Publications

Methane Emissions Baseline Forecasts for Saudi Arabia Using the Structural Time Series Model and Autometrics

Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt, Jeyhun Mikayilov

Reducing methane (CH4) emissions is key to near-term efforts to limit global warming. CH4 is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere after carbon dioxide (CO2). The production, transport, and consumption of fossil fuels, in addition…

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

Mikayilov, Jeyhun

Baseline Forecasts of Carbon Dioxide Emissions for Saudi Arabia Using the Structural Time Series Model and Autometrics

Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt, Jeyhun Mikayilov

To tackle the threat of climate change, countries worldwide have signed the Paris Agreement. This agreement aims to limit the global average temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius and potentially below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC 2015). Parties…

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

Mikayilov, Jeyhun

Estimating Different Order Polynomial Logarithmic Environmental Kuznets Curves

Springer Link

This paper contributes to the environmental literature by (i) demonstrating that the estimated coefficients and the statistical significance of the non-leading terms in quadratic, cubic, and quartic logarithmic environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) specifications are arbitrary and should therefore not be…

Fakhri Hasanov, Jeyhun Mikayilov, Lester C. Hunt

Sector Coupling, Regulatory Convergence and Climate Change

T20

Climate change goals can be met through both the decarbonization of the electricity sector and the electrification of sectors that now use other fuels. However, the electricity sector is navigating major technological disruptions that are changing the essence of its…

Rolando Fuentes, Lester C. Hunt, Baltasar Manzano, Nora Nezamuddin, Juan Jose Montero, Mathias Finger

Modelling industrial energy demand in Saudi Arabia

Portsmouth

Between 1986 and 2016, industrial energy consumption in Saudi Arabia increased by tenfold, making it one of the largest end-use sectors in the Kingdom. Despite its importance, there appear to be no published econometric studies on aggregate industrial energy demand…

Anwar Gasim, Shahad Alarenan, Lester C. Hunt

Modeling Industrial Energy Demand in Saudi Arabia and Understanding Its Drivers

Shahad Alarenan, Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt

In 2016 Saudi Arabia’s industrial (or manufacturing) sector accounted for 30.3% of total final energy consumption (IEA 2018a). When non-energy use (mainly feedstock for the petrochemical subsector) is included, the industrial sector᾽s share of total final energy consumption rises to…

Alarenan, Shahad

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

The ‘IPhone Effect’: The Impact of Dual Technological Disruptions on Electrification

SAGE Journals

Meeting climate change goals requires both the decarbonization of the electricity sector and the electrification of much of the rest of the economy. However, the electricity sector is navigating major disruptions that are changing the regulatory and business landscape. This…

Rolando Fuentes, Lester C. Hunt, Hector G. Lopez-Ruiz, Baltasar Manzano

Estimating the Impact of Energy Price Reform on Saudi Arabian Intergenerational Welfare using the MEGIR-SA Model

Energy Journal

This paper investigates the intergenerational welfare impact of raising state administered retail energy prices in Saudi Arabia, an example of an oil exporting country with a fast growing population. To achieve this, we develop a dynamic model with overlapping generations (called MEGIR-SA), which…

Frederic Gonand, Fakhri Hasanov, Lester C. Hunt

Gasoline demand, pricing policy, and social welfare in Saudi Arabia: A quantitative analysis

Energy Policy

Domestic energy prices in Saudi Arabia are set below international market prices. This, coupled with rapid economic and population growth, is believed to have contributed to the rapid growth in domestic energy demand and, recently, affected the government budget in…

Tarek Atalla, Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt

Correction to: Measuring persistent and transient energy efficiency in the US (Energy Efficiency, (2016), 9, 3, (663-675), 10.1007/s12053-015-9388-5)

Energy Efficiency

The article Measuring persistent and transient energy efficiency in the US, written by Massimo Filippini and Lester C. Hunt, was originally published Online First without open access. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Lester C. Hunt

Voluntary disclosure, greenhouse gas emissions and business performance: Assessing the first decade of reporting

British Accounting Review

This study explores the empirical relationships between GHG emissions and an extensive range of business performance measures for UK FTSE-350 listed firms over the first decade or so of such reporting. Despite the popular and policy generated environmental imperatives over…

Lester C. Hunt

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

Prices versus policy: An analysis of the drivers of the primary fossil fuel mix

Energy Policy

Energy policymakers often attempt to shape their countries’ energy mix, rather than leave it purely to market forces. By calibrating and simulating a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model, this paper analyzes the primary fossil fuel mix in the USA…

Tarek Atalla, Lester C. Hunt, Baltasar Manzano

Foreword to the special issue: Renewables and diversification in heavily energy subsidized economies

Energy Journal

[No abstract available]

Carlo Andrea Bollino, David Hobbs, Lester C. Hunt, Nora Nezamuddin

Modeling and forecasting electricity demand in Azerbaijan using cointegration techniques

Energies

Policymakers in developing and transitional economies require sound models to: (i) understand the drivers of rapidly growing energy consumption and (ii) produce forecasts of future energy demand. This paper attempts to model electricity demand in Azerbaijan and provide future forecast…

Fakhri Hasanov, Lester C. Hunt, Jeyhun Mikayilov

Modelling residential electricity demand in the GCC countries

Energy Economics

This paper aims at understanding the drivers of residential electricity demand in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries by applying the structural time series model. In addition to the economic variables of GDP and real electricity prices, the model accounts for…

Tarek Atalla, Lester C. Hunt

Measuring persistent and transient energy efficiency in the US

Energy Efficiency

The promotion of US energy efficiency policy is seen as a very important activity. Generally, the level of energy efficiency of a country or state is approximated by energy intensity, commonly calculated as the ratio of energy use to GDP.…

Lester C. Hunt

Measurement of energy efficiency based on economic foundations

Energy Economics

Energy efficiency policy is seen as a very important activity by almost all policy makers. In practical energy policy analysis, the typical indicator used as a proxy for energy efficiency is energy intensity. However, this simple indicator is not necessarily…

Lester C. Hunt

Economic modelling of energy services: Rectifying misspecified energy demand functions

Energy Economics

Although it is well known that energy demand is derived, since energy is required not for its own sake but for the energy services it produces – such as heating, lighting, and motive power – energy demand models, both theoretical…

Lester C. Hunt