Energy Policy In Renewables And Its Economic And Environmental Consequences At Regional Level: The Case Of Navarre (Spain)

In the context of the Kyoto protocol and the European Union's energy strategies, different policies focusing on renewable energies has been developed in many European regions. Navarre (Spain) has been considered as one of the leading regions in renewables worldwide over the last ten years. Thus, we are going to analyze in this paper the reasons for this thriving development having the purpose of studying the main policies carried out during the period 1984-2006 in Navarre to guide the industrial policy to its crest. The success of renewable energies in this region has been the result of the conjoint impact of some characteristic traits: decisive institutional support, significant industrial initiatives and the social consensus. Since the implementation of the first windmill as energy generator in Navarre in 1995, this enhancement of renewables has had a significant economic impact in terms of employment and R&D in that region.Nevertheless, this positive situation could change in the future if the economic and energy growth rates follow the same pattern than in previous years. Consequently, we are going to study the future of Navarre in terms of the renewable energies contribution into the energy consumption. Particularly, we carefully consider the role played by the substitution process between non-renewable and renewable energies. Concerning sustainability, the implementation of renewable energy in Navarre has involved some effects of lower increase of the pollutant gases emissions, but not in the expected quantity. Furthermore, the renewable energies have not been revealed as substitutive energies to the traditional and non-sustainable ones, albeit they have increased the awareness of doing so in the nearby future. Therefore, the conclusion for this forecast is that the impact of the renewable development is mainly constrained by the economic growth rates. Finally, another important achievement in the energy policy in renewables in Navarre, is the easiness of spreading the policies and results described here to other regions worldwide.