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Renewable Energy Policies Operating At The Level Of The European Union

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The world today, as we know it, acknowledges the impact of the carbon emission on the surrounding environment with devastating effects such as global warming, rise of the ocean levels and destruction of animal and vegetal life. Therefore, it started shifting towards more green sources of energy such as renewable energy, ones that are more sustainable and more friendly to the environment. European Union, one of the most advanced democratic models of our time, is one of the key players at the global level which understands the need for this change in perspective and constantly advocates for more elaborate policies and joined plans of action. The aim of this essay is to analyse the three main renewable energy policies operating at the level …show more content…

The feed-in tariffs could be explained simply by taking the cost of a particular system, dividing that figure by the number of kilowatt/hours that the system can reasonably be expected to generate over its service life (generally 20 years), and the result is the cost of that system per kilowatt-hour. Now, tack on whatever return on investment (ROI) is desired, and a feed-in tariff had been obtained. This approach allows a distinction to be made not only between different renewables technologies (solar, wind, etc), but also between different system sizes. As an example a big wind farm will undoubtedly produce more energy than the power collected from a certain amount of solar rooftops. With offering different feed-in tariffs for various system sizes, one can ensure the economic viability of the various applications, thereby preventing windfall profits for large projects.
1.2. Secondly, in the coming decades, the trend of liberalising energy markets will have to be combined with ambitious environmental goals within the European Union (EU). Currently prevailing incentive schemes (such as trade in tariffs) for renewable energy might not be in line with liberalisation of international energy markets. A good example might be the disadvantage that an operator which is situated near a greater renewable energy potential area, having to accept all the renewable

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