| 1. |
- Larsson, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
Reviewing electricity production cost assessments
- 2013
-
In: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 1364-0321 .- 1879-0690. ; 30, s. 170-183
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A thorough review of twelve recent studies of production costs from different power generating technologies was conducted and a wide range in cost estimates was found. The reviewed studies show differences in their methodologies and assumptions, making the stated cost figures not directly comparable and unsuitable to be generalized to represent the costs for entire technologies. Moreover, current levelized costs of electricity methodologies focus only on the producer's costs, while additional costs viewed from a consumer perspective and on external costs with impact on society should be included if these results are to be used for planning. Although this type of electricity production cost assessments can be useful, the habit of generalizing electricity production cost figures for entire technologies is problematic. Cost escalations tend to occur rapidly with time, the impact of economies of scale is significant, costs are in many cases site-specific, and country-specific circumstances affect production costs. Assumptions on the cost-influencing factors such as discount rates, fuel prices and heat credits fluctuate considerably and have a significant impact on production cost results. Electricity production costs assessments similar to the studies reviewed in this work disregard many important cost factors, making them inadequate for decision and policy making, and should only be used to provide rough ballpark estimates with respect to a given system boundary. Caution when using electricity production cost estimates are recommended, and further studies investigating cost under different circumstances, both for producers and society as a whole are called for. Also, policy makers should be aware of the potentially widely different results coming from electricity production cost estimates under different assumptions.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Davidsson Kurland, Simon, 1986
(author)
-
Energy use for GWh-scale lithium-ion battery production
- 2020
-
In: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 2:1
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Estimates of energy use for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell manufacturing show substantial variation, contributing to disagreements regarding the environmental benefits of large-scale deployment of electric mobility and other battery applications. Here, energy usage is estimated for two large-scale battery cell factories using publicly available data. It is concluded that these facilities use around 50–65 kWh (180–230 MJ) of electricity per kWh of battery capacity, not including other steps of the supply chain, such as mining and processing of materials. These estimates are lower than previous studies using data on pilot-scale or under-utilized facilities but are similar to recent estimates based on fully utilized, large-scale factories. The environmental impact of battery manufacturing varies with the amounts and form of energy used; especially as renewable sources replace electricity from fossil fuels. As additional large-scale battery factories are taken into use, more data should become available, and the reliance on outdated, unrepresentative, and often incomparable, estimates of energy usage in the emerging Li-ion battery industry should be avoided.
|
|
| 4. |
- Davidsson Kurland, Simon, 1986, et al.
(author)
-
The energetic implications of introducing lithium-ion batteries into distributed photovoltaic systems
- 2019
-
In: Sustainable Energy and Fuels. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2398-4902. ; 3:5, s. 1182-1190
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Batteries for stationary applications can prove to be crucial for enabling high penetration of solar energy, but production and use of batteries comes with an energetic cost. This study quantifies how adding a lithium-ion (Liion) battery affects the energetic performance of a typical residential photovoltaic (PV) system for a wide range of climatic conditions. If all generated power is either self-consumed or made available via the existing distribution grid, the PV system has an energy return on investment (EROI) of between 14 (Alaska) and 27 (Arizona). While adding a 12 kWh Li-ion battery increases self-consumption considerably, this has the negative effect of decreasing the EROI by more than 20%. In a situation where all excess power generation is curtailed, the EROI can be as low as 7 (Alaska and Washington), although it can also be as high as 15 (Florida). Introducing a battery increases EROI but is still considerably lower than in cases where use excess power generation is added to the grid. Doubling the battery size increases the average self-consumption marginally, but further decreases EROI of the system because the extra energy invested to build the additonal battery is used inefficienctly. The results show that installing PV systems in locations with good solar resources and a grid that can accept excess prodution is desirable for maximizing net energy return from distributed PV. Batteries have a benefit when excess electricity generation can not be fed into the grid. Oversizing batteries has the effect of significantly reducing the EROI of the PV system.
|
|
| 5. |
- Davidsson Kurland, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
The energetic implications of introducing lithium-ion batteries into distributed photovoltaic systems
- 2019
-
In: Sustainable Energy & Fuels. - 2398-4902. ; 3:5, s. 1182-1190
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Batteries for stationary applications can prove to be crucial for enabling high penetration of solar energy, but production and use of batteries comes with an energetic cost. This study quantifies how adding a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery affects the energetic performance of a typical residential photovoltaic (PV) system under a wide range of climatic conditions. If all generated power is either self-consumed or made available via an existing distribution grid, the PV system will have an energy return on investment (EROI) of between 14 (Alaska) and 27 (Arizona). While adding a 12 kW h Li-ion battery increases self-consumption considerably, this has a negative effect of decreasing the EROI by more than 20%. In a situation where all excess power generation is curtailed, the EROI can be as low as 7 (Alaska and Washington), although it can also be as high as 15 (Florida). Introducing a battery increases the EROI but it is still considerably lower than in cases where excess power generation is added to the grid. Doubling the battery size increases the average self-consumption marginally, but further decreases the EROI of the system because the extra energy invested to build the additional battery is used inefficiently. The results show that installing PV systems in locations with good solar resources and a grid that can accept excess production is desirable for maximizing the net energy return from distributed PV systems. Batteries have a benefit when excess electricity generation cannot be fed into the grid. Oversizing batteries has the effect of significantly reducing the EROI of the PV system.
|
|
| 6. |
- Davidsson, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
A review of life cycle assessments on wind energy systems
- 2012
-
In: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0948-3349 .- 1614-7502. ; 17:6, s. 729-742
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeSeveral life cycle assessments (LCA) of wind energy published in recent years are reviewed to identify methodological differences and underlying assumptions.MethodsA full comparative analysis of 12 studies were undertaken (10 peer-reviewed papers, 1 conference paper, 1 industry report) regarding six fundamental factors (methods used, energy use accounting, quantification of energy production, energy performance and primary energy, natural resources, and recycling). Each factor is discussed in detail to highlight strengths and shortcomings of various approaches.ResultsSeveral potential issues are found concerning the way LCA methods are used for assessing energy performance and environmental impact of wind energy, as well as dealing with natural resource use and depletion. The potential to evaluate natural resource use and depletion impacts from wind energy appears to be poorly exploited or elaborated on in the reviewed studies. Estimations of energy performance and environmental impacts are critically analyzed and found to differ significantly.Conclusions and recommendationsA continued discussion and development of LCA methodology for wind energy and other energy resources are encouraged. Efforts should be made to standardize methods and calculations. Inconsistent use of terminology and concepts among the analyzed studies are found and should be remedied. Different methods are generally used and the results are presented in diverse ways, making it hard to compare studies with each other, but also with other renewable energy sources.
|
|
| 7. |
- Davidsson, Simon, 1986-
(author)
-
Global energy transitions : Renewable energy technology and non-renewable resources
- 2015
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The global energy system is dominated by the use of fossil fuels. This system suffers from several problems, such as different environmental issues, while the long-term energy security is sometimes questioned. As an alternative to this situation, a transition to a global energy system based on renewable energy technologies, to a large extent solar and wind energy, is commonly proposed. Constructing the technology needed for such a transition requires resources and how fast this could happen is somewhat disputed. This thesis explores methods to assess the potential constraints for realizing such a transition by looking at potential technology growth rates and outlooks of production of the required natural resources.The thesis is based on three papers presenting case studies that look at growth rates of wind energy as well as future production outlooks of lithium and phosphate rock. Using different types of growth patterns reaching proposed installed capacities of wind power, annual commissioning requirements are investigated, taking account for the limited life expectancy oftechnology. Potential outlooks of mineral production are explored using resource constrained curve-fitting models on global lithium production. A more disaggregated model looking at individual countries are used on phosphate rock production to investigate new perspectives on production outlooks.It is concluded that the growth rates of individual energy technologies affect the resource requirements and prospective constraints on energy transitions. Resource constrained modelling of resource production can provide spans of potential outlooks for future production of resources required for anenergy transition. A higher disaggregation of the modelling can provide new perspectives of potential constraints on future production. These aspects should be further investigated when proposing alternative future energy systems.
|
|
| 8. |
- Davidsson, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy : Investigating resource constraints for wind energy
- 2014
-
In: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 73, s. 767-776
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract Several recent studies have proposed fast transitions to energy systems based on renewable energy technology. Many of them dismiss potential physical constraints and issues with natural resource supply, and do not consider the growth rates of the individual technologies needed or how the energy systems are to be sustained over longer time frames. A case study is presented modelling potential growth rates of the wind energy required to reach installed capacities proposed in other studies, taking into account the expected service life of wind turbines. A sustained commissioning model is proposed as a theoretical foundation for analysing reasonable growth patterns for technologies that can be sustained in the future. The annual installation and related resource requirements to reach proposed wind capacity are quantified and it is concluded that these factors should be considered when assessing the feasibility, and even the sustainability, of fast energy transitions. Even a sustained commissioning scenario would require significant resource flows, for the transition as well as for sustaining the system, indefinitely. Recent studies that claim there are no potential natural resource barriers or other physical constraints to fast transitions to renewable energy appear inadequate in ruling out these concerns.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Davidsson, Simon
(author)
-
Left-right Orientation, Homeownership and Class Position in Sweden
- 2018
-
In: Scandinavian Political Studies. - : Wiley. - 0080-6757. ; 41:4, s. 309-331
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sweden is a country where left-right orientation structures the political landscape, homeownership is increasingly important, and the importance of class for political preferences and behavior is changing or even weakening. This article explores the significance of homeownership for left-right orientation in Sweden, and extends the relationship to include class position. By combining detailed cross-sectional survey data with data on regional house price variations it suggests that homes function as an economic asset that affects individual political preferences. Furthermore, the relationship between homeownership and left-right orientation is expected to be driven by particular class groups, whose labor market position imply a more leftist orientation, while their status as homeowners imply a more rightist one. The expectation is borne out, which indicates that the asset function of homes help accounting for changing class patterns of left-right orientation in Sweden.
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
- Davidsson, Simon, 1986-, et al.
(author)
-
Material requirements and availability for multi-terawatt deployment of photovoltaics
- 2017
-
In: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 108, s. 574-582
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigates growth rates and material flows required to reach and sustain multi-terawatt installed capacity of photovoltaics (PV). The dynamics of material flows over time are captured, taking account for the life expectancy of PV technology. Requirements of solar grade silicon and silver for crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology, as well as indium, gallium, selenium, tellurium, and cadmium for currently commercial thin film (TF) technology are explored, accounting for different technology choices and potential improvements in material intensities. Future availability of these materials from primary resources, as well as secondary resources from end-of-life recycling, is also analyzed. Rapid deployment of c-Si technologies would require a major expansion of solar grade silicon production, and significant quantities of silver. Availability of materials such as indium and tellurium could become problematic for major implementation of TF technology, unless production can be scaled up significantly, or material intensities radically decreased. Availability of secondary resources from end-of-life recycling have little impact on material availability during the growth phase, but could be important for sustaining a low-carbon energy system over longer time perspectives. Material availability could cause problems for rapid PV growth, but does not necessarily limit total PV deployment, especially if material intensities are decreased.
|
|
| 13. |
- Davidsson, Simon
(author)
-
Modeling the Impact of a Model : The (Non)Relationship between China's Economic Rise and African Democracy
- 2020
-
In: Politics and Policy. - : Wiley. - 1555-5623 .- 1747-1346. ; 48:5, s. 859-886
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many scholars have regarded China's emergence as an economic force as a threat to democracy in Africa, presenting China as the exporter of an authoritarian model through its rising economic influence. This article investigates how well founded the contended Chinese economic threat to Africa is by both analyzing the data at a very fundamental level and applying time-series, cross-sectional analysis to economic and political data. In particular, the relationship between Chinese economic interactions with African states and democracy is explored. The analysis considers different aspects of an economic interaction with China measured both as share of GDP and of country totals. I do not find a relationship between Chinese economic interaction with African states and democracy in these states. The article thus contributes much important groundwork concerning the existence of patterns in Chinese economic relations and democracy, as well as some specific links between these economic relations and political change. Related Articles (in this Special Issue): Åberg, John H. S., and Derick Becker. 2020. “China as Exemplar: Justin Lin, New Structural Economics, and the Unorthodox Orthodoxy of the China Model.” Politics & Policy 48 (5). Duggan, Niall. 2020. “China—The Champion of the Developing World: A Study of China's new Development Model and its Role in Changing Global Economic Governance.” Politics & Policy 48 (5). Ziso, Edson. 2020. “The Political Economy of the Chinese Model in Ethiopia.” Politics & Policy 48 (5).
|
|
| 14. |
- Davidsson, Simon, 1986-
(author)
-
Natural resources and sustainable energy : Growth rates and resource flows for low-carbon systems
- 2016
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Large-scale deployment of low-carbon energy technologies is important for counteracting anthropogenic climate change and achieving universal energy access. This thesis explores potential growth rates of technologies necessary to reach a more sustainable global energy system, the material and energy flows required to commission these technologies, and potential future availability of the required resources.These issues are investigated in five papers. Potential future growth rates of wind energy and solar photovoltaics, and the associated material requirements are explored, taking the expected service life of these technologies into account. Methodology for assessing net energy return and natural resource use for wind energy systems are analyzed. Potential future availability of lithium and phosphate rock are also investigated.Estimates of energy and materials required for technologies such as wind energy and photovoltaics vary, and depend on the assumptions made and methods used. Still, it is clear that commissioning of low-carbon technologies on the scale required to reach and sustain a low-carbon energy system in coming decades requires significant quantities of both bulk materials and scarcer resources. For some technologies, such as thin film solar cells and electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries, availability of materials could become an issue for potential growth rates. Future phosphate rock production could become highly dependent on few countries, and potential political, social and environmental aspects of this should be investigated in more detail.Material and energy flows should be considered when analyzing growth rates of low-carbon technologies. Their estimated service life can indicate sustainable growth rates of technologies, as well as when materials are available for end-of-life recycling. Resource constrained growth curve models can be used to explore future production of natural resources. A higher disaggregation of these models can enable more detailed analysis of potential constraints. This thesis contributes to the discussion on how to create a more sustainable global energy system, but the methods to assess current and future energy and material flows, and availability of natural resources, should be further developed in the future.
|
|
| 15. |
|
|
| 16. |
- Davidsson, Simon
(author)
-
The Development of Parliamentarism in Western Europe
- 2022
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This dissertation describes and explains the development of parliamentarism in Western Europe. Defining parliamentarism as an institutional solution in which the government is politically responsible to parliament only, I use country historiography to map out a tug-of-war between parliament and the head of state over the ability to make governments resign or maintain them in office in 11 West European countries since the establishment of national parliaments. To describe the development of parliamentarism, I use a Bayesian learning model that estimates how expectations of who might make the government in office resign are updated, based on information on previous government-termination attempts at each point in time. I argue that parliamentarism is institutionalized when past experience suggests that there is good reason to believe that no actor other than parliament can make the government resign. In addition, I theorize that the emergence of party systems, and the development of party-system fragmentation and polarization, affect the ability and willingness of parliamentary party leaders and heads of state to enforce parliamentarism or its counter-factual, power sharing, in practice. Having described the development of parliamentarism in the countries included in this dissertation, I show that parliamentarism never developed before the emergence of party systems, and I find support for my theory in time-series cross-sectional regression. Party-system fragmentation affects parliamentarism negatively, and some party-system polarization affects parliamentarism positively while much party-system polarization affects parliamentarism negatively. I complement the regression analyses by analyzing the behavior of the relevant actors in four case studies: Denmark from the 1850s to the 1920s, Belgium from the 1830s to the 1950s, France from the 1940s to the 1960s, and Finland from the 1920s to the 1990s. These case studies substantiate my argument about the effect of party systems further. Thus, the dissertation illustrates how a Bayesian learning model can be used to estimate institutional change and contributes with substantive knowledge about the development of a very important political institution in Western Europe. The results have implications for knowledge about West European democratization, the role of parties to enforce political institutions, and understandings of how political conflict can have both positive and negative effects on politics.
|
|
| 17. |
- Gidstedt, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
A comparison of adsorption of organic micropollutants onto activated carbon following chemically enhanced primary treatment with microsieving, direct membrane filtration and tertiary treatment of municipal wastewater
- 2022
-
In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 811:152225
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The adsorption of organic micropollutants onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) was investigated in laboratory scale based on samples from four wastewater process streams (matrices); three from a pilot-scale plant with different degrees of physicochemical treatment of municipal wastewater and one from a full-scale activated sludge plant with post-precipitation. The pilot-scale treatment consisted of chemically enhanced primary treatment with microsieving followed by direct membrane filtration as microfiltration or ultrafiltration. The results showed highest adsorption of micropollutants in the tertiary (biologically and chemically) treated wastewater and lowest adsorption in the microsieve filtrate. Adsorption of micropollutants in the direct membrane microfiltration (200 nm) permeate was generally similar to that in the direct membrane ultrafiltration (3 nm) permeate. The higher adsorption of micropollutants in the tertiary treated wastewater could be related to a lower concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and lower affinity of DOC for PAC at low dosage (<15 mg PAC/L) in this matrix. At a PAC dose of 10 mg/L, sulfamethoxazole was removed by 33% in the tertiary treated wastewater and 7% in the direct membrane microfiltration permeate. In addition to the PAC experiments, a pilot scale sand filter and a proceeding GAC filter was operated on tertiary treated wastewater from the full-scale treatment plant. Similar removal trends in the PAC and GAC experiments were observed when studying a weighted average micropollutant removal in the GAC filter and a similar dose of activated carbon for both PAC and GAC. Positively charged micropollutants were removed to a higher extent than negatively charged ones by both PAC and GAC.
|
|
| 18. |
- Gidstedt, Simon, et al.
(author)
-
Chemically enhanced primary treatment, microsieving, direct membrane filtration and GAC filtration of municipal wastewater : a pilot-scale study
- 2022
-
In: Environmental Technology (United Kingdom). - : Taylor and Francis Ltd.. - 0959-3330 .- 1479-487X. ; , s. 12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) followed by microsieving and direct membrane filtration (DMF) as ultrafiltration, was evaluated on pilot scale at a municipal wastewater treatment plant. In addition, a granular activated carbon (GAC) filter downstream of DMF was evaluated for the removal of organic micropollutants. Up to 80% of the total organic carbon (TOC) and 96% of the total phosphorus were removed by CEPT with microsieving. The additional contribution of subsequent DMF was minor, and only five days of downstream GAC filtration was possible due to fouling of the membrane. Of the 21 organic micropollutants analysed, all were removed (≥ 98%) by the GAC filter until 440 bed volumes, while CEPT with microsieving and DMF removed only a few compounds. Measurements of the oxygen uptake rate indicated that the required aeration for supplementary biological treatment downstream of CEPT with microsieving, both with and without subsequent DMF, was 20−25% of that in the influent wastewater. This study demonstrated the potential of using compact physicochemical processes to treat municipal wastewater, including the removal of organic micropollutants.
|
|
| 19. |
- Höök, Mikael, 1982-, et al.
(author)
-
Decline and depletion rates of oil production : a comprehensive investigation
- 2014
-
In: Philosophical Transactions. Series A. - : The Royal Society. - 1364-503X .- 1471-2962. ; 372:2006, s. 0120448-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two of the most fundamental concepts in the current debate about future oil supply are oil field decline rates and depletion rates. These concepts are related, but not identical. This paper clarifies the definitions of these concepts, summarises the underlying theory and empirically estimates decline and depletion rates for different categories of oil field. A database of 880 post-peak fields is analysed to determine typical depletion levels, depletion rates, and decline rates. This demonstrates that the size of oil fields has a significant influence on decline and depletion rates, with generally high values for small fields and comparatively low values for larger fields. These empirical findings have important implications for oil supply forecasting.
|
|
| 20. |
|
|
| 21. |
- Jianliang, Wang, et al.
(author)
-
Chinese coal supply and future production outlooks
- 2013
-
In: Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-5442 .- 1873-6785. ; 60, s. 204-214
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- China's energy supply is dominated by coal, making projections of future coal production in China important. Recent forecasts suggest that Chinese coal production may reach a peak in 2010–2039 but with widely differing peak production levels. The estimated URR (ultimately recoverable resources) influence these projections significantly, however, widely different URR-values were used due to poor understanding of the various Chinese coal classification schemes. To mitigate these shortcomings, a comprehensive investigation of this system and an analysis of the historical evaluation of resources and reporting issues are performed. A more plausible URR is derived, which indicates that many analysts underestimate volumes available for exploitation. Projections based on the updated URR using a modified curve-fitting model indicate that Chinese coal production could peak as early as 2024 at a maximum annual production of 4.1 Gt. By considering other potential constraints, it can be concluded that peak coal in China appears inevitable and immediate. This event can be expected to have significant impact on the Chinese economy, energy strategies and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction strategies.
|
|
| 22. |
- Jones, Geraint H., et al.
(author)
-
The Comet Interceptor Mission
- 2024
-
In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Nature. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 220:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA’s F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum Δ V capability of 600 ms − 1 . Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes – B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 – that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission’s science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule.
|
|
| 23. |
|
|
| 24. |
- Lindberg, Björn, 1975-
(author)
-
Fit for European Democracy? : Party Discipline in the European Parliament
- 2008
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study evaluates the fitness of political parties for the democratisation of the European Union. At the national level political parties have successfully functioned as transmission belts between voter’s preferences and political outcomes in representative democracies. Some scholars have therefore argued that an increase in party competition at the European level could make the European Union more democratic; other scholars claim that European political parties are too weak to fend off public pressure, which would arise from an increase in political competition. Since cohesive voting behaviour of political parties is the basic prerequisite for a functioning representative democracy, this study analyses how the transnational party groups of the European Parliament are able to generate voting cohesion. Drawing on rational institutionalist theories of political parties and theories of collective action, the study outlines two competitive scenarios for explaining party group voting cohesion in the European Parliament. In the party group disciplinary scenario, the party group leadership is able to enforce voting cohesion through its disciplinary powers. The national party discipline scenario predicts that party group voting cohesion is dependent on the voluntary cooperation of the national party delegations. The empirical analysis of party disciplinary effects in the European Parliament corroborates the party group disciplinary scenario. The party group leadership of the two largest party groups is able to discipline it is members for disloyal voting behaviour. The findings do, however, also show that the party group leadership is not able to sanction national party delegations if they fail to toe the party group line. The study concludes that it will be difficult for the party groups to maintain voting cohesion, if public pressure on Members of the European Parliament increases through a more open form of political contestation at the European level. The responsibility for a successful democratisation of the European Union through party competition, therefore, lies in the hands of national political parties.
|
|
| 25. |
- Morfeldt, Johannes, 1983, et al.
(author)
-
Carbon footprint impacts of banning cars with internal combustion engines
- 2021
-
In: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1361-9209 .- 1879-2340. ; 95
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Banning sales of passenger cars with internal combustion engines is becoming a common climate change mitigation policy. This study analyzes the effects of such a ban on the carbon footprints of passenger car travel in Sweden using a novel vehicle turnover model and prospective lifecycle assessment, with scenarios for decarbonization of supply chains. A ban on internal combustion engines results in significantly decreased carbon footprints primarily due to reduced tailpipe CO emissions. The full effect of a ban is delayed due to fleet inertia. Increasing the pace of electrification is beneficial for the carbon footprint regardless of global manufacturing decarbonization pathways. A ban in 2030 is not sufficient to reach national policy targets for the transport sector, requiring either an earlier ban (i.e., 2025) or increased biofuel use. Risks of carbon leakage may motivate extending current regulations of vehicle-specific tailpipe emissions to also cover carbon footprints for new cars. 2
|
|
