Index decomposition analysis for comparing emission scenarios: Applications and challenges

B.W. Ang () and Tian Goh

Energy Economics, 2019, vol. 83, issue C, 74-87

Abstract: As global action on climate change gathers momentum, an area of interest is what the world's greenhouse gas emission trajectory will be in the future and whether it can meet the emission targets set forth. To address these questions, emission scenarios which range from business-as-usual to deep decarbonization scenarios have been developed by researchers using different assessment models. An understanding of the sources of variations across the range of these emission trajectories is of interest for discussions, debates and policy planning. However, since these models often have different structures and input variables, comparisons of the results are not straightforward. In this regard, index decomposition analysis (IDA) has emerged as a tool to facilitate comparisons in a harmonized way. It allows differences in emissions over time or between models to be broken down based on a set of accepted driving factors. This paper reviews the literature and summarizes the features and challenges. A multi-level scenario decomposition framework is proposed to address the challenges which include how to quantify differences arising from the energy transformation sector, the adoption of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, and bio-energy carbon capture and storage technologies. A case study and guidelines for implementing the framework are presented.

Keywords: Prospective analysis; Emission scenarios; Index decomposition analysis; LMDI; Deep decarbonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C43 Q01 Q21 Q31 Q42 Q47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21) Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988319302002
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:83:y:2019:i:c:p:74-87

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2019.06.013

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().