Question the gospel of technology neutral policy!

Björn Sandén

Chalmers

SHC, May 7 2012, Göteborg

Policy should be technology neutral!

“…should be technology-neutral because the government should not be picking winners and losers”

CO2 emission reduction incentives…

Three reasons why we need technology specific policies

1Policy is required not to pick winners but to make sure there are good bunch of competitors!

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A huge and rapid transformation is required

Carbon neutral supply

Efficient use

Many technologies need to be developed in parallell

”The market” will only pick the technology that is first in line…

…and not those that currently are more expensive but could solve the problem in the long run.

New technologies are immature and need to be fostered before they can compete on equal terms.

Investments in large infrastucture are threshold investments that require a political vision2

Technologies have implications in many political and ethical dimensions (not only CO2)3

Nuclear power

BiofuelsLithium batteries

In reality…

…as long as it benefits my technology!Policy should be

technology neutral!

1 In reality…

“should be technology-neutral because the government should not be picking winners and losers”

“There is a wrong way and a right way to approach reducing greenhouse gas emissions…”

“The right way is to promote more emission-free nuclear power and encourage the investments necessary to produce electricity from coal without releasing carbon into the air.”

Emission reduction incentives…

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1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

GWp/yr

2 In reality…

E.g. annual sales of Solar cells

The most important trends results from technology specific governmental support!

We need technology neutral policies!

New questions arise…

How technology specific should policy be?

Do agencies and ministries have the required competence?

What type of support is required when?

Which technologies should be supported?

Technology policy requiresknowledge, integrity and passion

Technology is political!

Thank You!Read more (links in blue):In EnglishAzar, C., Sandén, B.A., 2011. The elusive quest for technology-neutral policies. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 1, 135-139.Sandén, B.A., Azar, C., 2005. Near-term technology policies for long-term climate targets: Economy wide versus technology specific approaches. Energy Policy 33, 1557-1576.In SwedishAzar och Sandén , 2012. Ogenomtänkt teknikneutralitet. I Bergstrand (red) ”Upplyst eller utfryst” sid 90-99, Eon, Malmö.