Les approches volontaires de l'environnement : outils au service de l'environnement ou instrument stratégique pour les entreprises ?Une analyse du secteur de la fourniture d'électricité

This text deals with the increasing supply of green-electricity contracts. It aims at measuring their contribution to the optimum pollution goal and, as a side effect, the way they affect the organization of the market of electricity. We study these questions referring to legal aspects, to the changes in environment policies, and to the results of quality signals implemented in other industries. Thanks to that, we show that green-e, as a sort of voluntary agreement fashionable among French electricity providers, is less efficient than other instruments, among them the regulated purchase price, to promote renewable energies. Nevertheless they exert tangible effects on market organization.