An analysis of the effects of policies: the case of coal

The shift to more sustainable energy regimes requires the implementation of the right mix of policy options to internalize fossil fuel externalities. In this paper the attention is dedicated to the coal. Coal is the main fossil fuel for energy production and also the key driver of emerging economies (China, India). On the other end, the coal has been the driver of developed economies (EU, US) and a systematic review of policy options can offer several insights on the path to sustainability. Whereas coal combustion externalities (mainly CO2) are well regulated, policies for coal mining externalities are mainly neglected. Policy options present several characteristics and a formal discussion of the nexus externality and efficiency is provided. The result of a systematic web search for the coal mining externalities is presented. The strength of this search is to review several national and international reports/papers on coal mining effects. Policies for environmental and societal externalities are reviewed. Results show that the command and control is still the most popular instrument. However, mature economies (e.g. US) have successfully shifted towards voluntary agreements. These instruments promote efficiency and minimize distributional effects. It also emerges that landscape and biodiversity lost are not well regulated.