提高我国能源产业竞争优势的制度重塑

基于提高我国能源产业竞争力的目的出发,首先对竞争优势进行分析,得出价格准则是最具效率的竞争准则,而有效的市场竞争才能充分运用价格准则。需要用可持续的制度优势来代替不可持续的资源优势,作为竞争优势的来源。其次,对我国能源产业制度现状进行分析。在市场建设方面存在壁垒重重、产权模糊的问题,在政府管理方面则是以干预代替监管,造成垄断阻碍竞争的结果。再次,对制度重塑的方向进行分析。提高竞争力需要技术进步来促进产业转型。只有公平自由竞争市场才能带来高效创新,实现技术突破。而产权制度则是实现竞争市场的保障。最后,围绕从垄断中解放市场构建具有保障性的法律制度,厘清政府权限,回归服务职能,合理界定私人产权制度,来实现能源产品的市场定价。用反垄断法规制垄断行为,打破民营资本的市场壁垒,构建多元高效的竞争市场。用制度为竞争提供确定性,才能有效提高我国能源产业的竞争优势,实现能源独立。     

中日与俄罗斯油气合作中的竞争态势分析

俄罗斯是全球油气生产大国,与日本的经济互补性强,但双方的能源合作尚处于较低水平,2011年俄对日石油出口仅占日本石油进口总量的4％,在日本进口的LNG中来自俄罗斯的气源仅占9％,两国在油气合作方面应该大有潜力可挖。中日两国一直在寻求通过油气进口多元化保障自身的能源安全,日俄能源合作对中俄能源合作会带来冲击和影响。对于与中日两国的能源合作,俄罗斯所持态度一直比较中立。俄罗斯采取保障自身利益最大化、追求出口多元化的对外能源合作策略,而且其油气出口重心不在亚太地区,再加上日本遏制中国和平崛起的政治意图,这就在客观上决定了中日在与俄能源合作中的竞争不可避免,且具有长期性和艰巨性。日本一直在与俄罗斯能源合作问题上排挤和提防中国,争取与俄罗斯开展长期稳定的油气合作,对中国具有重要战略意义。中国应该从战略高度认识中日两国在与俄罗斯能源合作中的竞争关系,树立竞争意识,力争在与日本的竞争中取得先机。同时要充分利用国际能源行业结构变革的机遇。加快国内天然气价格改革步伐,为中俄能源合作创造良好的经济环境。     

中国能源结构调整的美国因素及其战略思考

作为当今世界头两位经济体与能源消费大国,中美具有类似的资源约束格局,总结美国的能源发展历史经验,特别是美国在能源结构演进的过程中依靠技术进步、产业升级来增加能源产量、提高能源等级,并寻求最大限度的能源自给与多样化的做法的与规律,对中国今后的能源结构优化调整的开展极具参照意义。中美在能源领域存在既合作又竞争的互动关系,例如在页岩气开发我国要与美国有合作意愿,我国应该在合作过程中引进美国掌握的页岩气开采技术,并汲取美国的负面教训,结合我国的具体情况进行吸收和再创新,做好各种配套机制建设。我国的可再生能源和新能源技术的发展必须面对美国的竞争,我国要以强化自主技术创新、开拓内需、改革体制为重点。     

油价下跌不会危及可再生能源发展的七大理由

自2014年7月以来,国际原油价格大幅走低,下跌幅度已超过50%。如此巨大的价格跌幅如果放在5年前,足以导致可再生能源产业濒临破产。但今天,这种情况已有所改变。本文列出了七大理由,解释了为什么油价下跌不会导致向清洁能源转型目标的偏离。1太阳能与石油不存在竞争石油是用作汽车燃料,而可再生能源则是用作发电,二者实际上并不存在竞争关系。如果将石油用作发电,即使其价格跌破50美元/桶,其发电成本仍然过高。真正与太阳能存在竞争关系的是煤炭、天然气、水能和核能。而太阳能又属于新能源,仅占当今电力市场不到1%的市场份额,但根据国际能源署的预测,到2050年太阳能将成为全球最大的单一电力     

原油价格下跌对清洁能源的影响

<正>彭博新能源财经咨询公司认为,对2014年廉价原油对清洁能源造成的冲击下定论还为时过早。据分析,其影响会逐渐趋缓,因石油主要用于交通领域而清洁能源主要用于发电,两者并没有直接的竞争关系。而与汽油和柴油更具直接竞争关系的生物燃料的投资,2014年只获得清洁能源投资总额的1.9%,比2006年的25%明显下滑。     

我国能源外交现状与策略研究

当前能源问题已成为我国的重要战略性问题,而能源外交已发展成为解决能源问题的重要手段。本文在系统阐述我国能源外交现状的基础上,重点对我国能源外交所面临的政治、体制、竞争、秩序和气候五方面的挑战进行了研究,最后提出了从宣传我国能源外交策略、成立能源统筹机构、深化新能源国际合作等五个方面改善我国能源外交的若干建议。     

战略环评中的福建低碳经济对策研究

未来经济竞争很可能是低碳的竞争。福建是能源匮乏省份,一次能源自给率约为40%;单位GDP能耗远低于全国水平,资源环境压力依然不减;清洁机制项目数量明显落后其它省份。近年来,福建省着力发展核电、燃气发电、风力发电等清洁能源,如何把发展低碳经济作为当前推进战略环评的突破口,是实现海西"弯道超越"的全新课题。     

新年致辞

一元复始,万象更新。能源界送走了国际能源资源竞争加剧、世界能源格局加速调整的2012年,迎来了能源形势更加严峻复杂的2013年。2012年世界经济继续保持复苏态势,但复苏的不确定性依然突出,特别是伴随欧债危机的反复与变化,世界经济发展预期不容乐观。能源作为战略性产业,与经济形势密切相关。全球能源格局正在发生深刻的调整。     

可再生能源应用的重要领域

建筑能源具有品位低,温度范围窄,与自然能源的温度接近三大特点,这三大特点决定了可再生能源是建筑用能的首选。通过热泵的提升,可以将土壤能、地表水能、海洋能应用到建筑中,这一技术已在国外得到大规模利用。太阳能热发电是另一种最有希望与传统发电方式竞争的可再生能源发电方式。     

读者感言

《农村能源》双月刊,创办至今已五年。能源方针最重要,普及知识是关键。技术讲座期期载,科研花果竞争艳。封面装帧张张秀,版式新颖栏目全。     

More competition: Threat or chance for financing renewable electricity?

The paper examines how increased competition in electricity markets may reshape the future electricity generation portfolio and its potential impact on the renewable energy (RE) within the energy mix. The present analysis, which is based on modelling investor behaviour with a time horizon up to 2030, considers the economic aspects and conditions for this development with a particular focus on the photovoltaics. These aspects include pure financial/investment factors, such as the expected returns in the sector, subsidisation of certain RE resources and other policies focusing on the energy sector (liberalisation, environmental policies and security of supply considerations). The results suggest that policies aiming at the expansion of renewable energy technologies and strengthening the competition in the electricity markets have mutually reinforcing effects. More competition can reduce the financial burden of the existing renewable support schemes and consequently help to achieve the already established RE targets.     

The effect of carbon taxation on cross-border competition and energy efficiency investments

Carbon taxes increase costs for energy-consuming firms and can impact firms‘ ability to compete with other firms located in regions without that tax. This paper considers the effect of asymmetric carbon taxation when firms are able to adjust their energy efficiency investment levels to reflect the presence of the tax. Using a dynamic model of firm competition, we find that allowing firms to adjust their energy efficiency levels in response to a carbon tax could potentially allow firms to significantly mitigate the competition effects of that carbon tax. In our baseline parameterization, additional energy efficiency investments non-trivially mitigates profit loss for the firm facing the carbon tax as well as spurring adding energy efficiency investments in the non-taxing jurisdiction, thus reducing carbon leakage. This increase in energy efficiency can potentially reduce total energy usage by the firm in the taxing jurisdiction by more than the carbon tax alone. While the quantitative impact of energy efficiency investments on firm competitiveness depends on the nature of the industry, from a policy standpoint, the ability of energy efficiency investments to mitigate cross-border emissions leakage and negative competition effects without policy interventions such as a carbon border tax softens these two common criticisms of unilateral regional carbon taxes.     

Wood-energy market impact on competition, procurement practices, and profitability of landowners and forest products industry in the U.S. south

Recent emphasis on producing energy from woody biomass has raised questions about the impact of a wood-energy market on the U.S. South’s wood supply chain. We surveyed wood-energy facilities, fibermills, sawmills, private landowners, and government landholders to investigate the expected impact of a vibrant wood-energy market on the southern wood supply chain. Specifically, our study was designed to document potential competition for resources, wood supply chain profitability, and landowner willingness to sell timber to energy facilities. Results indicate that wood-energy facilities and traditional mills were not competing for raw material on a large scale at the time of the study, but competition is expected over the next decade. Almost 90% of fibermills reported that traditional forest industry mills should enter the wood-energy market, but most were skeptical that the new market would improve profitability. Ninety percent of responding landowners reported a willingness to sell to energy facilities if the right price is offered and all of those who had already sold timber to an energy facility were satisfied with the experience. Only 3.5% of respondents were unwilling to sell timber to an energy company, and only one of these respondents listed timber production as a primary objective, which indicates those who would not harvest timber for energy, may be unlikely to harvest timber for other purposes also. This study suggests that the southern wood supply chain is in position to profit from a wood-energy market; however, concerns remain about the coexistence of the forest products and wood-energy industries.     

Successful renewable energy development in a competitive electricity market: A Texas case study

The development of renewable energy in markets with competition at wholesale and retail levels poses challenges not present in areas served by vertically-integrated utilities. The intermittent nature of some renewable energy resources impact reliability, operations, and market prices, in turn affecting all market participants. Meeting renewable energy goals may require coordination among many market players.     

Effects of increased wood energy consumption on global warming potential,primary energy demand and particulate matter emissions on regional level based on the case study area Bavaria (Southeast Germany)

Wood energy use has strongly increased in Europe in the last decade entailing enhanced resource competition between the wood energy sector and the material-based wood sector. We applied the basket of benefit method for the forestry and wood cluster of the study area Bavaria to evaluate the impact of increased wood energy use and decreased material-based wood use on global warming potential, primary energy demand and particulate matter emissions. A baseline and a wood energy scenario were developed until 2035 and wood utilization in both scenarios was assessed via a Life Cycle Assessment of prevalent wood products, imported timber and conventional alternatives of use. The study reveals that, according to the modelled scenarios and the average substitution factors used, a demand shift towards more wood energy leads to a minor increase in global warming potential and to a reduction in primary energy demand. Increase in particulate matter emissions from wood energy use is strong, but definite conclusions cannot be drawn due to lack in data for material-based wood use. Moreover, the study results vary strongly depending on the products used for the comparative analysis. Through our approach, the ecological impact of increased wood energy use becomes visible for a whole region, taking into account the effect of a demand shift and of interdependent substitution effects.     

The impact of renewable energy use on firm profit

Firms buy renewable energy at premiums and report environmental concerns as motivation to do so. The bulk of the literature on environmental corporate social responsibility suggests that this type of behavior even results in higher profit. However, a product-differentiation framework with perfect competition predicts that renewable energy use has no effect on profit. This paper tests this prediction by investigating the relationship between firms' renewable energy use and profit on the basis of panel data for 920 firms over 2014–2018. We do not find evidence for an impact of renewable energy use on profit. Hence, a ‘win-win’ in the form of higher profit and a better environment does not seem to exist. In addition, the results appear to suggest that firms do not have a positive willingness to pay for renewable energy as contribution to the environment. This implies that firms are only willing to contribute to climate-change mitigation through buying renewable energy when this is aligned with the profit-maximization objective.     

Economics of hydrogen energy of green transition in the world and Russia.Part I

Recently, the theme of the “green transition”, in which the economic and commercial prospects of the hydrogen industry play a leading role, in the global energy industry has attracted special attention from business, government and scientific circles in many countries, which is associated with its predicted impact, incl. due to the climate agenda, to the economic, technological and geopolitical redistribution of the energy map of the world at the global and regional levels. Some slowdown in the “green transition” is expected due to the need to overcome the global energy crisis in the next two or three years, which may turn out to be more serious than the crisis of the 1970s of the last century which will require eliminating the shortage of traditional non-renewable energy resources in the near future. Nevertheless, the “green transition”, in which hydrogen accents are intensifying, continues to be implemented, which will have a serious impact on the system of international and international economic relations in the world. Thanks to the financial support of the state and business, modern technologies of the entire hydrogen energy chain are actively developing, hydrogen markets are being formed in the conditions of inter-fuel competition, as well as hydrogen energy command centers at the global, regional, country and corporate levels.     

Simulating the impact of biofuel development on country-wide land-use change in India

India’s growing population and economy generate an increasing demand for energy. Facing the decline of global fossil fuel resources, the Indian government and energy industry are considering the long-term expansion of biofuel production in order to increase energy security. This development leads to a strong competition of energy crops versus food crops for land and may result in an increasing pressure on natural resources. In a pilot scenario study, the LandSHIFT model is applied to assess the impact of biofuel production on land-use change in India up to the year 2030. The model aims at the spatially explicit simulation of land-use change and its relation to other global change processes on the national up to the global scale. It explicitly addresses competition between land-use activities such as human settlement, biofuel production and food production as well as the resulting effects on the spatial extent of natural land. Baseline of the study is a simulation with drivers from the “Order from Strength” scenario of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. To illustrate the consequences of expanded biofuel production for the extent of natural land, we calculate three scenarios of bioethanol production to substitute 5%, 10% and 20% of the expected petrol demand in 2030. In the simulations shown, a comprehensive linkage is made between driving forces (such as population change) and policies (such as biofuel usage) that will affect land-use change over the coming decades.     

Electricity pricing under “carbon emissions trading”: A dominant firm with competitive fringe model

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of trading of CO₂ emissions allowances on electricity pricing in the short run. We mainly refer to the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and are interested in understanding the role of electricity market structures. We carry out a simple analytical model useful to verify whether (and under which conditions) the impact of the ETS under market power could be lower (or higher) than that under perfect competition. We analyze a context where generators compete in a uniform, first price auction. Market power in the form of a dominant firm facing a competitive fringe model is assumed. The paper highlights that the marginal CO₂ opportunity costs are fully included in energy prices when the electricity market is perfectly competitive. Under market power the impact of the ETS equals or exceeds that under the competitive scenario only when there is excess capacity and the share of most polluting plants in the market is low enough. Otherwise, the impact under market power is less than under perfect competition and significantly decreases in the degree of market concentration. This especially occurs when there is not high excess capacity and regardless of either the plant mix or the allowance price. In this case, moreover, the marginal pass-through rate is lower in the peak than in the off-peak hours and can be even nil if the degree of market concentration is high enough.