Energy scenarios conducted at the Wuppertal Institute together with Iranian and German partners in the previous German-Iranian Co-operation project show that 1) Iran has huge potentials and a great capacity for cost-effective energy savings in industry, transportation and in the residential sector, 2) Iran has vast renewable energy sources. In order to make the best use of efficiency and renewable potentials and to introduce a new path of sustainable economic and socio-political development, Iran needs to introduce new elements in its energy policy.
In the current project three cornerstones in policy and education shall be analyzed and evaluated in terms of their possible contribution to policy change and structural change within Iran. These cornerstones are:
1) "regulation for renewables" policy: For the development of a system based on renewable energies the energy sector needs regulation and a new kind of energy laws. One of these could be a Renewable Energy law (e.g. in the form of a feed-in tariff)
2) "taxes and price reform" policy: Energy taxes and an energy price-reform are further elements to create a sustainable Iranian energy system.
3) innovative education approaches: Education and training are important issues for the change towards sustainable energy structures in Iran.