The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has authored a chapter of the recently released Global Innovation Index 2018.
The index, which is produced jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications.
The 2018 edition, highlights the need for expanded innovative work in climate-friendly green technology amid rising energy demands worldwide. Projections indicate that by 2040 the world will require up to 30% more energy than it needs today and conventional approaches to expanding the energy supply are unsustainable in the face of climate change.
IRENA outlines four central policy-level innovation recommendations that are critical to scaling-up renewable energy deployment. It’s recommendations are:
1. Foster a system wide approach to innovation, beyond research and development
Innovations in technology, together with innovative approaches to enabling infrastructure, business models and system operation, must all be pursued with equal assiduousness.
2. Strengthen international cooperation to nurture innovation
Innovation is central to decarbonising the energy sector, and international cooperation is critical to innovation. This allows countries to share ideas, pool resources and capital, and co-develop programmes that support common interests.
3. Advance power system integration
The business case for renewable power generation is now unquestionable, with power generation costs now falling well within the fossil fuel cost range. Yet despite the strong business case, achieving the world’s full resource potential requires a significant scaling-up of the share of renewable power in global electricity systems from a quarter today, to around 85 per cent by 2050. This requires efforts to promote systems integration by increasing the flexibility of power systems in supply and demand.
4. Support a portfolio of technology options to electrify and decarbonise end-use sectors
The electrification and decarbonisation of end-use sectors such as transportation, heating, cooling and industry lags the renewables momentum for power generation, yet end-use sectors represent close to 60 per cent of energy related CO2 emissions. A combination of electrification, technology breakthroughs, and sector-specific global agreements for decarbonisation, are needed according.
“Innovation is clearly necessary to address the energy/environment equation, but let us keep in mind that such innovation cannot be only technological. New social, economic and business models are required, including through efforts to promote smart cities, mobility solutions based on shared vehicles – and a global citizenry with better information on the impacts of various energy policies.”
Reference- IRENA, Global Innovation Index, Download the report here.