For your summer reading

Often in the summer, there is extra time to reflect on sustainable energy issues. There are three new reports or papers that you should enjoy.

• Energy saving obligations—cutting the Gordian Knot of leverage?

Clemens Rohde, Jan Rosenow, Nick Eyre and Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet have written an important paper in the Energy Efficiency Journal about energy savings obligations. Remember that there are such obligations under the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive.

According to the abstract, better leverage of public funding is essential in order to trigger the investment needed for energy efficiency. In times of austerity governments increasingly look at policy instruments not funded by public expenditure and energy saving obligations represent one option. Because energy saving obligations are paid for by all energy customers, the degree to which they are able to raise additional private capital for energy efficiency investments is crucial with regard to the financial burden on consumers. In this paper, we systematically assess how successful energy saving obligations were in levering capital from parties other than the obligated entities including private investors and other public bodies. We analyse three countries with substantial experience with energy saving obligations, identify the main design differences and the effect this has on the degree of leverage. We conclude that the design of energy saving obligations largely determines the degree of leverage and that that there appears to be a trade-off between high leverage and additionality.

The paper is free to members of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee). Another good reason to join.

• Long-Term Energy and Development Pathways For India

There is an important new report by the Indo-German Centre for Sustainability

India is both the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions and home to the largest population of the world’s poor. Climate policy for India must therefore include a strong element of inclusive growth, implying that reducing conditions of deprivation must go hand in hand with reducing overall emissions. A low carbon inclusive growth strategy for India is developed in this study using a transparent, bottom-up scenario modelling effort. The study shows that it is possible for India to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to around 2005 levels by 2030 and also provide modern energy services to more than half its population who are currently un-served or under- served in this regard. This would entail having to focus on providing energy services to at least the bottom 50 million or so households by providing LPG or advanced electric cookstoves where feasible, access to electricity for lighting, water, sanitation services, improved access to services in urban areas (involving changes in land-use and transport), improved agricultural services, and so on. At the same time, commitments would be required to improve efficiency across the board and increase penetration of renewable energy in electricity generation and to make efforts to shift transport, housing and industry towards more sustainable models.

There are indications that this strategy could provide numerous co-benefits apart from reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving access to clean energy for the poor. These include reduced local air pollution, improved lifestyles and a more productive workforce.

All in all, using a transparent, bottom-up approach to analysing energy demand and supply options in India, this study demonstrates that it is possible for India to stabilize its carbon emissions, provide access to modern energy services to its entire population and also gain a broad set of environmental, economic and social benefits.

Information on downloading the report is available here.

• Resource‑efficient green economy and EU policies

The European Environment Agency has published an important new report on the green economy in Europe. It highlights the major forces fostering the shift to a resource-efficient green economy in Europe, including the role of EU policies. Currently, the economic and technological changes leading towards green economy objectives across the EU economy are proceeding too slowly; what is required is a much bigger, deeper, and more permanent change in the EU economy and society to create both new opportunities and substitution processes across the economic structure. To bring this about, it is important to study and understand enabling factors and mechanisms at the crossroads of policies and real economy dynamics that could accelerate and direct the transformation.

The report can be downloaded here.