Breaking barriers in deployment of renewable energy

TLDR

Economic, institutional, technical, and socio‑cultural barriers impede countries’ transition to low‑emission pathways. The study aims to assess how social, economic, technological, and regulatory barriers affect renewable‑energy deployment. The authors surveyed 223 global energy‑sector professionals via an online questionnaire. The study finds that social, technological, and regulatory barriers strongly influence renewable‑energy deployment, economic barriers act indirectly, and alleviating R&D barriers can spur investment, technology optimization, and stakeholder satisfaction by providing cleaner, lower‑tariff energy.

Abstract

Several economic, institutional, technical and socio-cultural barriers hinder countries from moving from the high to the low emission pathway. The objective of this research is to find out the impacts of social, economic, technological and regulatory barriers in the deployment of renewable energy. Data were collected through an online questionnaire responded to by 223 professionals working in the energy sector all over the globe. This research shows that social, technological and regulatory barriers have a strong influence on the deployment of renewable energy, while economic barriers significantly influence it indirectly. By breaking research and development-related barriers, organizations will be able to invest greatly in developing advanced technologies that can optimize usage of renewable energy and make renewable energy appear more lucrative. With less polluting and lower tariff energy solutions being made available to local people, and higher profits for manufacturers, this will create an atmosphere where all stakeholders are satisfied.