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Decoding the world’s best Energy policies
Kathryn Cooper, World Changing
The “winds of change” were blowing last month among 600 renewable energy leaders from 46 countries at the 7th World Wind Energy Conference in Ontario. A global tipping point toward renewable energy is emerging, propelled by success in countries like Germany, which in the past decade has established itself as a world renewable energy powerhouse. In the hopes of achieving independence from fossil fuels as early as 2050 (an in some cases, much sooner), conference attendees discussed best practices for using national policy to stimulate investment and growth in the renewables sector.
Germany shattered the theory that renewable energy is a niche player by achieving a 14% share of renewables in its electricity market in 2007.
… But completing the shift from fossil fuels to renewables still presents governments with economic, infrastructural and other challenges. German success suggests that aggressive national renewable energy policies are the best route to energy independence (by contrast, a premature return to a solely “market-driven” system, as occurred in Denmark, can send renewable development spiraling into decline).
When using policy to drive a shift to renewables, several key policies working together are the best strategy to level the playing field and stimulate investment in new technologies. I distilled the best national initiatives discussed at the conference into a policy primer:
(8 July 2008)
Roundtable discussion: Outlook for renewable energy (podcast)
Stephen Lacey, RenewableEnergyWorld
Last month’s Renewable Energy Finance Forum in New York City brought together some of the most sophisticated investors and analysts in the renewable energy and cleantech space. The end of the conference featured a roundtable discussion about the current status and future prospects for the industry as they relate to developments happening within the conventional energy industry. In this podcast, we’re presenting a slightly edited version of this in-depth discussion.
(3 July 2008)
Contributor John writes:
This podcast might be something worth listening to. The “conventional national energy industry” mentioned in the title is of course oil and coal. The discussion, as it relates to fossil fuels, is primarily about oil. Interestingly the panel, with all their knowledge, comes ever so close to mentioning peak oil, but never comes around to doing so.
Ray Brady at BLM on “solar rights-of-way” authorizations (video)
Marc Strassman, Etopia News
Ray Brady, Manager of the Energy Policy Team at the Bureau of Land Management, discusses the application process for “solar rights-of-way” on sun-drenched public lands in the American Southwest, recorded from Washington, D.C., July 7, 2008
(7 July 2008)
