## Creative Destruction During Crises - An Opportunity for a Cleaner Energy Mix

_IMF Working Papers, December 3, 2021_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Pragyan Deb, Davide Furceri, Jonathan David Ostry, Nour Tawk
- Published: December 3, 2021
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781616357115.001

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### Summary findings
- Lockdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced overall energy demand but electricity generation from renewable sources has been resilient.
- The empirical analysis presented in this paper highlights that recessions result in a permanent, albeit small, increase in energy efficiency and in the share of renewables in total electricity.
- These effects are stronger in the case of advanced economies and when complemented with environment and energy policies.

### Empirical results and implications
- Recessions → permanent, albeit small, increase in:
  - energy efficiency
  - the share of renewables in total electricity
- Resilience of renewable electricity generation during COVID-19 lockdowns partly reflects the trend increase in renewables.

### Policy measures that strengthen effects
- Market-based measures:
  - taxes on pollutants
  - trading schemes
  - feed-in-tariffs
- Non-market measures:
  - emission and fuel standards
  - R&D investment and subsidies
- These measures incentivize and hasten the transition towards renewable sources of energy.

### Scope, subjects, and keywords
- Subject: Commodities, Economic growth, Economic recession, Electricity, Environment, Environmental policy, Non-renewable resources, Renewable energy
- Keywords: Covid-19 lockdowns, Economic recession, Electricity, electricity generation, energy demand, energy mix, energy use, Environmental policy, environmental protection stringency, Global, impact of recession, Non-renewable resources, recession, recession result, Renewable energy, renewables.

*IMF Working Paper by Pragyan Deb, Davide Furceri, Jonathan David Ostry, and Nour Tawk, December 3, 2021.*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2021/12/03/creative-destruction-during-crises-an-opportunity-for-a-cleaner-energy-mix-510786_