ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The report outlines a framework for energy technology innovation divided into research, engineering, and commercialization. It advocates for the use of innovation hubs, peer review, and 'stage gating' in research; industry-led agendas and shared government testing platforms in engineering; and long-term, liquid market signals and reverse auctions in commercialization to ensure technologies reach market competitiveness efficiently.

• Successful energy research requires a risk-tolerant environment and four specific organizational strategies: concentrating resources in innovation hubs, utilizing peer review for project selection, maintaining stable policy horizons of approximately 10 years, and implementing 'stage gate' mechanisms to terminate failing projects early.
• The engineering phase, which translates scientific discoveries into practical products, is most effective when governments involve industry in setting research agendas, allow private-sector scientists to participate in government research, and provide access to expensive, government-funded testing and development platforms.
• Commercialization of energy technology requires large-scale, long-term demand signals to incentivize the multi-billion dollar investments needed for gigawatt-scale adoption. The report suggests that feed-in tariffs and tax credits are most effective when they are stable, predictable, and liquid.
• To minimize government spending while supporting technology deployment, the report recommends using reverse auctions to let the market determine the lowest required subsidy price.
• Current global investment in energy R&D is insufficient, totaling less than one percent of annual sales. This is significantly lower than investments in information technology (20 times higher) and pharmaceuticals (almost 40 times higher).

APA

Harvey, H., Rissman, J., & Aggarwal, S. (n.d.). ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/energy-tech-innov-leadership-21st-cen.pdf

Chicago

Harvey, Hal, Jeffrey Rissman, and Sonia Aggarwal. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY. Energy Innovation, n.d. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/energy-tech-innov-leadership-21st-cen.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harvey |first1=Hal |last2=Rissman |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Aggarwal |first3=Sonia |title=ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY |publisher=Energy Innovation |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/energy-tech-innov-leadership-21st-cen.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harveyndenergy, author = {Harvey, Hal and Rissman, Jeffrey and Aggarwal, Sonia}, title = {{ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/energy-tech-innov-leadership-21st-cen.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }