Emerging Energy Technologies: Impacts and Policy Implications (Energy and Environmental Programme)

Technical change is a key factor in the energy world. Failure to recognize the potential for technical change, and the pace at which it may occur, has limited the accuracy and usefulness of past energy projections. Conversely, programmes to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies have often proved disappointing in the face of technical and commercial obstacles. This study examines potentially important new and emerging energy technologies, and the mechanisms by which they may develop and enter the market. The project concentrates on the potential and probable role of selected energy technologies - which are in existence and likely to be of rapidly growing importance over the next decade - and the way in which market conditions and policy environment may affect their implementation.