Introduction

This chapter examines long-range national economic impacts of a large-scale commitment to solar technologies and to formulate a set of economically efficient policies toward these technologies. It investigates macroeconomic implications of a large scale solar/renewables energy investment program, including the impact on Gross national product, prices, and other measures of national economic performance. The chapter provides information on one of the most important factors which needs to be considered in any comprehensive review and/or evaluation of different energy supply policy options. In order to develop long-range energy policies applicable to the 1980s and 1990s, it is imperative that the economic impacts inherent to the use of the innovative energy technologies be fully investigated. For a nation nearly self-sufficient in energy through the mid-1960s and whose economy was based upon cheap and abundant energy resources, the economic implications of rising energy prices cannot be ignored. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.