The Feedback and Interactions between Energy, Environment, and the Economy in Taiwan- An Application of the FREE Model

• Main Authors: Chih-Hsiung Tseng, 曾志雄
• Other Authors: Shih-Mo Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/58141047730186072286

博士 === 中原大學 === 商學博士學位學程 === 98 === Energy input plays a very important role in the development of the entire economic system. If lacking resources, the economic system will not have the driving force for development. In recent years, owing to the gradual increase in environmental awareness in developed or developing countries and the global warming effect caused by excessive emission of carbon dioxide, it has become an international trend to restrict the emission of the amount of greenhouse gases. The use of fossil energy is the leading cause for the emission of greenhouse gases. However, if the use of fossil energy is reduced in order to lower the emission of greenhouse gases, there will certainly be a serious impact on economic development. There is a close interactive feedback relationship among resources, environment, and economy. The interaction of different contexts will affect the final costs and effects. As a result, it is important to establish a comprehensive framework to include resources, environment, and economy when investigating such issues. As the interaction among resources, environment, and economy is complicated, there is a need to establish an appropriate analysis framework to evaluate whether the policies, schemes, and measures developed by the government for solving the issue concerning emission of greenhouse gases are effective, whether the policy direction in correct, and whether the effects are beneficial. Therefore, this study referred to the analysis framework in foreign studies to establish the interactive model for the resources, environment, and economy in Taiwan to analyze the possible influence of the implementation of relevant policies and measures on the economic system. This study used the established 3E system dynamics model for Taiwan to simulate the policy contexts. It was found that the levy on energy consumption has a negative influence on the total output of the economic system. However, such influence is relatively smaller than the carbon tax imposed based on the tax rates in European countries. In addition, as opposed to the carbon tax, the influence of levy on energy consumption on the reduction in the emission of carbon is smaller. Moreover, according to the simulation results, the influence of the annually increasing tax rates on the total output of economy is smaller than the fixed rate, and its influence on the reduction in welfare is smaller as well. Therefore, in terms of economic development, it is suggested to adopt the annually increasing tax rate to impose energy tax or carbon tax. However, it is noteworthy that, the effect of the adoption of the annually increasing tax rate for imposing energy tax and carbon tax is smaller than that of the adoption of fixed tax rate.