Clean energy technology innovation – particularly RD&D – plays a critical role in accelerating the global energy transition. As this transition progresses and ambitions grow, the need for strong government support for innovation grows alongside it. Supported mechanism provided is a combination of measures, incl. public and private RD&D funding, market instruments and policies that guide and encourage innovation activities, described as “inputs” in the innovation process. Inputs lead to outputs (i.e. new or improved technologies, processes and systems that cost less and are more efficient) and ultimately outcomes (i.e. positive changes in energy systems such as CO2 emissions reduction), referred to as “impacts”.
To date, the focus has been on the gathering of data on inputs into the innovation process. There has been substantially less activity trying to define meaningful metrics to track the impacts – or outputs – from clean energy technology innovation. Such metrics would allow for a more rigorous comparative analysis of the relative performance of innovation support for different technologies. Crucially, having metrics to track innovation outputs is a prerequisite to link impact of innovation inputs to the progress of clean energy technology innovation. Without the two datasets it is challenging to understand impact, which is important to assess support mechanisms and inform decision making on funding and support.
The objective of the TEIIF project was to provide insights into the impact that innovation, particularly through RD&D, is having on progress in clean energy technologies and the transformation of energy systems globally. Please note, progress in energy technology is driven by many factors, of which RD&D is one. The project did not attempt to assess the level of causality between inputs and outputs. That type of analysis would require additional metrics that affect several technologies simultaneously but also the impact of economies of scale in manufacturing, demand-pull policies, etc. The approach explored does not address RD&D policies or RD&D funding, nor does it attempt to prove a causal link between progress made and RD&D funding or policies. It does explore what innovation and market dynamics have achieved together and highlights areas for additional research.
