Bilateral Netherlands: The politics of low carbon innovation: towards a theory of niche protection

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Wind Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Solar Energy, Photovoltaics)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Economics and Econometrics)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Technology acceptance)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Dr AP Smith
Science Policy Research Unit
University of Sussex

Standard

ESRC

01 October 2010

31 March 2014

36 months

£302,971

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

South East

Dr AP Smith, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex

Objectives not supplied

This project will analyse the politics of providing "protective space" for innovative sustainable developments. Sustainable innovation theory emphasises innovation processes developing within protective niches. These spaces accumulate experience through real world experimentation and help carry technologies from demonstration and into commercial use. Three low carbon technologies important to Dutch and UK climate policy will be studied: photovoltaic cell offshore wind carbon capture and storage As public support under climate policy grows, will political competition for protective space increase amongst technology advocates? Analysis will look at the arguments advanced by advocates of each technology, and the audiences to whom these arguments are made. The networks of actors (individuals and institutions) that contribute to the development of these narratives will be explored for how they verify and spread the argument; and how their activities generate different forms of protection, eg economic subsidies, public investments, institutional support, valued knowledge, political backing, attaining positive symbolic significance. Importantly, we are interested in how these forms of protection feedback into the development of the niche innovations and affect their development.

25/11/11