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Blockchain, smart contracts, and information / Lin William Cong, Zhiguo He, Vox, 4/07/2018Blockchain technology provides decentralised consensus, which potentially enlarges the contracting space using tamper-proof smart contracts. But this implies distributed information. The column argues that there is a tension between these two features of blockchain. While complete contracts may increase competition, distributed information may also make collusion between incumbents more effective... lireL’UE se prépare à renforcer son engagement en faveur du climat. C’est indispensable, et d’autres doivent lui emboîter le pas / Oliver Sartor, blog de l'Iddri, 2/07/2018Le 19 juin, le Parlement et le Conseil européens ont pris un certain nombre de décisions permettant de renforcer l’Accord de Paris sur le climat et la lutte mondiale contre le changement climatique. La publication une semaine plus tard par quatorze pays de l’UE d’une déclaration commune sur la nécessité pour l’UE de faire preuve de leadership sur le climat est un pas de plus dans la bonne direction. Mais d’autres doivent désormais suivre cette voie... lireA carbon tax would be less regressive than energy efficiency standards / Arik Levinson, Professor Georgetown University, Vox, 5/07/2018When it comes to solving externalities like pollution, efficiency standards are more popular than taxes. The rationale behind this is that the burden of taxes would fall disproportionately on the poor. This column argues that standards are in fact more regressive than taxes. Given their lower cost, the results suggest that tax solutions should be favoured over efficiency standards... lireFatih Birol and David Victor on the geopolitics of energy, Planet Policy, 2/07/2018On June 25, the Cross-Brookings Initiative on Energy and Climate hosted a discussion on the new dynamics of global energy, featuring International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol, in conversation with Initiative Co-Chair David G. Victor. Among its core themes was, as Birol aptly described, “geopolitics is back to energy.... lire Global natural gas demand grows by 1.4 % / year between 2016 and 2040, with China leading the growth, Cediblog, 3/07/2018Cedigaz, the International Association for Natural Gas, has just released its « Medium and Long Term Natural Gas Outlook 2018 ». In Cedigaz Reference Scenario, which incorporates national energy plans and INDC commitments, natural gas demand will grow by 1.4%/year between 2016 and 2040 and will play a growing role in the energy mix at the expense of the other fossil fuels. The gradual shift from coal and oil to natural gas and renewables helps reduce the carbon intensity of the energy system as electrification and decarbonisation accelerate over the projection period. The expansion of natural gas markets is supported by both abundant and competitive conventional and unconventional resources, as well as a very rapid growth of spot and flexible LNG trade... lire