WCERE 2018 & EMEE 2018

Green Innovation and Economic Growth in a North-South Model

Jan Witajewski-Baltvilks from IBS presented his article coauthored with Carolyn Fischer from Resources for the Future at the 6th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (Gothenburg, Sweden, 25-29.06.). WCERE 2018 is one of the most important events for economists working on topics related to energy and environment. About 1,500 academics and experts from all over the world gathered together to present and discuss new research in the field and engage in a dialogue about how to manage global environmental problems. In his presentation Jan Witajewski-Baltvilks indicated that the unilateral R&D policy promoting green technologies in one region may induce a switch of researchers from dirty to clean technologies in other regions.

Is a mix of wind and gas a feasible alternative to coal in Poland?

Marek Antosiewicz attended the Empirical Methods in Energy Economics workshop organised by FEEM (Milan, Italy, 14-15.06.). He presented research on the optimal energy mix for Poland using a least cost bottom-up energy system optimization model called Calliope (→ poster). The work, conducted jointly with Oscar van Vliet from ETH Zurich, shows that a gradual increase in the share of renewable energy output in Poland will result in a very small increase in the cost of energy production. The cheapest renewable alternative to coal is currently wind power, which will need to be backed up by installing more gas turbines.