Developing an integrated model to evaluate the impact of renewable energy growth on the total factor productivity of rural Queensland economy

HRD Candidate: Yumeng (Spencer) Tong

Milestone: Confirmation

Title: Developing an integrated model to evaluate the impact of renewable energy growth on the total factor productivity of rural Queensland economy

When: 2-4pm, Wednesday 5 May 2021

Where: Zoom - https://uqz.zoom.us/j/3587382402

Abstract:

Renewable energy projects have experienced rapid growth in the last few decades worldwide, which brings about considerable economic, social, and ecological impacts on lives. Numerous models have been developed to quantify these impacts, however, the variation between different projects and countries makes direct comparison extremely difficult. Therefore, the primary aim of this research project is to design our own integrated model using both multi-regional input-output model (MRIO) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) that can be adopted to measure the impact of renewable energy projects constructed in Queensland, Australia on the adjusted total factor productivity (TFP) of its local economy.

The robustness and viability of such a theoretical framework will be demonstrated using two case studies in the following chapters. The first chapter reviews the historical development of the renewable energy industry in Queensland and its potential impacts. In the second chapter, we conduct a systematic review of various models employed in the literature to estimate the economic, social, and ecological impacts of renewable energy, and change in adjusted total factor productivity. The third chapter discusses established methods of measuring input and output at a regional level. This involves 1) the construction of primary input-output table, 2) the sectoral and regional aggregation/decomposition of input-output tables, 3) the conversion between physical unit and monetary unit of input-output tables. In Chapter 4, we will provide a hypothetical model to compute TFP from the input-output table and discuss the adjustment and decomposition of TFP. Finally, the developed model will be used to examine two existing renewable energy projects - a solar farm and a wind farm in rural Queensland.