Challenges for R&D and innovation in energy

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of R&D and innovation in energy efficiency and dealing with climate change. To improve our knowledge of these matters a workshop was organised in Barcelona, Spain, in January 2014. This introduction to the special issue first presents some insights from the literature on challenges for R&D and innovation in energy. The second section summarises the articles from this workshop that make up this special issue and that provide new insights into innovation in energy. All the articles include energy policy recommendations based on the empirical analyses carried out.

Energy R&D towards Sustainability: A Panel Analysis of Government Budget for Energy R&D in OECD Countries (1974–2012)

“…One of the contributions of this study is that it provides a more comprehensive understanding of energy R&D and innovation activities by looking into cross-national differences in governmental budget for energy R&D, given that much of the existing literature on energy innovation has focused on the firm level [28]. In addition, our findings hold practical implications for making sustainable energy transitions.…”

“…Two such factors stand out in the discourse on sustainable energy transitions-energy security and climate change [28,29].…”

“…Governments around the world undergoing a series of international climate negotiations in the last decade have become keen on technological solutions to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Climate change mitigation and adaptation are now the cornerstones of energy policy in many countries including the European Union [9,28].…”

Financing Renewable Energy: Who Is Financing What and Why it Matters

“…The different financial actors providing finance in RE innovation have been studied extensively in R&D. While R&D in the energy sector has historically been low compared with other sectors (Costa-Campi et al, 2015), private R&D expenditures fell to historic lows in the at the beginning of the 21st century (Nemet and Kammen, 2007). Between 1990 and2004, R&D expenditure in utilities dropped by 72 percent in the US and by 62 percent in Europe; the reduction was strongest in utilities after they were privatized (Sterlacchini, 2012).…”

Evaluating Internal Technological Capabilities in Energy Companies

“…For example, Moghaddam et al [6] tried to identify technological shortcomings of wind energy sector in Iran by comparing its current capability level with its ideal condition. However, despite that technological innovation and R&D activities in the energy sector are attracting much interest as a way to increase energy efficiency and face the challenges of climate change, the sector showed a relatively low level of R&D expenditure [7,8]. At the same time, the sector has been undergoing significant changes in technology due to the emergence of new and renewable energy sources, necessitating the continuous investment in R&D to cope with the environmental changes in technologies and markets.…”