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Green in the heart or greens in the wallet? The spatial uptake of small-scale renewable technologies

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  • Allan, Grant J.
  • McIntyre, Stuart G.

Abstract

The introduction of a Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) support mechanism has spurred development of small-scale domestic renewable electricity generation throughout Great Britain (GB), however the spatial pattern of uptake has been uneven, suggesting that local, as well as between neighbourhood, factors may be at important. As well as confirming that local socio-economic factors, including wealth, housing type and population density are found to be important in explaining uptake of this policy, local “green” attitudes – measured in three different ways – are shown not to be important. Existing local technical expertise, proxied for using data on small-scale renewable electricity devices in each area prior to the introduction of FIT, is an important factor in explaining subsequent adoption. Critically, we also find that there are spatial (i.e. between neighbourhood) processes explaining the uptake of these technologies. Taken together, our results suggest that, as currently designed, FIT policy may be regressive in income and could exacerbate spatial economic inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Allan, Grant J. & McIntyre, Stuart G., 2017. "Green in the heart or greens in the wallet? The spatial uptake of small-scale renewable technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 108-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:102:y:2017:i:c:p:108-115
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.12.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Caragliu, Andrea, 2021. "Energy efficiency-enhancing policies and firm performance: Evidence from the paper and glass industries in Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Bruno Moreno Rodrigo de Freitas, 2020. "Quantifying the effect of regulated volumetric electriciy tariffs on residential PV adoption under net metering scheme," Working Papers hal-02976874, HAL.
    3. Morton, Craig & Wilson, Charlie & Anable, Jillian, 2018. "The diffusion of domestic energy efficiency policies: A spatial perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 77-88.
    4. Grover, David & Daniels, Benjamin, 2017. "Social equity issues in the distribution of feed-in tariff policy benefits: A cross sectional analysis from England and Wales using spatial census and policy data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 255-265.
    5. Sasse, Jan-Philipp & Trutnevyte, Evelina, 2019. "Distributional trade-offs between regionally equitable and cost-efficient allocation of renewable electricity generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    6. Bruno Moreno Rodrigo de Freitas, 2020. "Quantifying the effect of regulated volumetric electriciy tariffs on residential PV adoption under net metering scheme," Working papers of CATT hal-02976874, HAL.
    7. Schick, Christoph & Hufendiek, Kai, 2023. "Assessment of the regulatory framework in view of effectiveness and distributional effects in the context of small-scale PV—The German experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    8. Stewart, Fraser, 2021. "All for sun, sun for all: Can community energy help to overcome socioeconomic inequalities in low-carbon technology subsidies?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    9. Jan Paul Baginski & Christoph Weber, "undated". "Coherent estimations for residential photovoltaic uptake in Germany including spatial spillover effects," EWL Working Papers 1902, University of Duisburg-Essen, Chair for Management Science and Energy Economics.
    10. Mejia, Mario A. & Melo, Joel D. & Zambrano-Asanza, Sergio & Padilha-Feltrin, Antonio, 2020. "Spatial-temporal growth model to estimate the adoption of new end-use electric technologies encouraged by energy-efficiency programs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Solar Energy; Feed-in Tariffs; Environmental Sentiment; Spatial Econometrics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

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