Sustainable Energy Regulation Network (SERN) is a REEEP-funded strategic initiative that produces extensive, in-depth studies on how policy and regulatory mechanisms promote and accelerate the development of sustainable energy. SERN is co-ordinated by researchers at University College London - Energy Institute in the UK.
SERN maintains an online policy database which describes the energy policies and regulation for more than 160 countries worldwide. In August, SERN completed an update of the database for than 100 of these countries. A typical regulatory overview will include an overview of the main sources of energy for the given country, the potentials for renewable energy and energy efficiency, how the energy market is structured, the roles of various government bodies, and detailed information on the current policies and regulations.
Looking at energy efficiency specifically, SERN released an energy efficiency review in the form of a set of PowerPoint slides briefly describing energy efficiency policies and institutions in 43 selected countries. Each slide gives a pie chart overview of the primary energy supply, and a listing of key energy efficiency moves by sectors such as industry, transport, residential, commercial, and agriculture.
Finally, researchers as SERN have also produced an updated literature review on energy regulation and policies with new sections on feed-in tariff design and on energy subsidies & energy costs. This gives short overviews of key papers and publications and a brief evaluation of what is covered and its merits.
