Titel: Are tradable Green Certificates a cost-efficient policy driving technical change or a rent generating machine? Lessons from Sweden 2003-2008.
Författare: Staffan Jacobsson, Anna Bergek
Utgivare: Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Sweden
Environmental Systems Analysis Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Årtal: 2009
Ämnesord: Tradable green certificates, Swedish energy policy, EU energy policy
Rapport (pdf)
Sammanfattning: In the European energy policy debate, tradable green certificates (TGC) have been suggested to be a superior regulatory framework for promoting the diffusion of renewable energy technologies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of the Swedish TGC system, contributing to the European debate on the suitability of different types of frameworks. The expectations of the TGC system were that it would: a) be effective in terms of increasing the output of “green” electricity; b) ensure that this was done in a cost effective manner (from both a social and a consumer perspective); c) generate an equitable distribution of costs and benefits and d) drive technical change. So far, it has performed adequately in terms of effectiveness and cost effectiveness in social terms. However, consumer costs have been substantially higher than expected, very large rents are generated and, at best, it drives technical change in a marginal way only. Given this outcome, a TGC framework should be selected if the overriding concern is to minimize short term social costs of reaching a certain goal with a high degree of predictability. However, it would be wrong to expect that TGC should also drive technical change, keep consumer costs down and be equitable. There are, thus, trade-offs involved which need to be revealed and not obscured by analysts.