Renewable energy development in the light of eological-economic theory approaches: challenges for sustainable development policy

Abstract

The article outlines the possibilities and difficulties of the transition to renewable energy in Ukraine. In recent years, a number of laws have been passed that have simplified land legislation for the allocation of land for renewable energy, created tax incentives and introduced mechanisms to support producers of electricity from renewable sources. These legislative initiatives aimed to improve the investment climate and make the green energy business transparent. However, the main problems facing the development of green energy in Ukraine remain such as the need for significant initial investment in the construction of new renewable generation capacity, significant distance from networks, obstacles caused by bureaucratic procedures at the local level, lack of continuous generation of some renewable energy sources, search for reserves generated energy, etc. Institutional and regulatory structures need to be improved to increase energy security and stimulate energy transition process in rural areas. Carefully structured stakeholder participation processes and social innovation such as energy cooperatives are needed at the local level. The necessity of limiting the use of resources is substantiated, in particular the use of energy resources in the world economy. Development of scientific thought aimed at the greening of economic activity and harmonization of social development, found reflection in modern scientific theories within the framework of such disciplines as environmental economics, ecological economics, physical economy, green economy, bioeconomy, and circular economy. In this article, we focus attention on approaches to energy challenges of ecological economics and environmental economics, commonalities and differences in these approaches. The theoretical approaches of ecological and environmental economics analysed in relation to the energy challenges of the modern world. Researchers in the field of environmental and natural resource economics consider the transformation of energy systems to be one of the twenty most pressing challenges of the modern world, emphasizing that the speed of the energy transition largely depends on a political process that market participants find difficult to predict. Political and environmental risks, together with the long-term nature of investment in energy and related infrastructure, are of great interest for research and practice. The scientific literature on limiting the use of resources is being revised in the light of the three main issues of ecological economics (sustainable scale, equitable distribution, efficient allocation), which, according to the theory of ecological economics, should be resolved in the transition towards sustainability. Instruments for limiting the use of energy and their ability to provide effective answers to the main problems formulated in ecological economics are considered. The approaches of ecological economics to economic policy necessitate its reforming into ecological-economic policy, or (if we proceed from its goal) into a sustainable development policy. The principles of forming a sustainable development policy for energy sector based on the idea of an energy transition, regulation of energy consumption and energy efficiency are proposed for broad implementation. The specific procedure for selecting policy instruments is determined by the socio-economic and socio-ecological contexts of the problem situation, the characteristics of the proposed instruments, as well as such factors as the political and organizational culture of the institutions, as well as the nature of their interrelationships and mechanisms for coordination with other institutions.

Keywords

• ecological economics
• environmental economics
• energy transition
• political instruments
• sustainability