Diffusion of innovations in energy efficiency and in climate change mitigation in the public and private sector
Diffusion of innovations in energy efficiency and climate change mitigation in the public and private sector
Project Duration: 01.05.2005 until 30.04.2008
Funding: Volkswagen Foundation, Hannover
1.
Project background
Because of the climate change the remodelling of the energy sector to energy efficient and CO2 reduced modes of generation will become a challenge. This process is characterised by interaction effects between the attributes of the innovation, the regulation mode of the energy market, and the innovation strategies of the actors. These three aspects take centre stage in this research project, which is accomplished by the German Institute for Public Administration Speyer (FOEV) in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
Energy and climate policies in Germany are marked by partly contradictory trends. On the one hand the energy market was deregulated by the realisation of the liberalisation directive. On the other hand the regulative framework was expanded by the Energy Management Act (EnWG) or the Emissions Trading System (ETS). Additionally the federal government pursues an advancement policy which provides incentives through the law of renewable energies (EEG) and the law of combined heat and power (KWKG). Whether and how this combined mechanism does influence the diffusion of specific ecological innovations and the investments of the market actors has not been empirically clarified yet.
Of special interest are the strategies of the German municipal utilities, which are directly affected by nearly all energy political measures. Due to their traditional proximity to the final energy consumer and their central position in the grid infrastructure local utilities are assigned a key role with regard to the analysis of diffusion of innovations.
2.
Research objectives
The core question of this research is, under what conditions municipal utilities and their customers are going to invest in selected innovative technologies (renewable energies, combined heat and power) and services (contracting). Concerning the research project we have singled out three main focuses. On the macro level we focus on the impact of the governmental liberalisation and regulation strategies on the realisation of ecological innovations. Which market mechanisms support innovative technical and organisational solutions, and which impede them? Furthermore this project aims at the reciprocal effects between competitive strategies, (re-) regulation instruments and the advancement of the selected innovation domains.
From the perspective of administrative sciences the comparative analysis of private and public enterprises on the micro level is very important. Can municipal utilities work better as private actors at the side of larger cooperation partners on the energy market. Or are they more able to pursue innovative strategies than independent communal actors? The research project especially emphasises the effects of different attitudes and the role of information and cooperation networks.
3.
Methods
In line with the project data on all the involved actors - from installation producers via energy producers and distributors to customers - will be collected with the objective to adequately evaluate the coordination and decision mechanisms. For this purpose we use a written survey about the innovation and cooperation strategies, which is sent to all German utilities. In the course of the project interviews with selected customer groups (hospitals, butcheries), energy suppliers and technology providers will be conducted.
In the second phase of the project a simulation model shall be developed on the basis of the thus far collected data. With this model effects on the macro level can be explained, for instance the diffusion rate of a technology through processes on the micro level.
4.
Research results
The analysis of diffusion processes in a social scientific and economic manner allows for an evaluation of multifaceted mechanisms. Besides the central academic significance of this research project – the construction of an integrated theory of socio-economic processes in the diffusion of climate change mitigation – it is also relevant to other actors. On the political level the results can be used to evaluate and possibly adjust the instruments to ecological consequences, whereas communal utilities and other actors in the energy sector can obtain expertise on strategies of cooperation, generation and innovation.