Policy innovation for technology diffusion: a case-study of Japanese renewable energy public support programs

Suwa, Aki and Jupesta, Joni, (2012). Policy innovation for technology diffusion: a case-study of Japanese renewable energy public support programs. Sustainability Science, 7(2), 185-197

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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Suwa, Aki
    Jupesta, Joni
    Title 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’ technology
    Copyright Holder Springer
    Copyright Year 2012
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    ISSN 1862-4065
    DOI 10.1007/s11625-012-0175-3
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    Created: Tue, 26 Aug 2014, 13:18:01 JST