Public policy and technological change
Technological change, i.e., the invention, innovation, and diffusion of new technologies, is arguably the most important lever to address key societal challenges related to energy. Public policy is instrumental to re-direct and accelerate technological change.
Our research on public policy and technological change aims to increase the understanding of innovation and diffusion processes, how they differ between technologies and geographical contexts, and the actors and institutions involved. Particularly, we are interested in different types of learning, the role of knowledge spillovers, and using these concepts for technology forecasting. Analyzing the effects of policy mixes ex-post enables us to derive recommendations for the reformulation of innovation and industrial policies.
Methodological approaches in this area comprise qualitative and quantitative empirical methods, techno-economic models, and computational models for ex-ante policy analysis.
Ongoing research projects in this area include
external page NCCR CATALYSIS: Sustainable chemistry for a carbon-neutral society (Swiss National Science Foundation, National Centre of Competence in Research)
external page SWEET: ACHIEVE - Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland (Swiss Federal Office of Energy)
external page ARIADNE: Copernicus Project The Future of Our Energy (German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space)
external page SWEET: EDGE - Integration of decentralized supply of renewable energy into the Swiss energy system (Swiss Federal Office of Energy)
external page PRISMA: Net zero pathway research through integrated assessment model advancements (HorizonEurope)