangled in politics / Simon Pirani. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, March 2018, 13 p. (Oxford energy insight ; 31) https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/gazprom-naftogaz-arbitration-commerce-still-entangled-politics/The final decision in the commercial arbitration between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy, on multiple disputes over their gas supply and transit contracts for 2009-19, was issued late last month. The total claims in the case, which started in 2014 at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, were reported to be higher than $70 billion, making it one of the largest cases ever. Gazprom responded by appealing the decisions, initiating proceedings to terminate the contracts and cancelling the planned resumption of direct imports to Ukraine. This Energy Insight argues that hopes for a managed decline of the Russian-Ukrainian gas trade on a commercial basis, despite the political hostility between the two sides, are not being realised. Commerce has been unable to disentangle itself from politics. Prospects for the 2020s, when Ukrainian transit will still be required, in spite of Gazprom’s transit diversification projects, are discussed.Fostering Effective Energy Transition: A Fact-Based Framework to Support Decision-Making. World Economic Forum, March 2018, 44 p. https://www.weforum.org/reports/fostering-effective-energy-transitionThe first edition of the Fostering Effective Energy Transition report, prepared with analytical support from McKinsey &#38; Company, is part of the World Economic Forum System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Energy. The report introduces the “Energy Transition Index”, which builds upon the previous series of “Global Energy Architecture Performance Index” by adding a forward looking element of country readiness for energy transition. The index benchmarks 114 countries on the current level of their energy system performance, and the readiness of their macro environment for transition to a secure, sustainable, affordable and inclusive future energy system. The fact-based framework and rankings are intended to enable policy makers and businesses to identify the destination for energy transition, identify imperatives, and align policy and market enablers accordingly.