Less from More: China Built Wind Power, but Gained Little Electricity

PublikationBokkapitel
Entreprenörskap, Jonas Grafström, Patent, Policy, Vindkraft

Sammanfattning

This chapter investigates Chinese wind power development and concludes that innovation cannot be pushed by the efforts of many, and that when the state clarifies directions and objectives, these can be achieved but with severe and unexpected side effects. Two topics are explored: wind curtailment and low technological development, both examples of unproductive entrepreneurship induced by government policies. The goal of wind power capacity expansion leads to construction (i.e., generation capacity) but little electricity. Examples of failures include low grid connectivity with, some years averaging 15% of generation capacity broken or unconnected to the grid. A key lesson for Europe is that forced innovation often amounts to little and that the old saying holds up: “no plan survives contact with reality.”

The book can be downloaded here.

Grafström, J. (2022). Less from more: China built wind power, but gained little electricity.Questioning the Entrepreneurial State, 219.


Liknande innehåll

Working Paper No. 379: Europe’s Future Industrial Landscape: A Green Industrial Location Attractiveness Index
Working paperPublikation
Grafström, J.
Publiceringsår

2024

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Sammanfattning

Increased gas prices, constraints in nuclear power generation, and diminished hydroelectric production have introduced challenges for Europe, coinciding with an emerging green industrialization. Utilizing data from the European Commission and Eurostat, we introduce the Green Industrial Location Attractiveness Index, a tool designed to help assessing locations of future green industrial developments. Our findings highlight Sweden, Finland, and France as probable destinations for green industrial projects. A revealing geographical divide where northern European countries rank higher compared to their southern counterparts. This analysis enhances our understanding of Europe’s changing industrial landscape amidst volatile electricity prices, offering insights for policymakers and investors. An overarching conclusion of the paper is that well-crafted energy policies help mitigate the economic impacts of energy price fluctuations on energy-intensive industries, ensuring that Europe’s industrial landscape remain competitive.

Economic freedom and environmental performance
BokkapitelPublikation
Graftström, J.
Publiceringsår

2024

Publicerat i

Handbook of Research on Economic Freedom. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sammanfattning

In this chapter, the relationship between economic freedom and environmental performance is scrutinized. The analysis relies on comparing countries’ standing in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of the Yale Centre for Environmental Law & Policy with two indexes of economic freedom, one developed by the Fraser Institute (Economic Freedom of the World index), and the other by the Heritage Foundation (Index of Economic Freedom). Whether economic freedom is good or bad for the environment depends on how it affects incentives, productive efforts, and effective resource use. Greater economic freedom can both harm and help environmental performance. It is a complicated relationship, but high economic freedom generally goes hand in hand with high scores in the EPI.

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