Oil is the main component of transport fuel. As for now, however, crude oil price (FOB-Free on board) accounts for less than a fifth of transport costs. Operating costs, wages and taxes cause the remaining four fifths. Nevertheless, oil scarcity may...

Among economists and policy makers more general, the fuel efficiency standard for cars and the fuel tax have been the subject of extensive debate. The major benefits of stricter fuel efficiency standards and higher fuel taxes are the reduction of...

This paper will trace the development of modern regulation of emissions, both local and global, from motor vehicles. To illuminate the principal themes of this story the focus will be on the experiences of the United States and Europe. Among those...

In developed countries, transport generates approximately 25 to 30 per cent of emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas (GHG) and these emissions are increasing sharply. There are two explanations for the increase in emissions from transport: the...

Our demand analysis is complemented by ‘bottom-up’ sectoral analysis, which focus on changes in end-user demand – for example, the impact of the switch from gasoline to diesel vehicles in Europe, the effects of the rapid expansion of petrochemical...

The increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is coursed by an increasing use of fossil fuels; natural gas, oil and coal. This has so far resulted in an increase of the global surface temperature of the order of one degree. In year 2000...

Statistical trends of oil intensity from individual countries and groups of countries show that an average increase of GDP of 3% per annum equates to a projected demand for liquids of 101 Million barrels per day (Mbpd) by the year 2030. This analysis...

This paper discusses the role of transportation in policies to address energy security and climate change. It focuses on three elements: the impact of energy prices on transport demand, the potential contributions of the transport sector to energy...

It is a truism that future prices of energy for transportation will be determined by the forces of supply and demand. For transport fuels, these forces have entered a crucial phase that is likely to persist for several decades. Oil production from...

This concluding paper discusses key aspects of the five research papers presented at this Roundtable in terms of their policy applications. It notes problems concerning how policy makers make use of economic analysis findings, and then summarizes the...

This paper begins by motivating the need for including “wider economic effects” when conducting transport infrastructure appraisal, followed by a discussion of various techniques to do so. The major focus is on studies from the cost function...

Infrastructure investment represents large capital values, whereas the benefits and other consequences are extended into the future. This makes methods to assess investment plans an important issue. This paper develops a framework in which...

This paper is concerned with the links between agglomeration, productivity and transport investment. If improvements in transport systems give rise to changes in the mass of economic activity accessible to firms, for instance by reducing travel times...

Assessments of the economic benefits of transportation infrastructure investments are critical to good policy decisions. At present, most such assessments are based of two types of studies: micro-scale studies in the form of cost-benefit analysis...

The debate on whether there are wider economic benefits from transport infrastructure investments continues to cause debate and controversy. This debate occurs both between analysts seeking to find a robust method for identifying and measuring the...

Economic contributions of investments of transport infrastructure are typically assessed from a microeconomic perspective, which tries to identify the link between specific transport infrastructure improvements and the productivity of specific...

Bioenergy, including biofuels, could become a substantial tool for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, locally and globally, possibly providing a large fraction of global primary energy supply by 2020. Exactly how large that share will be is not...

The increase in the oil price and the worsening of climate change are fostering biofuels programs around the world. Brazil has a long tradition in biofuels. The country is a large-scale producer of ethanol since the 1970s. In 2006, ethanol was...

The transport sector is almost fully dependent on oil-derived products and in both the United States and in Europe this sector contributes with about one third of total energy consumption and about 30 % of the CO2 emissions. The transport sector is...

Governments have influenced the development of bioenergy, particularly liquid biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel and pure plant oil used as a fuel), for several decades. This paper discusses the economics of biofuels and provides an overview of current...