Renewable Energy Policy Planning for Low-Carbon Economy

Abstract

Climate change forces policy-makers to undertake actions to reduce human impact on socio-environmental system. One of the directions is to shift into low-carbon economy, also by increasing the role of renewable energy sources (RES) in energy sector. Therefore, there is a need to support local stakeholders with a knowledge-based approaches in order to implement RES more effectively. There are some systems assessing natural potential for RES installations, however, legal regulations are not always making it possible everywhere. The aim of this research is to expand existing functions of the decision support system for hybrid RES by the feasibility assessment of selected locations due to legal regulations. The developed tool was applied and presented on the case of a selected Polish region. The RES potential is assessed based on the universal databases (Global Wind Atlas, Global Solar Atlas, CORINE Land Cover), however, it was customized to local legal regulations, which allows the solution to be more practical and helpful for implementation in a low-carbon economy. Promotion of decision support systems for RES planning may constitute effective solution to reach goals set in the European Green Deal.