• Demonstrate a good knowledge of fundamental energy and environmental economic principles and issues
• Recognise the driving forces and the economic, regulatory, technological, environmental, social, and policy aspects of the energy sector
• Identify the current and future trends and challenges for a sustainable energy sector (e.g., deployment of renewable energy sources and their integration in the grid, public acceptance of infrastructure projects, reduction of carbon footprint)
• Understand the main options for addressing those challenges (e.g., policy, regulation, markets)

Course content:

Energy is one of the world’s largest industries and has an essential role in economic activity and for our daily lives in modern society. However, it is also a major contributor to the depletion of natural resources, climate change, and environmental pollution. The climate crisis arguably represents the most critical challenge to overcome in the current times. In this context, the decarbonisation of the energy sector will be a key element in mitigating climate change and a crucial item of the European Green Deal. Reaching the objective of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 will imply massive transformations in the energy industry from technical, economic, social, and political viewpoints. This course introduces the students to the analysis of the energy sector and its environmental impact from an economic perspective. In particular, it aims to make the students familiar with the energy sector, energy markets, the relevant models applied, the economic characteristics of energy, the transition towards a sustainable production system based on renewables, and the applications of economic analysis to competition and regulation of the energy markets. The course will also prepare the students to understand the main energy-related environmental challenges for our societies.

This module is offered by the Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure (CSEI), a research centre at CBS, and it is embedded in its overall strategy of research and education. CSEI is directly supported by the European Commission (DG Energy).

Course structure:

The course will cover the following themes:

• Introduction to Microeconomics, Energy, and Environmental Economics: demand, industrial organisation, vertical relations (retail / wholesale), market power, market failures, economies of scale, externalities, natural monopoly.
• Major energy sources, their uses, markets, and value chains: fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), nuclear, renewables; electricity, transport.
• Microeconomics of energy use, energy demand, and energy supply.
• Economic analysis of domestic and international energy market structures: competitive, monopoly, oligopoly, cartel; liberalisation of the energy sector.
• Economics of renewable energy: electricity production from renewable energy sources, integration of renewable energy sources, and support policies.
• Consumer behaviour and society: Energy efficiency and rebound effects, fuel poverty, public acceptance of energy infrastructure developments.
• Technology and innovation, support mechanisms.
• Energy and environment: economics and political economy of climate change, national policy, and international cooperation.
• Topics and future challenges in energy economics and policy.

Short 3 weeks course that cannot be combined with any other course.

The course coordinator will upload a Preliminary Assignment on Canvas at the end of May. It is expected that students participate as it will be included in the final exam, but the assignment is without independent assessment and grading.

Course and exam timetable is/will be available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams.

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams in start March.

Main Literature – Selected Chapters from

Bhattacharyya, S.C. (2019), Energy economics: Concepts, issues, markets and governance, 2nd ed., Springer.

Creti, A. and Fontini, F. (2019), Economics of electricity: Markets, competition and rules, 1st ed., Cambridge University Press: London.

Tietenberg, T. and Lewis, L. (2015), Environmental and natural resource economics, 10th edition (Global Edition), Pearson.

Additional References

Ansari, D., Holz, F. and al-Kuhlani, H. (2020), “Energy outlooks compared: Global and regional insights”, Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, 9, 1.

Bouzarovski, S. (2018), Energy poverty: (Dis)assembling Europe’s infrastructural divide, Gewerbestrasse, Switzerland: Palgrave McMillan.

Bouzarovski, S. and Thomson, H. (2020), Towards an inclusive energy transition in the European Union: Confronting energy poverty amidst a global crisis, Publications Office of the European Union, Energy Poverty Observatory, Luxembourg.

Gillingham, K., Rapson, D. and Wagner, G. (2016), “The rebound effect and energy efficiency policy”, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 10(1), 68-88.

Jamasb, T., Llorca, M., Meeus, L. and Schittekatte, T. (2020), Energy network innovation for green transition: Economic issues and regulatory options, Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure (CSEI), CSEI Working Paper 2020-15 / Department of Economics Working Paper 17-2020, Copenhagen Business School.

Kitzing, L., Mitchell, C. and Morthorst, P. E. (2012), “Renewable energy policies in Europe: Converging or diverging?”, Energy Policy, 51, 192-201.

Sorrell, S. and Dimitropoulos, J. (2008), “The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions”, Ecological Economics, 65(3), 636-649.

Tobiasson, W. and Jamasb, T. (2016), “The solution that might have been: Resolving social conflict in deliberations about future electricity grid development”, Energy Research and Social Science, 17, 94-101.

Tobiasson, W., Beestermöller, C. and Jamasb, T. (2016), “Public engagement in electricity network development: The case of the Beauly–Denny project in Scotland”, Economia e Politica Industriale, 43(2).