Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth

The paper analyzes the evolution of energy and climate change economics, noting a massive increase in research output since 2005. While quantity has surged, the author suggests a potential relative decline in originality compared to the 1990s.

• Research output in energy economics experienced a dramatic increase starting in 2005. The number of articles in main energy economics journals rose from under 100 per year before 2005 to an average closer to 250 by the end of the decade.
• The volume of research in energy and climate change issues grew ten-fold in the first decade of the twenty-first century, with the journal Energy Policy seeing an eight-fold increase in articles between 2000 and 2010.
• Research intensity, measured as research output relative to global GDP, rose significantly from 13.2 articles per trillion dollars in 2005 to 38.9 articles per trillion dollars in 2010.
• The author hypothesises that while the 1990s saw a growth in research originality and the creation of new 'research fronts', the period following the 2005 explosion has been characterized by a relative decline in originality as the field shifted toward refining and applying existing ideas.
• Analysis of working papers in the nep-ene reports between 2000 and 2010 shows that oil (averaging 18% between 2006-2010) and natural gas (averaging 4%) became more prominent, while the share of papers on electricity declined from over 24% (2002-2005) to 13% in the latter half of the decade.
• The growth in research output is attributed to several factors: increased investment in the knowledge economy, the ease of production via computers and the internet, academic pressure to publish, and a specific demand for understanding energy markets and climate change.
• Bibliometric data on average citations per article suggests a peak in influence or originality between 2001 and 2005, though the author notes this is a crude metric subject to lags and internet-driven citation increases.

APA

Fouquet, R. (2012). Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20120912122707580689978.pdf

Chicago

Fouquet, Roger. Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2012. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20120912122707580689978.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fouquet |first1=Roger |title=Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=September 2012 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20120912122707580689978.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fouquet2012economics, author = {Fouquet, Roger}, title = {{Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2012}, month = sep, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20120912122707580689978.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }