ResearchActivity

Organisations

RevoProsper - https://www.revoprosper.org/ susana.martin@revoprosper.org

Feasta - https://www.feasta.org/category/documents/projects/cap-and-share/ Caroline Whyte

Research Aims

Reducing one's carbon footprint via participation in a personal carbon trading group raises many issues across several different academic disciplines, including history, sociology, psychology, economics, business administration, sales and marketing, finance, environmental science, political science, and law. Our current list of research topics below is flexible so this list is liable to change.

We plan to attract undergraduates and postgraduates looking for dissertation or research topics, by collaborating with research supervisors at various academic institutions working in this field. There are three main areas where this sort of research can happen: final year undergraduate research projects (and summer projects for undergraduates); projects/dissertations that are part of most master’s degree programmes (and similar level diplomas); doctoral research projects.

Undergraduates normally will have had 2 years of degree work before attempting a dissertation, the norm is 3 years but there are a lot of 4 year programmes now: some with a year in industry and some with a year abroad. For postgraduates, the qualifications and experience are clear. The competence of the students will be difficult to judge beforehand but one can assume that they have shown some competence in getting to where they are.

In all cases the research is supervised by at least one academic supervisor at their institutions. There are some science/engineering projects where the work is done in industry or somewhere else supervised by someone employed in the industry but there will always be academic oversight.

Satisfactory projects should result in at least one publication in a peer-reviewed journal, at the very least in open access publication websites and the like. Results would be published under the name of the people doing the work and normally the supervisor giving the address of the institution(s) involved. News media articles that follow linking to the research would be dealt with by both EcoCore and the institution. EcoCore itself will in many cases produce articles using the research.

Research Topics

Carbon currency mechanism: the carbon currency framework based on carbon allowances

1. Social sciences, inequitability, the just transition, climate justice
   • How equitable would the carbon currency mechanism be? Carbon taxes with carbon dividends are promoted as equitable - is this more or less equitable than that? Would the carbon price on goods and services under the carbon currency mechanism be a barrier to low income households managing their carbon budget prudently? Would it compare favourably to the higher product prices caused by carbon taxation? Should special dispensation be allowed for people with special circumstances to receive more allowance under the carbon currency mechanism?
   • At what point would rich people be impacted by the carbon currency mechanism if they were able to buy more tokens in the personal carbon trading scheme, and how equitably would their payments be distributed to sellers on an open market across the nation? At what initial emissions level would the carbon currency only penalise the most flagrant carbon abusers? What benefits would accrue from such a policy?
   • Case study: if the Royal Family were subject to the carbon currency mechanism, how much would they need to be subsidised by the state to facilitate their high carbon footprint? How does this compare to the financial subsidy that they currently receive from the state - is it proportionately much more or similar, comparing both average state carbon allowances and average annual income?
2. Psychology / consumer habits / geography / sustainability
   • Compare purchasing habits of lone-acting citizens vs EcoCounts participant with group & motivational support vs citizens in personal carbon trading group (when & where it existed?)
   • How quickly would someone living with the carbon currency become prudent with carbon tokens? Is it easier than learning financial prudence? Is it more straight-forward because it's the second currency or does it make life significantly more difficult, and if so, for what proportion of the population?
   • How powerful is EcoCounts &/or the carbon currency as an action bringing a sense of empowerment and counteracting climate change-induced negativity, incidents of climate anxiety and depression? How much does group participation in EcoCounts boost the sense of accomplishment or efficacy in participants' actions? Estimate comparative significance of EcoCounts as it is now (carbon footprint reduction), future EcoCounts personal carbon trading group, citizens living with national carbon currency.
   • How effectively would a national carbon currency popularise citizen action as highly visible, transparent and socially equitable and become a social norm? Is it probable that society would create a narrative that this large social change is a good, just and fulfilling means of action against the common threat of climate change? Are there any specific examples of social movements that would be fulfilled? To what extent do "birth strikers" feel that participation would fulfil their expectation of a positive outcome for humanity in the face of climate change? (Birth strikers publicly self-identify as particularly psychologically affected by climate change and would be a ready-made subject group for surveys)
3. Micro-economics
   • At what level of reduction would allowances start to impact purchasing choices broadly, bearing in mind research pointing to significant inequitable distribution of CO2 emissions across the population? How much must the allowances be reduced from the current national average carbon footprint for participation to show significant distribution of personal impact on lifestyles, bearing in mind personal carbon trading is allowed? What level of carbon trading should be expected? Estimate the maximum sustainable rate of CO2 emissions reduction under the carbon currency mechanism for people
   • Examine the carbon currency mechanism for structural faults or loopholes. Compare probably pricing outcomes arising with the mechanism for transparency and accuracy in comparison with carbon taxation or legislation policies. Is the carbon price of goods and services as created by the carbon currency mechanism transparent and representative? What instances are there in which the carbon price would be distorted? Survey product and services markets for potential tendencies to result in shortages and lack of availability under the mechanism, i.e. in context of lack of alternatives. What effects would the carbon currency mechanism have on the cash price of carbon-intense goods and services? Is a high carbon token price on a product liable to cause a low cash price & vice-versa?
   • What inherent stimulus or competitive advantage would green businesses receive in the economy under the carbon currency mechanism, compared to carbon taxes or regulation? What would be the impact under future scenarios on oil companies: business-as-usual, carbon taxation, carbon currency, direct rationing. Would the carbon currency mechanism inhibit the number of large-scale construction projects, for instance, to build a new Thames Barrier? Estimate the maximum sustainable rate of CO2 emissions reduction under the carbon currency mechanism for business, for industry
4. Macro-economics
   • Estimate the maximum sustainable rate of CO2 emissions reduction for an economy under the carbon currency, also compared to carbon taxation. Would the carbon currency mechanism have a recessionary effect on the economy, and if so at what point and by how much? What is the economic elasticity of fossil fuel demand under the carbon currency mechanism compared to other policies?
   • If the net worth of an oil concern is dependant on its total exploitable reserves, would introduction of the carbon currency framework cause a financial meltdown?
   • Government would take a percentage of every citizen’s the carbon currency allocation for use in public services - how much would it be? How much control would the state retain under the carbon currency mechanism to either subsidise or target or otherwise influence CO2 emissions from different sectors and how would such state intervention be implemented?
5. Environment / Energy policy and Carbon Accounting
   • How many of the UK Gov't Climate Change Committee's proposals for CO2 emissions reduction mechanisms in the economy would not need state implementation due to sufficient coverage under citizen or business actions under a carbon currency based on personal carbon allowances?
   • Determine a methodology to balance payments from the carbon currency supply to the carbon drawdown sector and show whether the carbon currency could pay enough for reforestation, soil carbon etc and the policing of existing carbon sinks. Take an example, e.g. would Brazil benefit or suffer from a global carbon currency, where existing forests were protected and deforested land and carbon sinks were open to earn tokens from reforestation, paid for by a UN carbon bank from a negotiated global carbon budget?
   • How can the carbon currency mechanism help or hinder ecological sustainability beyond climate-related effects / UN SDG 13?
   • How would the wholesale and retail UK (US / EU...) energy markets need to adapt to ensure carbon tokens are correctly paid by domestic users? What design of electricity market for today's energy mix allows the CO2 emissions to be paid in tokens by ultimate consumers from carbon allowances under the carbon currency mechanism? How would nuclear power fare under the carbon currency? What is the carbon footprint of a nuclear powerstation, uranium supply, radioactive waste storage and disposal? https://theconversation.com/energy-generators-soaring-revenues-highlight-deep-problems-in-the-way-britain-prices-its-electricity-205951 Prof Michael Grubb, Energy & Climate Change, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources.
   • Methane control under the carbon currency mechanism – how effective would methane licenses be in controlling CO2 equivalent emissions, considering they are paid for in carbon currency
6. Political History
   • What features of the carbon currency proposals created by the Blair government in 2008 appealed or did not appeal to the public and gov't? What changes are there in 2023?
   • What is the history of governments abandoning carbon taxes and how consistent is government carbon policy in comparison to historical rationing programs?
7. Business Administration
   • Under the carbon currency mechanism, would the transparency of carbon prices on every product/service boost business innovation and competition in the energy transition, when considering other policies' hidden subsidies, tax relief situations and market inconsistencies?
   • Compare the government's bureaucratic cost for setting up and running the carbon currency mechanism compared to other carbon taxation, carbon taxation with dividends, and regulation
   • How would the NHS function under the carbon currency mechanism, in particular what percentage of a participant's allocation would have to be withheld by the state to cover public services?
   • What would be the cost of CBAMs under the carbon currency mechanism, where a proxy mechanism imposes carbon payments on importers?
   • Estimate the cost to business for dealing with the carbon currency in their back-office, in their accounts and their bookkeeping. What is the bottom line impact on green businesses due to the carbon currency mechanism compared to carbon taxes or regulation?
8. Fossil fuel industry
   • Fossil fuel corporations are liable under the carbon currency mechanism to pay the gov't in carbon tokens for all CO2 production. This could be audited either at the point of sale, i.e. payment per unit of fossil fuel sold, or at the point of extraction. The difference would be significant, e.g. an oil well will routinely flare gas - this would count as subject to audit, or a coal mine will emit large amounts of methane.