Law and Policy to Advance Renewable Energy

A Comparative Colloquium

29 – 30 November 2010 | The Australian National University

Presented by

The Centre for Climate Law, ANU College of LawANU Centre for European Studies

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Program

Monday 29 November

8.30 am Registration and tea/coffee

9 am Conference Opening and Welcome

Mr Matthew Zagor Deputy Director, ANU Centre for European Studies

Herr Thorsten Eisingerich Deputy Head of Mission, Austrian Embassy

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

9.15 am Professor Dr Volkmar Lauber Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Salzburg, Austria

European Experiences With FIT and TGC Schemes: Economics, policy and politics

10.30 am Morning tea

RENEWABLE ENERGY LAW & POLICY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL

11 am Professor Adrian Bradbrook Law School, University of Adelaide

Overcoming the Legal and Policy Impediments Hindering the Rapid Deployment of Solar and Wind Energy

11.30 am Mr Greg Buckman Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU Associate Professor Mark Diesendorf Department Director, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW, Sydney

Failings and Possible Remedies for Australia’s Renewable Electricity Tradable Certificate Scheme

12 pm Adjunct Professor Dr Hugh Saddler, ANU Crawford School and Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU

Reducing the Emissions Intensity of Electricity Supply: Implementation of Australia's expanded Mandatory Renewable Energy Target

12.30 – 1.30 pm Lunch

SOLAR

1.30 pm Mr Wayne Smith Director, Clean Energy Services

Driving Investment in Large–Scale Solar in Australia

2 pm Mr Andrew Macintosh Associate Director, Centre for Climate Law & Policy, ANU College of Law

Searching for Public Benefits in Solar Subsidies: A case study on the Australian Government’s residential photovoltaic rebate program

2.30 pm Dr James Prest Lecturer, Centre for Climate Law & Policy, ANU College of Law

Why is Australia Thinking Small? Feed–in tariff caps and limits in Australia

3 pm Dr Andreas LuzziGeneral Manager, Applied Energy Research Pty Ltd

Policy Needs From a Renewable Energy Industrialist's Point of View: Do policy makers really know the true status and dynamics of the renewable energy markets?

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3.30 – 4 pm Afternoon tea

4 – 5 pm DISCUSSION — LAW AND POLICY TO ADVANCE SOLAR ENERGY

� Volkmar Lauber � Andreas Luzzi � Andrew Macintosh � James Prest � Wayne Smith

Tuesday 30 November

WIND ENERGY

9 am Ms Katelijn Van Hende University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

A Call for Legal Strategies to Overcome Barriers in the Development of European Offshore Wind Energy

9.30 am Dr Alex WawrykSenior Lecturer, Law School, University of Adelaide

Planning for Offshore Wind Energy in South Australia: A comparative review with the United Kingdom

10 am Mr Dermot Duncan Special Counsel, Crisp Legal, Sydney

Commercial Barriers to Small and Medium Scale Renewable Energy Projects in Australia: A lawyer’s perspective on the drivers and barriers to successful projects with an analysis of the Australian, UK and US positions

10.30 – 11 am Morning tea

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE EMERGING WORLD

11 am Associate Professor Benjamin Sovacool Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Best Practices for Promoting Renewable Energy in Developed and Developing Countries

11.30 am Mr Anton Vikstrom Manager, International Projects Group, Alternative Technology Association

Switched On in East Timor: Renewable energy policy for the developing world

12 pm Professor Steven Ferrey Suffolk University Law School, Boston, USA

A Workable Model for Renewable Energy in Developing Countries (by video pre-record)

12.30 pm Hao Zhang PhD Candidate, Centre for Resources, Energy & Environmental Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne

Market Mechanisms and Low Carbon Strategy in China: Implications of Renewable Energy Law and Energy Saving Law in advancing renewable energy technologies

1 – 1.30 pm Lunch

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ELECTRICITY NETWORK LAW & POLICY

1.30 pm Professor Rosemary Lyster Director of the Australian Centre for Climate & Environmental Law, Law School, University of Sydney

The Role of Smart Grids in Providing Diverse and Distributed Renewable Energy Resources in Australia, the European Union and the United States

2 pm Anne Kallies PhD Candidate, Centre for Resources, Energy & Environmental Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne

Legal Barriers to Renewable Energy Development: Institutional and regulatory design of the Australian Electricity Market

2.30 – 3 pm Afternoon tea

INNOVATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY LAW & POLICY

3 pm Mr Pablo del Rio Gonzales Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid

Analysing the Innovation Effects of Support Schemes for Renewable Energy (by video pre-record)

3.30 pm Dr Matthew Rimmer Senior Lecturer & Associate Director of Research, ANU College of Law, ANU

Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies

4 – 4.30 pm Panel discussion and conference close

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MONDAY 29 NOVEMBER

Keynote AddRess

European Experiences with FIT and TGC Schemes: Economics, policy and politicsProfessor Volkmar Lauber, University of salzburg, Austria

Renewable energy support schemes have been the subject of intense political debate and conflict since the 1990s, both at EU and member state level. Actual experience with FIT schemes goes back to the 1990s, and to the early 2000s with TGCs. The paper will discuss the two main contending schemes from the perspective of:

� Background public philosophy regarding economic policy

� Effectiveness (deployment of renewable energy generation)

� Static efficiency (price of renewable electricity)

� Dynamic efficiency/innovation

� Position of renewable generation in the electricity market

� Aptness to overcome fossil fuel lock-in and political capture by incumbents by opening up competition in the electricity system through the addition of new actors

� Fairness

The paper will retrace the opposed expectations, the actual performance and ex-post evaluations regarding those schemes in the European Union: It will refer mainly but not exclusively to Germany (FIT introduced in 1991/2000, several times amended since), the UK (TGC introduced in 2002) and the level of the European Union itself (the renewable energy directives of 2001: directive 2001/77/EC and 2009: directive 2009/28/EC). It will rely on the debates conducted at different points in time (usually when legislation was amended), on subsequent experience and on ex-post evaluations.

Professor Volkmar Lauber is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He received his degrees from the University of Vienna (doctorate in law 1968), Harvard Law School (Master of Laws 1970) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (PhD in Political Science 1977). Prior to returning to Austria he taught at several US institutions, including one year at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy. For several years he was board member of the FWF (the Austrian Science Fund) in charge of social sciences and is still representing the FWF in the Standing Committee on the Social Sciences of the European Science Foundation. His research and publications relate mostly to the politics of public policy—economic policy, environmental policy and most recently energy and climate policy, particularly in the EU and several of its member states. Professor Lauber’s recent publications appear in the journals energy Policy; Bulletin of science, technology and society; energy & environment; Zeitschrift für neues energierecht. He is the editor of switching to Renewable Power (London: Earthscan, 2005).

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ReneWABLe eneRGy LAW & PoLICy At tHe FedeRAL LeVeL

Overcoming the Legal and Policy Impediments Hindering the Rapid Deployment of Wind and Solar EnergyProfessor Adrian Bradbrook, University of Adelaide

Despite continuing research and development of solar and wind technology over several decades, the percentage of electricity generated from these resources is marginal in nearly all developed and developing countries. The vast bulk of electricity is still generated from coal and natural gas, with large-scale hydro-electricity (and nuclear) being the only form of renewable energy to make a significant contribution. All available projections and economic modelling show that this is unlikely to change in anything other than the very long term.

The importance of renewable energy for resolving the climate change problem demands that we analyse the reasons behind this. This paper will identify and consider these reasons. They include: the lack of political will to legislate; the weak approach by the courts; the lack of ‘push’ from public international law; the lack of an international body responsible for promoting renewable energy (until the recent advent of IRENA); the uncoordinated work of the United Nations on energy; the lack of focus on energy as part of the climate change debate; the lack of costing for externalities; the fact that solar and wind technologies divide the environmental movement; the disparate and non-centralised nature of the resources; the poor perception of solar and wind technologies in developing countries; the presence of vested interests in the fossil fuel industries; and the perceived unreliability of wind and solar as electricity generating resources. Other reasons will also be identified and discussed in the paper.

Having identified the problems, the paper will consider the extent to which the development of new law at all levels can overcome the obstacles and advance solar and wind energy. Illustrations of suitable legal change will be identified and discussed. The anticipated conclusion is that while law reform at the domestic level and the development of new international laws in this field in this area are important, law has a limited, but important, capacity to rectify support renewable energy.

Professor Adrian Bradbrook’s main research work lies in the fields of sustainable energy law, environmental law and property law. He has published extensively in these fields. He has held the position of Chair of the Working Group on Energy Law and Climate Change for the IUCN (World Conservation Union) and has worked on a number of UN projects relating to energy law. He is a Member of the Board of Editors of the Journal of energy and natural Resources Law, the Australasian Journal of natural Resources Law and Policy, the Journal of Renewable energy Law and Policy and the Australian Property Law Journal. Adrian is the recipient of several major Australian Research Council Discovery and other grants. He currently holds a grant (with Judith Gardam) on ‘Creating a Comprehensive International Law of Sustainable Energy: The Contribution of Law to Sustainable Development and Climate Change’.

Failings and Possible Remedies for Australia’s Renewable Electricity Tradable Certificate SchemeGreg Buckman, Fenner school of environment and society, the Australian national University & Associate Professor Mark diesendorf, the Institute of environmental studies, University of new south Wales

Australia’s renewable portfolio standard renewable electricity support mechanism has been operating for nearly a decade. Although it has put a floor under the country’s historic decline in its renewable electricity market share, it has not provided significant support to high-cost types of renewable electricity, such as solar, nor has it delivered a predictable level of subsidy via its tradable certificates. This has largely been because a large number of solar water heater certificates have been created under it and it does not support renewable electricity types that have large generating potentials but currently have higher generating costs than lower cost renewable electricity types like wind. The result has been that, compared to European renewable electricity support mechanisms, Australia offers a low and erratic type of support.

Because of unlimited banking, a new, split, scheme to operate from 2011 will not stop the certificate price influence of solar water heaters. Remedies could include the complete withdrawal of solar water heaters from the scheme; the introduction of certificate price floors; and the differentiation of support levels, through either banding

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(tradable certificate multipliers), or carve-outs (submarkets dedicated to particular types of renewable electricity). The introduction of price floors and differentiated support levels would make Australia’s renewable portfolio standard more like a feed-in tariff by allowing it to offer more investor certainty and more support for higher cost types of renewable electricity. Support for higher cost types of renewable electricity would allow the country to comprehensively develop its large solar and hot rock geothermal resources.

Price floors have been used, in various forms, in Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom, while banding and carve-outs have been used in the USA, Italy and the United Kingdom. Greater investor certainty and differentiated support levels are needed if Australia is to make major reductions in its electricity greenhouse gas emissions which currently make up a larger proportion of the country’s emissions than they do in any other OECD country.

Dr Mark Diesendorf teaches, researches and consults in the interdisciplinary fields of sustainable energy, energy policy, sustainable urban transport, theory of sustainability, ecological economics, and practical processes by which government, business and other organisations can achieve ecologically sustainable and socially just development. Prior to joining the Institute of Environmental Studies in 2004 he was a Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO in the 1980s, senior lecturer in Human Ecology at the Australian National University (1994–96), then Professor of Environmental Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (1996–2001), and then Director of the private consultancy Sustainability Centre Pty Ltd (2001–07). He has collaborated with and consulted for a wide range of organisations. Based on his belief that science, technology and economics should serve the community at large, he has been at various times secretary of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science (Canberra), co-founder and vice-president of the Sustainable Energy Industries Council of Australia, co-founder and president of the Australasian Wind Energy Association, president of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics (ANZSEE) and vice-president of Appropriate Technology for Community and Environment (APACE). Dr Diesendorf is co-editor of the interdisciplinary book Human ecology, Human economy: Ideas for an ecologically sustainable Future (1997) and author of Greenhouse solutions with sustainable energy (2007). His latest book, Climate Action: A Campaign Manual for Greenhouse solutions, was published in 2009.

Greg Buckman is a PhD candidate at the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society. He has written books on globalisation policy as well as on Tasmania’s natural environment. He has also been a research assistant to the Australian Greens’ climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Reducing the Emissions Intensity of Electricity Supply: Implementation of Australia’s expanded Mandatory Renewable Energy Targetdr Hugh saddler, Adjunct Professor, Crawford school & Fenner school, the Australian national University

The Rudd Labor Government came to office in December 2007 with a strong policy commitment to greatly expand the previous Howard Government’s Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme. This placed mandates on electricity retailing businesses to progressively increase the proportion of their wholesale electricity purchases which is sourced from certified renewable electricity generators. As it turned out, the process of implementing the new policy was extraordinarily lengthy and convoluted. As at November 2010, the legislation which shapes the new scheme has been passed, but the regulations for its detailed implementation are still at the consultation stage. There are many reasons for the delay, some outside the Government’s control, but many of its own making. Amongst the more important are the following:

� The Government initially adopted a minimalist approach to implementation, by introducing legislation which increased the target but left all other aspects of the original legislation virtually unchanged, notwithstanding a wide spectrum of stakeholder opinion favouring significant changes to other aspects of the legislation, to improve the operation of the scheme.

� The Government’s main climate change policy priority was its emissions trading legislation (the CPRS).

� Powerful voices amongst stakeholders, the commentariat and within the bureaucracy were opposed to the scheme, on the grounds that unnecessary and expensive, because a price on emissions was both sufficient and the least cost policy for achieving necessary emission reductions over the short, medium and long terms. The MRET was said to amount to the government ‘picking winners’.

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� For a long time the Government refused to recognise the impacts on the scheme, and in particular on the price of certificates, of other rapidly changing policies, mainly at State and Territory level, affecting the uptake of solar water heating and household photovoltaic installations.

� For many months the Government delayed introduction of the legislation by linking it to the outcome of the intense political contest over the CPRS legislation. Legislation which provides a clear path into the future for rapid growth in wind generation was passed in June 2010. However, the legislative package is far from perfect, there has never been an informed, wide ranging debate about all the potential design features of a renewable electricity mandate scheme, and neither has there been systematic consideration of interactions with other policies. Consequently, there remains a large and diverse group of highly dissatisfied stakeholders. The most obvious measure of the success of the MRET scheme would be the quantity of electricity, in MWh, generated each year by generators accredited under the scheme. Unfortunately, this is information which the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator, the body responsible for administering the scheme, in its wisdom chooses not to make publicly available.

The paper includes estimates, derived indirectly from two completely independent sources, which suggests that, after doing very little for a number of years, the scheme is beginning to have a discernible positive effect on the quantity of renewable electricity generated in Australia.

Dr Saddler is Principal Consultant in the Climate Change Business Unit of pitt&sherry and also the Managing Director of Sustainability Advice Team. He has been fully engaged in the analysis of major national energy policy issues in the UK and Australia, as an academic, government employee and consultant, for nearly four decades. He is the author of a book on Australian energy policy and of over 70 scientific papers, monographs and articles on energy, technology and environmental policy. He is also a regular commentator in the electronic and print media. He is a member of the Board of the Australia Institute and of the Climate Institute. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the ANU Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems.

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soLAR

Driving Investment in Large-Scale Solar in AustraliaWayne smith, director, Clean energy services

Australia is the sunniest continent in the world, but has struggled to build a strong and sustainable solar industry. While the establishment of feed-in tariffs at the State and Territory level and incentive schemes at a national level have driven a dramatic and potentially unsustainable increase in demand for residential solar over the last two years, there has not been a commensurate surge in commercial and large-scale solar.

This paper highlights Australia’s solar resource and details the publicly available pipeline of large-scale solar projects throughout Australia. The paper discusses current incentives for large-scale solar in Australia and suggests a more comprehensive suite of incentives could ensure more than 5% of Australia’s electricity is generated by large-scale solar by 2020—a stepping stone to a much larger industry beyond 2020. A comprehensive suite of incentives would include an enhanced large-scale renewable energy target, a national large-scale solar feed-in tariff and a portfolio of loan guarantees.

The paper suggests a 5% large-scale solar target should be additional to the current Enhanced Renewable Energy Target. A 5% target would generate more than 10,000 megawatts of electricity and approximately 16,000 gigawatt hours of electricity each year. A 5% large-scale solar target would reduce carbon pollution by more than 10 million tonnes of CO2e over the life of the projects.

The paper will examine the experience of European countries, as well as the United States, India and China in developing a hybrid model that could suit the Australian policy environment. The paper will also outline how a national large-scale solar feed-in tariff could complement a carbon price and a revised national renewable energy policy framework.

The paper notes a comprehensive suite of incentives for large-scale solar is consistent with the recommendations of the 2010 International Energy Agency Concentrating Solar Power Technology Roadmap, which calls on governments to implement ‘long-term oriented predictable solar-specific incentives’.

Wayne Smith is the Director of Clean Economy Services, a clean technology consultancy. His clients include the Australian Solar Energy Society and the Australian PV Association. As an adviser to two Federal Shadow Environment Ministers, Wayne helped develop Labor’s climate change and environment policies for the 2007 federal election. Wayne was previously the National Liaison Officer for the Australian Conservation Foundation and has also worked as a lobbyist and policy manager for a number of public health organisations. Wayne has also worked as a policy adviser in the Commonwealth and ACT Governments

Searching for Public Benefits in Solar Subsidies: A case study on the Australian Government’s residential photovoltaic rebate programAndrew Macintosh, Centre for Climate Law & Policy, AnU College of Law, the Australian national University

The Australian Government ran a renewable energy program in the 2000s that provided rebates to householders who acquired solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. Originally called the Photovoltaic Rebate Program (PVRP), it was rebranded the Solar Homes and Communities Program (SHCP) in November 2007. This paper evaluates both the PVRP and SHCP using measures of effectiveness and fairness. It finds that the program was a major driver of a more than six-fold increase in PV generation capacity in the 2000s; however, the increase was off a low base and, in 2010, solar PV’s share of the Australian electricity market was still only around 0.1 per cent. The data suggest there were equity issues associated with the program, with 66 per cent of all successful applicants residing in postal areas that were rated as medium-high and high on a socio-economic status (SES) scale. The program was also environmentally ineffective and costly. It will reduce emissions by 0.09 MtCO2-e/yr over the life of the rebated PV systems (0.015 per cent of Australia’s 2008 emissions) at an average social abatement cost of between $257/tCO2-e and $301/tCO2-e. Finally, the program appears to have had a relatively minor impact as an industry assistance measure, with much of the associated benefit flowing to foreign manufacturers and most of the domestic benefit being focused outside of the high value added manufacturing areas.

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Andrew Macintosh is an environmental law and policy expert and is the Associate Director of the ANU Centre for Climate Law and Policy. After leaving university, Andrew worked as a solicitor at Mallesons Stephens Jacques and later at Minter Ellison, where he was a member of the firm’s environmental and planning law group. Andrew has also tutored in law at several colleges at Cambridge University and has worked as a legal officer at Cambridge City Council. Prior to joining the ANU College of Law, Andrew was Deputy Director of The Australia Institute and has previously worked as an environmental advisor to the Australian Democrats. Andrew has written extensively on environmental law and policy, particularly climate change. He is currently co-writing a history of the environment and heritage portfolio under the Howard Government.

Why is Australia Thinking Small? Feed-in tariff caps and limits in Australiadr James Prest, AnU College of Law, the Australian national University

By comparison with Europe, most of the state-level FIT laws in Australia display small-minded thinking and are largely focussed on household PV generation. Presently debate over feed-in laws in Australia is pre-occupied with limiting the amount of the renewable generation capacity. Caps and drastic tariff reductions have been proposed and/or implemented despite the relatively short time that FIT laws have been in operation.

This paper argues that capacity caps are a blunt instrument for constraining the impact of feed-in tariffs on electricity prices and are likely to lead to a dramatic crash in investment activity. The paper reviews empirical evidence from around the world which suggests that an FIT cap, if introduced in various Australian jurisdictions would be likely to cause investment to ‘bust’. The alternative approach of tariff degression is discussed. The paper concludes by arguing that the future relatively minor increases in retail electricity prices associated with encouraging more RE generation must be weighed against positive externalities associated with changing the energy mix. These include: demand reduction during peak time of use, reduced transmission losses, deferred needs for network augmentation, employment multiplier effects, increased tax revenue from industry growth, reduced wholesale electricity prices due to merit order effect, market growth leading to ongoing reduction in cost of solar and other RE installations over time, growth of domestic industry niches, and avoided environmental damage from coal fired generation.

Dr Prest is a lecturer in law specialising in environmental law with interests in administrative law and litigation and is a Member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law. He is currently publishing papers on renewable energy law (particularly on feed-in tariffs and tradeable RE certificates law), and major projects legislation. His research interests are in the areas of renewable energy law, climate change law, special projects legislation, biodiversity law, and environmental offences. Recent publications regarding renewable energy law include, ‘A Dangerous Obsession with Least Cost? Climate Change, Renewable Energy Law and Emissions Trading’, Ch.12 in Gumley & Daya-Winterbottom (eds) Climate Change Law: Comparative, Contractual & Regulatory Considerations, Thomson Reuters (2009); ‘Sustainability and the law: Climate Change, energy and urban issues’, ACt environmental Law Handbook 2nd edition (2009); ‘The Bald Hills Wind Farm Debacle’, in Bonyhady, T and Christoff, P (eds) Climate Law in Australia, Federation Press (2007).

Policy Needs From a Renewable Energy Industrialist’s Point of View: Do policy makers really know the true status and dynamics of the renewable energy markets?dr Andreas Luzzi, General Manager, Applied energy Research Pty Ltd

Law and policy makers control the magic wand for a smooth energy transition beyond petroleum. As the seminal phases of invention and commercialisation concerning renewable energy technologies have clearly passed, the business world has entered the game-changing industrialisation phase.

In order for industrial opportunity management rather than risk management to now take over in a most effective manner, a suite of clear and stable government policies with associated legal, regulatory and fiscal measures is paramount. The status and dynamics of the world’s renewable energy markets is presented and some policy-related ground rules for successful industrialisation highlighted.

Dr Andreas Luzzi has comprehensive knowledge of, and first-hand professional experience with a broad range of energy industries worldwide and across a number of professional duties. He has an achiever’s track-record with renewable energy innovation, accredited testing, start-up companies and business development. Over the past 25

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years, Andreas has held various positions as industrial engineer, applied research scientist, consultant, university professor and managing director in Europe, the USA and Australia. Dr Luzzi has a BSc & MSc from ETH, an MBT from UNSW and a PhD from the ANU; He was full professor at HSR in Switzerland (HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil—part of the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland), Director of SPF (Swiss National R&D and Testing Institute for Solar Technologies), President of Greatcell Solar SA (R&D daughter of Dyesol Ltd), Manager of the hydrogen & fuel cells R&D program of the Swiss Office of Energy, Manager of Minergie (Swiss low-energy building code), and operating agent of the IEA hydrogen implementing agreement.

dIsCUssIon — LAW And PoLICy to AdVAnCe soLAR eneRGy

Panelists � Volkmar Lauber

� Andreas Luzzi

� Andrew Macintosh

� James Prest

� Wayne Smith

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TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER

WInd eneRGy

A Call for Legal Strategies to Overcome Barriers in the Development of European Offshore Wind EnergyKatelijn Van Hende, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, denmark

In order to accelerate the shift to a low carbon economy, Europe set a target of having an overall energy mix of 20% stemming from renewable energy sources by 2020. Three important European legislative developments are paving the way towards the future of renewables: the new energy chapter post-Lisbon, the third legislative package and Directive 2009/28/EC regarding the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources. In the introductory assessment, the role of (offshore) wind power will be touched upon.

The main focus of this paper will be on identifying existing and emerging barriers to the development of (offshore) wind energy in Europe, after which the paper will suggest possible legal strategies in overcoming these barriers with Member State examples of dealing with such barriers.

This paper analyses five concrete themes where barriers arise in the development of (offshore) wind energy: investment, administration, information, integration and storage and finally, grid interconnection. Even though some of these barriers seem to have a non-legal nature, the paper aspires to provide the reader with legal strategies in overcoming those barriers. Some of the barriers might apply mutually to land based wind farms or other sources of renewable energy and these experiences will be drawn into the analysis whenever relevant.

First of all, unclear or uncertain rules and policies put restraints on stable investments in renewable energy. Legal strategies are needed in order to facilitate investment and develop support schemes such as feed-in tariffs.

Secondly, complicated procedures and multiple administrative authorities cause barriers to efficient planning and licensing of projects and cause delays and uncertainties. Legal strategies are needed to simplify, standardise and harmonise administrative procedures for eg licensing and planning.

Third, the broader public as well as directly involved parties, are not always well informed. Legal strategies are needed in order to inform the public pro-actively and to fully implement the system of guarantees of origins in the Member States.

Fourth, wind power is a non-storable energy source and surplus production has to be dealt with accordingly. Hence, legal strategies for energy storage and electricity import or export are needed.

Fifth, a lack of adequate rules on grid connections causes problems to gain connection to the electricity grid and there is insufficient attention to technical and financial issues such as connecting different wind farms to each other. Legal strategies are needed to create a European (Super Smart) Grid and standardise the current technologies.

Katelijn Van Hende is a PhD student at the department of Business Law, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University. She started her PhD studies in September 2010, after graduating in June at the University of Leuven as a Master of Laws. As she just started, Katelijn is very open to feedback on her project or further suggestions for her research. The Title of her PhD project is ‘A legal framework for the promotion, development and use of renewable energy from offshore wind farms and electricity from grid interconnections – Member State implementation of Directive 2009/28/EC.’The project will elaborate on a legal framework for direct and market regulation of the promotion, development and use of renewable energy sources and Member State joint projects, with special regard to the implementation of Directive 2009/28/EC. The project will focus on the development of offshore wind farms and the administrative procedures and planning rules for the establishment of the grids with possible interconnections and the legal complications that might arise regarding environmental, administrative, planning and European and international law (e.g. licensing, the law of the sea, environmental impact assessment). Moreover, it will give special attention to possible Member-State cooperation and cooperation between Member States and third countries in creating a ‘super smart grid’. This requires a thorough investigation of energy law and the electricity regulations in the different Member States, as well as electricity cooperation such as in the Nordic electricity market.

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Planning for Offshore Wind Energy in South Australia: A comparative review with the United Kingdomdr Alex Wawryk, Faculty of Law, University of Adelaide

In recent years there has been increasing development in offshore renewable energy, particularly offshore wind energy, in Europe, the United States and China. In order to encourage the development of offshore renewable energy, and to accommodate the increased pressure on the use of the oceans, a number of countries have passed new laws regarding planning and development in marine areas. The UK is generally recognised as a world leader in offshore renewable energy, having sought to encourage offshore renewable energy technologies through a number of initiatives, including the development of policy, guidelines, and legislation.

Although Australia has excellent wind and wave resources offshore, the offshore renewable energy industry is virtually non-existent. Australia’s offshore laws have not been developed or changed to accommodate the arrival of the industry. The constitutional position in Australia, and the historical development of sectoral interests, means there is a plethora of federal and state laws governing marine areas. Many Commonwealth and State Acts govern sectoral interests, including fishing, aquaculture, petroleum and mining, navigation, ports, tourism, aviation, indigenous issues, and environmental protection. In most sectors there are separate management bodies and authorities. International laws, such as rights of international navigation, are also relevant.

Despite the vast array of laws governing development in marine areas in Australia, there is no particular legal framework for renewable energy. Thus not only will offshore renewable energy developers have to navigate the maze of existing legislation to avoid competing interests, there is a dearth of existing law and guidelines to specifically regulate (and encourage) offshore wind energy development.

In this paper I contrast the planning laws governing offshore renewable energy development in England, in particular wind energy, with those of South Australia. I describe the progression in English law from the typical ‘case by case’ development application for offshore wind energy in marine areas to the recent Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, which, underpinned by principles of marine spatial planning, seeks to rationally allocate marine areas between all users of the sea. Through this comparative review, I consider options for changing the legal regime in South Australia to better accommodate the interests of offshore wind energy developers. Although the paper focuses on offshore wind energy, many of the points made will be relevant to other forms of offshore renewable energy, and to the other States of Australia.

Dr Alex Wawryk is a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide and the principal subjects that she teaches are contract law, mining and energy law and international energy law. Alex’s research interests include renewable energy law, mining and energy law. She has published articles on renewable energy law in a number of journals including the Journal of energy and natural Resources Law, the Australasian Journal of natural Resources Law and Policy, and the environment and Planning Law Journal. She has acted as Associate Editor for the International Bar Association’s Journal of energy and natural Resources Law, and Associate Editor in the area of renewable energy for the on-line journal and database OGEL (Oil Gas and Energy Law Intelligence Service). Dr Wawryk is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of SA. She has been a member of the South Australian Law Society’s Planning Environment and Local Government Committee and on the management committee of the SA branch of the Environmental Defenders Office, and is currently a member of the Working Group on Energy Law and Climate Change for the World Conservation Union’s Commission on Environmental Law.

Commercial Barriers to Small and Medium Scale Renewable Energy Projects in Australia: A lawyer’s perspective on the drivers and barriers to successful projects with an analysis of the Australian, UK and US positionsdermot duncan, special Counsel, Crisp Legal, sydney

After exploring the differences between small scale and medium scale renewable energy, this paper considers the commercial barriers to those types of renewable energy in Australia, US and the UK. The core commercial risks to be reviewed and analysed will be: Political & Regulatory risk; Financial risks; and technological risk & path dependency. Regulatory risk occurs after the legislature has implemented its political will. Following lobbying from entrenched interest groups, the structure and intent of the regulatory response is often adapted to placate entrenched interests with deep pockets at the expense of economic and environmental integrity. Political and Regulatory risk is highly

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apparent in Australia today with the NSW electricity industry going through its latest attempt to privatise and a National Electricity Market dominated by a few large players. In assessing regulatory risk, I will review how renewable portfolio standards and feed in tariffs in all three jurisdictions have incentivised or not as the case maybe small to medium scale renewable energy projects.

With the advent of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), financing for small to medium scale renewable energy technology has been extremely difficult to procure. Without stable regulatory support, venture capitalists, private equity providers; and banks are unwilling to lend financial support to small/medium projects as the transactional costs are similar to larger renewable energy projects and power purchase agreements are often easier to secure although this is not currently the case in Australia. There seems to be little incentive for VC and PE providers to finance projects and banks seem to be focusing on internal corporate sustainability measures rather than getting on with the job on financing renewable energy projects in the absence of strong financial incentives. There have also been information barriers to finance, as some financiers are new to the carbon markets. I will focus on the measures required to finance the development of renewable energy from the desktop to the commercial arena through the innovation chain.

The correctly structured regulatory response will incentivise the roll out of commercial technology as well as the development of new innovative technology to diversity and change our energy production methods. Technology risk is a major risk to finance and different policy responses are required to assist new technologies cross the valley of death. What is crucial is that investors are incentivised to invest in new/innovative technology rather than the dependent path of fossil fuel technology investment. The UK and the US States have had regulatory incentives to invest in small/medium scale renewable energy for some time. However, Australia has strong established paths for investment through traditional energy sources, which have dictated investment decisions, focused on shareholder gains rather than global concerns. This is not unusual, however, free markets alone will not make the required change in investment decisions but require government intervention. I will discuss the various technology risks and measures taken by funders to protect against technology failure as well as the measures implemented to change the investment path.

Dermot Duncan leads Crisp Legal’s Environmental and Energy Projects Group. Dermot was admitted as a lawyer in NSW in 1999 and focused on Infrastructure Projects before moving to the UK in 2001–08 to focus on Project Financing of Renewable Energy Projects. Dermot worked in some of the leading UK Environmental Projects Practices in the UK focusing on not only traditional PPP/PFI Infrastructure Projects but specialising in Wind, Waste, Cogeneration and Energy Efficiency Projects. He also focused on electricity regulation during the UK’s transition from its wholesale pool market to bilateral trading under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA). Whilst in the UK Dermot undertook the Wind Energy Module of Loughborough University’s MSc through its Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) Division. Dermot returned to Australia to establish a bespoke legal practice in Renewable Energy and Climate Financing in July 2008 which he combined with undertaking a Masters of Environmental Law at Sydney University, where he has focused on Environmental Policy; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Carbon Trading; and Financing streams which he is due to complete in early 2011. Dermot is currently advising a wide spectrum of clients in the renewable energy sector spanning the innovation chain.

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ReneWABLe eneRGy In tHe eMeRGInG WoRLd

Best Practices for Promoting Renewable Energy in Developed and Developing Countries

Associate Professor Benjamin K Sovacool, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Based on extensive research interviews from two research projects, this presentation assesses the best way to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in Australia, Asia, and beyond. It details the four most favoured policy mechanisms identified by a two-year research program: eliminating subsidies for conventional and mature electricity technologies, pricing electricity accurately, passing a national feed-in tariff, and implementing a nationwide systems benefit fund to raise public awareness, protect lower income households, and administer demand side management programs. The second part evaluates the applicability of eight renewable electricity policy mechanisms for Asian electricity markets. It develops an analytical framework to evaluate renewable portfolio standards, green power programs, public research and development expenditures, systems benefits charges, investment tax credits, production tax credits, tendering, and feed-in tariffs. It then analyses each of these mechanisms according to the criteria of efficacy (ability to encourage investments in renewable energy infrastructure), cost effectiveness (success at keeping electricity prices low), dynamic efficiency (ability to promote diversification), equity (applicability to a broad range of actors), and fiscal responsibility (ability to be financially self sustaining without government revenues). This part of the presentation concludes that one mechanism, feed-in tariffs, is both the most preferred by respondents and the only one that meets all criteria.

Dr Benjamin Sovacool is an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is also a Research Fellow in the Energy Governance Program at the Centre on Asia and Globalization. Dr Sovacool has worked as a researcher, professor, and consultant on issues pertaining to energy policy, the environment, and science and technology policy. He has served in advisory and research capacities at the US National Science Foundation’s Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security Program, Virginia Tech Consortium on Energy Restructuring, Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Semiconductor Materials and Equipment International, US Department of Energy’s Climate Change Technology Program, and the International Institute for Applied Systems and Analysis near Vienna, Austria. Dr Sovacool has published more than 80 academic articles and presented at more than 30 international conferences and symposia. He is the co-editor with Marilyn A. Brown of energy and American society: thirteen Myths (Springer, 2007) and the author or co-author of the dirty energy dilemma: What’s Blocking Clean Power in the United states (Praeger, 2008), Powering the Green economy: the Feed-In tariff Handbook (2009, Earthscan), and Climate Change and energy security: A Global overview of technology and Policy options (MIT Press, forthcoming 2010). He is also a frequent contributor to such journals as electricity Journal and energy Policy.

Switched On in East Timor: Renewable energy policy for the developing worldAnton Vikstrom, Manager, International Projects Group, Alternative technology Association

This paper will describe the work of the Alternative Technology Association’s International Projects Group in East Timor. The IPG is a group of professionals and volunteers who give their time and expertise to provide renewable energy systems and other appropriate technologies to communities in developing countries.

The group has completed the installation of over 40 solar lighting, refrigeration and power systems in remote areas of East Timor. The systems have been installed in health clinics and a range of other community and public buildings where no regular power supplies were available.

The paper will discuss capacity building and training needs as well as barriers to the uptake of renewable electricity technologies. Sustainability is more than the technology, it is about the people who live with and maintain the energy systems. The IPG team includes certified workplace trainers who have developed training programs in collaboration with technical institutions in East Timor. The IPG has trained local personnel with the capacity to monitor and maintain installed systems. The ATA is a leading Australian resource for information on sustainable, appropriate technology and the IPG is in a strong position to transfer this information to our neighbouring countries.

Anton Vikstrom is a graduate of the Resource and Environmental Management Program at the ANU. Since 1997 he has been delivering renewable energy programs in Timor Leste with the Alternative Technology Association. He is

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Program Manager with the ATA’s International Projects Group. Programs include capacity building and village lighting. He is also currently engaged with Melbourne University’s ‘Climate Justice Initiative’. This project is conducting an investigation of the energy needs of people living in Ainaro, East Timor and review the opportunities available in the region for using sustainable generation and transmission infrastructure. The project will be a review of the political and regulatory challenges facing the delivery of energy infrastructure in East Timor and an assessment of whether current regulatory frameworks exclude vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

A Workable Model for Renewable Energy in Developing Countries (delivered by video)Professor steven Ferrey, University of suffolk, Boston

This paper covers (1) several unquantified risks of warming, (2) the pivotal role of electric energy, (3) the failure of Kyoto and the EU-ETS to mobilise renewable energy development through CDM, (4) a workable model for renewable energy in developing countries based on Professor Ferrey’s work for the World Bank and United Nations in developing countries over the past two decades, and (5) lessons from all of this.

Steven Ferrey is the author of six books and more than 75 articles on the energy-environmental legal and policy interface. These books include the Law of Independent Power (21st ed. 2007), now utilised as the definitive treatise on energy and power on every continent of the world; the new Rules: A Guide to electric Market Regulation (2000); and environmental Law: examples & explanations (4th ed. 2007) (also translated into Mandarin and used in China). His articles on energy policy during the past five years have appeared in law reviews at Harvard, Duke, William & Mary, University of Virginia, Boston College, and New York University. He is Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law at Boston University Law School, and in 2003 was Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

Market Mechanisms and Low Carbon Strategy in China: Implications of Renewable Energy Law and Energy Saving Law in advancing renewable energy technologiesHao Zhang, Phd Candidate, Centre for Resources, energy and environmental Law, University of Melbourne

The goal of this paper is to examine the role and effectiveness of the PRC Renewable Energy Law (REL) and PRC Energy Saving Law (ESL) in setting up the principles of the market mechanism in reducing carbon dioxide and promoting renewable energy technologies in China. The paper will first provide a brief outline of the REL and ESL in China, showing that the promulgation of both the REL and ESL at the national level seek to regulate aspects of climate change. They set out the major principles for promotion of renewable energy technologies by establishing the rules and targets for scaling up renewable energies. However, the formulation of the target in some cases is not very clear and precise. The paper then critically examines the principles of mechanisms set out in the REL and ESL. It focuses in particular on the principles for renewable energy promotion by using market mechanism in the legal system through REL and ESL. The paper argues that the effectiveness of REL and ESL is supported by a series of recently released polices, particularly the National Plan on Renewable Energies, the State Council’s Decision on Strengthening Energy Conservation and the Opinions of National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank and State Administration of Taxation on Accelerating the Energy Performance Contracting and Promoting the Industry of Energy Saving Services. The paper examines the ways whether and the extent to which these policies provide a detailed strategy for up-to-date and promoting the renewable energy policy embodied in REL and ESL. The paper will then conclude by examining the extent to which the REL and ESL can provide a solid and effective overarching legal framework at the national level and how the rules and principles could be implemented at the regional and local levels in China. The contribution is related to the topic concerning the developing country law on renewable energy advance through market mechanism.

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ELECTRICITY NETWORK LAW & POLICY

The Role of Smart Grids in Providing Diverse and Distributed Renewable Energy Resources in Australia, the European Union and the United StatesProfessor Rosemary Lyster, Professor of Climate and environmental Law, sydney Law school, Faculty of Law

The Smart Grid amalgamates information and communications technology (ICT) and electrical capabilities to improve flexibility, security, reliability, efficiency, and the safety of the electricity system. Demand side management (DSM) is increased as consumers gain better control over their electricity use and respond to prices. At the same time, a smart grid includes diverse and distributed energy resources, including energy storage, and accommodates electric vehicle charging. The electric vehicles would be charged off peak and then feed power back into the grid when they are parked either at work or at home during the day. The Smart Grid allows the interconnection of distributed generation at almost any point in the transmission grid. Distributed generation includes small-scale generation (including wind, landfill gas, biomass and hydro), cogeneration or combined heat and power plants, small stand-alone diesel generators and domestic or small commercial photovoltaic solar generation. There are many benefits associated with distributed generation. These include:

� reducing demand from the grid by installing a distributed generation plant close to the point of consumption (this can reduce distribution and transmission losses, reduce constraints on power lines and defer the need to upgrade the grid)

� improving the security of supply during peak demand

� improving power supply to remote communities

� facilitating the uptake of large-scale new renewable energy sources (currently high-voltage transmission grids are not situated where many renewable energy sources are developed), and

� locating power supply closer to end users.

The development of Smart Grids has become a priority action in Australia, the European Union and the United States as part of each jurisdiction’s commitment to reducing greenhouses gas emissions, improving energy efficiency and encouraging the uptake of renewable energy sources. Each jurisdiction has only recently, in 2009, released its policy platform for the establishment of Smart Grids. The policy documents provide encouraging signs that the Smart Grid is likely to become a reality within the electricity sector in these jurisdictions. This conference paper will analyse the deployment of Smart Grids in all of these jurisdictions from the perspective of the conference theme ‘Law and Policy to Advance Renewable Energy: A Comparative Colloquium.’

Rosemary Lyster is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Director of the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (ACCEL). In the area of Environmental Law, Rosemary specialises in Energy and Climate Law, Water Law and GMOs and Environmental Law. She has published two books with Cambridge University Press in the area of Energy and Climate Law. They are Rosemary Lyster and Adrian Bradbrook, energy Law and the environment (Cambridge University Press: 2006) and Adrian J Bradbrook, Rosemary Lyster, Richard L Ottinger and Wang Xi (eds), the Law of energy for sustainable development (Cambridge University Press: 2005). Rosemary is also the principal author of Rosemary Lyster, Zada Lipman, Nicola Franklin, Graeme Wiffen, Linda Pearson, environmental and Planning Law in new south Wales (Federation Press: 2007). Rosemary is the Energy and Water Special Editor of the environmental Planning and Law Journal which is the leading environmental law journal in Australia. Rosemary is a member of the IUCN – the World Conservation Union Commission on Environmental Law, comprising environmental lawyers from around the world. She is a member of the Commission’s Special Working Groups on Water and Wetlands, Energy and Climate Change, and Forests. Rosemary has an extensive list of publications including books, chapters in books and articles in leading international and domestic law journals. She is a regular presenter at international and domestic conferences.

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Legal Barriers to Renewable Energy Development: Institutional and regulatory design of the Australian electricity marketAnne Kallies, Phd Candidate, Centre for Resources, energy and environmental Law, University of Melbourne

Renewable energy took centre stage in Australia’s climate policy after the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was deferred indefinitely in 2010. Political commitment to a high renewables proportion in Australia’s energy mix remains strong, and the main regulatory instrument, the Renewable Energy Target scheme, has been considerably expanded. Despite this, the regulatory and institutional design of the Australian electricity market (AEM) lags behind. This paper will address the theme of ‘legal barriers to renewable energy development’ with an emphasis on barriers that are inherent in the institutional and regulatory design of the AEM. The liberalised market results in a tension between public interest objectives, such as a high proportion of renewable energy, and industry players’ objectives emphasising a duty to their shareholders to maximise profits. The paper will investigate this tension by showing that the laws and institutions governing the AEM are a result of, and deeply mired in, the market rhetoric of the liberalisation reforms of the 1990s. Regulatory and institutional objectives are characterised by a commitment to efficiency and least cost. While the current eRET may make renewables more competitive, the question of grid access and strategic transmission planning, remains contentious and may prove prohibitive to a high uptake of renewable energy. Questions of policy choices between feed-in-tariffs and quota systems have received much attention in the Australian and international literature (eg by Prest and Lauber). These instruments need, however, to be accompanied by changes to access and transmission regimes. Several government discussion papers and draft codes have identified and attempted to address theses issues in relation to renewable energy (eg MCE 2006, 2007; AEMC 2009), but no targeted regulatory responses have been forthcoming so far on a national level. The Californian Renewable Transmission Initiative, and the German preferential grid access and priority dispatch for renewables are overseas examples addressing these barriers. While these approaches show potential solutions to access and transmission issues, this paper contends that the institutional and regulatory design of the AEM, based on a commitment to market objectives, may prevent successful integration of similar approaches in Australia. Ultimately, the success of putting Australia on a path to low-carbon dependency will depend on the ability of the federal government to re-inject public policy goals into the institutional and regulatory design of the AEM.

Anne Kallies is a PhD candidate at Melbourne Law School, researching renewable energy law. She holds a German law degree and a LLM from the University of Melbourne. Anne previously worked in Germany as a researcher for the Federal Environmental Agency. Prior to starting her PhD in early 2010, she was an administrator and researcher in the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law at Melbourne Law School.

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INNOVATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY LAW & POLICY

Analysing the Innovation Effects of Support Schemes for Renewable Energy (delivered by video)Pablo del Río González, Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos (IPP) Centro de Ciencias Humanas y sociales, Madrid

In contrast to the effectiveness and static efficiency criteria to assess support schemes for electricity for renewable energy sources (RES-E), the innovation effects of such support, also referred to as dynamic efficiency (or the ability of an instrument to generate a continuous incentive for technical improvements and costs reductions in technologies) has received much less attention both at a theoretical but, especially, at the empirical level. On the other hand, the analyses of dynamic efficiency have stressed only one of the dimensions of this criterion, due to the different conceptual frameworks on which those analyses have been based. Against what it is commonly assumed, dynamic efficiency is not a one-dimensional concept. Finally, the few analyses on the dynamic efficiency of support schemes have focused on instruments and not on design elements. However, the literature on RES-E support shows that the choice of design elements within RES-E support instruments is at least as important to successfully promote RES-E as the choice of specific instruments because those elements directly influence the variables that are relevant in the decision to invest in renewable energy technologies. Thus, an analysis of the dynamic efficiency properties of, both, instruments and design elements is required. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework to analyse the innovation effects of RES-E support schemes by building bridges between different analytical approaches on the analysis of technological change in renewable energy technologies and to analyse the innovation effects of different RES-E support instruments and design elements taking into account the different dimensions resulting from those approaches. The paper shows that dynamic efficiency has several relevant dimensions, with synergies and conflicts among them. This multidimensional nature of dynamic efficiency is further illustrated with an overview of the results of the empirical literature both with respect to instruments and design elements.

Pablo del Rio is a Research Fellow with the Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos (IPP), part of the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) in Madrid. The CSIC is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. He has published more than 50 papers, half of them in international journals, on the economics of climate change, the economic analysis of renewable energy promotion schemes, the economic analysis of the interactions between energy and climate change policies and environmental technological change. He has participated in five projects funded by the European Commission on the economic analysis of renewable electricity promotion schemes and other mitigation instruments (such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme), including New Networks, New Agendas (1996–99), Intracert (2000–01), Admire-Rebus (2001–03), Green-X (2002–04) y Lessons learnt from the national allocation of allowances (2005–06).

Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing clean technologiesdr Matthew Rimmer, AnU College of Law, the Australian national University

In the wake of the Copenhagen Summit, there is an urgent need to consider the role of intellectual property law in encouraging research, development, and diffusion of clean technologies, which can mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change. This paper charts the patent landscapes and legal conflicts emerging in a range of fields of innovation—including renewable forms of energy, such as solar power, wind power, hydro power, and geothermal energy; as well as biofuels, green chemistry, green vehicles, energy efficiency, and smart grids. As well as reviewing international treaties such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Copenhagen Accord, TRIPS Agreement, and the WIPO Development Agenda, this paper will provide a detailed analysis of current trends in patent policy and administration in key nation states, and offer clear recommendations for law reform. It will consider such options as technology transfer, compulsory licensing, public sector licensing, Climate Innovation Centres, patent pools, the Eco-Patent Commons, and environmental prizes, such as the L-Prize, the H-Prize, and the X-Prizes.

Dr Matthew Rimmer is a senior lecturer at the ANU College of Law, and an associate director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture (ACIPA). He holds a BA (Hons) and a University Medal in literature, and a LLB (Hons) from the Australian National University. Rimmer received a PhD in law from the University of New South

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Wales for his dissertation on The Pirate Bazaar: The Social Life of Copyright Law. He is a member of the Copyright and Intellectual Property Advisory Group of the Australian Library and Information Association, and a director of the Australian Digital Alliance. Rimmer is the author of digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands off my iPod, and Intellectual Property and Biotechnology: Biological Inventions. He has published widely on copyright law and information technology, patent law and biotechnology, access to medicines, clean technologies, and traditional knowledge. His work is archived at SSRN Abstracts and Bepress Selected Works. Rimmer is currently writing a monograph, Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean technologies.

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PResentAtIons FRoM PResenteRs UnABLe to Attend

Regulating Nanotechnology for Renewable Energy: Reasons and models for a global artificial photosynthesis projectAssociate Professor tom Faunce, AnU College of Law and AnU College of Medicine, Biology and the environment, the Australian national University

On 22 July 2010, US Department of Energy announced the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), led by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), to run the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub. JCAP is to receive funding of $122m over five years. JCAP partners include Caltech, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego. Substantial projects in the same renewable energy field exist in other nations. The prompt development of an efficient global system of artificial photosynthesis, directly addressing the twin problems of increasing energy demand and anthropogenic climate change is emerging as one of the most important scientific challenges of our time. The author has recently (at the Nanotechnology and Renewable Energy conference sponsored by the European Science Foundation (Obergurgl July 2010) and at the 15th International Congress on Photosynthesis (Beijing August 2010) proposed a multidisciplinary collaborative Global Artificial Photosynthesis(GAP) project. As well as chemistry (to create new materials for solar capture and conversion, new catalysts for water oxidation and new systems for carbon dioxide reduction and hydrogen production) other areas of GAP project research will have to include physics, quantum physics, imaging, cell biology, law and policy. One of the great strategic advantages of a GAP project is that if the successful geospatial and temporal separation of solar to fuel processes are achieved, much of the existing infrastructure for transport fossil fuels can be maintained, at least in the short term. Many of the challenges of leadership, public-private funding, managerial structures and sharing of data that such an initiative will face have already been addressed in related mega-science projects such as the International Space Station, the Large Hadron Collider and the Human Genome Project. A GAP project and its associated interactions with centralised and decentralised energy systems may be one of the most innovative legal and policy mechanisms for promoting investment in, and uptake of, renewable energy.

Associate Professor Faunce has a joint appointment in the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and the Environment and the ANU College of Law at The Australian National University. He is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and had been director of three ARC Discovery Grants on nanomedicine and medicine regulation. He has worked with UNESCO as a consultant on its global health law database. He serves on the editorial board of nanomedicine. His book (with Edward Elgar) nanoregulation for a sustainable World is forthcoming.

Green or Black Wind Power: Towards monopoly and lack of democracyProfessor Frede Hvelplund, department of development and Planning, University of Aalborg, denmark

Frede Hvelplund, Professor in Energy Planning at Aalborg University, Denmark, is an economist and social anthro-pologist, and has been dealing with energy planning questions at the Energy and Environment Group at Aalborg University for more than 25 years. His research focuses on the analysis of the relationship between energy policy, public regulation and environmental economics. Moreover, he is concerned with the development and implementa-tion of renewable energy as well as energy efficiency technologies. Winner of the 2008 EUROSOLAR European Solar prize competition, and awarded the 2008 European Solar Prize, ‘the special prize for extraordinary individual com-mitment.’ In 2001 he wrote two books on neo-liberalistic reforms at the Danish Energy scene: Renewable energy Governance systems and electricity reforms, democracy and technological Change.

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