Pros and cons of exposing renewables to electricity market risks—A comparison of the market integration approaches in Germany,Spain, and the UK

The article examines how renewable electricity (RES-E) producers are integrated into the electricity market under the support legislations and regulatory frameworks of Germany, Spain, and the UK. Focus is on wind power, which faces the highest market integration challenge of all RES-E. The analysis shows that the three countries follow contrasting approaches of exposing RES-E producers to the market risks of forward electricity markets, balancing markets and system planning requirements. Risk exposure is highest in the UK and lowest in Germany. From a policy maker's perspective, there is a trade-off between a “high risk” and a “low risk” approach. When RES-E face high market risks, a higher level of financial support is required to stimulate RES-E development than in a low risk environment, but the exposure to market risks may also give an incentive to make efficient use of the respective market, thus limiting the indirect costs to society. The special characteristics of wind energy, however, put natural limits to the response of wind power plants to market prices and locational price signals and will increasingly influence electricity markets and grid infrastructure. These interdependencies should be recognised in the design of RES-E policies and market regulations.     

Long-term energy consumptions of urban transportation: A prospective simulation of “transport–land uses” policies in Bangalore

The current trends of urban dynamics in the Third World are alarming with regard to climate change, because they are giving an increasingly important role to cars—to the detriment of public and non-motorized transportation. Yet this is the type of energy consumption that is expected to grow the fastest, in business-as-usual scenarios. How can these market-based urban trends be influenced? What level of emissions reduction can be achieved? This article shows that first, there is a relevant and urgent need to tackle the urban dynamics of cities in developing countries focusing on the “transport–land uses” couple, and second, that existing transport technologies and decision-helping tools are already available to take up the climate change challenge. Through the application of an integrated “transport–land uses” model, TRANUS, this study demonstrates that transit technologies affordable to an emerging city like Bangalore can significantly curb the trajectories of energy consumption and the ensuing carbon dioxide emissions, if and only if they are implemented in the framework of appropriate urban planning. Furthermore, this study establishes that there are tools which are available to facilitate the necessary policy-making processes. These tools allow stakeholders to discuss different political alternatives integrating energy issues, based on quantitative assessments.     

Between fragmented authoritarianism and policy coordination: Creating a Chinese market for wind energy

The Chinese grid-connected wind energy sector has undergone a number of fundamental changes during its 20 years of existence. The scope of this article is to track the reforms of the energy bureaucracy and its policy approach on the one hand and changes in wind energy installations on the other. By comparing three historically distinct phases of wind energy in China it is shown how policy reforms have changed largely from a state of “fragmented authoritarianism” towards policy coordination. In the initial phase (1986–1993), wind energy was expanding very slowly with disjointed policy making and in the incremental phase (1994–1999), the energy authorities were in dispute over the strategy and launched conflicting policy initiatives with poor results in wind energy output. The latest coordinated phase (2000–2006), however, developed a coherent renewable energy agenda and policy regime for the wind power sector. It is found that this phase with coordinated market regulations and incentives has helped give birth to a take-off in Chinese wind energy installations and substantial cost reductions, although the latter is threatening the profitability of wind farms. The article contributes to the academic debate over the role of policy making in renewable energy development and argues that China should continue, and improve, the coordination of regulations and incentives.     

Impact of public policy uncertainty on renewable energy investment: Wind power and the production tax credit

It is generally understood that the pattern of repeated expiration and short-term renewal of the federal production tax credit (PTC) causes a boom–bust cycle in wind power plant investment in the US. This on–off pattern is detrimental to the wind industry, since ramp-up and ramp-down costs are high, and players are deterred from making long-term investments. It is often assumed that the severe downturn in investment during “off” years implies that wind power is unviable without the PTC. This assumption turns out to be unsubstantiated: this paper demonstrates that it is not the absence of the PTC that causes the investment downturn during “off” years, but rather the uncertainty over its return. Specifically, it is the dynamic of power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiations in the face of PTC renewal uncertainty that drives investment volatility. With contract negotiations prevalent in the renewable energy industry, this finding suggests that reducing uncertainty is a crucial component of effective renewable energy policy. The PTC as currently structured is not the only means, existing or potential, for encouraging wind power investment. Using data from a survey of energy professionals, various policy instruments are compared in terms of their perceived stability for supporting long-term investment.     

The United States and international climate cooperation: International “pull” versus domestic “push”

The US government is being pressured by both international and domestic influences to re-engage in international climate control. This paper considers whether the international “pull” and the domestic “push” will be strong enough to accomplish this. First, we discuss whether changes in the architecture of the current climate regime might induce the United States to re-engage at the international level. We argue that the United States is unlikely to rejoin any global climate regime that is based on the Kyoto architecture, even if Kyoto were to be “reformed”. Second, we discuss whether domestic political developments might eventually cause the United States to re-engage. We conclude that US re-engagement is likely to require the emergence of a new climate regime that basically extends US regulation to other countries. However, the forging of a unified US climate policy is still in the making. Furthermore, a new regime can gain widespread participation only if the Kyoto countries accept the idea of replacing Kyoto with some alternative architecture, which seems unlikely in the near future.     

Canada’s constitutional separation of (wind) power

This paper investigates the impact that a federal government structure has on strategic selection of renewable energy policy instruments. The context for this study centers on wind power development in Canada. Canada is a nation that is blessed by all the attributes necessary to catalyze global leadership in installed wind power capacity. Unfortunately, the constitutional separation of powers that underpins Canada’s federal system impedes the creation of a national wind power development strategy because Canada’s provinces have constitutional authority over electricity governance. The insights gleaned from the case study are used to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the impact that federal structure has on policy instrument selection and efficacy under areas of federal, regional and concurrent policy jurisdiction. Finally, this framework is re-applied to identify specific approaches the Canadian federal government could take to resolve what currently amounts to be a fragmented, ineffective approach to wind power development planning.     

Renewable Energy Policies in the Gulf countries: A case study of the carbon-neutral “Masdar City” in Abu Dhabi

The Gulf countries are largely dependent on exporting oil and natural gas for their national budgets. They mainly use domestic fossil fuels for their domestic energy supply. In spite of favorable geographic conditions, especially for solar energy, renewable energies are still a niche application. Abu Dhabi, besides Dubai, the most important emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has now started a process of “transforming oil wealth into renewable energy leadership,” and has set the long-term goal of a “transition from a 20th Century, carbon-based economy into a 21st Century sustainable economy.” This article is a case study about “Masdar City,” a planned carbon-neutral town in Abu Dhabi. The article describes the key characteristics of Masdar City, analyses the drivers behind the project, identifies the main actors for its implementation, and seeks obstacles to creation and development as well as the policy behind Masdar City. Finally, a first judgment of possible diffusion effects of the project is done.     

French perspectives in the emerging European Union energy policy

The debate over a common European energy policy, its necessity and its establishment has been going on for a number of decades. The discussions have been recently brought back into the spotlight by the evolution of energy market fundamentals and the taking into account of environmental protection. In spite of the energy diversity of the European Union (EU), a common vision has always been shared by all over energy development for the future. The achievements of the internal market, the fight against climate change and supply security are the common energy battles that call for a solution in common. This policy remains the responsibility of the States, but decisions vary from one country to the next. To move from a shared vision to a European energy policy, large steps are necessary. The European construction is making evolve the “typically French vision” of energy policy. France was often characterized as the “black sheep” in the EU. In the political context of president elections, the energy debate in French is of a high interest. This paper discusses the main issues with the French energy policy in the emerging European energy policy.     

Policy progress in mitigation of climate change in Taiwan

To make an active contribution to the global effort in mitigation of climate change, Taiwan government has implemented the “Frameworks for Sustainable Energy Policy—An Energy-Saving and Carbon-Reduction Action Plan” in June 2008. It has made a commitment of a stepwise reduction of nationwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which returns the nationwide GHG emission to 2008 levels by 2020, then reduces to 2000 levels by 2025, and finally cuts 50% of 2000 levels by 2050. The fundamental strategy is to reduce the GHG emission under acceptable economic development and energy security to achieve generation-spanning triple-win in energy, environment and economy. The major policy instruments such as “Statute for Renewable Energy Development”, “GHG Reduction Law (draft),” “Regulation for Energy Tax (draft),” and “Energy Management Act” have been either implemented or scheduled for legislative reviewing. The purpose of this paper is to present an updated review of the outcomes of GHG emission reduction in Taiwan. In addition, the progress and priority of policy instruments in GHG emission reduction are analyzed as well.     

Domestic solar hot water systems: Developments, evaluations and essentials for “viability” with a special reference to India

Following typical phases of any technology development, initially there have been research works focusing mainly on the solar hot water systems’ (SHWS) technology development then followed by economic aspects. This has resulted in techno-economically feasible standardized solar hot water systems. Owing to these favourable features, SHWS in general and Domestic SHWS (DSHWS) in particular attracted several promotional measures with a view to make them as the alternative for conventional water heating options in India. However, even after the implementation of these measures for more than two decades in India, the potentials-achievements difference remains to be extremely large, the reasons for which are attributed to the so-called “barriers for dissemination”. This paper presents a consolidated review of solar water heating related issues covering these technological developments, techno-economics, promotional measures, present dissemination status and barriers for dissemination, all with a special reference to the Indian context. Also presented in this paper is the identified need for “viability” studies of DSHWS and “essentials for viability evaluations of DSHWS” in multi-dimensional environment that aid in developing decision making tools to improve dissemination of DSHWS.     

Optimum siting of wind turbine generators

This paper investigates optimum siting of wind turbine generators from the viewpoint of site and wind turbine generator selection. The methodology of analysis is based on the accurate assessment of wind power potential of various sites. The analytical computations of annual and monthly capacity factors are done using the Weibull statistical model using cubic mean cube root of wind speeds. As many as fifty-four potential wind sites, with and without wind turbine installations, geographically distributed in different states of India are used for the siting analysis. As an outcome of this analysis several definitive conclusions of archival nature have been arrived at and are presented in the paper. If this analysis is done at the planning and development stages of installation of wind power stations, it will enable the wind power developer or the power utilities to make a judicious choice of potential site and wind turbine generator system from the available potential sites and wind turbine generators respectively     

Commercializing light-duty plug-in/plug-out hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles: “Mobile Electricity” technologies and opportunities

Starting from the premise that new consumer value must drive hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicle (H₂FCV) commercialization, a group of opportunities collectively called “Mobile Electricity” is characterized. Mobile Electricity (Me-) redefines H₂FCVs as innovative products able to import and export electricity across the traditional vehicle boundary. Such vehicles could provide home recharging and mobile power, for example for tools, mobile activities, emergencies, and electric-grid-support services. This study integrates and extends previous analyses of H₂FCVs, plug-in hybrids, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power. Further, it uses a new electric-drive-vehicle and vehicular-distributed-generation model to estimate zero-emission-power versus zero-emission-driving tradeoffs, costs, and grid-support revenues for various electric-drive vehicle types and levels of infrastructure service. By framing market development in terms of new consumer value flowing from Me-, this study suggests a way to move beyond the battery versus fuel-cell zero-sum game and towards the development of integrated plug-in/plug-out hybrid platforms. As one possible extension of this Me- product platform, H₂FCVs might supply clean, high-power, and profitable Me- services as the technologies and markets mature.     

Reassessing the “energy ladder”: Household energy use in Maun,Botswana

In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa's rapid urbanization, improved insight into urban energy use is increasingly important. Based on the predictions of “energy transition” theory, a regional shift from biomass to “modern” fuels has long been expected to occur in tandem with urban growth. However, trends observed in the region's towns and cities have often not followed such patterns and fuelwood continues to be important in most areas. This paper examines the practical relevance of transition theory using a recent case study, conducted by the authors in Maun, Botswana, and results previously reported in the literature. It finds that, despite the long-term link between socio-economic development and increased modern fuel consumption at the national scale, the notion of “transition” does not accurately reflect ongoing energy-use patterns at lower levels of aggregation. This is chiefly because its model of household fuel switching largely dismisses the importance of active (and strategic) decision making by urban consumers and their responsiveness to structural factors such as relative fuel prices. As the Botswana case illustrates, this weakness can significantly distort expectations and policies around urban fuelwood use.     

The rise of community wind power in Japan: Enhanced acceptance through social innovation

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the socio-economic dynamics that are brought about by renewable energy technologies. We call this dynamic “Social Innovation” as it changes the rules of risk–benefit distribution and the roles of social actors. For this purpose, we take up a typical case in Japan, community wind power in which the initial cost is funded by the investment of citizens. Through this case study, we examine how the citizens’ initiative can affect the social acceptance of renewable energy as well as social change. Based on interviews with those involved in these projects, we analyze the interests of the various actors involved in community wind power projects in a framework of “actor network theory”, which enables us to understand the detail of each actor's position. This study also involved a quantitative survey of investors. The case study clarified that there was a remarkable difference in the interests of the main actors in the community wind power projects, the networks are complex and actors share various interests such as economic interests and a sense of social commitment, participation and contribution. These incentives are also clarified in quantitative data. However, the variety of incentives differs in each project.     

Energy security and sustainability in Northeast Asia

“Energy Security” has typically, to those involved in making energy policy, meant mostly securing access to oil and other fossil fuels. With increasingly global, diverse energy markets, however, and increasingly transnational problems resulting from energy transformation and use, old energy security rationales are less salient, and other issues, including climate change and other environmental, economic, and international considerations are becoming increasingly important. As a consequence, a more comprehensive operating definition of “Energy Security” is needed, along with a workable framework for analysis of which future energy paths or scenarios are likely to yield greater Energy Security in a broader, more comprehensive sense. Work done as a part of the Nautilus Institute's “Pacific Asia Regional Energy Security” (PARES) project developed a broader definition of Energy Security, and described an analytical framework designed to help to compare the energy security characteristics – both positive and negative – of different quantitative energy paths as developed using software tools such as the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) system.     

欧盟风电产业的发展及对我国的启示

欧洲风电发展取得了很大的成就,建立了世界最大的风电市场和产业,制定和实施了有效的支持政策,促进了风电技术的迅速发展和成本的持续下降,风电开始在欧洲成为主要的替代能源.文章介绍了欧洲风电技术、产业和市场发展状况及趋势;实施强制上网、价格激励、税收优惠、资源普查、电网建设等政策的经验,提出了我国具有世界最重要的风电潜在市场,应该借鉴欧洲经验,加快在完善价格体系、风机标准化和检测、资源普查、电网建设等方面的工作步伐,支持我国风电产业的发展.     

Critical view on “new results in micro-fluid mechanics”: an example

Experiments in micro-flow devices almost always show deviations compared to the corresponding situations in macro-systems. Often special “micro-effects” are proposed to explain these unexpected results. However, based on a nondimensional form of the problem formulation these “micro-effects” can be identified as scaling effects referred to a standard analysis in macro-dimensions. Thus many “unexpected results” can be explained. This is demonstrated for a specific example recently published in this journal.     

Planning of renewables schemes: Deliberative and fair decision-making on landscape issues instead of reproachful accusations of non-cooperation

The main issues related to successful implementation policies concern the socio-economic institutions that are conditional to planning in the energy policy domain, but also in the domain of spatial planning. Successful investments and the siting of renewable power plants eventually determine the success rate of national efforts in establishing renewable capacity. Central planning usually has several objectives and these often have a detrimental effect on the goal of renewable energy application. Current problems related to implementation decisions concerning wind power schemes are an example to those who will be faced by other renewable power plants, notably biomass.     

A new basis for assessing the sustainability of natural resources

Natural resources are generally referred to as “depleteable” and “renewable.” The term “renewable” typically refers to “biological” resources, such as fish and forests. Other renewable resources, including hydro, solar, tidal, wave and wind power are not explicitly addressed by existing economic theories. Identification of the physical and economic characteristics of natural resources enables the real cost of natural resource use to be identified, providing the basis of a single unifying theory of all resources based on a user cost function. Two key considerations emerge: firstly, in relation to resource depletion, it is necessary to explore the role of rate of consumption relative to rate of supply as a quantitative aspect of resources; secondly, in relation to pollution, it is necessary to investigate the role of rate of change of entropy as a resource is utilised as a qualitative aspect of resources. Once the true costs of resource use have been established, natural resources can be classified in a systematic way. Clear differences between different types of natural resources emerge, leading to new terms being proposed to describe different resource types.