Dear Colleagues,

Despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19, the global demand for renewables remains intact and resilient. Recognizing that renewables can help to meet climate targets, spur economic growth, and create jobs, many nations are centering their recovery policies around green energy. Ample scholarship is available from a supply side (producer’s) perspective, such as green energy firms (Ng and Zheng 2018) and the green energy sector (Conte and Jacobsen 2016), but the consumer perspective has not received commensurate attention in academic research. In industrialized countries such as the United States, the UK, France, Finland, Australia, and Germany, many green energy programs have been implemented to support the providers of clean electricity from renewable sources including solar, wind, hydro, biomass, or ocean. However, many of these programs have been unsuccessful due to low consumer participation. Although people state that they are pro-green energy, they do not actually participate in green energy programs (Zhang and Wu, 2012; Kaenzig et al., 2013; Rowlands et al., 2002; Stigka et al., 2014). There could be various explanations for the discrepancies between consumers’ stated preference on green electricity and actual behaviors: The higher production costs associated with renewable energy as compared to fossil fuel energy may result in some of these costs being passed onto consumers, for example. Thus, there is a need to understand how consumers react to the development of clean energy and how they makes choices about green energy products not just in industrialized nations but also in developing economies.  

Identifying the consumer’s perspective is a crucial first step in formulating energy and environmental policies. The success of green energy schemes depends crucially on the support of consumers in addition to the private sector and the government. Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to showcase research on consumers’ WTP for renewable energy sources in electricity production. Authors may submit theoretical papers or local country/area studies that explore the possible determinants which may affect consumers’ WTP for renewable energy.

This Special Issue welcomes a diversity of submissions and research methods that deliver practical policy knowledge because the transition to sustainable societies requires a set of applicable polices.

Prof. Dr. Meenakshi Rishi
Guest Editor

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