Energy policy influences decisions related to the production and use of energy. Institutions ranging from local governments to international trade organizations utilize tools like building energy codes and tax credits as instruments of influence on these decisions.

Government energy technology programs should be revised to focus on conceptual and technical research, with cuts being made on loan guarantees, production tax credits and renewable portfolio standards.

Policy Analysis

Policy analysis goes beyond private issues such as how electricity generation impacts the environment; instead it addresses public ones such as energy use, pollution and overall societal well-being using tools from the public sector – like regulation, taxation and subsidies – in order to address those problems while upholding society’s values at heart.

At its core, policy analysis requires clearly defining which policies are under examination. This means identifying rules, laws and programs which need evaluating as well as understanding their overall goal – be that to reduce carbon emissions, enhance economic development or make renewable energy more affordable to fuel poor people.

At its core, this level of analysis typically encompasses survey research and interviews to gather data from stakeholders and understand their perspectives, in addition to more technical methods like cost-benefit analysis, economic modelling and statistical analysis. Furthermore, more rigor may be necessary at this point – for instance when dealing with sophisticated energy system models, environmental governance theories and comparative policy analysis.

Policy Planning

Implementing and sustaining long-term energy policy planning processes are fundamental for effective transition strategies toward clean energy transition. Being able to generate relevant and scalable scenarios that explore strategy options and quantify their effects is of vital importance, with national research institutions and energy modeling groups offering invaluable knowledge-transfer activities as integral parts of this process.

National government ministries and departments’ ability to lead energy planning is an invaluable enabler. While these entities usually have broad-reaching responsibilities, they should also be capable of identifying opportunities for energy policy changes within their remits.

As with the prior enabler, an understanding of the potential environmental, economic and security impacts of any energy scenario is paramount to its successful implementation. Furthermore, social equity considerations must also be given due attention; though their nature will differ between countries. According to QCA analyses conducted for several countries worldwide, none had intergenerational equity as their priority when making their energy policies.

Policy Implementation

Policy makers can be influenced by various factors, including political issues, energy costs and economic development, resource availability, system reliability and technology export potential. National energy policies often align with international agreements toward common goals like decarbonizing systems and providing affordable access to clean energy resources.

Nation-by-nation assessments showed that energy policy goals tend to be economic in nature, with an emphasis on encouraging investment in RE based generation and lowering GHG emissions. To meet this aim, different tools such as FiTs, incentive payments, RPS schemes or tax/depreciation concessions were utilized; noncompliance penalties also exist in some instances.

Although energy policy documents contain vague references to ideals related to social considerations and equity, the QCA process has revealed that these ideals do not become part of the policies or enacted through any mechanisms for monitoring or balance; further evidenced in implementation arrangements identified for each nation.

Policy Monitoring

Policy makers need to assess the impacts and effectiveness of their efforts; this process is known as monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

M&E involves employing various tools and techniques to collect information on the status quo and policy outcomes, such as survey methods and software for collecting data; performance indicators; dashboards; and statistical analysis software.

M&E information can then be used to monitor progress and pinpoint areas that require changes, as well as provide policymakers with important learning experiences and adapt their strategies in the future. Furthermore, M&E allows policymakers to learn from mistakes made and adapt future strategies accordingly, and help ensure policies meet their goals while having positive effects on the environment. Unfortunately though, M&E can be time and resource consuming; to ensure accurate measurements it is therefore vitally important that reliable and unbiased methods for M&E are utilized; engaging multiple stakeholders while setting transparent governance processes can ensure this.