Technological innovation of green energy

Abstract

Technological changes in green energy technologies play an important role in the context of climate change as they contribute to a reduction of technology costs and lead to an increasing market penetration of emission reducing technologies. This paper highlights numerous motivations and necessities related to the introduction of green energy policies. Policy intervention has been an effective tool to incentivise innovation, in particular of the renewable energy technologies: the policy instruments are decisive for the development and innovation of renewable energies, as has been demonstrated by the German case. Germany's renewable energy industry is among the most innovative in the world: the renewable energy sector was aided especially by the Renewable Energy Sources Act that promotes renewable energy mainly by stipulating feed-in tariffs that grid operators must pay for renewable energy fed into the power grid. This law has created a surge in the investments in renewable energy technologies, particularly wind power. For other countries, Germany can be an example to follow.