We investigate energy innovation funding and institutions in the Major Eight (M8) (Fig. We thus address a major knowledge gap on energy innovation governance as a policy response to climate change, in particular compared with other policies such as carbon pricing or renewable energy deployment policy 22. In addition, systematic comparative and technology-specific funding data that include China and India have not been available 20 nor have institutional data beyond the United Kingdom, United States and China, for which we have only outdated data 21.
#THE WORLD AFTER THE FALL LIGHT NOVEL DRIVERS#
We thus offer a framework to assess possible drivers of change in energy innovation governance and probe their empirical relevance in three specific cases. In this study, we examine three specific cases of the theoretical drivers of crisis, competition and cooperation-the 3Cs: stimulus spending in response to the financial crisis of 2008, international cooperation through Mission Innovation and economic competition from China 18, 19. In addition, analysing the forces of change in the evolution of energy innovation governance is central to identifying levers to accelerate energy innovation. Understanding evolution and variation in funding and institutions allows us to assess where we stand in energy innovation governance for decarbonization.
Yet it remains unclear how and why public energy RD&D funding and institutions have evolved over time and how they vary cross nationally. Some stimulus packages enacted in response to the 2020 economic crisis have included climate-related investments, such as energy RD&D 17. For example, Mission Innovation, a 2015 international initiative, sought to double clean-energy RD&D spending by 2020 16.
In recent years, energy innovation policy has become widely recognized as central to the response to climate change and to green growth strategies 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. In the absence of substantially accelerating energy innovation, mitigation costs and climate damages will probably be much higher than they could be. Public institutions for energy innovation need to evolve to facilitate the rapid commercialization of technologies 6, 7, given the lag times between RD&D and technology diffusion 8, 9, 10. Annual funding for public energy RD&D would have needed to at least double between 20 to enable future energy emissions cuts approximately consistent with the 2° Celsius climate goal 1, 4, 5. Accelerating energy innovation hinges critically on public investment and institutions for RD&D, among other measures such as deployment policies 2, 3.įor public energy RD&D to help achieve the Paris climate goals, both funding and institutions for energy innovation need to transform. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that 35% of cumulative emissions reductions necessary to achieve the Paris climate goals hinge on technologies that are currently only at the prototype or demonstration phase and require further research, development and demonstration (RD&D) 1. Looking ahead, global coopetition-the interplay of RD&D cooperation and clean tech competition-offers opportunities for accelerating energy innovation to meet climate goals.ĭecarbonizing the economy to mitigate climate change requires accelerating energy innovation. Stimulus spending after the financial crisis, instead, boosted fossil and nuclear only. We find that cooperation in Mission Innovation is associated with punctuated change in clean-energy RD&D growth, and clean tech competition with China is associated with gradual change. In theory, crisis, cooperation and competition can be drivers of change. Governments created new institutions but experimented only marginally with novel designs that bridge lab to market to accelerate commercialization. The share of new clean energy grew at the expense of nuclear, while the fossil fuel RD&D share remained stable.
Here we examine the evolution and variation of public energy RD&D funding and institutions and associated drivers across eight major economies, including China and India (2000–2018). Accelerating energy innovation for decarbonization hinges on public investment in research, development and demonstration (RD&D).
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