5.3 Innovation
Despite rapid progress on some technologies
such as solar photovoltaic, wind power, LED
lightbulbs and batteries, the pace of deployment
is too slow to meet climate goals, according to
the IEA. Chatham House research has found that
innovations within the energy sector take
20-30 years to penetrate the mass market.
Accelerating the rate at which future innovations
reach the mass market could be achieved by a
publicly backed energy patent pool, enabling
market disrupters to access patents.
Mission Innovation and the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition are new, significant global
attempts to scale up R&D funding and focus on
the next generation of technological breakthroughs needed to achieve the Paris Agreement,
such as advanced battery chemistries like
metal-air. However, many key technologies are
held up not by lack of research and development
but by lack of policy support and investment.
Reaching critical levels of deployment will
require wider alignment of supply, demand and
market factors. Ensuring rapid penetration of
electric vehicles, autonomous driving and wireless charging, for example, requires cooperation
and coherence of standards and regulations
across jurisdictions.
Most energy technologies are part of complex
global technology systems. Their development
does not often follow a linear logic or evolve
within the boundaries of individual economic
sectors. Many breakthrough innovations occur
when different fields interact. For example,
innovation in solar photovoltaic technologies has
benefited from developments in consumer and
industrial electronics, and advances in concentrated solar power derive from aerospace and
satellite technologies.
The IEA’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress
2017 report shows that many necessary technologies are held up not by lack of innovation,
but by lack of policy support and investment. It
also reveals where some of the most urgent
action may be needed to accelerate technology
deployment and adoption.
Most energy models anticipate large-scale
application of negative emissions technologies,
such as bio-energy with carbon capture and
storage (BECCS) or carbon capture and use.
However, there are significant uncertainties and
potential trade-offs. Electrification also creates
new challenges for innovation at the system
level. For instance, strategies to bring down the
costs of electricity storage, expansion of grid
infrastructure and coordinated reforms of power
markets may need to be aligned.
There is increasing interest in the potential for
new business models to unlock energy and resource
savings through substitution, digitalisation, sharing
and reuse, among others. China and the EU both
have circular economy strategies that could be used
as a platform for cooperation (Fig. 32).
5.4 Supply Security
With instability in the Middle East unlikely to
recede in the foreseeable future, and the possibility of a supply crunch from conventional
resources on the horizon, security of supply
remains a political priority for many importing
governments. In theory, international cooperation
can help manage the risks of major supply disruption by setting rules and modalities for how
governments will coordinate in the event of a
shock, so avoiding an all-out scramble for supply
that could heighten a crisis. However, IEA
members’ share of energy trade is declining,
leading to growing questions over the effectiveness of the IEA emergency response mechanism
in the event of a serious supply shock. Key issues
therefore include whether and how emerging
economies can be integrated into the IEA regime,
or whether regional approaches may offer more
practical solutions and if this is the case, how
coordination can be managed among them. Other
related concerns include maritime governance,
particularly around critical choke points.
Meanwhile, the growing adoption of renewable energy sources and transformation of electricity grids create new challenges of supply
security. Key issues are likely to include:
Special Report 5: International Energy Cooperation and Governance
629
Despite rapid progress on some technologies
such as solar photovoltaic, wind power, LED
lightbulbs and batteries, the pace of deployment
is too slow to meet climate goals, according to
the IEA. Chatham House research has found that
innovations within the energy sector take
20-30 years to penetrate the mass market.
Accelerating the rate at which future innovations
reach the mass market could be achieved by a
publicly backed energy patent pool, enabling
market disrupters to access patents.
Mission Innovation and the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition are new, significant global
attempts to scale up R&D funding and focus on
the next generation of technological breakthroughs needed to achieve the Paris Agreement,
such as advanced battery chemistries like
metal-air. However, many key technologies are
held up not by lack of research and development
but by lack of policy support and investment.
Reaching critical levels of deployment will
require wider alignment of supply, demand and
market factors. Ensuring rapid penetration of
electric vehicles, autonomous driving and wireless charging, for example, requires cooperation
and coherence of standards and regulations
across jurisdictions.
Most energy technologies are part of complex
global technology systems. Their development
does not often follow a linear logic or evolve
within the boundaries of individual economic
sectors. Many breakthrough innovations occur
when different fields interact. For example,
innovation in solar photovoltaic technologies has
benefited from developments in consumer and
industrial electronics, and advances in concentrated solar power derive from aerospace and
satellite technologies.
The IEA’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress
2017 report shows that many necessary technologies are held up not by lack of innovation,
but by lack of policy support and investment. It
also reveals where some of the most urgent
action may be needed to accelerate technology
deployment and adoption.
Most energy models anticipate large-scale
application of negative emissions technologies,
such as bio-energy with carbon capture and
storage (BECCS) or carbon capture and use.
However, there are significant uncertainties and
potential trade-offs. Electrification also creates
new challenges for innovation at the system
level. For instance, strategies to bring down the
costs of electricity storage, expansion of grid
infrastructure and coordinated reforms of power
markets may need to be aligned.
There is increasing interest in the potential for
new business models to unlock energy and resource
savings through substitution, digitalisation, sharing
and reuse, among others. China and the EU both
have circular economy strategies that could be used
as a platform for cooperation (Fig. 32).
5.4 Supply Security
With instability in the Middle East unlikely to
recede in the foreseeable future, and the possibility of a supply crunch from conventional
resources on the horizon, security of supply
remains a political priority for many importing
governments. In theory, international cooperation
can help manage the risks of major supply disruption by setting rules and modalities for how
governments will coordinate in the event of a
shock, so avoiding an all-out scramble for supply
that could heighten a crisis. However, IEA
members’ share of energy trade is declining,
leading to growing questions over the effectiveness of the IEA emergency response mechanism
in the event of a serious supply shock. Key issues
therefore include whether and how emerging
economies can be integrated into the IEA regime,
or whether regional approaches may offer more
practical solutions and if this is the case, how
coordination can be managed among them. Other
related concerns include maritime governance,
particularly around critical choke points.
Meanwhile, the growing adoption of renewable energy sources and transformation of electricity grids create new challenges of supply
security. Key issues are likely to include:
Special Report 5: International Energy Cooperation and Governance
629