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Abstract The increased environmental awareness coupled with the recent changes in the oil prices triggered the necessity of focusing on effective management of energy systems. Global climate change has caused many people to consider ways of reducing greenhouse gases Renewable energy has become an essential feature in curtailing emission of Green House Gases, while meeting the demand for energy. This paper presents an innovation system framework for development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies. The framework is used to identify opportunities for small and medium enterprises in the renewable energy sector. A case study on a successful development, installation and implementation of solar thermal systems households in Calgary, Alberta, by an entrepreneurial firm, is also presented.

Abstract This paper examines the impact of alternate world oil price assumptions on the long-term economic outlook for Alberta, as determined by a provincial econometric model. Under each of three oil price scenarios, three distinct future periods are identified for the main oil producing region in Canada, ie Alberta. The first period exhibits a recession versus expansion in the economy and a complete divergence in real GDP between the upper and lower oil price scenarios. However, this GDP gap is reduced by the end of the second period as all scenarios tend to converge. Although the GDP is varied among the different scenarios, the last period is seen to require diversification away from energy industries in order to sustain healthy growth. The study results suggest that, due to the limited life index of conventional oil and gas reserves and projected slow growth in long-term oil prices, the provincial government should encourage the development of non-conventional resources or implementa comprehensive policy of industrial diversification towards non-resource based industries in the current period.

Abstract This study employs a parametric input distance function that incorporates both desirable and undesirable outputs to provide a more complete representation of the production technology from which environmentally sensitive productivity and efficiency measures can be generated. This framework also generates pollution abatement cost estimates that are useful for policy making. An input-based Malmquist index of productivity growth that appropriately credits the producer not only for increases in marketable or desirable outputs but also for the production of improved environmental quality through pollution abatement activities is derived from the input distance function. The method was applied to time series data from the Canadian pulp and paper industry. Our shadow price estimates indicate that the marginal cost to producers of pollution control has been rising. The main conclusion of this study is that productivity improvement, from the social viewpoint, has been stronger than conventional measures would suggest.

The goal of this study is to look into how changes in crude oil prices affect GDP per capita and exchange rate fluctuations.to investigate the influence of crude oil price shocks on GDP per capita and exchange rate movements. This research employed yearly time series data for the price of crude oil, exchange rate (USD/INR), and GDP per capita, from 1990 to 2020. Arithmetical tools such as Descriptive, Unit Root, Granger Causality Test, and OLS Model were applied. The present study discovered a strong bi-directional Granger causality effect of Dubai crude oil prices on exchange rates, as well as a bi-directional Granger influence of exchange rates on WTI crude oil prices. The diagnostic tests were successfully passed by the estimated models. According to the OLS model, the exchange rate was driven only by the price of Dubai crude oil, although the price of WTI crude oil influenced both the GDP per capita and the exchange rate over the research period. The key policy recommendation derived from this analysis is that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must depreciate the rupee, first to restore much-needed exchange rate stability, then to stimulate domestic manufacturers, and finally, to attract foreign capital inflows.

PurposeIran as an energy‐rich country faces many challenges in the optimal utilization of its vast resources. High rates of population and economic growth, a generous subsidies program, and poor resource management have contributed to rapidly growing energy consumption and high energy intensity over the past decades. The continuing trend of rising energy consumption will bring about new challenges as it will shrink oil export revenues, restraining economic activities. This calls for a study to explore alternative scenarios for the utilization of energy resources in Iran. The purpose of this paper is to model demand for energy in Iran and develop two business‐as‐usual and efficiency scenarios for the period 2005‐2030.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a techno‐economic or end‐use approach to model energy demand in Iran for different types of energy uses and energy carriers in all sectors of the economy and forecast it under two scenarios: business as usual (BAU) and efficiency.FindingsIran has a huge potential for energy savings. Specifically, under the efficiency scenario, Iran will be able to reduce its energy consumption 40 percent by 2030.The energy intensity can also be reduced by about 60 percent to a level lower than the world average today.Originality/valueThe paper presents a comprehensive study that models the Iranian energy demand in different sectors of the economy, using data at different aggregation levels and a techno‐economic end‐use approach to illuminate the future of energy demand under alternative scenarios.

Abstract The transportation sector is a major user of oil-based energy. Even as oil prices continue to fluctuate greatly, the impact of oil price changes on transportation firms has heretofore not been adequately examined. This paper fills this gap, documenting important new findings based on analysis of over two decades of daily data on large changes in oil prices (oil price shocks). First, while transportation firm returns are influenced negatively by oil price increases, risks are increased more by oil price declines. Second, firm characteristics are important with the market-to-book ratio being the most important firm characteristic, and ROA, firm size, and the prior run up in prices are also important in influencing oil price related returns, betas, variances, and trading volumes. Third, in the S&P transportation sub-sector, industry concentration is negatively related to returns, oil price risk, and trading volume, and asymmetrically related to returns and market betas. These new findings enhance our understanding of the asset price impact of oil price shocks and should be of much interest to scholars, corporate executives, money managers, regulators, and policy makers.

Abstract The 2014–2015 dramatic drop in world oil prices had devastating impacts on a global scale. We analyse economic costs and impacts of a negative oil price shock following the 2014–2015 decrease in oil prices on the provincial economy of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. We use a Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model to estimate a drop in oil prices by inputting the estimated effect as a direct impact to royalties, which are the land input in the oil and gas sector of the provincial economy. We provide sensitivity to account for the duration and magnitude of the shock, as well as the timing of recovery. Our results suggest that a shock in the price of oil will have its most significant impact on GDP in the initial years. Over the first five years, the reduction in GDP due to this shock would be roughly 2.1% of GDP in our most realistic shock scenario, but could be much higher in other scenarios considered. A sharp drop in GDP over the first five years will be mitigated somewhat in the long run as the growth in oil prices rises; however, negative long run impacts to GDP persist due to the oil price shock in 2014–2015, and will worsen if there is a prolonged shock.

Two kinds of disparities pervade China and threaten its well-being. The first, regional disparities focus on levels of economic development, which vary considerably across China. The second is largely a corollary of the first, referring to mismatch in energy supply and demand, with some places suffering severe shortages while others are blessed with significant surpluses. Western China enjoys the dubious distinction of recording the country's lowest levels of economic development while, paradoxically, being blessed with plentiful reserves of energy and non-energy minerals. Turning those surplus resources to good account through transferring them to minerals and energy-hungry Eastern China is seen by policy-makers as something of a panacea. Not only will such a strategy significantly boost Western China's economic prospects, but it will eliminate the resource shortages currently constraining the East's vibrant growth. The issues of regional disparities, energy mismatches and transfers of these resources are discussed, with attention given to both spatial and time perspectives. The paper concludes with a cautious endorsement of the policy initiatives that promote the strategy of mineral transfers.

Abstract The unbundling policy reform of power industry has become a worldwide trend since 1980s. There are quite many studies focusing on the efficiency changes of transmission and distribution sectors in European and Latin American countries while few reports on China's issues have been found. This paper employs a nonparametric frontier estimation combined with meta-frontier and bootstrapping method to measure the productive efficiency and changes in the decomposition index for China's 31 grid companies from 2004 to 2013. In addition, it further employs Tobit regression model to analyze the influences of relevant policies and heterogeneity factors, such as natural conditions and economic development. The results indicate that the grouping approach extends the application of non-parametric data envelopment analysis, which may decrease the assumption of homogeneity for the decision making units and provide better efficiency estimates by increasing the credibility of the evaluation results. Overall productive efficiency increased during the whole study period, with technology progress the main contributor to this improvement. Efficiency trends fluctuated with changes in economic development and power supply situation, and the economics and customer density had positive effects on productive efficiency while the influence of clean power proportion is negative.