Measuring the duration of formative phases for energy technologies

Bento, Nuno and Wilson, Charlie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8164-3566 (2016) Measuring the duration of formative phases for energy technologies. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 21. 95–112. ISSN 2210-4224

Microsoft Word (Bento_2016_EIST_FormativePhases_SubmittedManuscript) - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (835kB)

Abstract

Innovation processes during the early period of a technology's development establish the conditions for widespread commercialization. For comparative analysis of innovation processes across technologies, a common operational definition of the formative phase is needed. This paper develops a set of indicators to measure the start and end points of formative phases with reference to key innovation processes including experimentation and market formation. The indicators are then applied to measure the formative phase durations of sixteen energy technologies covering a range of historical periods and applications. Formative phases are found to last 22 years on average. Determinants of formative phase duration are explored. Duration does not appear to be explained by unit scale, up-scaling, nor initial cost. However, technologies that are ready substitutes for incumbents have shorter formative phases, ceteris paribus. Policy implications include the potentials and risks of accelerating formative phases to push low carbon technologies into the market.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	diffusion,energy technologies,formative phase,indicators,innovation systems
UEA Research Groups:	University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	16 May 2016 10:01
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 05:32
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/58746
DOI:	10.1016/j.eist.2016.04.004

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item