This paper investigates the trade-offs between progressivity and effectiveness for a carbon tax versus an ‘excessive consumption’ levy. To do this, the authors compare the distribution of consumer welfare impacts and environmental effectiveness of an air travel carbon tax and a frequent flyer levy. Read more
This article examines the impact of climate policy-induced changes in consumers’ preferences. Read more
Increasing the uptake of behaviours that are not yet niche is crucial to the sustainable energy transition. The authors of this paper test a novel approach to foster the uptake of renewable energy tariffs among a large sample of households in England and Wales. Read more
The authors of this paper analyse flexibility in residential energy demand through a series of experiments on the adoption and usage of WiFi-enabled smart plugs in the home. Read more
The authors of this paper examined if a ‘healthy home checklist’ would nudge households to purchase a test for radon – the leading cause of lung cancer after smoking – online, and found the strategy to increase take-up but to a low extent. Read more
This paper aims to estimate the short-run impacts of air travel reductions due to COVID-19, and explores the potential for policy measures to curb demand and reduce carbon dioxide emissions beyond the lifetime of the pandemic with minimal impacts on welfare. Read more
This paper describes an experiment on a nationally representative sample of UK households that aimed to quantify resistance to smart meter adoption and test for the existence of commonly cited market failures that inhibit the adoption of energy-saving technologies. The authors measured if households would adopt a smart meter without financial compensation and, for those households unwilling to do so, the subsidy level that would be necessary to persuade them. Read more
This paper examines whether energy efficiency standards influence consumer welfare. Read more
This June, South Africa’s much-delayed carbon tax is due to be implemented, to include a new levy on petrol and diesel. Patrick Curran contests that changing consumer behaviour and reducing emissions will be very difficult without investment in viable transport alternatives – and development of a wider suite of policies to cut emissions. Read more
How realistic are the predicted savings to household energy bills from installing a smart meter? And how robust is the evidence behind the figures? Greer Gosnell and Daire McCoy investigate, in the second of two posts on smart meters. Read more