DEVELOPING A LAW OF
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Professor Adrian Bradbrook
Law School
University of Adelaide
Why is law important? Examples
Solar access
 Wind energy planning issues
 CCS – law brings certainty to investors

Role of the Law
Regulation
 Stimulation
 Education

Significance of sustainable
development in the energy sector
Link with Climate Change
 Acid rain
 Ozone depletion
 Pollution of the oceans
 Energy security
 Millennium Development Goals and the
Access to Energy Services

Components of sustainable
energy development
Energy efficiency
 Energy conservation (preservation of fossil
fuel reserves)
 Renewable energy resources
 Nuclear energy
 Energies of the future – hydrogen; nuclear
fusion?
 Access to energy services

Access to Energy Services
Significance of “energy services”
 Link to poverty – indoor air pollution;
education of children; women; health and
medicine (lack of refrigeration);
 MDGs (poverty and hunger; universal
primary education; gender equality;
maternal health; HIV/Aids; malaria and
other diseases; environmental sustainability;
global partnership for development).

Energy efficiency – National
Measures
Domestic appliances
 Industry (including cogeneration)
 Buildings
 Motor vehicles

Energy efficiency – Domestic
appliances
Standards or labeling?
 Testing capacity required
 Label design considerations
 Considerations for drafting design standards

Energy efficiency -- industry
Information dissemination
 Energy efficiency standards
 Energy taxation
 Energy manager
 Voluntary agreements with government
 Cogeneration

Energy efficiency -- buildings
Labeling for energy efficiency
 Prescriptive standards for building
components
 Minimum building performance standards
 Retrofit standards
 Special considerations in rented buildings

Energy efficiency – motor
vehicles (regulations)
Fuel economy standards
 Fuel consumption labeling
 Fuel consumption in model-specific vehicle
advertising
 Modifying planning and development laws
(urban consolidation, etc)

Energy efficiency – motor
vehicles (financial mechanisms)
Differential sales tax or GST
 Skewing motor vehicle registration charges
 Increasing petroleum excise taxes
 Income tax incentives
 Employer-supplied vehicle fringe benefits
 Grants or loans to businesses for
lease/purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles

International law measures
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Customary law
UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol
Energy Charter Treaty and Protocol on Energy
Efficiency
Non-binding declarations: Agenda 21;
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation; G8
Gleneagles 2005 Plan of Action; Beijing
Declaration