National energy policy

Measures used to produce an energy policy

A national energy policy is comprised by set of measures involving that country's laws, treaties and agency directives. The energy policy of a sovereign nation may include one or more of the following measures:

* Statement of national policy regarding energy generation, transmission and usage

* Legislation on commercial energy activities (trading, transport, storage, etc.)

* Legislation affecting energy use, such as efficiency standards, emission standards

* Instructions for state owned energy sector assets and organizations

* Active participation in, co-ordination of and incentives for mineral fuels exploration (see geological survey) and other energy-related research and development

* Fiscal policies related to energy products and services (taxes, exemptions, subsidies ...

* International policy measures such as:

          o international energy sector treaties and alliances,

          o general international trade agreements,

          o special relations with energy-rich countries, including military presence and/or domination.

Frequently the dominant issue of energy policy is the risk of supply-demand mismatch (see: energy crisis). Current energy policies also address environmental issues (see: climate change). Some governments state explicit energy policy, but, declared or not, each government practices some type of energy policy.

Factors within an energy policy

There are a number of elements that are naturally contained in a national energy policy, regardless of which of the above measures was used to arrive at the resultant policy. The chief elements intrinsic to an energy policy are:

* What is the extent of energy self-sufficiency for this nation

* Where future energy sources will derive

* How future energy will be consumed (e.g. among sectors)

* What fraction of the population will be acceptable to endure energy poverty

* What are the goals for future energy intensity, ratio of energy consumed to GDP

* What is the reliability standard for distribution reliability

* What environmental externalities are acceptable and are forecast

* What form of "portable energy" is forecast (e.g. sources of fuel for motor vehicles)

* How will energy efficient hardware (e.g. hybrid vehicles, household appliances) be encouraged

* How can the national policy drive province, state and municipal functions

* What specific mechanisms (e.g. taxes, incentives, manufacturing standards) are in place to implement the total policy

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