BELFER CENTER DISCUSSION PAPERS
June 2009
"Biofuels and Certification"
Discussion Paper
By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and Charan Devereaux
Liquid biofuels can provide a substitute for fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Many countries have mandated the use of biofuels, by creating targets for their use. If not implemented with care, however, actions that increase biofuel production can put upward pressure on food prices, increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and exacerbate degradation of land, forest, and water sources. A strong global biofuels industry will not emerge unless these environmental and social concerns are addressed.
July 2009
"Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture"
Discussion Paper
By Mohammed Al-Juaied, Mohammed Al-Juaied, Former Visiting Scholar, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2008-2009 and Adam Whitmore
There is a growing interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a means of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However there are substantial uncertainties about the costs of CCS. Costs for pre-combustion capture with compression (i.e. excluding costs of transport and storage and any revenue from EOR associated with storage) are examined in this discussion paper for First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) plant and for more mature technologies, or Nth-of-a-Kind plant (NOAK).
AP Photo
March 2009
"In-use Vehicle Emissions in China: Beijing Study"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Mengliang Li, Kongjian Qin, Jianwei Zhang, Huan Li and Kebin He
China's economic boom in the last three decades has spurred increasing demand for transportation services and personal mobility. Consequently, vehicle population has grown rapidly since the early 1990s, especially in megacities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Tianjin. As a result, mobile sources have become more conspicuous contributors to urban air pollution in Chinese cities.
Tianjin was our first focus city, and the study there took us about two years to complete. Building upon the experience and partnership generated through the Tianjin study, the research team carried out the Beijing study from fall 2007–fall 2008.
Beijing was chosen to be our second focus city for several reasons: it has the largest local fleet and the highest percentage of the population owning vehicles among all Chinese cities, and it has suffered from severe air pollution, partially due to the ever-growing population of on-road vehicles.
AP Photo
March 2009
"Proposed Roadmap for Overcoming Legal and Financial Obstacles to Carbon Capture and Storage"
Discussion Paper
By Wendy B. Jacobs, Leah Cohen, Leah Kostakidis-Lianos and Sara Rundell
Many existing proposals either lack sufficient concreteness to make carbon capture and geological sequestration (CCGS) operational or fail to focus on a comprehensive, long term framework for its regulation, thus failing to account adequately for the urgency of the issue, the need to develop immediate experience with large scale demonstration projects, or the financial and other incentives required to launch early demonstration projects. We aim to help fill this void by proposing a roadmap to commercial deployment of CCGS in the United States.
March 2009
"China's Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Vehicles: Rationale, Policy Process, and Impacts"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Donglian Tian and Jinhua Zhang
This paper describes the Chinese experience in adopting fuel economy standards for vehicles. The lessons from China that are described in this paper can be highly relevant for countries that are experiencing or anticipating rapid growth in personal vehicles, those wishing to moderate an increase in oil demand, or those desirous of vehicle technology upgrades.
January 7, 2009
"Advancing Carbon Sequestration Research in an Uncertain Legal and Regulatory Environment: A Study of Phase II of the DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Program"
Discussion Paper
This paper examines the legal and regulatory barriers encountered in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Program.
AP Photo
October 2008
"In-Use Vehicle Emissions in China — Tianjin Study"
Discussion Paper
By Hongyan He Oliver, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2004-2009
From March 2005–December 2006, a research team headed by ETIP carried out a project in Tianjin, China, to study emissions from on-road vehicles.
AP Photo
June 2008
"Analysis of Policies to Reduce Oil Consumption and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector"
Discussion Paper
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Gustavo Collantes, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group/Enviroment and Natural Resources Program, 2007-2008
This study examines different policy scenarios for reducing GHG emissions and oil consumption in the U.S. transportation sector using a variant of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS).
May 2008
"Returns to Scale in Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure and Deployment"
Discussion Paper
By Jeffrey Bielicki, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2006–2009
In this Belfer Center discussion paper, Bielicki describes SimCCS, a cost-minimizing geospatial deployment model used to deploy CCS for a variety of combinations of CO2 sources and injection reservoirs. The purpose of SimCCS is to determine the returns to scale for CCS deployment and to unravel the determinants thereof.
May 16, 2008
"Biofuels and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program: The Statute, Policy Issues, and Alternatives"
Discussion Paper
By Gustavo Collantes, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group/Enviroment and Natural Resources Program, 2007-2008
This paper investigates the relationship between the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program and the supply of biofuels in the United States.
