Renewable Energy: The Whys and the Why-nots

Energías Renovables: Por Qué Sí y Por Qué No (Renewable Energies: The Whys and the Why-nots), by Juan Delgado.

PAPELES DE ECONOMÍA ESPAÑOLA. El sector energético español; (2013), nº 134

Energías Renovables: Por Qué Sí y Por Qué No

Renewable energies are meant to play a leading role in climate policies. All EU member states have put in place policies to promote renewable energies. However, the multiplicity of objectives and the poor design of such mechanisms have limited their impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For a proper design of renewables policies, we first need to identify the market failure we are trying to solve. In the case of renewables, greenhouse gas emissions are the «big failure» and technology externalities help to solve such failure.