Michael Lazarus
Senior Scientist
Seattle, WA
mlaz@sei-us.org
skype: michaellazarus
+1 (206) 547-4000 x1#
Michael directs the Seattle office of SEI-US. His current research focuses on energy and climate policy, on carbon markets and offsets, and on state and local energy and climate initiatives in the US. He brings over 20 years of professional experience in energy and environmental analysis and capacity building. He has worked throughout North America, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe with support from government agencies, development banks, foundations, utilities, and non-profit groups. From 2002 to 2007, he was a member of the Methodology Panel of the Clean Development Mechanism, the project-based emission reduction trading program of the Kyoto Protocol. During the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a visiting researcher at the Energy Policy and Economics Institute at the University of Grenoble, France, where he led a research project on Linking Technology Development with Emissions Commitments: Exploring Metrics for Effort and Outcome. Michael is currently an advisor to the Western Climate Institute, and to the Chinese Economist 50 Forum's initiative on the Economics of Climate Change Initiative. He is Adjunct Faculty at the Evans School of Public Administration at University of Washington, where teaches a graduate course on Energy and Climate Policy.
Michael received an M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984.
Recent Publications by Michael Lazarus
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Can Concerns with CDM Coal Power Projects be Addressed through Revisions to the ACM0013 Methodology?SEI policy note Author(s): Lazarus, M. ; Chandler, C.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Emissions Trading & Offsets Description: This policy note briefly assesses the ability of potential revisions to address key concerns with the CDM methodology used to evaluate CDM coal power projects, ACM0013, and with such projects in general. It is a follow-up to SEI Working Paper 2011-02, which examined several concerns with awarding offset credits (CERs) to coal power projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. The note reviews key concerns with CDM coal power projects, lists potential remedies for each concern, and comments on whether these remedies are likely to prove feasible and adequate. The authors identify three problems with no clear possible solution: a low signal-to-noise ratio; the ineffectiveness of additionality assessment in the context of multi-billion-dollar coal power projects; and the contradiction of using climate finance in support of long-lived emissions-intensive infrastructure that could undermine the ability to meet 2°C climate stabilization objectives.More information Download PDF |
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Coal Power in the CDM: Issues and OptionsSEI Working Paper No. 2011-02 Author(s): Lazarus, M. ; Chandler, C.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Emissions Trading & Offsets Description: This paper examines several issues that arise in awarding emission reduction credits to coal projects in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It identifies systematic weaknesses in the coal methodology's (ACM0013) design and application. The authors estimate that shortcomings lead to significant over-crediting of Certified Emission Reductions and discuss why a revision of the methodology to more accurately estimate emissions reductions may not be possible because of data constraints and weak signal-to-noise ratio. The paper also examines evidence that suggests the vast majority of these projects would have proceeded in the absence of the CDM, and are thus non-additional. It considers the suitability of coal in the CDM, given the identified flaws in the methodology, and in the light of coal's impact on climate change and its social and environmental burdens.Download the executive summary, or click below for the full report. More information Download PDF |
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Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits?SEI Working Paper No. 2011-04 Author(s): Lee, C. ; Lazarus, M.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Bioenergy Description: Modern bioenergy sources are often viewed as important components of a low-carbon, energy-secure future. Given the diversity of biomass resources, options, markets and scales, however, a better understanding of how well different bioenergy project types can provide sustainable development is needed. This paper evaluates how the potential for sustainable development benefits differs across 12 bioenergy project types, in order to help identify which project types are best positioned to provide such benefits. It systematically examines the benefits claimed in project design documents for 76 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) bioenergy projects in India, Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa.More information Download PDF |
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Consumption-based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for OregonReport commissioned by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Author(s): Erickson, P. ; Lazarus, M. ; Stanton, E.A. ; Ackerman, F.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Mitigation Policy ; Climate Economics Description: Consumers and businesses contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in many ways. For many years, the State of Oregon has conducted an inventory of emissions, focusing on emissions produced within the state. But that focus only tells part of the story of how Oregon contributes to climate change: As a result of purchasing goods and services, Oregonians contribute to emissions around the world. Until now, the contribution of Oregonians to these out-of-state emissions has not been well understood. This study by SEI, the first application of our Consumption Based Emissions Inventory (CBEI) model, aims to complete the picture, estimating the emissions &ndash both in-state and elsewhere – associated with consumption by Oregon residents, businesses and governments. More than half of these consumption-based emissions, it finds, occur in other states or nations.This report is part of a package that also includes a CBEI-Oregon Technical Report. More information Download PDF External Link |
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Importance of programme design for potential U.S. domestic GHG offset supply and qualityClimate Policy, published online Author(s): Erickson, P. ; Lazarus, M. ; Kelly, A.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Emissions Trading & Offsets Description:Greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets are a central feature of most regional and national cap-and-trade systems. This analysis considers how the design of GHG offset protocols for the United States – and the corresponding rules for eligibility, measuring, verifying and awarding offsets – might impact actual offset crediting and the realization of GHG mitigation potential. Findings indicate that although lenient offset rules and protocols may bring several times more credits to market than a conservative approach, they could also undermine the cap-and-trade system's effectiveness at reducing overall GHG emissions. In particular, lenient rules and protocols could conceivably lead U.S. emissions to exceed legislative targets by as much as 500 million tons CO2e in 2020.
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