A roadmap to combating climate change

The report analyzes the 'technological innovation system' (TIS) for solar PV and CCS, contrasting the EU's market-pull approach with the US's R&D-push focus. While solar PV has seen rapid growth and falling costs, it faces risks from fluctuating European subsidies. CCS is stalled in the 'valley of death' due to high capital requirements for large-scale demonstration and a lack of long-term climate policy, particularly in the US.

• The EU and US have adopted divergent governance strategies for low-carbon technology: Europe has primarily used policies to stimulate market demand, whereas the US has focused more heavily on research and development (R&D).
• Solar PV has experienced rapid global expansion, with installed capacity growing from 0.1 GW in 1992 to 36 GW in 2010, and projections suggesting it could reach 1600 GW or more by 2050.
• European solar PV deployment has been driven largely by national feed-in tariffs, particularly in Germany, though these are now being revised due to concerns that they were set too high and may have weakened competitiveness.
• The US is a global leader in solar PV R&D and patents, with government spending in 2009 amounting to nearly USD 200 million, but it lags behind the EU in installations and both Europe and East Asia in manufacturing.
• Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is at risk of failing in the 'valley of death'—the gap between R&D and commercial deployment—because the enormous capital required for large-scale demonstration plants (often exceeding EUR 1 billion each) is not being met by public or private finance.
• The primary driver for CCS globally is the EU's target to reduce emissions by 80–95% by 2050, but progress is hindered by uncertainty over CO2 prices in the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and restrictive national rules regarding onshore storage.
• In the US, CCS development is supported by the market for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and federal tax credits, but the lack of a national climate policy and a price on CO2 undermines its potential as a climate mitigation tool.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). A roadmap to combating climate change. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Brochure-3C-DrivingTechnologicalInnovationForALowCarbonSociety.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. A roadmap to combating climate change. n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Brochure-3C-DrivingTechnologicalInnovationForALowCarbonSociety.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=A roadmap to combating climate change |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Brochure-3C-DrivingTechnologicalInnovationForALowCarbonSociety.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendroadmap, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{A roadmap to combating climate change}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Brochure-3C-DrivingTechnologicalInnovationForALowCarbonSociety.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }