The portfolio of renewable energy sources for achieving the three E policy goals

Abstract

Renewable energy is considered by many policy-makers to contribute to achieving at least three major policy goals: the energy goal, the environmental goal, and the economic goal (3E goals). As an innovation-oriented island country with scarce natural resources, Taiwan announced the Sustainable Energy Policy Principles in 2008 that stated that Taiwan's renewable energy policy should accomplish the 3E goals. Several studies point out that specific renewable energy policy goals lead to specific renewable energy sources and technologies because each type of renewable energy has different features. In order to achieve the renewable energy policy goals, this research aims to examine how different policy goals lead to corresponding renewable energy sources. The relative importance of each goal is evaluated by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The weight of each policy goal is adjusted separately to construct policy scenarios by the sensitivity analysis. According to the results, non-pumped storage hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy are three sources that could meet the three policy goals at the same time. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.