Vesna Bukarica

Design and Evaluation of Policy Instruments for Energy Efficiency Market

The concept of energy efficiency market as basis for energy efficiency policy making enables better understanding of the overall environment where policy needs to be implemented. Based on the market assessment, policy makers are faced with the challenge of designing policy instrument that will release identified brakes to energy efficiency. Following the market assessment, the framework for design of policy instruments and measures needs to be established. It uses a theory-based approach to provide the insight in the supposed operation of an instrument or measure and integrates the evaluation of impacts already in the design phase. In this paper, the authors categorized policy instruments in several categories and additionally described which side of the market they address and in which typical development stages of the market development their application is the most needed. For every step in the process, indicators are defined and success or failure “values” of these indicators determined. This approach can give clear picture to the policy makers what needs to be monitored and evaluated ex post. This ex post evaluation will enhance the knowledge of instruments operation. In this paper, the authors established a detailed theory (theory-based approach) on how the instrument is supposed to work. Although this theory-based approach is known and utilized in project management, it is not mainstreamed in energy efficiency policy.

Securing energy supply by harnessing negajoules

Energy efficiency is often referred to as the best, cheapest and the least environmentally damaging source of energy supply. To prove this statement, the comparison of energy saving costs and costs of energy produced from new generating capacities has been performed. The results confirm energy efficiency as the most feasible energy supply option, which can significantly contribute to the improvement of the overall energy supply security in a country. However, despite these benefits and policy recognition of energy efficiency, vast potential of this new energy source, often referred as “negajoules”, is still untapped. The main reason behind this policy failure is only declarative and not real political commitment and a complete lack of focus on implementing capacities that would ensure full policy uptake.