Re-conceptualising renewable energy law: A comparative study of the national laws used to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy

Abstract

This thesis is the first scholarly research on the national renewable energy laws of all 95 countries that had such laws in force at 1 January 2014. The hypothesis tested in this research is that as different techniques for generating renewable energy become commercialised and the manufacturing of renewable technologies becomes more concentrated in particular countries, national renewable energy laws will also come under pressure to converge or harmonise to facilitate information sharing and trade. This analysis is undertaken in three parts and employs a comparative mixed methodological approach. Part One of this thesis seeks to discover whether a common understanding of the concept of ‘renewable energy’ has developed in the laws of countries seeking to accelerate its deployment. In order to do this, the subject matter of national renewable energy laws is examined to assess the form and approach to content of the legislative definitions of renewable energy, and the nature and levels of support for the various energy sources and renewable energy technologies identified within the legislative definitions. Part Two of this thesis considers the rationales of countries engaging in regulatory intervention to support the accelerated deployment of renewable energy. It examines the justifications derived from economic theory for regulatory intervention into the renewable energy sector and then compares this to the legislative objectives contained in the national renewable energy laws of countries that have legislated in this area. Part Three of this thesis examines the range of regulatory support mechanisms used by countries when they intervene in the markets to support the accelerated deployment of renewable energy, before considering whether these regulatory support mechanisms are likely to converge or diverge over time. The results of this thesis highlight that, contrary to the initial hypothesis, while there is strong conceptual consensus within the legislative definitions of renewable energy, significant normative and substantive differences still exist across the national laws promoting the accelerated deployment of renewable energy.