Economics

Study Notes

Policies to encourage Renewable Energy

Level:: GCSE, AS, A Level, IB

Board:: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, IB, Eduqas, WJEC

Last updated 3 Jul 2020

Here is a summary of interventions / strategies to encourage an expansion in the supply-side capacity of the UK renewable energy industry.

Renewable Energy 101

Policies include:

Minimum carbon price floor for emissions trading
Feed in tariff schemes for solar and biomass
Regulating emissions limits for power plants
Relaxation of planning restrictions for onshore wind farms
Interest-free loans for purchase of renewable energy equipment
Regulations requiring new homes to have solar panels installed (introduced in California in 2018)

California issues mandate requiring new homes to install solar panels

California's Plan to Get to 100 Percent Clean Energy

Good news 🔆: Innovation and economies of scale have cut the cost of solar power by 85% since 2009 and costs are expected to continue dropping, by up to 66% by 2040. https://t.co/PVctlpHIKP #OnePlanet pic.twitter.com/WJTPVhnw0t
— World Bank (@WorldBank) December 10, 2017

Smart grids for East Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have all shown interest in this latest technology that integrates electricity from all a country's sources (solar, hydro, wind, etc.), moves where needed, cutting waste and avoiding outages. https://t.co/RZixmqzcCM pic.twitter.com/8bbIGz51ef
— James Hall (@hallaboutafrica) March 29, 2018