Global controversies in local settings: anti-fracking activism in the era of Web 2.0

In this era of global challenges in energy policy, the importance of siting of facilities connected to development of energy system is greater than ever. At the same time, spreading of these facilities has often been controversial in surrounding communities. This article advances the debate on this phenomenon by focusing on an aspect of siting controversies that has become a game changer in recent years but has received remarkably little attention: the role of Web 2.0 in siting conflicts. To explore the impact of Web 2.0, the paper uses a case study approach, examining the influence of access to the Internet in two siting conflicts associated with shale gas prospecting in Poland in the period from 2012 to 2014. The possibilities that Web 2.0 offers to residents and other local actors in siting conflicts – access to knowledge, the ability to reframe the local debate using international resources, and mobilization of a network of support by sharing their version of the story – influence the dynamics of risk communication during siting controversies.     

Developing communications about CCS: three lessons learned

To curb the risks of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change posits that global CO₂ emissions from the energy supply sector must be reduced to 90% below 2010 levels between 2040 and 2070. Electricity generation is the largest contributor to emissions from the energy supply sector. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) holds the promise of helping to reduce CO₂ emissions from coal-fired power plants, as part of a low-carbon portfolio that could also include energy efficiency, natural gas, renewables and nuclear power. To inform people’s decisions about whether or not to support the implementation of CCS, our team created brochures about 10 low-carbon technologies as well as a computer tool that helped users to develop technically realistic low-carbon portfolios. Here, we highlight three main lessons we learned in developing these communications about CCS: (1) when learning about CCS people also want to know about other alternatives; (2) using simple wording improves understanding, even about complex technologies; and (3) the time to communicate about CCS is now.     

The impact of specific information provision on base station siting preferences

When it comes to the new siting of a mobile communication base station in one’s neighbourhood, some people react with rejection because they fear health consequences from the emitted high‐frequency radiation. Most people would prefer to site base stations outside residential areas, but from a public health perspective, this may result in even more radiation for the phoning population. Therefore, authorities are interested in improving the current base station siting processes. The question arises whether specific knowledge enhancement would influence base station siting preferences or whether affective or emotional components (due to the scientific uncertainties involved) would overrule the influence of such attempts. To answer this question, an experimental study with a convenience sample of Swiss citizens (N = 228) was conducted. Participants were confronted with one of three texts: a neutral text (control group), an information booklet about mobile communication and an emotionally charged newspaper article that reported a conflict about the siting of a new base station. After reading the text, participants filled out a questionnaire about their perception of mobile communication and their base station siting preferences. Reading the information booklet increased participants’ knowledge and led to some perceptual changes of base stations and mobile phones. Importantly, participants reading the booklet were able to transfer their knowledge to a base station siting task and found locations that would emit less radiation for the phoning population. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed.     

Benefit-risk trade-offs in retrospect: how major stakeholders perceive the decision-making process in the Barents Sea oil field development

This study provides an analysis of risk-benefit communication and participation of the siting process for the Norwegian Goliat oil field development, within the context of a revised model of the International Risk Governance Council’s framework. The main objective of the study is a retrospective review of the decision-making process seen through the lenses of the major stakeholders involved in this process. The research design used qualitative methods of empirical research including stakeholder interviews during a five-day period in 2011 in Northern Norway. Results showed that the siting process of Goliat was dominated primarily by the issue of benefit sharing. In view of potential risks to such oil development, local stakeholders felt entitled to some compensation in terms of shared benefits. However, over the course of time the high hopes that these benefits would materialize and provide additional benefits to the communities which would then be fairly distributed among the beneficiaries have been disappointed. We review the reasons behind these results as well as formulate recommendations regarding potential improvements to the risk-benefit communication process in addition to future siting processes.     

Pricing derivatives with modeling CO2 emission allowance using a regime-switching jump diffusion model: with regime-switching risk premium

Carbon markets trade the spot European Union Allowance (EUA), with one EUA providing the right to emit one tone of carbon dioxide (CO₂). We examine the spot EUA returns in BlueNext that exhibit jumps and a volatility clustering feature. We propose a regime-switching jump diffusion model (RSJM) with a hidden Markov chain to capture not only a volatility clustering feature, but also the dynamics of the spot EUA returns that are influenced by change in the CO₂ emission economic conditions. In addition, the switching jump intensities of the RSJM are shown to be affected by change in the carbon-market macroeconomic environment. We further derive the theoretical futures-option prices with a constant convenience yield under the RSJM via the generalized Esscher transform where regime-switching risk is priced with a risk premium. The empirical study shows that the derived futures-option pricing model under the RSJM with regime-switching risk is a more complete model than a jump diffusion model for pricing CO₂ options.     

Detecting and modelling the jump risk of CO2 emission allowances and their impact on the valuation of option on futures contracts

Modelling CO₂ emission allowance prices is important for pricing CO₂ emission allowance linked assets in the emissions trading scheme (ETS). Some statistical properties of CO₂ emission allowance prices have been discovered in the literature ignoring price jumps. By employing real data from the ETS, this research first detects the jump risk using a jump test and then verifies jump effects in modelling CO₂ emission allowance prices by comparing the in-sample and out-of-sample model performance. We suggest a model which can capture the statistical properties of autocorrelation, volatility clustering and jump effects is more appropriate for modelling CO₂ emission allowance prices. We establish a general framework for pricing CO₂ emission allowance options on futures contracts with these properties and find that the jump risk significantly affects the value of the CO₂ emission allowance option on futures contracts. More importantly, we demonstrate that the dynamic jump ARMA–GARCH model can provide more accurate valuations of the CO₂ emission allowance options on futures than other models in terms of pricing error.     

Lasting impacts and perceived inequities: community reappraisal of the siting of a regional biosolids processing facility in rural Ontario

This paper presents a comparative study of the shift in community perceptions pre- and post-siting of a biosolids processing facility – the Organic Material Recovery Centre – in the rural Township of Southgate, Ontario. The study responds to the need for comparative studies examining residents’ perceptions of contested noxious facilities during acrimonious siting processes and later during facility operations. Interviews were conducted before and after the techno-industrial facility was sited to compare community perceptions of the proposed and operational facility, and further examine residents’ experiences with residual impacts and reflections on the siting process. Results reveal that once the facility began operations and residents had the opportunity to understand its operational mandate and directions, many residents seem to accept the facility as less threatening to well-being, quality of life and core values. Nonetheless, sustained community concerns shifted to invisible impacts and long-term uncertainty. Findings highlight lingering intra-community conflict between those supporting and those who remained concerned about negative impacts. As a result of the hostile community conflict, the local politics seems to have morphed into a ‘one-issue’ political scene, whereby all issues are divided along the lines of municipal councillors opinions of the facility These findings make methodological contributions with pre- and post-siting comparative qualitative research and contribute theoretically to our understanding of residents’ reappraisal of contested noxious techno-industrial facilities, show sustained divisive social impacts within the community, and call for meaningful consultation and increased participatory siting processes that accounts for the diversity of values and expectations during facility siting.     

信用衍生品在我国商业银行信用风险管理中的应用

我国商业银行针对其面临最重要的风险之一的信用风险采取的信用风险管理方式长期以传统模式为主,这种方式较为被动,缺少积极性及动态有效性。该种方式的缺陷在经济全球化的形势下显得更为严峻,而信用衍生品作为能够有效转移信用风险的创新产品,很有须要将其引进到信用风险管理中。在学习与借鉴前人关于信用衍生品在银行信用风险管理应用的经验上,运用了实证分析方法,对银行信用资产质量与信用衍生品交易量的关系作出了研究,得出了信用衍生品在一定程度上对于降低或转移商业银行信用风险产生了作用,进而保证了信用资产质量的结论,结合了信用衍生品在我国实际的发展现状与条件,提出了该产品在我国商业银行信用风险管理中运用的建议。     

A two-stage approach to defining an affected community based on the directly affected population and the sense of community

Studies have demonstrated the inadequacy of relying on existing administrative boundaries or simple proximity to define an affected community. The proposal and siting of hazardous facilities can have a range of impacts upon people across wide areas, with some more affected than others as a result of living with the physical impacts of construction or the fear associated with perceived risk. We term those most affected the directly affected population and propose a two-stage model for identifying an affected community which places those most affected at the centre of the definition. The second stage is to identify the relationships those most affected have with the wider elements of the sense of community to discover the existing community or communities which are affected. Illustrated by the siting of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Dounrey in the north of Scotland, we show that elements of the lived community experience may have very different shapes, extents and conflicting interests which pose challenges for their incorporation into a siting process. The two-stage model presented in this paper, by placing those most directly affected at the centre and working from there out into the existing communities, identifies issues early in any siting process to improve their incorporation and amelioration.     

The question mark over coal: Pollution,politics, and CO2

There is a growing concern about the effect of fossil-fuel burning, and the consequent increase in carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in the atmosphere. This increasing concentration is now well-documented, and although the evidence of actual or potential climate changes is not conclusive, the growth in energy consumption magnifies the importance of the possible dangers. This article highlights two aspects of the issue. The CO₂ increase will be mainly produced by coal. And whereas the increase in atmospheric CO₂ is now being imposed upon the world principally by the USA, the USSR, and Western Europe, the developing countries will probably be important contributors by early in the next century. Using world energy resource estimates and projections of the global production of CO₂ from fossil-fuel burning in the year 2025, the authors argue that it will be difficult to achieve an international consensus and commitment to deal with the issue. This is because of the relationship between economic growth, industrialisation, and the production of CO₂, and because of the distribution of the beneficial and harmful effects of any climatic change.     

Managing geoenergy-induced seismicity with society

Contemporary and future low-carbon energy supply requires using the deep underground. Ample evidence shows that onshore oil and gas extraction, associated wastewater injection, deep geothermal systems, and carbon capture and storage can induce damaging seismicity. While induced seismicity exhibits symptoms of a potentially controversial issue, research today has been limited to seismic hazard and risk. Here we argue for the need of social scientific insights to inform risk communication and processes of managing geoenergy-induced seismicity with society.     

On the asymmetric relationship between stock market development,energy efficiency and environmental quality: A nonlinear analysis

It has been widely documented in the literature that financial development drives up the impact of CO₂ emissions through increases in real economic activities and the consumption of polluting fossil fuel energy. However, when dealing with stock market development, such upward effects on economic growth, energy efficiency, and carbon emissions seems to give away to a positive impact especially in emerging markets. This paper contributes to this debate by exploring both the symmetric and asymmetric responses of CO₂ emission to changes in stock market development indicators. Using both the panel linear and nonlinear ARDL, our results demonstrate the asymmetric effects of stock market development indicator son carbon emissions in the context of emerging markets. In particular, the long-run elasticities results suggest that positive and negative shocks on stock market indicator decreases environmental quality by increasing carbon emissions. Based on these empirical findings, this study offers some crucial policy implications. Especially, policy makers should implement strong environmental policies in emerging markets economies to reduce carbon emissions of industrial companies without significantly affecting the development of financial markets.     

Green property finance and CO2 emissions in the building industry

Contributing about 40% of the world's annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the building industry is tasked with reducing its energy consumption and its carbon footprint in accordance with the Paris Agreement. This study investigates the relationship between green property finance and the building industry's CO₂ emissions across 98 high-income and developing economies for the period 2012–2018. Our results show that although green property finance expansions are significantly and negatively related to the industry's CO₂ emissions in the full sample, this result is more evident for developing nations. This is a significant outcome for these countries since many of them are experiencing rapid but unchecked population growth and strong oil consumption. Policies to maintain this development during the COVID-19 pandemic are crucial because this crisis has curtailed the availability of green finance facilities, which has either slowed down or reversed any progress made.     

The Efficiency of Political Mechanisms for Siting Nuisance Facilities: Are Opponents More Likely to Participate than Supporters?

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - Public opposition often hinders the siting of nuisance and noxious facilities. However, there is often support for the siting plan within the...     

Carbon Cap-and-Trade in China: A Comprehensive Framework

This article proposes a comprehensive framework to explore a possible carbon cap-and-trade scheme in China. By applying the case of China, our empirical results present the demand side and supply side of carbon-emission permits in the market and several other significant findings: (i) carbon dioxide (CO₂) marginal abatement cost varies a lot among different regions; (ii) in total, CO₂ emissions could have been reduced by 5.14 billion tons if all the provinces had achieved their anticipated environmental performance during 1997–2014; (iii) the equilibrium price of CO₂ trading is 241 RMB/ton, irrelevant to the original allocation of allowances.     

An econometric analysis of emission allowance prices

Knowledge of the statistical distribution of the prices of emission allowances, and their forecastability, are crucial in constructing, among other things, purchasing and risk management strategies in the emissions-constrained markets. This paper analyzes the two emission permits markets, CO₂ in Europe, and SO₂ in the US, and investigates a model for dealing with the unique stylized facts of this type of data. Its effectiveness in terms of model fit and out-of-sample value-at-risk-forecasting, as compared to models commonly used in risk-forecasting contexts, is demonstrated.     

Carbon Price in China: A CO2 Abatement Cost of Wind Power Perspective

As a result of rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, energy (especially fossil fuels) demand growth is increasing. Hence, China is facing the huge pressure of environmental protection and CO₂ emission reduction. The feed-in tariff (FIT) policy that promotes more wind power to substitute for thermal power and a well-functioning carbon price mechanism can significantly affect CO₂ abatement, and both can work in coordination to achieve emission reduction. Using panel model, we prove that FIT policy is more effective than other policies in promoting more wind power. Also the slowdown of economic growth, energy substitution, technological progress, and CO₂ mitigation requirement can stimulate the expansion of wind power. Additionally, based on the calculation of real abatement cost of wind power, we obtain the provincial and national average of carbon prices (239 CNY/ton and 242 CNY/ton). Specifically, 233-251 CNY/ton will be the range for reasonable carbon price in the future. We find that the carbon prices in this article are higher than those of the emissions trading scheme pilots in 2014 and 2015, due to the relatively high proportion of free allowance. Based on the above conclusions, we proposed some policy suggestions.     

Sham or shame: Rethinking the China's milk powder scandal from a legal perspective

The Sanlu milk powder scandal finally evolved into a nationwide dairy‐industry crisis in China. This paper attempts to rethink this scandal from a legal perspective and the issue of systemic risk. The case is studied from five different perspectives, namely, China's legislation, regulatory system, supervisory system, approaches to systemic risk, and corporate social responsibility awareness. Finally, some policy implications are also considered, which form the basis of recommendations to decision‐makers.     

我国银行业高利润的原因分析及展望

2011年,中国商业银行全年净利润破万亿元大关,其利润总和占全球银行业总利润的20%以上,中国工商银行市值全球第一。高额的经营利润引来了多方关注,也出现了银行业"暴利"之说。为一探究竟,本文着眼于分析2011年我国银行业高利润的原因,并结合宏观经济环境,试图找出这些因素在未来的变化趋势,以此推断出未来我国银行业利润增速将有所放缓。基于此结论,对我国银行业未来的发展提出了一些建议。     

Local facility hazard risk controversy and non-local hazard risk perception

Facility siting disputes are as much about the socio-politics in a place as they are about the risks posed by the facility; yet not much is known about how localized controversy about one hazard effects the perception of other, non-local, hazard risks. Our exploratory study tests the idea that a local facility risk controversy (landfill expansion) is tied to an overall sensitivity to risks from a wider range of potentially hazardous facilities. We use logistic regression models of questionnaire survey responses from 205 residents living near two landfills that were recently expanded or proposed to be expanded. Psychometric risk variables, cultural theory of risk variables, and sociodemographic variables are used as controls to see if risk-in-place/context variables related to threat and governance (e.g. fairness and fiduciary equity) predict not only risk from the landfill but also risk from three other potentially hazardous facilities (incinerator, chemical, and nuclear). The risk-in-place/context variables are predictive across all hazards but there is little consistency in the mix of predictors across models. The results suggest that facility controversy is linked to how residents view risks from non-local facility hazards and that this effect varies by place. This points to the need for more research in this area, and is suggestive that risk-hazard controversy may foster localized risk-averse places or wider risk-averse communities.