A Free‐Market Environmentalist Enquiry on Spain’s Energy Transition along with Its Recent Increasing Electricity Prices
Date
2022
Type:
Article
item.page.extent
item.page.accessRights
item.contributor.advisor
ORCID:
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
item.page.isbn
item.page.issn
item.page.issne
item.page.doiurl
item.page.other
item.page.references
Abstract
This paper analyzes the Spanish energy transition’s general situation and its increasing
electricity prices in recent years from a free‐market environmentalist (FME) approach. We hypoth‐esize and argue that high taxes, high government subsidies, and government industrial access re‐strictions breach private property rights, hindering Spain’s renewable energy (RE) development.
Our paper discovers that Spain’s state‐interventionist policies have increased the cost of the energy and power industries, leading to electricity prices remaining relatively high before and after the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic. After reviewing the literature on the FME approach and Spain’s case, a Box–Jenkins (ARIMA) model is used to clarify the economic performance of the Spanish electricity industry with a proposal for forecasting electricity prices. It is observed that Spain fails the EU and its national goal of providing an affordable energy price as a part of the green energy transition. Finally, free‐market environmental solutions and policy reforms are proposed to facilitate Spain’s energy transition.
Description
item.page.coverage.spatial
item.page.sponsorship
Citation
Wang, W.H.; Espinosa, V.I.; Huerta de Soto, J. A Free‐Market Environmentalist Enquiry on Spain’s Energy Transition along with Its Recent Increasing Electricity Prices. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 9493. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19159493
Keywords
Free‐market environmentalism, Renewable energy, Entrepreneurship, Public policy, Spain, EU Green Deal, Energy transition, Electricity prices, Decision making, Public choice