Matching policy and people? Household responses to the promotion of renewable electricity

In this paper, we study the responses among households to the promotion of renewable electricity. We analyse an experiment conducted by a Norwegian power company that offered Guarantees of Origin of supply to 5,000 of their customers. In the experiment, five different groups of 1,000 customers each received information about a renewable electricity certificate and how to purchase it. The information and the reasons given for why the customers should accept the offer was framed differently to each of the groups. The experiment produced minimal responses, and we use material from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews for interpreting and explaining the results. The analysis shows that customers tend to disregard information coming from their supplier, while there is also a low degree of commensurability between the message presented in the information and the understandings and perceptions held by the customers. For example, whereas the information contained the argument that customers must purchase certificates to obtain renewable electricity, Norwegians, because of their awareness of the country’s hydro-based production system, perceive electricity to be renewable as it is. Additionally, focus group participants found the presented terms and figures to be incomprehensible to the extent that the information can be said to have produced ignorance in them. In turn, this negatively affected people’s trust in the message and also its sender, as relevance and reliability are disclosure’s main challenges in Norway. We use the case of electricity labelling in Norway to demonstrate some of the general challenges associated with using information as a tool for changing people’s consumption patterns in deregulated energy markets.     

Does renewable energy generation decrease the volatility of electricity prices? An analysis of Denmark and Germany

Although variable renewable energy (VRE) technologies with zero marginal costs decrease electricity prices, the literature is inconclusive about how the resulting shift in the supply curves impacts price volatility. Because the flexibility to respond to high peak and low off-peak prices is crucial for demand-response applications and may compensate for the losses of conventional generators caused by lower average prices, there is a need to understand how the penetration of VRE affects volatility. In this paper, we build distributed lag models with Danish and German data to estimate the impact of VRE generation on electricity price volatility. We find that in Denmark wind power decreases the daily volatility of prices by flattening the hourly price profile, but in Germany it increases the volatility because it has a stronger impact on off-peak prices. Our analysis suggests that access to flexible generation capacity and wind power generation patterns contribute to these differing impacts. Meanwhile, solar power decreases price volatility in Germany. By contrast, the weekly volatility of prices increases in both areas due to the intermittency of VRE. Thus, policy measures for facilitating the integration of VRE should be tailored to such region-specific patterns.     

Switching towards coal or renewable energy? The effects of financial capital on energy transitions

Does a country's stock of financial capital affect its ability to achieve energy transitions? This paper uses data for up to 137 countries for the period 1998–2013 to investigate the importance of financial capital for changes in the use of each energy type. I find that financial capital supports transition to more capital-intensive energy types. For high-income countries, financial capital facilitates transitions from fossil fuels to modern renewable energy sources, especially wind. Both private credit from banks and domestic private debt securities support greater shares of wind energy. For lower-income countries, financial capital supports progression from biomass towards fossil fuel energy sources such as coal. I also find that countries with larger stocks of financial capital are more likely to move to more capital-intensive electricity generation systems.     

Are government policies effective in promoting deployment of renewable electricity resources?

Using a panel data over 50 US states and years 1991–2007, this paper uses a state fixed-effects model with state-specific time-trends to estimate the effects of state policies on the penetration of various emerging renewable electricity sources, including wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar photovoltaic. Renewable portfolio standards with either capacity or sales requirements have a significant impact on the penetration of all types of renewables—however, this impact is variable depending on the type of renewable source: it is negative for combined renewables, wind, and biomass; and positive for geothermal and solar. Further, clean energy funds and required green power options mostly result in increasing the penetration of all types of renewables. On the other hand, voluntary renewable portfolio standards as well as state green power purchasing programs are found to be ineffective in increasing the penetration of any type of renewable source. Finally, economic variables, such as electricity price, natural gas price, and per capita GDP as well as structural variables, such as league of conservation voters rating and the share of coal-generated electricity are found to be generally insignificant, suggesting the crucial role of policy in increasing the penetration of renewables.     

Seasonal relationship of peak demand and energy impacts of energy efficiency measures—a review of evidence in the electric energy efficiency programmes

While energy efficiency programmes traditionally focus on energy savings, there is also a policy interest in their impact on system peak demand. Examples include demand-side management, integrated resource planning and recent developments to integrate energy efficiency into forward capacity markets. However, there is only limited research on the relationship between peak demand impacts and overall energy savings from efficiency measures, although this relationship can have important bearings on efficiency programmes. This paper reviews utility efficiency programmes in nine jurisdictions in North America and analyses how the seasonal peak-energy relationship differs between commercial and industrial (C&I) and residential sectors, among efficiency measures. In terms of the seasonal difference in peak demand impacts, these programmes show that residential lighting and residential water heating can deliver greater peak savings in weekday early evening winter peak periods. By contrast, C&I lighting and residential appliances make higher peak savings in weekday afternoon summer peak periods. A seasonal difference is more significant in lighting, especially residential lighting, than other measures. The evidence from North America also suggests that space cooling in both sectors and C&I lighting may well make greater peak savings relative to non-peak impacts than other measures during summer peak periods, while in winter peak periods, residential lighting can achieve greater peak savings relative to non-peak impacts. This review highlights the significance of regional electricity use patterns along with climatic and regulatory conditions and indicates how further research may contribute to appropriate electricity demand reduction programme design and monitoring regimes in particular regions.     

Why are Californian farmers adopting more (and larger) renewable energy operations?

The paper examines the renewable energy adoption and system size determinants for Californian farmers. We utilize a double-hurdle methodology where system size is determined through a heteroskedastic ordered binary variable model for four size categories. Our results for system size show that determinants of technology adoption differ from size determinants. For example, environmental practices, Internet connection, and electricity price influence adoption, while, total value of production and acre value impact the size of the installed system. Surprisingly, the price of electricity bears no impact on the size category chosen. Renewable energy adoption and system size have been increasing over time, thus our insights about the interplay of the determinants for adoption and size choice, will assist policy formation.     

Why does renewable energy diffuse so slowly? A review of innovation system problems

In this paper we present a literature review of studies that have analysed the troublesome trajectory of different renewable energy technologies (RETs) development and diffusion in different, mainly European countries. We present an overview of typical systemic problems in the development of innovation systems around RETs. We make use of the literature on innovation system failures to develop a categorisation of typical systemic problems that hamper the development and diffusion of RETs. Based on this categorisation the paper suggests several policy recommendations to overcome the systemic problems and accelerate the diffusion and implementation of RETs.     

How can the integration of renewable energy and power-to-gas benefit industrial facilities? From techno-economic,policy, and environmental assessment

This paper applies a mixed integer linear programming model developed in GAMS to simulate the integration of Power-to-Gas infrastructure into an industrial manufacturer's energy system subject to the existing thermal and electrical energy demands, as well as a third hydrogen energy profile. This work is novel in that it assesses the challenges and economic incentives available to make feasible the installation of a hydrogen-based energy storage systems within the Province of Ontario from a techno-economic, policy and environmental perspectives.The energy hub analyzed in this work uses electricity from the power grid and solar PVs to meet the manufacturer's demands, while converting the excess to hydrogen gas, which is used across an array of pathways to generate revenue. ThisThis includes a blend ofof hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), hydrogen for forklifts, and the direct injection of hydrogen into the facility's natural gas, adding renewable content to the heating, and manufacturing processes. Our primary objective was to implement a safe design that minimizes capital and operating costs, resulting in a favorable business case for producing hydrogen, and providing ancillary grid services. However, Power-to-Gas creates a net-emission reduction that can be used not only to sell emission allowances in the provincial carboncarbon tax program for up to $30/t-CO_2eq but to assist the Company in achieving their strategic emission reduction targets.Installation of the selected Power-to-Gas system would require a total capital investment of $2,620,448 with the electrolyzers and solar panels accounting for 41% and 17% of the capital costs, respectively. The compressors will account for most of the operating costs which total $237,653 annually. Within the energy hub, 76,073 kg-H₂ has been produced per year for end-use applications. A sensitivity analysis was performed by varying both hydrogen and carbon credit price which predicted a potentialpotential CO₂ offset of 2359.7 tonne/yr with a payback period of as little as 2.8 years.     

Impact of interconnections and renewable energy integration on the Philippine–Sabah Power Grid systems

This study presents a comprehensive impact analysis of the rotor angle stability of a proposed international connection between the Philippines and Sabah, Malaysia, as part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) Power Grid. This study focuses on modeling and evaluating the dynamic performance of the interconnected system, considering the high penetration of renewable sources. Power flow, small signal stability, and transient stability analyses were conducted to assess the ability o...     

A missing link? The case of Norway and Sweden: Does increased renewable energy production impact domestic greenhouse gas emissions?

This article examines how the EU׳s RES directive¹ will impact domestic greenhouse gas emissions in Norway and Sweden by 2020. The directive aims for a higher RES share in the energy consumption mix, and Norway and Sweden have established a common electricity certificate scheme to help achieve these RES goals. In terms of how these two national RES plans will impact domestic emissions by 2020, factors such as nuclear power, consumption changes and the energy balance must be considered. The most practical approach to evaluate the plans’ impact on emissions is to focus on changes in carbon-based consumption within the three directive sectors.The Norwegian RES action plan will not affect domestic emissions unless the electricity surplus generated by the certificate market is used to phase out fossil fuels in domestic sectors beyond the scope of the RES directive. The use of electricity to phase out fossil fuel consumption in the offshore sector would substantially reduce Norwegian emissions figures. The Swedish plan would positively impact Swedish greenhouse gas emissions; however, this impact is limited, primarily because a substantial increase in energy consumption is expected.     

Food transport refrigeration – Approaches to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts of road transport

Food transport refrigeration is a critical link in the food chain not only in terms of maintaining the temperature integrity of the transported products but also its impact on energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. This paper provides a review of (a) current approaches in road food transport refrigeration, (b) estimates of their environmental impacts, and (c) research on the development and application of alternative technologies to vapour compression refrigeration systems that have the potential to reduce the overall energy consumption and environmental impacts. The review and analysis indicate that greenhouse gas emissions from conventional diesel engine driven vapour compression refrigeration systems commonly employed in food transport refrigeration can be as high as 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle’s engine. For articulated vehicles over 33 ton, which are responsible for over 80% of refrigerated food transportation in the UK, the reject heat available form the engine is sufficient to drive sorption refrigeration systems and satisfy most of the refrigeration requirements of the vehicle. Other promising technologies that can lead to a reduction in CO₂ emissions are air cycle refrigeration and hybrid systems in which conventional refrigeration technologies are integrated with thermal energy storage. For these systems, however, to effectively compete with diesel driven vapour compression systems, further research and development work is needed to improve their efficiency and reduce their weight.     

Stuck between a ROC and a hard place? Barriers to the take up of green energy in the UK

This paper examines the UK mechanisms for ensuring future investment in renewable energy through consumer adoption of green energy tariffs and the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) system. Using a national survey and focus groups the stated willingness by UK customers to pay a premium for renewable or green energy and actual take up of such tariffs is assessed. Substantial differences between willingness to pay for and the adoption of green energy tariffs are reported. This disparity is linked to a range of factors including consumer confusion, lack of supply, complexities of constructing ‘green source’ tariffs under the ROC system and a lack of customer trust. It is concluded that the re-definition of the green energy market in favour of ‘green source’ tariffs, greater direct compliance with the Renewable Obligation by addressing supply constraints, and efforts in providing clearer information and choices for consumers via a compulsory green energy accreditation scheme are required if willing consumers’ are to contribute to investment in renewable energy.     

The impact of intermittently renewable energy on Italian wholesale electricity prices: Additional benefits or additional costs?

Most studies of the literature find that the development of renewable energy sources determines a decrease in the wholesale prices. Some authors use this finding to state that the current subsidies for renewable technologies cannot be considered as excessive. By carrying out a hybrid analysis (both simulation and ex-post empirical analyses) of the case of photovoltaic energy in Italy, this article demonstrates that this result cannot be generalised. Under market power, an increase in PV production can provide benefits in terms of a wholesale price decrease only beyond a specific threshold and especially if combined with other effects. Otherwise, it is likely that PV development could imply an increase in prices. Therefore, on the one hand, caution is necessary when using the estimated change in wholesale prices to evaluate the net cost for consumers of the supporting policies for renewables: either the simulation-based models or the full empirical analyses may be misleading. On the other hand, if "decarbonisation" is the main objective, the energy policies should be designed in order to assure a deep and balanced penetration of the clean technologies, regardless of their estimated transitory impact on wholesale prices (and in the meantime reviewing the organisation of power markets).     

What lessons have been learned in reforming the Renewables Obligation? An analysis of internal and external failures in UK renewable energy policy

Despite operating a delivery programme for RES-E since 1990, UK targets and policy goals have not been achieved. In response, the Government reformed the RO. This article re-examines UK renewable energy policy by analysing the internal and external failures of the various mechanisms to determine if Government has learnt from previous experience in reforming the RO. Government did not learn from their own actions during the NFFO/RO transition, evidenced by high-levels of similarity in internal/external failures. The reformed-RO is expected to significantly increase deployment, has provided a ‘renewables package’ by comprehensively addressing both internal/external failures but major internal failures (price/financial risk) still remain, resulting in contiguous failures over two decades and two mechanism changes (NFFO, RO, RO/reformed-RO). Success will again be heavily dependent on a select few technologies and new/untested measures to combat external failures. Mechanism-extension to 2037 is probably the single most important factor underlying potential deployment increases. However, introducing a FIT-like system via the sheer number of ‘bolt-on’ reforms to counter policy failures indicates loss of direction and clarity. Overall, although Government appears to have learnt some of its lessons from the past two-decades, significant doubt remains whether renewable energy policy objectives will be met via the latest mechanism change.     

To cool a sweltering earth: Does energy efficiency improvement offset the climate impacts of lifestyle?

As technical efficiency improvement in energy use remains a touchstone measure to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is substantial concern about whether this approach can offset the large and expanding impacts of human actions. Critics contend that without adjustments to the prevailing consumptive lifestyle, energy efficiency improvement will generate only token reductions in GHG emissions. I address this concern by examining the extent to which technical efficiency improvement in energy use offsets the impacts of housing-related lifestyle on GHG emissions. I build from two perspectives, the physical–technical–economic models that consider energy efficiency improvement as a potent strategy to curb residential energy consumption, and the lifestyle and social–behavioral approach, which questions this view. The analyses reveal consistent positive relationship between lifestyle and energy consumption. The results also indicate that energy efficiency improvement has mixed effects on energy consumption. In fact, model-based figures show that technical efficiency improvement in energy use leads to slightly higher energy consumption if it is not accompanied by adjustments to lifestyle.     

Renewable energy strategies for rural Africa: is a PV-led renewable energy strategy the right approach for providing modern energy to the rural poor of sub-Saharan Africa?

Rural areas continue to be home to majority of the population in Africa. The importance of providing modern energy to rural areas cannot, therefore, be overemphasised. Despite numerous efforts by Governments and donors in the region to promote solar photovoltaics (PVs) for rural electrification (almost every country in the region has had a rural electrification PV project), access to modern energy in rural Africa continues to be woefully low. In addition to being unaffordable to the rural masses, solar PV has the limitation that it can only be used for lighting and powering low-voltage appliances. This article reviews emerging trends in the rural energy sector of sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses the limitations of over-reliance on solar PV. It suggests possible options that could have greater impact on rural clean energy development. For the majority of rural households in the region, biomass fuels will continue to be the dominant fuel of choice. Efficient technologies for the use of biomass would, therefore, ensure that scarce biomass resources are effectively utilised, and reduce the negative impacts of biomass use on women and children's health. Solar thermal, windpumps, micro-/pico-hydropower and cleaner fuels such as kerosene and LPG, have not received adequate attention from policy makers. These energy options could significantly improve the performance of rural small- and micro-enterprises. This article argues that rural energy policies that emphasise a broader range of renewables and target income-generating activities are likely to yield greater benefits to the rural poor than the current policies that rely on the solar PV option.     

What proportion of renewable energy supplies is needed to initially mitigate CO2 emissions in OECD member countries?

In spite of increasing numbers of countries having established renewable energy development mechanisms for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reduction, the CO₂ emissions problem continues to worsen along with the growth of the world economy. This leads us to examine the threshold effect of the proportion of renewable energy supply for CO₂ emissions reduction by means of the panel threshold regression model (PTR). Economic growth and the price of energy are also both taken into account in the model in measuring the specific influence that each of them has on CO₂ emissions. The empirical panel data encompass all 30 member countries of the OECD and cover a period of about a decade in length from 1996 to 2005. Our empirical results provide clear evidence of the existence of a single threshold effect that may be divided into lower and higher regimes. Based on the specific estimates of the slope coefficients in each regime distinguished, we find that a renewable energy supply accounting for at least 8.3889% of total energy supply would mean that CO₂ emissions would start to be mitigated. Furthermore, real GDP and the CPI of energy are significantly and positively and insignificantly and negatively correlated with CO₂ emissions, respectively. These findings lead us to conclude that the authorities ought to enhance the proportion of renewable energy supply to more than 8.3889% of all energy supplied, which might help resolve the dilemma between economic growth and CO₂ emissions. Realizing the effects of CO₂ emissions reduction via energy price reforms or the levying of a carbon tax levy may, however, still remain a puzzle.     

Energy security and renewable electricity trade—Will Desertec make Europe vulnerable to the “energy weapon”?

Solar power imports to Europe from the deserts of North Africa, as foreseen in the Desertec concept, is one possible way to help decarbonising the European power sector by 2050. However, this approach raises questions of threats to European energy security in such an import scenario, particularly in the light of increasing import dependency and Russia's use of the “energy weapon” in recent years. In this paper we investigate the threat of North African countries using the Desertec electricity exports as an “energy weapon”. We develop and use a new model to assess the interdependence – the bargaining power symmetry, operationalised as costs – of a disruption in a future renewable electricity trade between North Africa and Europe. If Europe maintains current capacity buffers, some demand-response capability and does not import much more than what is described in the Desertec scenario, it is susceptible to extortion and political pressure only if all five exporter countries unite in using the energy weapon. Europe is not vulnerable to extortion by an export cut from only one country, as the European capacity buffers are sufficient to restore the power supply: no single exporter country would have sustained bargaining power over Europe.     

Prediction,investigation, and assessment of novel tidal–solar hybrid renewable energy system in India by different techniques

In the present scenario, all over the world, electrical energy is produced by conventional or non-renewable energy supply system. These systems produce a large amount of atmospheric pollution. This predicament is principally conquered by the concentrated use of alternative or renewable energy system. The research work reported in the paper shows the profoundness of performance prediction and investigation of solar–tidal integrated renewable energy system using a different optimisation technique. The works on macro-level include a novel tidal–solar system in the coastal area of Cochin, India and modelling of tidal-solar energy system by the HOMER software. Duration of the project is assessed by a project management technique critical path method, optimisation of the HOMER software cost assessment result for the study area using teaching, learning-based optimisation, cuckoo optimisation and through the grasshopper technique, further reliability and life-cycle analysis of the system and result are validated by regression analysis.     

Which renewable energy policy is a venture capitalist's best friend? Empirical evidence from a survey of international cleantech investors

Governments around the world have adopted ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They pursue a variety of policy approaches to achieve these targets. It has been a popular theme for contributions in Energy Policy to investigate the effectiveness of such policies. This article adds a new perspective to the debate, namely looking at the policy preferences of private investors in innovative clean energy technology firms. We surveyed 60 investment professionals from European and North American venture capital and private equity funds and asked them to assess the effectiveness of various policies, in terms of stimulating their interest to invest in innovative clean energy technologies. In addition to quantitative rankings, we use qualitative interview data to capture additional information on why investors prefer some policies over others. The combined analysis compensates for the inherent limitations of a quantitative ranking using generic policy types. The results of this exploratory analysis demonstrate that, all other things being equal, investors in our sample perceived feed-in tariffs to be the most effective renewable energy policy. The overall preference for feed-in tariffs is even more pronounced among investors based in Europe and with higher exposure to clean energy.