Renewable Portfolio Standards for the Promotion of Renewable Energy - The Dilemma of Developmental Inequity in the United States

Implementation of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), a political tool intended to increase investment in renewable energy, has become increasingly common in the early 21st century. RPS policies require that a certain amount, or percentage, of electricity in a providers electricity supply mix is generated from renewable energy sources. The distribution of renewable energy generation capacity development which has resulted from the implementation of RPS policies in the United States was investigated in this thesis research. As it relates, the political implications of developmental inequity which may result from RPS policies was also investigated. This thesis research presents a link between the geographic distribution of the installed renewable energy generation capacity that has resulted from the implementation of state RPS policies and corresponding boundary definitions of Tradable Renewable Energy Credit (TREC) markets. TRECs, which represent the renewable attributes of electricity generated from renewable energy generation installations, are often included in RPS policies as a compliance and flexibility mechanism. Several American states have declared TRECs generated by out-of-state renewable energy generation facilities eligible for RPS compliance in their state, thereby extending their TREC compliance market boundaries. As a result, it was found that much of the renewable energy credited for RPS compliance in those states with extended TREC market boundaries, is generated outside of that state which implemented the policy. As such, those states which have included an extended TREC compliance market in accordance with their RPS have developed comparatively less in-state renewable energy capacity than states which have restricted compliance eligibility to renewable energy facilities to a more regional, or state-wide market. The development of new installed renewable energy generation capacity that results from RPS policies may therefore be displaced to neighbouring regions if an extended TREC compliance market is included in the policy design. Additionally, this thesis research was supplemented with a presentation of the effects of RPS on renewable energy generation installations by technology type. Following the implementation of RPS, wind energy generation, a comparably low cost renewable energy technology, was found to have been disproportionately successful in comparison with alternative renewable energy technologies. Based upon the geographic and industrial distribution patterns of renewable energy generation capacity installations that have resulted from state RPS policies, the likely distribution of development that would result from a federal RPS is presented and discussed. If a federal RPS were to include a national-scale TREC compliance market, large increases in wind energy installations, especially within the Upper Midwestern states, have been projected. Trends in American politics, which were found to favour equity and regional economic development in policy design, seem to stand in opposition to this possible developmental inequity. As such, it is recommended that a federal RPS, if implemented, should take into consideration design features which act to limit inequity. Such design features could include a TREC compliance market with regional boundaries, specifications for TREC allowances in regions with less indigenous resource, or an altogether exclusion of a national-scale TREC compliance market. As such, national goals to foster the implementation of an increased percentage of renewable energy generation capacity may simultaneously achieve political goals for geographic equity through the implementation of RPS

Recognising the potential for renewable energy heating and cooling

Heating and cooling in the industrial, commercial, and domestic sectors constitute around 40-50% of total global final energy demand. A wide range of renewable energy heating and cooling (REHC) technologies exists but they are presently only used to meet around 2-3% of total world demand (excluding from traditional biomass). Several of these technologies are mature, their markets are growing, and their costs relative to conventional heating and cooling systems continue to decline. However, in most countries, policies developed to encourage the wider deployment of renewable electricity generation, transport biofuels and energy efficiency have over-shadowed policies aimed at REHC technology deployment. This paper, based on the findings of the International Energy Agency publication Renewables for Heating and Cooling--Untapped Potential, outlines the present and future markets and compares the costs of providing heating and cooling services from solar, geothermal and biomass resources. It analyses current policies and experiences and makes recommendations to support enhanced market deployment of REHC technologies to provide greater energy supply security and climate change mitigation. If policies as successfully implemented by the leading countries were to be replicated elsewhere (possibly after modification to better suit local conditions), there would be good potential to significantly increase the share of renewable energy in providing heating and cooling services.

Alternative energy sources in transition countries. The case of bio-energy in the Ukraine

During the transition to a market economy, many countries with a planned economy in Central and Eastern Europe face similar challenges when the established socio-economic systems and infrastructures deemed inefficient in a market economy. Also new issues are being raised by the trends of globalization and the vision of sustainable development. In the energy sector the challenges raised by the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation mechanisms are especially interesting, because they are intertwined with other socioeconomic sectors. This paper addresses the challenges in the energy sector for transition countries, taking the case of bio-energy in the Ukraine as a prime example of a country undergoing major changes in its economic structures. Given the large potential for bio-energy development in the Ukraine, the current dependence on imported energy resources which threatens the Ukraine’s energy security, and the economic, social and environmental benefits associated with bio-energy, this paper investigates drivers and barriers to an increased use of bio-energy in the Ukraine. The paper was written by a group of MSc students of the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University during a field trip to Kiev city and the Lviv region in Ukraine. The field trip has been supported by the Swedish Institute