Models, Data and Tools Analyzing the Effects of Saudi Arabia’s Economic Reforms Using a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model Jorge Blazquez, Marzio Galeotti, Baltasar Manzano, Axel Pierru, Shreekar Pradhan Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest holder of proved oil reserves and the second-largest producer of petroleum liquids. The country is the largest exporter of crude oil, with a share of 16% of total crude oil exports in 2017. Saudi Arabia’s… Blazquez, Jorge Galeotti, Marzio Manzano, Baltasar Pierru, Axel Pradhan, Shreekar
Assessing Residential Solar Rooftop Potential in Saudi Arabia Using Nighttime Satellite Images: A Study for the City of Riyadh Hector G. Lopez-Ruiz, Jorge Blazquez, Michele Vittorio Saudi Arabia is developing utility-scale solar power projects as a first step toward diversifying its electricity generation mix, currently based almost entirely on crude oil, refined oil products and natural gas. The Saudi National Renewable Energy Program aims to substantially… Lopez-Ruiz, Hector G. Blazquez, Jorge Vittorio, Michele
K-DSGE: A Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model for Saudi Arabia Jorge Blazquez, Marzio Galeotti, Baltasar Manzano, Axel Pierru, Shreekar Pradhan This paper describes a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model of the Saudi Arabian economy, developed by KAPSARC researchers. The K-DSGE model is to be used for simulations and experiments to assess the impact of economic reforms within the Saudi… Blazquez, Jorge Galeotti, Marzio Manzano, Baltasar Pierru, Axel Pradhan, Shreekar
Future of Transport and Fuel Demand Estimating Saudi Arabia’s Regional GDP Using Satellite Nighttime Light Images Hector G. Lopez-Ruiz, Jorge Blazquez, Fakhri Hasanov The increasing availability of data from technologies such as mobile phones, satellites and connected devices means that there are many new possible sources of economic data. This study analyzes the potential use of nighttime light images from satellites to provide… Lopez-Ruiz, Hector G. Blazquez, Jorge Hasanov, Fakhri
Electricity Sector Transitions Reorganizing Power Markets: A Reliability Insurance Business Model for Utilities Rolando Fuentes, Jorge Blazquez, Iqbal Adjali A market in which individuals pursue their own self-interest normally maximizes aggregate economic well-being. But households that install Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in order to obtain savings in their electricity bill, impose an external cost on other customers. At scale,… Fuentes, Rolando Blazquez, Jorge Adjali, Iqbal
Economic policy instruments and market uncertainty: Exploring the impact on renewables adoption Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews The success of any renewable policy can be measured through three parameters: total cost, aggregate installed capacity of renewable technology deployed over the lifetime of the policy and speed at which renewables are adopted. Using these three parameters, this study… Nora Nezamuddin, Tamim Zamrik, Jorge Blazquez
Evaluation of Public Investment Projects The Value of Saving Oil in Saudi Arabia Jorge Blazquez, Baltasar Manzano, Axel Pierru What is the value of saving a barrel of oil that would otherwise had been consumed domestically? This study explores the question, taking a long-run perspective into a general equilibrium approach. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the difference between… Blazquez, Jorge Manzano, Baltasar Pierru, Axel
Oil subsidies and renewable energy in Saudi Arabia: A general equilibrium approach Energy Journal In 2016, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced its Vision 2030 strategic plan incorporating major changes to the economic structure of the country, including an intention to deploy 9.5 GW of renewable energy in an effort to reduce the… Jorge Blazquez, Lester C. Hunt, Baltasar Manzano
Climate Change Policies and Governance Curbing Carbon Emissions: Is a Carbon Tax the Most Efficient Levy? Jorge Blazquez The ambitious environmental objectives of the Paris Agreement imply that, in order to curb carbon emissions, all cost-effective policy options should be considered. These options include carbon taxes, probably the most popular fiscal tool for curbing emissions, and various other… Blazquez, Jorge
Assessing the cost of renewable energy policy options – A Spanish wind case study Renewable Energy This paper assesses the cost effectiveness of wind energy policy options by using a cost–benefit analysis approach. In comparison with other studies, the main contribution of this paper is the use of real financial and operational information of 318 wind… Patrick Bean, Jorge Blazquez, Nora Nezamuddin
Fossil fuel price shocks and CO2 emissions: The case of Spain Energy Journal This paper focuses on the impact of oil, natural gas and coal price shocks on the Spanish business cycle from 1969 to 2013. It uses Bayesian procedures to estimate a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for a small open… Jorge Blazquez, Jose Maria Martin-Moreno
Energy and Economic Vulnerability Prices Versus Policy: An Analysis of the Drivers of the Fossil Fuel Energy Mix Jorge Blazquez, Baltasar Manzano Understanding how the composition of a country’s energy mix is formed in an environment where greater government involvement is anticipated due to climate change obligations is critical. This paper is part of a project analyzing drivers of the mix and… Blazquez, Jorge Manzano, Baltasar
Electricity Sector Transitions The Renewable Energy Policy Paradox Jorge Blazquez, Carlo Andrea Bollino, Rolando Fuentes, Nora Nezamuddin One major avenue for policymakers to meet climate targets is by decarbonizing the power sector, one component of which is raising the share of renewable energy sources (renewables) in electricity generation. However, promoting renewables in liberalized power markets creates a… Blazquez, Jorge Bollino, Carlo Andrea Fuentes, Rolando Nezamuddin, Nora
Electricity Sector Transitions Policy Instruments & Market Uncertainty: Exploring the Impact on Renewables Adoption Jorge Blazquez, Nora Nezamuddin Policymakers have a variety of financial tools to foster the deployment of renewables. Our study explores how these policy instruments impact a private investor’s behavior, and the resulting differences in the adoption of renewable technology as well as costs to… Blazquez, Jorge Nezamuddin, Nora
Electricity Sector Transitions Challenges for Widespread Renewable Energy Deployment Jorge Blazquez, Baltasar Manzano Part of the policy strategy to avert the worst outcomes of global climate change is a transition to low carbon energy on an unprecedented scale. In particular, strong incentives are in place to promote the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies,… Blazquez, Jorge Manzano, Baltasar
Electricity Sector Transitions Comparing Renewables Support Policies: Quantifying the Trade-Offs Jorge Blazquez, Nora Nezamuddin Policies to support wind energy development are most effective when they deliver power at the lowest cost per unit of added capacity and per unit of delivered electricity. Our analysis uses real Spanish onshore wind project data to identify which… Blazquez, Jorge Nezamuddin, Nora
Quantifying the impact of coal on global economic growth and energy productivity in the early 21st century Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment Two intriguing circumstances have characterized the behavior of energy markets in the first years of 21st Century: a sharp increase in oil prices without a clear impact on real economic activity and a relative stagnation of energy productivity after 30… Tarek Atalla, Jorge Blazquez
Productivity and Economic Diversification How coal fueled global growth and slowed energy productivity gains in the early 21st century Jorge Blazquez It is common for decision makers and media to conflate the oil price with the price of energy. High crude oil prices are taken as signals of energy scarcity. By contrast, and perhaps misleadingly, low crude oil prices are perceived… Blazquez, Jorge
Electricity Sector Transitions Changing Competitive Landscape: Transition Policy’s Blind Spots Shahad Albardi, Jorge Blazquez, Amro Elshurafa, Nora Nezamuddin For the past two to three decades, and particularly in the wake of the Great Recession, clean energy transitions have been sold as a three-for-the-price-ofone policy: creating “green collar” jobs to get the unemployed back to work, using domestic resources… Albardi, Shahad Blazquez, Jorge Elshurafa, Amro Nezamuddin, Nora
