This project examines the issues entailed in European policies for promoting renewable energy. This set contains five volumes, each of which is a free-standing publication and which together cover the entire subject.

Examines in details the reasons for interest in renewable energy, showing the relative importance of both existing energy structures and markets and, crucially, of non-energy factors.

This book examines the coordination of renewable energy policies in the European Union using an innovative theoretical approach to explain national policy making. David Jacobs asks, why are national support instruments for electricity from renewable energy sources converging, even though the harmonisation of these frameworks at the European level has failed? Which causal mechanisms lead to cross-national policy similarities? And what are the implications for policy coordination in the EU? The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing cross-national policy similarities in feed-in tariff design - despite the failure of harmonizing instruments at the European level. He explains these increasing policy similarities by applying policy convergence theory. Policy convergence can occur voluntarily, based on transnational communication, regulatory competition and technological innovations and these findings have important implications for European policy steering. The key to this book is the interrelation of an innovative theoretical concept (coordination of policies in the international arena via voluntary cooperation) with a very topical empirical research focus - the promotion of renewable energies in the EU. It will be essential reading for scholars and students of environmental policy, comparative politics and European studies.

This volume addresses renewable energy communities, and in particular renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops), in the context of the revised EU Renewables Directive. It provides a comprehensive account of the history and development of the renewable energy community movement in over six different countries of continental Europe. It addresses their visions, strategy, organisation, agency, and more particularly the challenges they encounter. This is of particular importance to gain more understanding into how renewable energy communities fare in domestic energy markets where they are confronted with regime institutions, structures and incumbents’ agency that tend to favour maintaining of the status quo while blocking attempts to empower and institutionalise renewable energy communities as market entrants having a disruptive, radical green and localist agenda. This volume will be an invaluable reference for academics and practitioners with an interest in social innovation in sustainable transitions, the role of community energy in energy markets, their agency, as well as an outlook to the impact that the EU Renewables Directive may have to change national legislation and policy frameworks to create a level playing field that is essentially more fair and beneficial to renewable energy communities.

Low-Carbon Energy Security from a European Perspective draws on the European Commission's funded project MILESECURE-2050. It considers low-carbon energy security and energy geopolitics in Europe, with a focus on four thematic clusters: challenging the energy security paradigm; climate change and energy security objectives (the components of a secure and low-carbon energy system); energy security in a geopolitical perspective, as it relates to economics, resource competition, and availability; and the influence of large scale renewable energy projects on energy security and shifting geopolitical alliances. An overarching narrative is that optimizing the energy system simultaneously across different objectives may be impossible, i.e., lowest cost, least environmental impact, minimal downtime, regional supply. This book explores these charged topics through insights from a series of novel, new energy project case studies, and demonstrates the need for difficult political conversations within Europe and beyond by posing fundamental yet new questions about the energy security paradigm. - Offers a unique perspective on low-carbon energy security by considering the assumptions behind current energy security needs - Suggests the benefit of envisioning energy security through out-of-the-box scenario development with respect to the energy system - Includes energy in an international scenario with case studies from Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Morroco, China, South America, and Europe - Draws on the European Commission's funded project MILESECURE-2050

How can the European Union meet its binding 20% renewable energy target in final energy consumption by the year 2020? Which sources offer the best prospects for realizing this goal? These are the questions answered by this key book which analyses the current situation of renewable energy in Europe, examines the latest technological, financial and economic developments, and outlines ways in which the renewable energy market can be developed. The book is divided into sections examining the integration of renewable energy, electricity, heating and cooling as well as biofuels. All the main technologies are covered, with exploration of: ' benefits and applications ' costs and prices ' markets and installed capacity ' policy instruments ' key countries and success stories ' targets and long term potential This will be essential reading for policy decision-makers at all levels and to all those involved in the development of the renewable energy industry.