Interrogating the transformative power of renewable energy support instruments: the example of feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics

Béatrice Cointe (1, 2)

1 CIRED - centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement
2 LAMES - Laboratoire méditerranéen de sociologie

Renewable energy policy in Europe largely relies on market-based instruments aimed at inducing change in socio-technical systems. In the case of photovoltaics (PV), these have indirectly contributed to dramatic cost reductions and driven an exponential increase in installed capacities. Installed PV capacity in Europe has increased by 373 times between 2000 and 2012 (Jäger-Waldau, 2013).Feed-in tariffs (FITs) have been a central instrument in these evolutions. They have transformed makets and technologies but also society and politics. Looking at the effects of FITs « in action » sheds light on the implications and challenges of achieving political objectives through the creation and engineering of markets.

Domaines: Sociologie; Science politique; Environnement et Société

Béatrice Cointe. Interrogating the transformative power of renewable energy support instruments: the example of feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics. Our Common Future Under Climate Change, Jul 2015, Paris, France. ⟨hal-01677322⟩