یارانه انرژی

This study investigates the perceptions of Iranians regarding energy subsidies, specifically exploring the key obstacles to reforming gasoline subsidies. Through a mixed-methods approach combining focus groups and two social surveys, this research identifies the primary concerns of the general public regarding subsidy reforms. The results reveal that individuals' resistance to subsidy reform is rooted in uncertainty about the government's motivations for the gasoline subsidy reform and the way in which benefits would be distributed. Notably, the central obstacle to successful reform is the government's dominant role in setting prices and redistributing resources, leading to a price shock. To address this challenge, this study proposes a policy recommendation: establishing an exchange market with a floating price for gasoline, while allocating a tradable quota to diminish the government's central role in the reform process. By democratizing the reform process and redistributing benefits, this approach aims to increase public acceptance and support for gasoline subsidy reforms in Iran.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of the policies of removing subsidies for energy carriers and applying carbon tax on the variables of economic performance on the one hand and the amount of energy consumption and, consequently, the amount of CO2 gas emissions in Iran on the other hand. For this purpose, Iran ORANI-G computable general equilibrium model has been used, which is used for the simulation and analysis of shocks and economic policies. In this research, 6 scenarios, including 2 scenarios of removing subsidies for energy carriers and 4 scenarios of applying carbon tax in the short and long term, have been investigated. The results indicate that in the scenario of removing the subsidy of energy carriers in the short term, although the GDP has decreased; But on the other hand, the amount of CO2 emission has decreased significantly; Although in the long term, it has faced a more declining trend. The increase of carbon tax in contrast to the removal of subsidies for energy carriers, in addition to having a lower short-term reduction effect on the GDP, has shown the noticeable effectiveness of this scenario on the reduction of carbon emissions in the short and long-term. With the simultaneous application of two carbon tax policies and the removal of subsidies for energy carriers, the emission of carbon dioxide has shown a much greater reduction than the separate application of these policies.

Environment protection and sustainable development have recently grabbed the attention of policy makers towards renewable energies. Agriculture has been a major energy consuming sector in Iran in recent years as pressurized irrigation systems have changed into a new policy priority. This paper explains how photovoltaic (PV) agricultural water pumps can be adopted under different conditions. A life cycle cost analysis has been done for solar, diesel and electric pumping systems for the case of grape cultivation in Kaashmar region. According to the results, under subsidized fuel supply for electricity generation, solar pumps can only compete with diesel pumps for demands of less than 4.5 kilowatts. Moreover, the feasibility of solar irrigations highly depend on the area under cultivation, the type of cultivated crop, access to other energies and their costs, solar system technologies, and the type of irrigation system. Thus, feasibility studies for solar irrigation should be done on a case by case basis.