Backcasting a Future of Sustainable Energy: a Public Policy Perspective

Abstract

Although the adoption of renewable energy is perceived as a means to enable delivery of emission-free solutions, its penetration into the energy market has not been timely and significant enough to make a material impact on the structure of the global energy system. Using backcasting as a policy tool for developing a view of a sustainable energy future, this Chapter aims to explore some of the critical hurdles as the policy makers continue to formulate and advance environmentally friendly energy consumption in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change. We illustrate the nature of the challenges to reach a wider adoption of alternative energy resources and build on the need for renewal of the energy “delivery” infrastructure through the “smart grid” as a means for transition to a sustainable economy in the longer term. While there is now engagement with the public about a sustainable future, alignment of stakeholders’ economic interests and absorption capacity of emerging technologies remain as the two main challenges in mitigating the underlying systemic hurdles to be overcome. As the public at large realize the need for a future of sustainable energy despite lack of a global consensus about definitive targets, the policy makers may seek to provide a combination of approaches that build on optimal investment incentives in the near-term, liberalization of the electricity grids in the medium term and a dynamic policy framework that induce continuous technological innovation in the longer term. Observing the current responses to the externalities by the policymakers in a number of jurisdictions we articulate such forthcoming initiatives to mitigate the systemic hurdles embedded in the existing energy infrastructure. We also articulate measures to enable deployment of integrative sustainable energy solutions over a transformed infrastructure, namely smart grid.