Policy innovation for technology diffusion: a case-study of Japanese renewable energy public support programs
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Sub-type Journal article Author Suwa, Aki
Jupesta, JoniTitle Policy innovation for technology diffusion: a case-study of Japanese renewable energy public support programs Appearing in Sustainability Science Check publisher's open access policy Volume 7 Issue No. 2 Publication Date 2012-07 Place of Publication Osaka, Japan Publisher Springer Japan Start page 185 End page 197 Abstract Due to local scarcity of fossil fuel reserves, deployment of renewable energy has been on the Japanese government energy policy agenda for decades. While a significant amount of government budget was being allocated to renewables Research and Development, in contrast very little attention was paid to public support for renewable energy deployment. Against this background, in 2003, the Japanese government enacted legislation based on the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) scheme, which requires electricity retailers to supply a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources to grid consumers. The RPS legislation had been expected to ensure market efficiency, as well as bringing a steady increase in renewable capacity. Later, in 2009, the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme was introduced to let electricity utilities purchase electricity generated from renewable energy sources with regulated prices. This paper aims to use the choice of renewable policy as a case-study to understand barriers for policy transfer and innovation, mainly through comparative studies between RPS and FIT in Japan. The result of this study shows that, in Japan, most policy-makers face the ‘lock-in’ of existing technology, which frustrates the deployment of renewable energy. For this reason, there is reluctance to allow experimentation that could promote a shift to other energy sources. In order to achieve the rapid change towards green industry, innovation policy needs to be implemented through effective and efficient methods, such as a carbon tax for fossil fuels; enlargement of renewable energy deployment to sources such as wind, geothermal and solar; and conducting further studies toward public preference and willingness to pay for the new clean energy sources.
Keyword Policy innovation
Renewable energy
Feed-in tariff
Renewable portfolio standard
‘lock in’ technologyCopyright Holder Springer Copyright Year 2012 Copyright type All rights reserved ISSN 1862-4065 DOI 10.1007/s11625-012-0175-3 -
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