ABSTRACT

An energy policy connected to sustainable development needs to be built upon three principles which cannot be applied without ensuring ecological carrying capacity, economic efficiency and social equality. Energy politics are related to many economic, environmental and social factors and the necessary policies need to be developed within such a framework first. In this sense, work on sustainable development and future sustainability of energy is still in progress in Turkey. Within this approach, field work testing the attitudes of regulatory bodies, the sectors, the users and the investors towards the effects of renewable energy on sustainable development in Turkey was done for the purposes of this dissertation. For this purpose, a survey prepared for the study was presented to 240 participants from different regions of Turkey. Among the most important findings of the fieldwork are the participants’ attitudes concerning the definitions of renewable energy for sustainable development.