ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES - SYSTEMIC ASPECTS, TECHNOLOGICAL TRAJECTORIES, AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS

Technology policies to promote a transition ''away from the carbon ato m'' must take into account the systemic nature of technological change in the energy sector. Technological interrelatedness, infrastructure requirements, and lumpiness of energy sector investments result in the need to consider technological change as systemic, i.e., beyond the i ntroduction and diffusion of individual technologies. Consequences of technological advances are ambivalent. On the one hand, technological improvements in existing technologies can slow down the development of new alternatives and radical technological shifts. On the other hand, technological change generates variety within the system of energy su pply and end-use technologies, leading to technological pluralism. Thu s, technology dynamics are characterized by a complex interplay betwee n irreversibility and diversity. It is on this basis that public techn ology policy oriented toward sustainable energy development has to be formulated.