Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition

Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California

Drivers of the electric vehicle market: A systematic literature review of empirical studies

A comprehensive approach: Diffusion of environment-friendly energy technologies in residential photovoltaic markets

Transitioning to passenger battery electric vehicles (BEV) can mitigate climate change impacts of road transportation. We develop a novel BEV policy model, nesting it within a national-scale macroeconomic system dynamics model (iSDG-Australia) to simulate a suite of policy pathways. We model combinations of infrastructure support and subsidies, which bring forward the price-parity tipping point, thus rapidly accelerating BEVs’ share of new car sales. However, ongoing complementary charging infrastructure investment is critical to reach 100% new BEV car sales by 2050 in Australia. Even with a rapid transition, the modelled fleet would not achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 due to vehicle longevity; and suddenly ceasing financial incentives could retard BEV sales by a decade. Based on our assumptions, results suggest emissions reductions are maximised by the fastest transition of the passenger vehicle fleet to BEVs, entailing government policy support from 2020 to 2050, for both adequate infrastructure deployment (AUD17.9b) and vehicle rebates (AUD19.5b), which achieves earlier BEV price-parity with fossil-fuelled vehicles. 

Accelerating electric vehicle uptake: Modelling public policy options on prices and infrastructure

EV driver characteristics: Evidence from Hawaii

Hawaii is a leader in distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption. It has the highest rate of PV-based electricity penetration in the U.S. and rivals global front runners. The policy impetus towards large-scale adoption of renewable energy comes from the Renewable Portfolio Standard, with a target of 40% net electricity sales from renewable sources by the year 2030 and 100% by 2045. Rooftop PV provides the largest share of renewable energy in Hawaiiâ€™s electricity generation portfolio. This study analyzes demographic factors related to residential PV system adoption in Hawaii. It provides an econometric analysis, augmented by maps, to better understand the demographic characteristics of households adopting PV systems. Understanding drivers of past uptake is important to gaining insight into future trends, particularly as Hawaii continues towards its 2045 RPS goal.

Determinants of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Adoption

Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to reduce local air pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions, assuming they are predominantly powered with renewable energy. Upon their reintroduction to the mass vehicle market in 2010, President Obama set a goal of having a million on the road in the U.S. by 2015. Similarly, in Hawaii, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative target was to have 10,000 EVs on the road by 2015 and 40,000 by 2020. Despite policy support, actual rates of EV adoption have fallen substantially short of stated goals. By the end of 2017, there were about 770,00 EVs within the U.S., with 6,700 of these in Hawaii. This study uses data on EV registrations by zipcode in Hawaii to analyze a variety of demographic and transportation factors that might affect EV adoption. We find that, after controlling for population and gasoline prices, higher income zipcodes are associated with higher levels of EV adoption â€“ where an increase of $10,000 in median income is associated with an additional 6 EVs within the 2010-2016 study time period (where the average zipcode in our sample had 68 EVs in 2016). When educational attainment is measured, we find that a 1% increase in the number of people with at least a bachelorâ€™s degree increases zipcode EV adoption by about 76. We find some evidence that gender can matter, similar to other studies that find that men are more likely to adopt EVs. The effect of age seems to be more robust, where we find that for every 1-year increase from the average zipcodeâ€™s median age, there are 1 to 2 more EVs. Most notably, we find that commute time affects EV adoption in Hawaii â€“ which is somewhat surprising given the relatively limited travel distances of an island geography. We find that a 1% increase in the prevalence of commute times greater than forty-five minutes within a zipcode, likely meaning they are farther from the central business district, is associated with 37 fewer EVs relative to those with a commute time under forty-five minutes. This finding holds even when looking at the island of Oahu alone, which has the majority of the stateâ€™s population as well as the majority of EVs. The island is about forty-four miles long, far less distance than the range offered by most EVs. This suggests that there may be strong risk-aversion associated with EV range anxiety as well as prompts further study of the effect of trip-chaining on EV purchase decisions.

Scott Allen

Papers

EV driver characteristics: Evidence from Hawaii

Determinants of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Adoption

Who are Driving Electric Vehicles? An analysis of factors that affect EV adoption in Hawaii