Share Of Electricity Generation Research Articles

Can the energy market protect the environment?

Around the world energy supply is being liberalised, with electricity and gas exported across national boundaries. Received wisdom is that secure, diverse, and sustainable energy supply will be provided by the market. It is paradoxical that countries such as the USA and UK which are further down the route to liberalisation are also the most regulated. Perhaps more important, the market does not value the environment – witness 'the dash for cheap gas' – at a time when non-carbon dioxide emitting technologies such as renewables and nuclear energy must increase their share of electricity generation if the Kyoto Protocol obligations are to be achieved.

Can the energy market protect the environment?

Around the world energy supply is being liberalised, with electricity and gas exported across national boundaries. Received wisdom is that secure, diverse, and sustainable energy supply will be provided by the market. It is paradoxical that countries such as the USA and UK which are further down the route to liberalisation are also the most regulated. Perhaps more important, the market does not value the environment – witness 'the dash for cheap gas' – at a time when non-carbon dioxide emitting technologies such as renewables and nuclear energy must increase their share of electricity generation if the Kyoto Protocol obligations are to be achieved.