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The rationales for technology-specific renewable energy support: conceptual arguments and their relevance for Germany
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ
Abstract In order to achieve cost-effective RES-E deployment it is often argued that technology-neutral support schemes for renewables are indispensable. Against this background, RES-E support policies making widely use of technology differentiation in remuneration settings, e.g. across the EU, are frequentl... view more
In order to achieve cost-effective RES-E deployment it is often argued that technology-neutral support schemes for renewables are indispensable. Against this background, RES-E support policies making widely use of technology differentiation in remuneration settings, e.g. across the EU, are frequently criticized from a theoretical point of view. However, in this paper we provide a systematic critique of the technology neutrality concept as a foundation for designing policy support schemes in the RES-E technology field. Specifically, the main objective of the paper is to scrutinize the arguments for technology-neutrality, and discuss three conceptual arguments for why technology-specific support schemes could in fact help minimize the societal costs of reaching future RES-E targets. We also briefly address different political economy concerns, which could constrain the choice of cost-effective policy support schemes, and that have to be taken into account for economic policy advice. For empirical illustration of the key arguments we refer to the case of German RES-E support.... view less
Keywords
renewable energy; new technology; energy policy; environmental policy; market failure; cost-benefit analysis; energy supply; electricity; competitiveness; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
Special areas of Departmental Policy
Ecology, Environment
Free Keywords
technology-specific support
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
City
Leipzig
Page/Pages
22 p.
Series
UFZ Discussion Papers, 4/2016
ISSN
1436-140X
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike