Energy transition: Embodied energy in clean technologies and the need for international regulatory proactivity

Abstract

The present study is an observation of the absence of policy focus and preparedness to address the greenhouse footprints and eventual climate change implications of some clean energy systems in the energy transition debate. Electric vehicles, wind turbines and photovoltaics constitute sample clean technologies under the study. A technical literature review is the approach for forming an appreciable understanding of the life cycle emissions of the sample clean energy technologies. Content and critical legal analysis are adopted for the examination of international and domestic legal regimes on clean energy sources, with India, China, the United States and the United Kingdom as domestic foci. The results of the study are the reality of supposed clean energy technologies as sources of greenhouse gas emissions, although considerably low compared to fossil fuel sources, and the apparent lack of international and domestic legal mechanisms to address the life cycle emissions of these technologies and the need for proactive policy actions.