Development of Renewable Energy in China, USA, and Brazil: A Comparative Study on Renewable Energy Policies

Gaafar Muhammed,Neyre Tekbiyik-Ersoy

doi:10.3390/su12219136

Abstract

Countries differ in terms of their socio-economic development, population growth, and energy consumption. Many countries still depend on conventional energy to supply enough energy source for their demand, while some have made considerable progress in making the transition to renewable/sustainable energy sources. Owing to the increasing demand and drawbacks of conventional energy sources, policies can play a major role in encouraging and increasing the uptake of renewable energy (RE) technologies. In this paper, a general overview on the RE activities in the three leading countries—China, Brazil, and the United States of America (USA)—is presented. Moreover, a comparative analysis on the implementations of the RE support policies is conducted. The linear regression analysis technique is applied to develop several models for the three countries in order to investigate the effect of different policies on RE. The main contributions of this study are establishing a link between RE support policies and RE development (in terms of the installed capacity) in the three countries under study, and providing models that can be used in estimating RE development using RE policy data. In addition to this, some models are developed to investigate the relationship between RE installed capacity and the patents. The linear regression analyses suggest that RE policies promote the development of RE installed capacity in the three countries in different proportions. For example, it is found that each additional wind policy will increase the RE wind capacity in China, Brazil, and the USA by 1.63, 0.689, and 1.576 GW, respectively. Moreover, the economic instruments turn out to be more effective in promoting the RE installed capacity in the USA and Brazil, while the policy support and regulatory instruments are the most influential policy categories in China. Furthermore, the linear regression analyses indicate the existence of a positive significant relation between the number of patents and the total RE installed capacity in the three countries.

Highlights

Zahedi [1] highlighted that the security and sustainability of energy supply as well as access to energy are among the main global energy considerations
The adjusted R2adj is 0.99, which indicates that 99% of the total renewable energy (RE) capacity variation is explained by the RE policy variables and only 1% is due to random errors
Several barriers exist in RE development. These barriers can be overcome by enacting some RE support policies such as economic instruments, policy support, and regulatory instruments

Summary

Introduction

Zahedi [1] highlighted that the security and sustainability of energy supply as well as access to energy are among the main global energy considerations. Hua et al [2] stated that the energy consumption, which represents 60% of global emissions, has significantly contributed to climate change. The mitigation of the carbon intensity of energy is crucial in handling climate change in the future. Authorities in several countries are devoted to reducing their emissions by promoting RE. Hua et al [2] showed that RE policies have been adopted in these countries to encourage renewable power production. Abdmouleh et al [3] and Kim et al [4] presented that the Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW ncppoarrstoeitsomdennoiasttlaeioaddnnvtdadhnsauttteaatgttheoe-elotenhfvaeRetlciEoopncsotoalimdlcaiipsenasaddrpevsldataaynttotema-cglaoeejvnooevrflerRponlotEeilosiccnoiinaemlsepeffpnaeleracerytgdivymteosaRojcoEuorrndcrveeoepsl.enlostiyionmnaeeflnfetencatenirvdgeypRrsoEomudroectpeioslon. Te[7Ps, ].RodFlPzeISiTmn,,aoRnentdPsStaqr,lua.atoen[t7dad] tdheamt goonvsetrrantmedenthtsathgavoveearlnsomsetnatrstehdaivnetraolsdousctinargtemdoirnetrFoIdTus cinincgitmieos.re FITs in cities

Methods

Results

Conclusion