Steinhurst, William with George Backus, "Application of System Dynamics to an Integrated Economic and Environmental Policy Assessment", 1990
ua435
An integrated system dynamics policy model was developed for a state level economic activity, population, energy demand, supply, and price with realistic feedback mechanisms. Environmental impacts and influences on technical and economic efficiency were also modeled. The model and its use to perform a joint analysis of several interacting policies, including electric and gas utility least cost planning and the construction of an interstate natural gas pipeline are described. A number of interesting results from a variety of perspectives are presented. These include an evaluation of the economic development; air quality and energy efficiency impacts of the pipeline proposal; their sensitivity to fuel prices; and some novel observed feedback relationships between energy price and air quality. The lessons learned in model development, implementation and utilization in both policy and regulatory arenas are discussed. The benefits of fully integrating economic and environmental impacts for policy modeling are evaluated.