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AbstractThis article analyzes theEuropean renewable energy industry's capacity for pressure‐based and information‐based lobbying and its strategies in two lobbying efforts: for a legally binding target of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020 (a proposal adopted by theEuropeanCouncil inMarch 2007) and for binding interim targets as a means to secure effective implementation of the 2020 target (a proposal that was not adopted). It finds that the industry has the capacity for information‐based lobbying but very limited capacity for pressure‐based lobbying. The article also discusses the effectiveness of the two lobbying types. It argues that information‐based lobbying is particularly effective early in the decision‐making process, and hypothesizes that early information‐based lobbying may compensate for limited capacity for pressure‐based lobbying and for information‐based lobbying that takes place later in the decision‐making process, but concludes that this strategy would have been unlikely to be effective in the second case.

Indonesia, like many countries, has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To do this the country needs to move from its current high reliance on non-renewable energy sources to renewable sources of energy. The issue is significant for Indonesia as the country is the 4th largest contributor to global CO2 emissions. The country has abundant sources for energy and one of these sources is the potential for solar energy. Therefore, the country has set ambitious renewable energy targets based on the potential supply of solar energy. With domestic residential consuming up to 43% of total electricity consumption, the Government has targeted homeowners to install solar rooftop and become residential solar PV prosumers. However, a recent energy evaluation report indicates that the country's progress is very slow and it is highly likely that renewable energy goals will not be achieved. This study conducted an online survey of a small sample of regular electricity subscribers and residents who have installed solar rooftop in the hope of gaining a better understanding of various issues and factors which could be impeding the growth of residential solar. Some of areas the study explored included the level of knowledge and awareness of solar energy, initiatives for homeowners, policy on net-metering and feed-in tariff, and areas of concern related to economic, environmental, and technological factors. While many countries are struggling to shift to greener energy generation and consumption, in Indonesia's case, the country has its own unique set of challenges being the energy generation and distribution is centralised, state-owned, with an inflexible energy pricing system. Hence, energy management in Indonesia could benefit from becoming more market focused and transparent, while increasing technology adoption with hybrid community partnerships, including a mix of private and government ownership. A discussion on policy implications and suggestions for improvements can be found at the end of this paper.

High renewable energy targets and rural electrification are not necessarily complementary in Pacific island countries (PICs). While PICs need to tackle both high renewable energy targets for climate change and rural electrification for further development, investment in renewable energy in urban areas is a more cost-effective means of achieving renewable energy targets than rural electrification with renewables. In the energy sector in PICs, foreign aid is the single most important source of investment. Thus, this research will investigate donor-funding for energy projects, assess the extent to which the funding is focused on rural electrification, and examine whether the situation has changed over time in this region. A large share of the information about foreign aid for energy projects between 2013 and 2015 are extracted from a database of a think tank. All the energy projects are sorted into four categories: urban power supply, rural electrification, others, and unspecified projects. The results show that PICs are not only improving urban power supply but also enhancing rural electrification currently, and foreign aid for rural electrification has increased over time. This research also suggests policy recommendations for the donor and recipient governments, including data collection and analysis on electricity demand and energy consumption.

We study how European climate and energy policy targets affect different member states and households of different income quintiles within the member states. We find that renewable energy targets in power generation, by reducing EU ETS permit prices, may make net permit exporters worse off and net permit importers better off. This effect appears to dominate the effciency cost of increasing the share of energy provided by renewable energy sources in the countries that adopt such targets. While an increase in prices for energy commodities, which is entailed by the policies in question, affects households in low income quintiles the most, recycling revenues from climate policy allows governments to compensate them for the losses. If renewable targets reduce the revenues from ets permit auctions, member states with large allocations of auctionable permits will lose some of the ability to do so.

Finding cost-optimal solutions towards nearly-zero energy buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is a challenging task. In order to reach the 20-20-20 targets, EU energy policy has introduced new ambitious levels for the large-scale spread of nearly-zero energy buildings (nZEBs) and the concept of the cost-optimal level, defined as the energy performance level, which leads to the lowest cost during the estimated economic lifecycle of the building. Consequently, building design has begun a challenge involving both energy targets and economic concerns. The aim of this research is to analyze an example building of a new single family house, using the cost-optimal methodology, in order to define how energy and economic aspects influence the preliminary design phase of the project and, in particular, the choice of the performance features of some components of the project itself, such as envelope elements and systems. The impact on energy performances of different configurations for the building envelope and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems was assessed with the dynamic simulation software EnergyPlus. Finally, the costs of the different design scenarios were estimated, according to the European Standard EN 15459:2007 to establish which of them had the lowest global cost and, consequently, represents the cost-optimal level for the design configurations analyzed. In order to test the stability of the results obtained, different sensitivity analyses were carried out.

The clean energy transition has entered the policy discourse and government agenda of the Caspian oil-producing countries of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Both countries have set a target to increase the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in total energy production by 2030. This article presents a comparative analysis of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in their paths to a low-carbon sources of energy covering the status of RES, renewable energy targets, and the role of government policy schemes in promoting renewable energy (RE) deployment. The study shows that despite some commonalities in the initial conditions (such as Soviet-era legacies of fossil-fuel-based infrastructure, a high degree of dependence on oil and gas rents, and dominance of state-owned enterprises), Kazakhstan adopted a more targeted regulatory framework and more elaborate policy schemes with regards to renewables than Azerbaijan did. In the latter case, the introduction of relevant renewable legislation has been significantly delayed or implemented only partially. As a result, Kazakhstan has performed relatively more successfully on advancing non-conventional renewable energy targets: non-hydro renewable sources accounted for 3% of total electricity generated in Kazakhstan and made up only 1% of electricity produced in Azerbaijan (as of 2020). This article highlights the following factors that stand out in explaining these variable outcomes: the degree of economic liberalization, quality of governance of the oil and gas sector, regulatory frameworks, and policy support schemes.

Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, the three countries of the North African Maghreb region, are showing increased efforts to integrate renewable electricity into their power markets. Like many other countries, they have pronounced renewable energy targets, defining future shares of 'green' electricity in their national generation mixes. The individual national targets are relatively varied, reflecting the different availability of renewable resources in each country, but also the different political ambitions for renewable electricity in the Maghreb states. Open questions remain regarding the targets' economic impact on the power markets. Our article addresses this issue by applying a linear electricity market optimization model to the North African countries. Assuming a competitive, regional electricity market in the Maghreb, the model minimizes dispatch and investment costs and simulates the impact of the renewable energy targets on the conventional generation system until 2025. Special emphasis is put on investment decisions and overall system costs.

Countries around the world are working towards a low-carbon future. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, 189 countries have submitted national plans that set clear goals to increase investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and more. Beyond setting the stage for bottom-up action, these Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) also opened massive potential for investment—nearly $23 trillion according to the 2016 International Finance Corporation (IFC) Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets report. Much of this investment will need to come from the private sector. Governments— including Cote d'Ivoire—are increasingly interested in working with the private sector to unlock vital finance and develop innovative solutions. Costs for renewable energy are rapidly decreasing and in certain cases can be less expensive than generating electricity from fossil fuels. This has helped to radically change the model of energy development and access around the globe, and a larger share of the energy mix is expected to be renewable in future. In regions like Sub-Saharan Africa where there is high interest in expanding infrastructure to improve access to energy, there is an opportunity to leapfrog traditional electrification approaches and develop new models that are cleaner, more efficient, and focused on customer and business needs. Cote d'Ivoire's commitments are ambitious. The country's NDC, released in 2016, set a target to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 28 percent by 2030, including a target to generate 42 percent of electricity from renewable energy by 2030. As highlighted in the IFC Climate Investment Opportunities report, the country is focused on spurring economic growth and solidifying its role as an economic engine for West Africa. The government recognizes the key role of private sector investment in expanding renewable energy penetration. Overall, Cote d'Ivoire's 2016-2020 National Development Program aims to attract $32 million in private investment. The main drivers of sustained growth are expected to be both public and private investments in infrastructure, opening significant opportunities for the energy and electricity sectors. The Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy Development is developing the overall strategy and policy framework for including renewables into the energy mix. The Societe des Energies de Cote d'Ivoire (CI-Energies), a state-owned asset holding company, is moving this framework forward and has mapped technology-specific needs and is offering tenders to develop the projects that will contribute to NDC goals. Although Cote d'Ivoire has yet to increase its power generation capacity, it has made substantial progress in improving the existing transmission and distribution network and restoring the energy sector's financial viability.