Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713682447Survival of the greenest: evolutionary economics and policies for energy innovation Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
RESEARCH ARTICLESurvival of the greenest: evolutionary economics and policies for energy innovation JEROEN C. J. M. VAN Abstract This paper aims to explore the possible contribution of evolutionary economics to environmental policy-making, in particular with respect to innovations in energy technology. Evolutionary economics offers insights into the mechanisms that underlie innovations, structural changes and transitions, therefore making it of great value in framing policies aimed at stimulating environmental innovations and transitions to sustainable development. The paper identifies 'bounded rationality', 'diversity', 'innovation', 'selection', 'path dependency and lock-in', and 'co-evolution' as the main concepts in evolutionary economics. These concepts are subsequently used to formulate guidelines for designing energy innovation policies. We evaluate current Dutch policies related to energy technologies against this background and examine the development of three particular energy technologies within the adopted evolutionary economics framework, namely fuel cells, nuclear fusion, and photovoltaic cells. We conclude that in order to incorporate the core concepts of evolutionary economics, governmental technology policies should focus more on the diversity of technologies, strategies and businesses, rather than on economic efficiency as the key goal. It is further found that evolutionary concepts conflicting with traditional growth objectives are rarely incorporated in Dutch energy innovation policies.