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Research article2018Peer reviewedOpen access

Cost-efficient climate policies for interdependent carbon pools

Elofsson, Katarina; Gren, Ing-Marie

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate cost-effective climate policy instruments for bioenergy and timber, adapted to the impacts on interdependent forest carbon pools, and applied in the EU climate policy to 2050. We develop a discrete time dynamic model including forest carbon pools in biomass, soil, and products, as well as fossil fuel consumption. The analytical results show that the optimal taxes on forest products depend on the growth in the respective carbon pool. The application to the EU 2050 climate policy for emission trading shows that total costs for target achievement can be reduced by 33 percent if all carbon pools are included, and the carbon tax on fossil fuel can be reduced by 50 percent. Optimal taxes on forest products differ among countries and over time depending on the potential for increased carbon sequestration over the planning period. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

EU; Climate policy; Carbon sequestration; Bioenergy; Timber; Policy instruments

Published in

Environmental Modelling and Software
2018, Volume: 101, pages: 86-101
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD

      SLU Authors

    • Sustainable Development Goals

      Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
      Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Public Administration Studies

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.12.006

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/94014