Regional Economic/Demographic Projections for Energy Policy Analysis

摘要

This paper examines the importance of adequate population and employment projections for regional policy analysis related to energy and asks whether energy policy may significantly modify existing trends. It is concluded that energy is less likely to create new subnational socio-economic tendencies than to enhance or retard existing trends, but that to analyze these circumstances a growth-policy format is desirable. It is emphasized that a lack of past experience with many new energy technologies will make impact analysis difficult. For this reason, attempts should be made to anticipate possible impacts well in advance of technology deployment. (ERA citation 04:023425)