The pitfalls of green innovation policy: the case of green certificates

For about 35 years, governments in many countries all over the world have been attempting to foster the development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies (RETs), especially for electricity generation purposes. Support systems have changed over time, from the R&D centred policies of the mid-1970s to more market oriented measures adopted in many countries in the 1990s and 2000s. One example of this development is Sweden, where government policies to stimulate ‘new’ RETs (i.e. excluding large-scale hydro) were first implemented in the mid-1970s and have ranged from traditional R&D funding, over funding from demonstration projects to investment subsidies. Since May 2003, the main stimulation measure is a tradable green certificate (TGC) system.