Topic 1

Question 1

What are the consequences of Energy policy?

Answer 1

Social technical, economic, environmental, geopolitical consequences

Question 2

What is the Energy Trilemma?

Answer 2

security, equity, environmental sustainability

Question 3

What are RE Policy aims?

Answer 3

Deliver the socially optimal amount of RE which is not deployed due to market failures and technological inertia

Question 4

Name 4 Drivers for RE Policy

Answer 4

• Energy security (and justice)
• GHG abatement
• Local Environment
• Economic development

Question 5

Energy security - low risk affordable, accessible and reliable electricity

Answer 5

Risks:

• Technical system failures
• Underinvestment in infrastructure
• Fuel supply risk (market power, global trends)

Contributors:

• Sufficient investment and operation in generation and transmission
• Diversity of primary fuel mix (import dependence and diversity, market concentration)

RE’s role:

• Pro: indigenous, distributed, diversified
• Con: grid integration at high penetration

Question 6

Economic development

Answer 6

Innovation and industrial development

• First mover advantage
• Manufacturing value chain development
• Green growth

Losers/Issues
- Rate of change matters
 Transitional costs
- Sunk costs (infrastructure)
- Stranded assets (carbon bubble)

Distributed RE and micro-grids cheaper than building networks

Question 7

What is the current RE status?

Answer 7

Falling prices, increasing deployment

New Challenges

• DE
• High pen VRE

Old Challenges

• Highest per capita emissions
• Sunk private investment
• High coal use and export

Question 8

Public Policy Intro

Answer 8

Dimensions of technology (more than hardware):

• Hardware (physical engineering artefact)
• Software (skills and knowledge with/for use)
• Orgware (rules and institutions which govern)

Public policy = plan to guide
decisions/actions implemented through gov as an agent representing the community
- Political level (generalist) - distils social values into policy
- Bureaucratic level (specialist) - translates policy goals to achieve desired outcomes

Types of policy instruments

• Regulatory policies (rules)
• Distributive policies (money allocation)
• Constituent policies (institutional structure)
• Policy making levers