TY - JOUR A1 - Edenhofer, Ottmar A1 - Hirth, Lion A1 - Knopf, Brigitte A1 - Pahle, Michael A1 - Schlömer, Steffen A1 - Schmid, Eva A1 - Ueckerdt, Falko T1 - On the Economics of Renewable Energy Sources T2 - Energy Economics N2 - With the global expansion of renewable energy (RE) technologies, the provision of optimal RE policy packages becomes an important task. We review pivotal aspects regarding the economics of renewables that are relevant to the design of an optimal RE policy, many of which are to date unresolved. We do so from three interrelated perspectives that a meaningful public policy framework for inquiry must take into account. First, we explore different social objectives justifying the deployment of RE technologies, including potential co-benefits of RE deployment, and review modelbased estimates of the economic potential of RE technologies, i.e. their socially optimal deployment level. Second, we address pivotal market failures that arise in the course of implementing the economic potential of RE sources in decentralized markets. Third, we discuss multiple policy instruments curing these market failures. Our framework reveals the requirements for an assessment of the relevant options for real-world decision makers in the field of RE policies. This review makes it clear that there are remaining white areas on the knowledge map concerning consistent and socially optimal RE policies. KW - Energy KW - Mitigation KW - Integrated assessment modeling KW - Variable renewables KW - Electricity market design KW - Renewable policy Y1 - 2017 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-hsog/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2296 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-22965 SN - 0140-9883 N1 - This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Energy Economics. The final authenticated version is available online at: DOI 10.1016/j.eneco.2013.09.015 VL - 40 IS - S1 SP - S12 EP - S23 ER -