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The many traps of green technology promotion

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Bréchet, Thierry [UCL] Ly, Sylvette [UCL]

In this paper we analyze the relationship between technological greening, eco-efficiency and no-regret strategies. By using a simple theoretical model we evaluate the effects of technological greening on creation value, pollution level, and eco-efficiency. We show three contrasting effects of technological greening. First, technological greening may increase the pollution of a firm, and also of the whole industry. Second, the indicator of eco-efficiency can be misleading because it may improve in situations where pollution increases and/or profit decreases after technological greening. Third, technological greening that induces an improvement of the eco-efficiency indicator does not necessarily lead to a no-regret strategy. As a result, the indicator should not be used for decision making. These are the many traps of technology greening promotion.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès restreint
Publication date 2013
Language Anglais
Journal information "Environmental Economics and Policy Studies" - Vol. 15, no. 1, p. 73-91 (2013)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Springer Japan KK ((Japan) Tokyo)
issn 1432-847X
e-issn 1867-383X
Publication status Publié
Affiliations UCL - SSH/LouRIM - Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations
UCL - SSH/LIDAM/CORE - Center for operations research and econometrics
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Bibliographic reference Bréchet, Thierry ; Ly, Sylvette. The many traps of green technology promotion. In: Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Vol. 15, no. 1, p. 73-91 (2013)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/127674