Lado Kurdgelashvili

A Review of Solar Energy: Markets, Economics and Policies

Solar energy has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years due to both technological improvements resulting in cost reductions and government policies supportive of renewable energy development and utilization. This study analyzes the technical, economic and policy aspects of solar energy development and deployment. While the cost of solar energy has declined rapidly in the recent past, it still remains much higher than the cost of conventional energy technologies. Like other renewable energy technologies, solar energy benefits from fiscal and regulatory incentives and mandates, including tax credits and exemptions, feed-in-tariff, preferential interest rates, renewable portfolio standards and voluntary green power programs in many countries. Potential expansion of carbon credit markets also would provide additional incentives to solar energy deployment; however, the scale of incentives provided by the existing carbon market instruments, such as the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, is limited. Despite the huge technical potential, development and large-scale, market-driven deployment of solar energy technologies world-wide still has to overcome a number of technical and financial barriers. Unless these barriers are overcome, maintaining and increasing electricity supplies from solar energy will require continuation of potentially costly policy supports.

The potential of solar electric power for meeting future US energy needs: a comparison of projections of solar electric energy generation and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil production

This paper compares the potential contribution of solar electric power in the form of photovoltaics to meet future US energy demand with the projected volume of oil estimated to be available in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Such a comparison has practical value since it directly addresses a key policy choice under consideration in the new century, namely, that between one of the most promising untapped oil deposits in the world and one of the most rapidly growing renewable energy options.

Undoing Atmospheric Harm: Civil Action to Shrink the Carbon Footprint

Publisher Summary This chapter explores the politics of transformation needed to end the dangerous experiment in climate change now under way due to the failure of industrialized societies. Global climate change represents the major environmental challenge of the modern era. An imposing body of scientific evidence links climate change to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) contributes more than three quarters of GHG emissions from human activity. In turn, more than 95% of global CO 2 emissions are due to fossil fuel burning and land use. Historical data shows that carbon concentrations have increased 35% from pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million (ppm), to reach the current 380 ppm. An important aspect of future CO 2 emissions involves the location of these emissions. Currently, most fossil fuel-based CO 2 emissions originate in industrialized countries. However, rapid economic development and high population growth are expected to significantly increase the share of such emissions attributed to Southern countries. The need for an explicit commitment to carbon equity is essential to the realization of climate sustainability. Equity has both theoretical and practical groundings in concerns for sustainability. The beneficial economic impacts of renewable energy development can be linked in part to its reliance on “free” fuel inputs, particularly as greater reliance on natural gas-sourced electricity in the US has resulted in growing power price volatility. There is a need to combine global agendas of carbon equity and climate sustainability to successfully address the problem of climate change.