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Political aspects of innovation: Examining renewable energy in Australia

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  • Effendi, Pranoto
  • Courvisanos, Jerry

Abstract

Despite possessing a very large potential of renewable energy sources, Australia has lagged behind other developed countries in embracing renewable energy. Various programs and policies have been devised and implemented by Australian governments. Nevertheless, the proportion of renewable energy in electricity generation in Australia has not increased significantly. This paper seeks to explain why Australia has difficulties in adopting renewable energy by using the Political Aspect of Innovation (PAI) framework to examine the causes and barriers that have blocked the taking up of renewable energy. The PAI framework is concerned specifically with public innovation policy in Australia and the way it aims to encourage and support investment in new technology development. The paper finally outlines some future suggestions for charting the progression of the Australian energy system toward a transformative sustainable future.

Suggested Citation

  • Effendi, Pranoto & Courvisanos, Jerry, 2012. "Political aspects of innovation: Examining renewable energy in Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 245-252.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:38:y:2012:i:1:p:245-252
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2011.07.039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2014. "Picking winners and policy uncertainty: Stakeholder perceptions of Australia's Renewable Energy Target," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 128-135.
    3. Abbas Mardani & Ahmad Jusoh & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Fausto Cavallaro & Zainab Khalifah, 2015. "Sustainable and Renewable Energy: An Overview of the Application of Multiple Criteria Decision Making Techniques and Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-38, October.
    4. John Foster & Liam Wagner & Liam Byrnes, 2014. "A Review of Distributed Generation for Rural and Remote Area Electrification," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 3-2014, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    5. John Foster & Liam Wagner, 2014. "International experience with transformations in electricity markets: A Short Literature Review," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 2-2014, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    6. Kumar, Rajesh & Agarwala, Arun, 2013. "Renewable Energy Certificate and Perform, Achieve, Trade mechanisms to enhance the energy security for India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 669-676.
    7. Hu, Jing & Harmsen, Robert & Crijns-Graus, Wina & Worrell, Ernst, 2018. "Barriers to investment in utility-scale variable renewable electricity (VRE) generation projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 730-744.
    8. Hua, Yaping & Oliphant, Monica & Hu, Eric Jing, 2016. "Development of renewable energy in Australia and China: A comparison of policies and status," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1044-1051.
    9. Martin, Nigel J. & Rice, John L., 2012. "Developing renewable energy supply in Queensland, Australia: A study of the barriers, targets, policies and actions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 119-127.
    10. Kapoor, Karan & Pandey, Krishan K. & Jain, A.K. & Nandan, Ashish, 2014. "Evolution of solar energy in India: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 475-487.
    11. Bahadori, Alireza & Nwaoha, Chikezie & Zendehboudi, Sohrab & Zahedi, Gholamreza, 2013. "An overview of renewable energy potential and utilisation inAustralia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 582-589.
    12. Chapman, Andrew J. & McLellan, Benjamin & Tezuka, Tetsuo, 2016. "Residential solar PV policy: An analysis of impacts, successes and failures in the Australian case," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1265-1279.
    13. Bahadori, Alireza & Nwaoha, Chikezie, 2013. "A review on solar energy utilisation in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 1-5.
    14. Dumbrell, Nikki P. & Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Zuo, Alec & Adamson, David, 2022. "Public willingness to make trade-offs in the development of a hydrogen industry in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    15. Goddard, George & Farrelly, Megan A., 2018. "Just transition management: Balancing just outcomes with just processes in Australian renewable energy transitions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 110-123.
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    17. Guidolin, Mariangela & Alpcan, Tansu, 2019. "Transition to sustainable energy generation in Australia: Interplay between coal, gas and renewables," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 359-367.

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