Renewable Energy - Market and Policy Trends in IEA Countries reviews the experience of IEA countries after the oil crisis in the 1970s initiated a surge of investments in renewables research and development. While use of renewables has grown rapidly, they still account for only a small portion of the IEA energy mix. Hydropower, bioenergy and geothermal energy are mature technologies that contribute about 5 - 6% to primary energy supply. Solar, wind, and other new renewables have experienced rapid technology development, but as yet they represent only a small share.This work examines policies and measures that have been introduced in IEA countries to increase the cost effective deployment of renewables, reviews the objectives behind these policies, and evaluates the results. The aim is to identify best practices in order to assist governments in making future policy decisions.

Are you developing strategies for a future sustainable energy supply? Are you designing policies to deploy renewable energy technologies in your country? Are you looking for new tools and measures to make your policies more effective? Are you planning to make decisions on renewable energy investments in certain countries and are you checking their policy robustness? Let the IEA guide you into successful, efficient and effective policies and decisions for accelerating deployment of renewable energy. Learn about the six policy actions that are essential ingredients for your policy portfolio: - Alliance Building - Communicating - Target Setting - Integration in economic policies - Optimizing existing instruments and - Neutralizing disadvantages on the playing field This book shows why and how successful renewable energy strategies work. Many recent and actual examples of best cases and experiences in policies--based on literature and interviews--show how policies can best mobilize national and international renewable energy business and the financial institutions, while creating broad support. The book is an initiative of the IEA-RETD, an international agreement between nine countries to investigate and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy deployment. - Presents you with a variety of policy options that have been proven to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies - Based on experiences around the world at the local, regional and national levels - Includes the IEA's ACTION star, a decision-making tool for developing a consolidated renewables policy framework - Find inspiration in this guide's depiction of the significant renewable energy developments to date and the many examples of successful policies featured

The global energy system faces urgent challenges. Concerns about energy security are growing, as highlighted by the recent political turmoil in Northern Africa and the nuclear incident in Fukushima. At the same time, the need to respond to climate change is more critical than ever. Against this background, many governments have increased efforts to promote deployment of renewable energy - low-carbon sources that can strengthen energy security. This has stimulated unprecedented rise in deployment, and renewables are now the fastest growing sector of the energy mix. This "coming of age" of renewable energy also brings challenges. Growth is focused on a few of the available technologies, and rapid deployment is confined to a relatively small number of countries. In more advanced markets, managing support costs and system integration of large shares of renewable energy in a time of economic weakness and budget austerity has sparked vigorous political debate.