Search results for ""author jim skea""

Emissions trading has become a central feature of global efforts to control climate change. Its inclusion in the Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change represents a victory for advocates of market-based instruments and builds upon twenty years of experience with trading schemes in the United States. However, the concept is controversial and attempts to introduce similar trading schemes in Europe have met with mixed results.This timely book provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and practice of emissions trading including the lessons learnt, the problems faced and the prospects for its extended use. It includes case studies of trading schemes in the US and Europe, and studies of international trading under the European acid rain regime. Problems of practical implementation, especially institutional feasibility and political acceptability, are given particular attention. The prospects for the international trading of greenhouse gases following the Kyoto Protocol are assessed, together with the potential conflict between emissions trading and established regulatory traditions.Pollution for Sale will be of great interest to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and students of environmental policy.

Read more less

This book addresses the question: how effective are countries in promoting the innovation needed to facilitate an energy transition? Chapters explore energy policy and institutions, innovation policy in general, as well as energy innovation in key countries, including the US, Germany, the UK, China, Japan and Korea, and the EU. At the heart of Energy Innovation for the 21st Century is a fascinating set of international empirical case studies covering supply and demand side technologies at different levels of maturity. These are set within an analytical framework encompassing the functions of technological innovation systems and innovation metrics. The book explores energy, science and technology policies, contextualising the case studies to aid the assessment of the overall performance of innovation systems. Drawing together lessons for energy innovation policy and institutional design, this book is a much-needed resource for sustainability and innovation scholars and researchers. Policy-makers and practitioners will also benefit from the practical advice offered in this timely volume.

Read more less

Standards and standardization policies increasingly influence innovation and competitiveness. As well as examining how standards are developed and applied, this important new book considers whether technical standards function as effective public policy instruments and components in the processes of industrial globalization.Much of the existing literature in the field makes reference either to information and communication technologies or to the protection and management of the natural environment. In Standards, Innovation and Competitiveness there is a recognition of how closely integrated both sectors have become over questions of process, the role of scientific assessment, and the 'network' effects that accompany standardization. The contributors shift the research and policy focus away from narrowly defined sectoral concerns, towards a more generic view of standards and standards-setting, and their roles as instruments of public policy. With nineteen papers by authors from seven countries, the blend of approaches ranges from formal economic analysis, through political, sociological, and historical analysis, to pragmatic discussions by standards makers themselves. The subjects discussed include issue definition, methodological approaches, political articulation of public and private sector agendas, organizational and decision-making processes, the role of technology users in standardization, and the relationship between standardization and innovation.

Read more less