European governments have agreed to increase the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption to 20% by 2020. A crucial question for policy makers is how to mobilise the additional capital investments in RE and which consumer expenditures are involved. The article describes policy...

In June 2009, a new EU directive on the promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) entered into effect. The directive 2009/28/EC, provides for three cooperation mechanisms that will allow member states to achieve their national RES target in cooperation with other member states: statistical...

[Summary and conclusions] A stronger integration across energy sectors can contribute to achieving climate targets, provided that fossil fuels are substituted by renewable energy sources. One analysis for the German energy market estimates the potential GHG-emission savings due to sector...