There’s more support than ever before from consumers for environmentally-friendly energy policy. This can be seen simply from the ever-growing number of news articles about global warming to the amount of advertising promoting green products. From this, one would think that the market itself would be enough to change the current standards to ones with higher-efficiency.
However, in a a 2011 report from Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services funded by ABB, a power and automation technologies corporation, they found that, “Only 14% of energy industry stakeholders indicate that governments should leave development of alternative energy sources to market forces.” 1
The research from Bloomberg Businessweek is based on a survey of over 450 energy industry leaders and stakeholders, focusing the questions on all areas of the energy industry, from generation to distribution to policy. The following chart from their study is an extremely informative look into the mindset of the energy industry.
All policies related to improving environmental standards and renewable energy easily had the majority in favor of implementing them. The only policy that did not have majority support was for relaxed environmental standards.
Based on this chart, the first things to happen are grid improvement programs. After that, support fell mostly for implementing standards for both the industry and consumer’s energy use. This also follows later evidence from the ABB funded report that 80% of energy experts believe both consumers and the energy industry are responsible for improving and reducing their energy use. 2
Bloomfield Businessweek also reports that, “when it comes to adopting energy efficient practices the energy industry stakeholders believe they need to be incentivized to change their behavior.”3
With a predicted 30% increase in energy use over the next 20 years, 4 policies are sure to come into play to ensure that this energy is available. The groundwork is already being laid in countries around the world, and, as energy industry leaders think that it shouldn’t be left up to market forces, new and improved energy policy is sure to come.
To learn more about the future of the energy industry and policy, visit ABB’s research site and watch the video below.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnnK8CHdfTA’]
Citations
1, 2, 3. Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services (2011). “Lowering Emissions (or Minimizing Climate Impact): Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy” p.5
4. International Energy Agency (2010). “World Energy Outlook 2010 Factsheet: What will the global energy outlook to 2035 look like?” p. 1
Bio
Jeremy Jones is a eco web designer and committed activist for environmental change. He is the cofounder of the nonprofit The Kirksville Permaculture Education Center and writes for ABB.
Syndication Information:
Content syndicated by Nathan Brown, the sustainable building careers recruiter for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and provider of information on building your own solar energy systems for your home.
Photo Credits
1. Energy Policy Opinions Chart: Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services (2011). “Lowering Emissions (or Minimizing Climate Impact): Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy” p.6
