This report analyses the regional energy landscape, potential and costs, policy and investment needs, and expected socio-economic impact from a shift to renewables.

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.

This volume examines the outlook for renewable energy in electricity generation-particularly wind and solar power-as a substitute for conventional fuels such as coal and natural gas. Economist Benjamin Zycher evaluates the central arguments in favor of policies that would make way for broader use of renewables and concludes that all are deeply problematic. "Renewable" energy sources are not superior in cost to conventional fuels; nor are they less taxing on the environment. The popular argument that increased use of renewables will create "green jobs" is likewise a fallacy-because wind and solar power are costly and inefficient, the net economic impact is a negative one. Zycher concludes that resource-use behaviors emerging from market competition are the best guides to effective, sustainable energy policies.

The report offers a comprehensive review of the status and trends in the region’s renewable energy development. It highlights Latin America’s wealth of knowledge, draws key lessons, and outlines findings to support the continued expansion of renewables for power generation, transport and other end-uses.

This addition to the ISOR series addresses the analytics of the operations of electric energy systems with increasing penetration of stochastic renewable production facilities, such as wind- and solar-based generation units. As stochastic renewable production units become ubiquitous throughout electric energy systems, an increasing level of flexible backup provided by non-stochastic units and other system agents is needed if supply security and quality are to be maintained. Within the context above, this book provides up-to-date analytical tools to address challenging operational problems such as: • The modeling and forecasting of stochastic renewable power production. • The characterization of the impact of renewable production on market outcomes. • The clearing of electricity markets with high penetration of stochastic renewable units. • The development of mechanisms to counteract the variability and unpredictability of stochastic renewable units so that supply security is not at risk. • The trading of the electric energy produced by stochastic renewable producers. • The association of a number of electricity production facilities, stochastic and others, to increase their competitive edge in the electricity market. • The development of procedures to enable demand response and to facilitate the integration of stochastic renewable units. This book is written in a modular and tutorial manner and includes many illustrative examples to facilitate its comprehension. It is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of electric energy systems, applied mathematics and economics. Practitioners in the electric energy sector will benefit as well from the concepts and techniques explained in this book.

This outlook highlights climate-safe investment options until 2050, policies for transition and specific regional challenges. It also explores options to eventually cut emissions to zero.