<p>This dissertation examines the
impact of the expansion of renewable technology at both national and local
level, through distinct essays. At the national level, the first paper analyzes
the effects of economic and distributional impacts of climate mitigation
policy, in the context of a developing country, to understand the interactions
between the energy system and the macroeconomic environment. In the case of the
local level, the second paper uses synthetic control method, to estimate the
effect at the county level of utility scale wind in the development indicators
for two counties in the U.S. </p>
<p>The first paper assesses the economic and distributional
impacts of Nicaragua’s commitments to limit future greenhouse gas emissions in
the context of the Paris Agreement, known as the Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs). The analysis relies on two distinct models. The first is
a top-down approach based on a single-country computable general equilibrium
(CGE) model, known as the Mitigation, Adaptation and New Technologies Applied
General Equilibrium (MANAGE) Model. The second is a bottom-up approach based on
the Open-Source energy Modeling System (OSeMOSYS), which is technology rich
energy model. The combined model is calibrated to an updated social accounting
matrix for Nicaragua, which disaggregates households into 20 representative
types: 10 rural and 10 urban households. For the household disaggregation we
have used information from the 2014 Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS)
for Nicaragua. Our analysis focuses on the distributional impacts of meeting
the NDCs as well as additional scenarios—in a dynamic framework as the MANAGE
model is a (recursive) dynamic model. The results show that a carbon tax has
greatest potential for reduction in emissions, with modest impact in macro variables.
An expansion of the renewable sources in the electricity matrix also leads to significant
reduction in emissions. Only a carbon tax achieves a reduction in emissions
consistent with keeping global warming below 2°C. Nicaragua’s NDC alone would
not achieve the target and mitigation instruments are needed. An expansion of
generation from renewable sources, does not lead to a scenario consistent with a
2°C pathway. </p>
<p>The second paper measures the
impact of wind generation on county level outcomes through the use of the Synthetic
Control Method (SCM). SCM avoids the pitfalls of other methods such as
input-output models and project level case studies that do not provide county
level estimates. We find that the local per capita income effect of utility
wind scale is 6 percent (translate into an increase of $1,511 in per capita
income for 2019) for Benton County and 8 percent for White county in Indiana (an
increase of $2,100 in per capita income for 2019). The per capita income effect
measures the average impact, which includes the gains in rents from capital, land,
and labor from wind power in these counties. Moreover, we find that most of the
rents from wind power accrue to the owners of capital and labor. Even assuming
the lowest projections of electricity prices and the highest reasonable cost we
still find a 10 percent minimum rate of return to capital for both Benton and
White counties’ wind power generators. Furthermore, we find that there are
excess rents that could be taxed and redistributed at the county, state, or
federal level without disincentivizing investment in wind power.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/15134970 |
| Date | 09 August 2021 |
| Creators | Alma R Cortes Selva (11249646) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/ECONOMIC_IMPACTS_OF_THE_EXPANSION_OF_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_THE_EXPERIENCE_AT_THE_COUNTY_AND_NATIONAL_LEVEL/15134970 |
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