Friends or foes? Political synergy or competition between renewable energy and energy efficiency policy
Ollier L, Melliger M, Lilliestam J (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2020
Journal
Book Volume: 13
Article Number: 6339
Journal Issue: 23
DOI: 10.3390/en13236339
Abstract
Energy efficiency measures and the deployment of renewable energy are commonly presented as two sides of the same coin—as necessary and synergistic measures to decarbonize energy systems and reach the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Here, we quantitatively investigate the policies and performances of the EU Member States to see whether renewables and energy efficiency policies are politically synergistic or if they rather compete for political attention and resources. We find that Member States, especially the ones perceived as climate leaders, tend to prioritize renewables over energy efficiency in target setting. Further, almost every country performs well in either renewable energy or energy efficiency, but rarely performs well in both. We find no support for the assertion that the policies are synergistic, but some evidence that they compete. However, multi-linear regression models for performance show that performance, especially in energy efficiency, is also strongly associated with general economic growth cycles, and not only efficiency policy as such. We conclude that renewable energy and energy efficiency are not synergistic policies, and that there is some competition between them.
Authors with CRIS profile
Additional Organisation(s)
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Ollier, L., Melliger, M., & Lilliestam, J. (2020). Friends or foes? Political synergy or competition between renewable energy and energy efficiency policy. Energies, 13(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236339
MLA:
Ollier, Lana, Marc Melliger, and Johan Lilliestam. "Friends or foes? Political synergy or competition between renewable energy and energy efficiency policy." Energies 13.23 (2020).
BibTeX: Download