Assessing ‘green energy economy’ stimulus packages: Evidence from the U.S. programs targeting renewable energy

Luis Mundaca and Jessika Luth Richter

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2015, vol. 42, issue C, 1174-1186

Abstract: The paper provides a comprehensive empirical assessment of American stimulus policies aimed at renewable energy (RE) technologies. We use an indicator-based methodology to assess progress with respect to energy, environmental and socio-economic issues resulting from RE stimulus programs linked to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and review and analyze the emerging but scattered literature. Overall, our results indicate that stimulus programs have had a positive effect on the RE sector. This is despite the fact that they were originally planned to work in combination with a greenhouse gas ‘cap-and-trade’ system, which has not been implemented. From the methodological perspective, our approach is resource-intensive and our analysis highlights numerous challenges, notably related to causality and additionality. Despite these limitations, this research improves our understanding of the broad effects and impacts of RE stimulus programs.

Keywords: Renewable energy; Green energy economy; Policy evaluation; Indicators; Stimulus policy programs; The United States of America (USA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:42:y:2015:i:c:p:1174-1186

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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.060

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