1. Impacts of market-based climate change policies on the US pulp and paper industry
- Author
-
Matthias Ruth, Brynhildur Davidsdottir, and Skip Laitner
- Subjects
Paperboard ,Market based ,business.industry ,Natural resource economics ,Fossil fuel ,Climate change ,Low-carbon economy ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,Pulp and paper industry ,General Energy ,Climate change mitigation ,Investment incentives ,visual_art ,Greenhouse gas ,visual_art.visual_art_medium ,Economics ,business - Abstract
Much of the policy debates on climate issues have centered on the optimal level and timing of policy interventions that cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We briefly review the range of policy issues in our paper and assess the impact that climate-change policies may have on energy use and carbon emissions in the US pulp and paper industry. We then present results from time series-based analyses of changes in technologies and fuel mix, and compare the results with engineering-based technology analyses of US pulp and paper production (for a copy of the model and software send e-mail to mruth@bu.edu.). Projections, based on information for eight paper and paperboard categories, are presented for the years 1995–2020. The findings indicate that, under a wide range of specifications and policy assumptions, carbon emissions from fossil fuel use per ton of product are likely to decline. When combined with investment incentives, an additional cost-effective reduction in carbon emissions per ton of product will be realized. However, expected increases in output from the industry are likely to be higher than the reductions in energy and carbon intensities. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.
- Published
- 2000