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Book Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals

Download or read book Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals written by Ron Gecan and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fed. gov¿t. supports the use of biofuels -- transportation fuels produced from renewable plant matter, such as corn -- in the pursuit of energy, environ., and agr. policy goals. Tax credits (TC) encourage the prod¿n. and sale of biofuels in the U.S., lowering the costs of producing biofuels, such as ethanol or biodiesel, relative to the costs of producing their substitutes -- gasoline and diesel fuel. Fed. mandates require the use of specified minimum amounts and types of biofuel. This study assesses the incentives provided by the TC for producing different types of biofuels and analyzes whether they favor one type of biofuel over others. Estimates the cost to consumers of reducing the use of petroleum fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases through those TC. Illus.

Book Green vs  Green

Download or read book Green vs Green written by Ryan M. Yonk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renewable and carbon-neutral energy have been promoted as the future of energy production in the United States. Non-traditional energy sources show promise as alternatives to fossil fuels and may provide a sustainable source of energy in increasingly uncertain energy markets. However, these new sources of energy face their own set of political, administrative, and legal challenges. Green vs. Green explores how mixed land ownership and existing law and regulation present serious challenges to the development of alternative energy sources in the United States. Analytically examining and comparing five green energy sectors; wind, solar, geothermal, biofuel and hydro power, Ryan M. Yonk, Randy T. Simmons, and Brian C. Steed argue that discussing alternative energy without understanding these pitfalls creates unrealistic expectations regarding the ability to substitute "green" energy for traditional sources. The micro-goals of protecting individual areas, species, small-scale ecosystems, and other local environmental aims often limits ability to achieve macro-goals like preventing global climate change or transitioning to large-scale green energy production. Statutes and regulations designed to protect environmental and cultural integrity from degradation directly conflict with other stated environmental ends. Although there is substantial interest in adding clean energy to the grid, it appears that localized environmental interests interfere with broader environmental policy goals and the application of existing environmental laws and regulations may push us closer to gridlock. Green vs. Green provides a fascinating look into how existing environmental law created or will create substantial regulatory hurdles for future energy generations.

Book Alternative Fuel and Advanced Vehicle Technology Incentives

Download or read book Alternative Fuel and Advanced Vehicle Technology Incentives written by Lynn J. Cunningham and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-07-28 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wide array of federal incentives support the development and deployment of alternatives to conventional fuels and engines in transportation. These incentives include tax deductions and credits for vehicle purchases and the installation of refueling systems, federal grants for conversion of older vehicles to newer technologies, mandates for the use of biofuels, and incentives for manufacturers to produce alternative fuel vehicles. The current array of incentives for alternative fuels and related technologies do not reflect a single, comprehensive strategy, but rather an aggregative approach to a range of discreet public policy issues, including goals of reducing petroleum consumption and import dependence, improving environmental quality, expanding domestic manufacturing, and promoting agriculture and rural development. Current federal programs are administered by five key agencies: Department of the Treasury, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The incentives and programs described in this report are organized by the responsible agency. Treasury (through the Internal Revenue Service, IRS) administers tax credits and deductions for alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle purchases, expansion of alternative fuel refueling infrastructure, and incentives for the production and/or distribution of alternative fuels. Many of these incentives have expired in recent years and may or may not be reinstated. DOE (mainly through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EERE) administers research and development (R&D) programs for advanced fuels and transportation technology, grant programs to deploy alternative fuels and vehicles, and a loan program to promote domestic manufacturing of high efficiency vehicles. DOT (mainly through the Federal Highway Administration, FHWA, and Federal Transit Administration, FTA) administers grant programs to deploy “clean fuel” buses and other alternative fuel vehicles. DOT (through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA) also administers federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which include incentives for production of alternative fuel vehicles. EPA (mainly through the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, OTAQ) administers the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates the use of biofuels in transportation. EPA also administers grant programs to replace older diesel engines with newer technology. USDA (mainly through the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, RBS) administers grant, loan, and loan guarantee programs to expand agricultural production of biofuel feedstocks, conduct R&D on biofuels and bioenergy, and establish and expand facilities to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts.

Book Using Tax Expenditures to Achieve Energy Policy Goals

Download or read book Using Tax Expenditures to Achieve Energy Policy Goals written by Gilbert E. Metcalf and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tax expenditures are a major source of support for energy related activities in the federal budget exceeding direct budget support for energy by a factor of nearly six. Focusing on the policy goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum consumption, I find these tax expenditures highly cost ineffective at best and counterproductive at worse. The tax credit for ethanol is an example of a cost ineffective subsidy. The cost of reducing CO2 emissions through this subsidy exceeded $1,700 per ton of CO2 avoided in 2006 and the cost of reducing oil consumption over $85 per barrel.

Book The Power of Renewables

    Book Details:
  • Author : Chinese Academy of Engineering
  • Publisher : National Academies Press
  • Release : 2011-01-29
  • ISBN : 0309160006
  • Pages : 256 pages

Download or read book The Power of Renewables written by Chinese Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.

Book Sustainability in the Design  Synthesis and Analysis of Chemical Engineering Processes

Download or read book Sustainability in the Design Synthesis and Analysis of Chemical Engineering Processes written by Gerardo Ruiz Mercado and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2016-06-09 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainability in the Design, Synthesis and Analysis of Chemical Engineering Processes is an edited collection of contributions from leaders in their field. It takes a holistic view of sustainability in chemical and process engineering design, and incorporates economic analysis and human dimensions. Ruiz-Mercado and Cabezas have brought to this book their experience of researching sustainable process design and life cycle sustainability evaluation to assist with development in government, industry and academia. This book takes a practical, step-by-step approach to designing sustainable plants and processes by starting from chemical engineering fundamentals. This method enables readers to achieve new process design approaches with high influence and less complexity. It will also help to incorporate sustainability at the early stages of project life, and build up multiple systems level perspectives. Ruiz-Mercado and Cabezas’ book is the only book on the market that looks at process sustainability from a chemical engineering fundamentals perspective. Improve plants, processes and products with sustainability in mind; from conceptual design to life cycle assessment Avoid retro fitting costs by planning for sustainability concerns at the start of the design process Link sustainability to the chemical engineering fundamentals

Book The Energy Security Dilemma

Download or read book The Energy Security Dilemma written by David Bernell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the energy security of the United States – its ability to obtain reliable, affordable, and sufficient supplies of energy while meeting the goals of achieving environmental sustainability and protecting national security. The economic and national security of the United States is largely dependent upon fossil fuels, especially oil. Without significant changes to current practices and patterns of energy production and use, the domestic and global impacts – security, economic, and environmental – are expected to become worse over the coming decades. Growing US and global energy demands need to be met and the anticipated impacts of climate change must be avoided – all at an affordable price, while avoiding conflict with other nations that have similar goals. Bernell and Simon examine the current and prospective landscape of American energy policy, from tax incentives and mandates at the federal and state level to promote wind and solar power, to support for fracking in the oil and natural gas industries, to foreign policies designed to ensure that markets and cooperative agreements — not armies, navies and rival governments — control the supply and price of energy resources. They look at the variety of energy related challenges facing the United States and argue that public policies designed to enhance energy security have at the same time produced greater insecurity in terms of fostering rising (and potentially unmet) energy needs, national security threats, economic vulnerability, and environmental dangers.

Book Guide to U S  Economic Policy

Download or read book Guide to U S Economic Policy written by Robert E. Wright and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 965 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guide to U.S. Economic Policy shows students and researchers how issues and actions are translated into public policies for resolving economic problems (like the Great Recession) or managing economic conflict (like the left-right ideological split over the role of government regulation in markets). Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the guide highlights decision-making cycles requiring the cooperation of government, business, and an informed citizenry to achieve a comprehensive approach to a successful, growth-oriented economic policy. Through 30 topical, operational, and relational essays, the book addresses the development of U.S. economic policies from the colonial period to today; the federal agencies and public and private organizations that influence and administer economic policies; the challenges of balancing economic development with environmental and social goals; and the role of the U.S. in international organizations such as the IMF and WTO. Key Features: 30 essays by experts in the field investigate the fundamental economic, political, social, and process initiatives that drive policy decisions affecting the nation’s economic stability and success. Essential themes traced throughout the chapters include scarcity, wealth creation, theories of economic growth and macroeconomic management, controlling inflation and unemployment, poverty, the role of government agencies and regulations to police markets, Congress vs. the president, investment policies, economic indicators, the balance of trade, and the immediate and long-term costs associated with economic policy alternatives. A glossary of key economic terms and events, a summary of bureaus and agencies charged with economic policy decisions, a master bibliography, and a thorough index appear at the back of the book. This must-have reference for students and researchers is suitable for academic, public, high school, government, and professional libraries.

Book The Oxford Handbook of Food  Politics  and Society

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Food Politics and Society written by Ronald J. Herring and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 905 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How is food political? : market, state, and knowledge / Ronald J. Herring -- Science, politics, and the framing of modern agricultural technologies / John Harriss, Drew Stewart -- Genetically improved crops / Martina Newell-McGloughlin -- Agroecological intensification of smallholder farming / Rebecca Nelson, Robert Coe -- The hardest case : what blocks improvements in agriculture in Africa? / Robert L. Paarlberg -- The poor, malnutrition, biofortification, and biotechnology / Alexander J. Stein -- Biofuels : competition for land, resources, and political subsidies / David Pimentel, Michael Burgess -- Alternative paths to food security / Norman Uphoff -- Ethics of food production and consumption / Michiel Korthals -- Food, justice, and land / Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Jennifer C. Franco -- Food security, productivity, and gender inequality / Bina Agarwal -- Delivering food subsidy : the state and the market / Ashok Kotwal, Bharat Ramaswami -- Diets, nutrition, and poverty : lessons from India / Raghav Gaiha, Raghbendra Jha, Vani S. Kulkarni, Nidhi Kaicker -- Food price and trade policy biases : inefficient, inequitable, yet not inevitable / Kym Andersen -- Intellectual property rights and the politics of food / Krishna Ravi Srinivas -- Is food the answer to malnutrition / David E. Sahn -- Fighting mother nature with biotechnology / Alan McHughen -- Climate change and agriculture : countering doomsday scenarios / Derrill D. Watson II -- Wild foods / Jules Pretty, Zareen Bharucha -- Livestock in the food debate / Purvi Mehta-Bhatt, Paulo Ficarelli -- The social vision of the alternative food movement / Siddhartha Shome -- Food values beyond nutrition / Ann Grodzins Gold -- Cultural politics of food safety : genetically modified food in japan, France, and the United States / Kyoko Sato -- Food safety / Bruce M. Chassy -- The politics of food labeling and certification / Emily Clough -- The politics of grocery shopping: eating, voting, and (possibly) transforming the food system / Josée Johnston, Norah MacKendrick -- The political economy of regulation of biotechnology in agriculture / Gregory D. Graff, Gal Hochman, David Zilberman -- Coexistence in the fields? : GM, organic, and conventional food crops / Janice Thies -- Global movements for food justice / M. Jahi Chappell -- The rise of the organic foods movement as a transnational phenomenon / Tomas Larsson -- The dialectic of pro-poor papaya / Sarah Davidson Evanega, Mark Lynas -- Thinking the African food crisis : the Sahel forty years on / Michael J. Watts -- Transformation of the agrifood industry in developing countries / Thomas Reardon, C. Peter Timmer -- The twenty-first century agricultural land rush / Gregory Thaler -- Agricultural futures : the politics of knowledge / Ian Scoones

Book Hearing on Energy and Tax Policy

Download or read book Hearing on Energy and Tax Policy written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means. Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Biological Concerstion of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals

Download or read book Biological Concerstion of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals written by Jianzhong Sun and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 2014 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers biomass modification to facilitate the industrial degradation processing and other characteristics of feedstocks and new technologies for the conversion of lignocelluloses into biofuels and other products.

Book Handbook of Oil Politics

Download or read book Handbook of Oil Politics written by Robert Looney and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To many, oil markets and their linkages to a whole spectrum of events remain something of a mystery. Unfortunately, most of the easily obtained information on oil is deeply flawed. Whole web-conspiracy sites depict ruthless insiders and reckless dictators manipulating energy markets at will. The 30 essays in this volume, written by the leading experts in the field, attempt to set the record straight. While their assessments may lack the sensationalism of many popular pundits, serious readers will find their insights invaluable in the years to come in providing a framework for understanding many of the events of the day. The five sections: Politics of Oil Supply, Political Responses, Regional Dimensions, Country Case Studies and Key Issues for the Future give a comprehensive overview of the politics of oil world-wide.

Book Tax Expenditure Management

Download or read book Tax Expenditure Management written by Mark Burton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-14 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Locates tax expenditure management within the broader discourse of liberal democratic political theory.

Book A Sustainability Challenge

Download or read book A Sustainability Challenge written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-03-28 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Research Council's Science and Technology for Sustainability Program hosted two workshops in 2011 addressing the sustainability challenges associated with food security for all. The first workshop, Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems, explored the availability and quality of commonly used indicators for food security and malnutrition; poverty; and natural resources and agricultural productivity. It was organized around the three broad dimensions of sustainable food security: (1) availability, (2) access, and (3) utilization. The workshop reviewed the existing data to encourage action and identify knowledge gaps. The second workshop, Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies, focused specifically on assuring the availability of adequate food supplies. How can food production be increased to meet the needs of a population expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050? Workshop objectives included identifying the major challenges and opportunities associated with achieving sustainable food security and identifying needed policy, science, and governance interventions. Workshop participants discussed long term natural resource constraints, specifically water, land and forests, soils, biodiversity and fisheries. They also examined the role of knowledge, technology, modern production practices, and infrastructure in supporting expanded agricultural production and the significant risks to future productivity posed by climate change. This is a report of two workshops.

Book The Price of Inequality

Download or read book The Price of Inequality written by Joseph E. Stiglitz and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-04-08 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America currently has the most inequality, and the least equality of opportunity, among the advanced countries. While market forces play a role in this stark picture, politics has shaped those market forces. In this best-selling book, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz exposes the efforts of well-heeled interests to compound their wealth in ways that have stifled true, dynamic capitalism. Along the way he examines the effect of inequality on our economy, our democracy, and our system of justice. Stiglitz explains how inequality affects and is affected by every aspect of national policy, and with characteristic insight he offers a vision for a more just and prosperous future, supported by a concrete program to achieve that vision."

Book The Price of Inequality  How Today s Divided Society Endangers Our Future

Download or read book The Price of Inequality How Today s Divided Society Endangers Our Future written by Joseph E. Stiglitz and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-06-11 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A forceful argument against America's vicious circle of growing inequality by the Nobel Prize–winning economist. The top 1 percent of Americans control some 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. But as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains in this best-selling critique of the economic status quo, this level of inequality is not inevitable. Rather, in recent years well-heeled interests have compounded their wealth by stifling true, dynamic capitalism and making America no longer the land of opportunity that it once was. They have made America the most unequal advanced industrial country while crippling growth, distorting key policy debates, and fomenting a divided society. Stiglitz not only shows how and why America’s inequality is bad for our economy but also exposes the effects of inequality on our democracy and on our system of justice while examining how monetary policy, budgetary policy, and globalization have contributed to its growth. With characteristic insight, he diagnoses our weakened state while offering a vision for a more just and prosperous future.