Enabling Environment for Promoting Energy as an Income Opportunity

Abstract

Policy has been central for the deployment of renewables by creating a predictable and stable framework for investors to operate. A good policy should be an instrument to achieve a vision; it is a tool that allows society to work on an agreed goal and the market to contribute to it. This is particular relevant for energy policy due to the cross cutting nature of energy and its impact on all levels of society. This chapter will explore how existing or new policy instruments could be tailored towards stimulating the use of locally available resources for energy production and how to trigger socio-economic benefits at the local level. Such benefits could include the use of biomass resources which are available as by-products of agricultural and forestry sectors, or as purpose-grown non food competing resources for electricity, heating or transport. It will be argued that renewable energy policies should promote the establishment of renewable energy enterprises at the local level in order to benefit the local economy through employment creation and income generation comparing favorably in terms of sustainability with fossil energy resources.