Q2. What role do renewable energy sources play in city climate plans?

[mrchristian]

Deposit here: https://github.com/semanticClimate/city-climate-plans-notebook/blob/main/q2.qmd

[mrchristian]

Advanced Google search engine results - https://www.google.com/search?as_q=What+role+do+renewable+energy+sources+play+in+city+climate+plans%3F&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipcc.ch&as_occt=any&as_filetype=&tbs=

[mrchristian]

Interesting to see how bad the results are and difficult to parse as you just end up a big PDF with no idea where things are in the doc

[mrchristian]

Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation

Cite as: Mitchell, C., J. L. Sawin, G. R. Pokharel, D. Kammen, Z. Wang, S. Fifi ta, M. Jaccard, O. Langniss, H. Lucas, A. Nadai, R. Trujillo Blanco, E. Usher, A. Verbruggen, R. Wüstenhagen, K. Yamaguchi, 2011: Policy, Financing, and Implementation. In IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, [O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, K. Seyboth, P. Matschoss, S. Kadner, T. Zwickel, P. Eickemeier, G. Hansen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow (eds)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA., and IPCC: Technical Support Unit Working Group III - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). “Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation. Chapter 11 - Policy, Financing and Implementation.” IPCC: Technical Support Unit Working Group III - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), 2012. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/SRREN_Full_Report-1.pdf.

Chapter 11 Policy, Financing and Implementation

Executive Summary

Renewable energy can provide a host of benefi ts to society. In addition to the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, governments have enacted renewable energy (RE) policies to meet a number of objectives including the creation of local environmental and health benefi ts; facilitation of energy access, particularly for rural areas; advancement of energy security goals by diversifying the portfolio of energy technologies and resources; and improving social and economic development through potential employment opportunities. Energy access and social and economic development have been the primary drivers in developing countries whereas ensuring a secure energy supply and environmental concerns have been most important in developed countries.

An increasing number and variety of RE policies—motivated by a variety of factors—have driven substantial growth of RE technologies in recent years. Government policies have played a crucial role in accelerating the deployment of RE technologies. At the same time, not all RE policies have proven effective and effi cient in rapidly or substantially increasing RE deployment. The focus of policies is broadening from a concentration almost entirely on RE electricity to include RE heating and cooling and transportation.

RE policies have promoted an increase in RE capacity installations by helping to overcome various barriers. Barriers specifi c to RE policymaking (e.g., a lack of information and awareness), to implementation (e.g., a lack of an educated and trained workforce to match developing RE technologies) and to fi nancing (e.g., market failures) may further impede deployment of RE. A broad application of RE would require policies to address these barriers, and to help overcome challenges such as the lack of infrastructure necessary for integrating RE into the existing system.

Policy mechanisms enacted specifi cally to promote RE are varied and can apply to all energy sectors. They include fi scal incentives such as tax credits and rebates; public fi nancing policies such as low-interest loans; regulations such as quantity-driven policies like quotas and price-driven policies including feed-in tariffs for electricity, heat obligations, and biofuels blending requirements. Policies can be sector specifi c and can be implemented at the local, state/ provincial, national and in some cases regional level and can be complemented by bilateral, regional and international cooperation.

Public research and development (R&D) investments are most effective when complemented by other policy instruments, particularly RE deployment policies that simultaneously enhance demand for new RE technologies. Together, R&D and deployment policies create a positive feedback cycle, inducing private sector investment in R&D. Enacting deployment policies early in the development of a given technology can accelerate learning by inducing private R&D, which in turn further reduces costs and provides additional incentives for using the technology.

Some policy elements have been shown to be more effective and effi cient in rapidly increasing RE deployment, but there is no one-size-fi ts-all policy, and the mix of policies and their design and implementation are also important. Key policy elements for ensuring effectiveness and effi ciency can include adequate value to cover costs and account for social benefi ts, guaranteed access to networks and markets, long-term contracts to reduce risk, inclusiveness and ease of administration.

• Several studies have concluded that some feed-in tariffs have been effective and effi cient at promoting RE electricity, mainly due to the combination of long-term fi xed price or premium payments, network connections, and guaranteed purchase of all RE electricity generated. Quota policies can be effective and effi cient if designed to reduce risk; for example, with long-term contracts.
• An increasing number of governments are adopting fi scal incentives for RE heating and cooling. Obligations to use RE heat are gaining attention for their potential to encourage growth independent of public fi nancial support.
• In the transportation sector, RE fuel mandates or blending requirements are key drivers in the development of most modern biofuel industries. Other policies include direct government payments or tax reductions. Policies have infl uenced the development of an international biofuel trade.

The flexibility to adjust as technologies, markets and other factors evolve is important. The details of design and implementation are critical in determining the effectiveness and effi ciency of a policy. Policy frameworks that are transparent and sustained can reduce investment risks and facilitate deployment of RE and the evolution of low-cost applications.

A mix of policies is generally needed to address the various barriers to RE. Further, experience shows that different policies or combinations of policies can be more effective and effi cient depending on factors such as the level of technological maturity, availability of affordable capital and the local and national RE resource base.

If the goal is to transform the energy sector over the next several decades to one based on low-carbon fuels and technologies, it is important to minimize costs over this entire period, not only in the near term. It is also important to include all costs and benefi ts to society in that calculation. Conducting an integrated analysis of costs and benefi ts associated with RE is extremely demanding because so many elements are involved in determining net impacts; thus, such efforts face substantial limitations and uncertainties. Few studies have examined such impacts on national or regional economies; however, those that have been carried out have generally found net positive economic impacts.

Two separate market failures create the rationale for the additional support of innovative RE technologies that have high potential for technological development, even if an emission market (or GHG pricing policy in general) exists. The fi rst market failure refers to the external cost of GHG emissions. The second market failure is in the fi eld of innovation: if fi rms underestimate the future benefi ts of investments into learning RE technologies or if they cannot appropriate these benefi ts, they will invest less than is optimal from a macroeconomic perspective. In addition to GHG pricing policies, RE-specifi c policies may be appropriate from an economic point of view if the related opportunities for technological development are to be addressed (or if other goals beyond climate mitigation are pursued). Potentially adverse consequences such as lock-in, carbon leakage and rebound effects must be taken into account in the design of a portfolio of policies.

RE technologies can play a greater role in climate change mitigation if they are implemented in conjunction with ‘enabling’ policies. A favourable, or enabling, environment for RE can be created by encouraging innovation in the energy system; addressing the possible interactions of a given policy with other RE policies as well as with other energy and non-energy policies (e.g., those targeting agriculture, transportation, water management and urban planning); by understanding the ability of RE developers to obtain fi nance and planning permission to build and site a project; by removing barriers for access to networks and markets for RE installations and output; by enabling technology transfer; and by increasing education and awareness. In turn, existence of an ‘enabling’ environment can increase the effi ciency and effectiveness of policies to promote RE.

The literature indicates that long-term objectives for RE and fl exibility to learn from experience would be critical to achieve cost-effective and high penetrations of RE. The energy scenarios analyzed in Chapter 10 show RE penetrations of up to 77% of primary energy by 2050, depending on the rate of installation. To achieve GHG concentration stabilization levels with high shares of RE, a structural shift in today’s energy systems will be required over the next few decades. Such a transition to low-carbon energy differs from previous ones (e.g., from wood to coal, or coal to oil) because the available time span is restricted to a few decades, and because RE must develop and integrate into a system constructed in the context of an existing energy structure that is very different from what might be required under higher-penetration RE futures.

A structural shift would require systematic development of policy frameworks that reduce risks and enable attractive returns that provide stability over a timeframe relevant to RE and related infrastructure investments. An appropriate and reliable mix of instruments is even more important where energy infrastructure is still developing and energy demand is expected to increase in the future.