First Swiss Energy Modelling Platform (SEMP) study
The purpose of the 1st SEMP study is to use energy-economic models to assess emissions, energy and economic outcomes from a plausible range of Swiss policies to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). The major motivating questions for the scenarios are:
- What are the costs of de-carbonization of the Swiss economy?
- How do the environmental and economic outcomes depend on alternative regulatory designs to price carbon? What are the effects of differentiating carbon price across fuels and sectors?
- How might technological improvements and technological availability influence the answers to the above questions?
Current policy proposals indicate that Swiss climate policy is moving into the direction of a steering based policy framework, where emissions shall be reduced by giving price signals to consumers and producers in the Swiss economy. This SEMP study therefore aims at assessing the cost of reaching Swiss climate targets for 2050 using different carbon pricing options including economy-wide uniform carbon taxes and policy designs in line with current proposals. We hence consider the Swiss emission trading scheme (ETS) in its current form and in a form where it is coupled to the EU's ETS. For non-ETS sectors, emissions may be priced by a uniform carbon tax or, as recent policy proposals suggest, by a carbon tax that differentiates between motor and thermal fuels. The study therefore intends to provide insights on how several realistic ways of designing future Swiss climate policy would impact different aspects of the economy and the energy-system.