Technology Learning Curves for Energy Policy Support

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) organised an expert workshop on 'Learning Curves for Policy Support' in Amsterdam on 8 March 2012. It aimed to assess the challenges in the application of the two-factor learning curve, or alternative solutions in supporting policy decision making in the framework of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan, and explored options for improvement. The workshop gathered distinguished experts in the field of scientific research on learning curves and policy researchers from the European Commission and ECN to assess the challenges in the application of the two-factor-learning curve, or alternative solutions in supporting policy decision making, and to provide options for improvement. This paper forms the summary of outcomes from the workshop. Due to the very different nature of the One-Factor-Learning concept and the Two-Factor-Learning concept, these are discussed in separate parts. In each of these parts the context and the methodology are introduced, methodological and data challenges are described and the problems associated with the application of the concept in models is discussed.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

Learning curves for solid oxide fuel cells

International audienceIn this article we present learning curves for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). With data from fuel cell manufacturers we derive a detailed breakdown of their production costs. We develop a bottom-up model that allows for determining overall SOFC manufacturing costs with their respective cost components, among which material, energy, labor and capital charges. The results obtained from our model prove to deviate by at most 13% from total cost figures quoted in the literature. For the R&D stage of development and diffusion, we find local learning rates between 13% and 17% and we demonstrate that the corresponding cost reductions result essentially from learning-by-searching effects. When considering periods in time that focus on the pilot and early commercial production stages, we find regional learning rates of 27% and 1%, respectively, which we assume derive mainly from genuine learning phenomena. These figures turnout significantly higher, approximately 44% and 12% respectively, if also effects of economies-of-scale and automation are included. When combining all production stages we obtain lr = 35%, which represents a mix of cost reduction phenomena. This high learning rate value and the potential to scale up production suggest that continued efforts in the development of SOFC manufacturing processes, as well as deployment and use of SOFCs, may lead to substantial further cost reductions

Innovation systems in developing countries

This paper provides a review of what every developing-country policymaker should know about low-carbon innovation. It explains what is unique about low-carbon innovation, why low-carbon innovation systems matter, and in what ways they need to be strengthened. However, building low-carbon innovation systems is a resource-intensive and long term endeavour, the outcomes of which are neither guaranteed nor predictable, and no single approach fits all national contexts. To mitigate the risky nature of building innovation systems, the public sector needs to provide financial support alongside private sector investments. Innovations emerge from a system of interconnected firms, (research) organisations and users all operating within an institutional environment that supports the building and strengthening of skills, knowledge and experience, and further enhances the interconnectedness of such players. Successful development and adoption of low-carbon technologies in developing countries depends on the presence of appropriate policies and innovation systems. Appropriateness means they are responsive to their local context in terms of available resources, comparative advantages, societal characteristics and cultural practices. Innovation skills and knowledge should be built in tandem with the adoption of lowcarbon technologies and practices. An advantage for poorer developing nations stems from the weaker entrenchment of vested interests and less well established energy infrastructures. These provide opportunities for more easily steering development in low-carbon directions, avoiding the high-carbon pathways that industrialised countries have taken. International initiatives could help to build low-carbon innovation systems in developing countries, but they should align with national policies of countries in order to better enable self-determined low-carbon innovation