The OECD study on innovation in the energy sector focuses mainly on fuel cell technology but other fields also examined, including oil & gas extraction technologies and clean coal technology. The objectives were to present recent R&D and innovation processes in the energy sector, and formulate policy recommendations for national policies in the sector. The study was conducted in collaboration with the International Energy Agency’s Committee on Energy Research and Technology.
The study highlights the challenges associated with innovation in large technological infrastructures (e.g. issues of technological lock-in and system inter-dependencies). It examines systemic imperfections that may hinder the improvement of R&D productivity and the innovative capacity of the energy sector with a particular emphasis on R&D funding, public-private partnerships in research and technological development, and IPR management.
National reports on innovation in energy:
– Canada: Case study on fuel cells
– France: Case study on fuel cells
– Germany: Case study on fuel cells
– Italy: Case study on fuel cell technology
– Japan: Innovation in fuel cell technologies – Development and commercialization of polymer electrolyte fuel cells
– Korea: Innovation in fuel cell and photovoltaic industry in Korea
– Norway: Innovations in fuel cells and related hydrogen technology in Norway
– Norway: Upstream oil and gas in Norway
– United Kingdom: Fuel cells activity in the UK
– United Kingdom: The UK innovation system for new and renewable energy technologies
– United States: The innovation of energy technologies and the US national innovation system, the case of the advanced turbine system
– United States: The Role of the U.S. National Innovation System in the Development of the PEM Stationary Fuel Cell
– United States: Energy innovation in the US, automobile fuel cell applications
Source: OECD, Sectoral Case Studies in Innovation: Energy