The Politics of Low-Carbon Innovation

The Politics of Low-Carbon Innovation PDF

Author: Per Ove Eikeland

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-28

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 3030179133

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"Although technological innovation is undoubtedly crucial for addressing climate change, low-carbon innovation policies and politics have hardly been studied. This book clearly reveals the promises and pitfalls of European efforts in this field – recommended reading!"—Sebastian Oberthür, Institute for European Studies, Belguim "This compact volume effectively addresses a surprisingly unknown territory in an otherwise well-explored landscape. In doing so, it will provide a useful resource to all who follow the uneven progress of climate and energy policy in the EU context, as well as those who are interested in policies to stimulate technology development more broadly." —Tim Rayner, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, UK The EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) was aimed at accelerating low-carbon innovation by raising, coordinating and concentrating resources to certain low-carbon technologies. At the ten-year anniversary of the SET-Plan, this book examines why it was adopted and what it has achieved. Using an analytical framework developed to capture the ‘politics of innovation’, the authors trace the history of the Plan from initiation to implementation, and then explain its development as seen from the perspectives of the EU institutions, member-states, industry, the research community and international technology markets. The concluding chapter discusses lessons and prospects for European low-carbon innovation towards 2030 and beyond. This new work fills a void in the literature on EU climate and energy policies, and will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners in these fields.

How Solar Energy Became Cheap

How Solar Energy Became Cheap PDF

Author: Gregory F. Nemet

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-05-20

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0429643853

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Solar energy is a substantial global industry, one that has generated trade disputes among superpowers, threatened the solvency of large energy companies, and prompted serious reconsideration of electric utility regulation rooted in the 1930s. One of the biggest payoffs from solar’s success is not the clean inexpensive electricity it can produce, but the lessons it provides for innovation in other technologies needed to address climate change. Despite the large literature on solar, including analyses of increasingly detailed datasets, the question as to how solar became inexpensive and why it took so long still remains unanswered. Drawing on developments in the US, Japan, Germany, Australia, and China, this book provides a truly comprehensive and international explanation for how solar has become inexpensive. Understanding the reasons for solar’s success enables us to take full advantage of solar’s potential. It can also teach us how to support other low-carbon technologies with analogous properties, including small modular nuclear reactors and direct air capture. However, the urgency of addressing climate change means that a key challenge in applying the solar model is in finding ways to speed up innovation. Offering suggestions and policy recommendations for accelerated innovation is another key contribution of this book. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy technology and innovation, climate change and energy analysis and policy, as well as practitioners and policymakers working in the existing and emerging energy industries.

National Pathways to Low Carbon Emission Economies

National Pathways to Low Carbon Emission Economies PDF

Author: Kurt Hübner

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781138312616

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This book presents a series of case studies exploring the innovation policies that various countries have introduced in a bid to enhance low carbon emission activities. They demonstrate the extent to which external events and institutional constraints from the international polity influence national innovation strategies.

Green Innovation in China

Green Innovation in China PDF

Author: Joanna I. Lewis

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0231153309

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Just a decade ago, China maintained only a handful of operating wind turbines -- all imported from Europe and the United States.

Low-carbon Technology Transfer

Low-carbon Technology Transfer PDF

Author: David G. Ockwell

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-12-12

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 1136327657

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Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has been both a lynchpin of, and a key stumbling block to a global deal on climate change. This book brings together for the first time in one place the work of some of the world's leading contemporary researchers in this field. It provides a practical, empirically grounded guide for policy makers and practitioners, while at the same time making new theoretical advances in combining insights from the literature on technology transfer and the literature on low carbon innovation. The book begins by summarizing the nature of low carbon technology transfer and its contemporary relevance in the context of climate change, before introducing a new theoretical framework through which effective policy mechanisms can be analyzed. The north-south, developed-developing country differences and synergies are then introduced together with the relevant international policy context. Uniquely, the book also introduces questions around the extent to which current approaches to technology transfer under the international policy regime might be considered to be 'pro-poor'. Throughout, the book draws on cutting edge empirical work to illustrate the insights it affords. The book concludes by setting out constructive ways forward towards delivering on existing international commitments in this area, including practical tools for decision makers.

Innovation for a Low Carbon Economy

Innovation for a Low Carbon Economy PDF

Author: Tim Foxon

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781781956403

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Innovation for a Low Carbon Economy analyses the interplay of technological, institutional, market and management factors in the dynamics of energy systems. The book aims to inform national and international policies to promote low carbon innovation.

Technology Transfer and Innovation for Low-Carbon Development

Technology Transfer and Innovation for Low-Carbon Development PDF

Author: Miria Pigato

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2020-04-09

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1464815003

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Technological revolutions have increased the world’s wealth unevenly and in ways that have accelerated climate change. This report argues that achieving The Paris Agreement’s objectives would require a massive transfer of existing and commercially proven low-carbon technologies (LCT) from high-income to developing countries where the bulk of future emissions is expected to occur. This mass deployment is not only a necessity but also an opportunity: Policies to deploy LCT can help countries achieve economic and other development objectives, like improving human health, in addition to reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs). Additionally, LCT deployment offers an opportunity for countries with sufficient capabilities to benefit from participation in global value chains and produce and export LCTs. Finally, the report calls for a greater international involvement in supporting the poorest countries, which have the least access to LCT and finance and the most underdeveloped physical, technological, and institutional capabilities that are essential to benefit from technology.

Designing Climate Solutions

Designing Climate Solutions PDF

Author: Hal Harvey

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 1610919564

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With the effects of climate change already upon us, the need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions is nothing less than urgent. It’s a daunting challenge, but the technologies and strategies to meet it exist today. A small set of energy policies, designed and implemented well, can put us on the path to a low carbon future. Energy systems are large and complex, so energy policy must be focused and cost-effective. One-size-fits-all approaches simply won’t get the job done. Policymakers need a clear, comprehensive resource that outlines the energy policies that will have the biggest impact on our climate future, and describes how to design these policies well. Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy is the first such guide, bringing together the latest research and analysis around low carbon energy solutions. Written by Hal Harvey, CEO of the policy firm Energy Innovation, with Robbie Orvis and Jeffrey Rissman of Energy Innovation, Designing Climate Solutions is an accessible resource on lowering carbon emissions for policymakers, activists, philanthropists, and others in the climate and energy community. In Part I, the authors deliver a roadmap for understanding which countries, sectors, and sources produce the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and give readers the tools to select and design efficient policies for each of these sectors. In Part II, they break down each type of policy, from renewable portfolio standards to carbon pricing, offering key design principles and case studies where each policy has been implemented successfully. We don’t need to wait for new technologies or strategies to create a low carbon future—and we can’t afford to. Designing Climate Solutions gives professionals the tools they need to select, design, and implement the policies that can put us on the path to a livable climate future.

The Political Economy of Low Carbon Transformation

The Political Economy of Low Carbon Transformation PDF

Author: Harold Wilhite

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-10

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1317596374

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Deep reductions in energy use and carbon emissions will not be possible within political economies that are driven by the capitalist imperatives of growth, commodification and individualization. As such, it has now become necessary to understand the relationship between capitalism and the emergence of high energy habits. Using the examples of home energy, transport and food, The Political Economy of Low Carbon Transformation articulates the relationship between the politics of economic expansion and the formation of high-energy habits at the level of family and household. The book elaborates a theory of habit and how it can contribute to this relationship. It critiques mainstream green economy and green energy prescriptions for low carbon transformation that take economic growth for granted and ignore habits formed in a material world designed and built for high energy use. The book explores the growing number of communities around the world that are engaged in collaborative efforts to reform their community and household habits in ways that are less environmentally intrusive. It assesses their potential to make an impact on national and urban low carbon political agendas. The book is aimed at a large and growing interdisciplinary audience interested in the relationship between political economy, consumption and sustainability.

HC 344 - Innovate to Accumulate: The Government's Approach to Low Carbon Innovation

HC 344 - Innovate to Accumulate: The Government's Approach to Low Carbon Innovation PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Energy and Climate Change Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-08-04

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 0215075749

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This report scrutinises the Government's performance in supporting firms developing new products for the £3.4 trillion international low carbon good and environmental services sector - following up on a National Audit Office report that had been critical of the Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) record in 2010. There has not been enough progress since then and the resources allocated by the Government to support companies do not match its level of policy ambition in this area. The Low Carbon Innovation Co-ordination Group (LCICG) Secretariat in DECC, for instance, is poorly resourced leaving the low carbon innovation sector without sufficient support necessary to bridge the so-called 'valley of death' and bring innovative new products to market. DECC has admitted that this lack of staff resource also prevents it from engaging fully on European issues that are of direct relevance to UK innovators. At a global level DECC and the LCICG could do more to help UK innovators benefit more from their intellectual property internationally, to help to build greater confidence for potential investors to support innovation in low carbon technologies. The Government is also not doing enough to influence the EU on product standards which can make or break the market for UK innovation exports.