Abstract

Climate change and dwindling carbonaceous fossil fuel reserves require a focused policy approach to develop more efficient financial allocation strategies to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption through energy efficiency (EE) and promote renewable energy sources (RE). Decision making with respect to which short and medium term paths to follow in reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is primarily lobbyist driven and lacks any comprehensive systematic approach in international technical and financial co-operation. This paper examines examples of funding policy with respect to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and analyzes the shortcomings only in the Indian context. It is argued that the present sluggish market penetration and commercialization of renewable energy technologies for electrical power generation is mainly due to inadequate policy and subsidy strategies. A case is made that national energy efficiency programs may generate a much larger commercially viable market for technologies and services if renewable energy promotion policies are changed since both EE and RE are not competing strategies, but are symbiotic. Furthermore, this paper argues that neither EE nor RE are long term solutions to the energy scenario until a third factor, the “energy modesty”, EM, of a society is improved.

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Panels of

Panel 1. Energy efficiency – a strategic choice for Europe

Panel 2. Comfort and energy use in buildings

Panel 4. Building the bridge from lab to customer

Panel 3. Land use, transportation and mobility

Panel 6. Dynamics of consumption

Panel 5. Market-based instruments