Flagship report
Clean Energy Innovation
Innovation
A critical driver of clean energy transitions
Through research, investments and collaboration, a wide variety of energy fields are being reshaped by technology improvements, reducing costs, increasing efficiencies and boosting deployment. Effective policies are needed to support the best ideas from lab to market.
Key findings
Global public low-carbon energy RD&D budget, 2015-2020
OpenEnergy innovation spending is on the rise, with most government R&D funding going to low-carbon energy technologies
Almost half of the reductions we need depend on technologies that are currently only at prototype or demonstration stage. While the signals for investment in low-carbon energy innovation are positive, they are insufficient. Global public energy R&D spending, including on demonstration projects, rose slightly, by around 2% to USD 32 billion in 2020, confirming that public budgets were resilient during the crisis. Start-ups seeking to launch their first clean energy products onto the market continue to attract record levels of finance. However, company research spending in energy-related fields fell by around 2% in 2020, with around USD 89 billion tracked by our analysis.
Featured analysis
Statistics report
Energy Technology RD&D Budgets: Overview
Tracking trends in spending on research, development and demonstration
Report
Tracking Clean Energy Innovation
A framework for using indicators to inform policy
Flagship report
Energy Technology Perspectives 2020
Technology report
Today in the Lab – Tomorrow in Energy?
Highlighting research projects under development in the Technology Collaboration Programmes
Flagship report
World Energy Investment 2021
Analysis
Article
Better energy efficiency policy with digital tools
Article
Ten years of clean energy start-ups
Tracking success and looking ahead to opportunities in emerging markets
Article
Innovative Energy Start-Ups
A key vehicle for realising clean energy transitions
Commentary
Japan will have to tread a unique pathway to net zero, but it can get there through innovation and investment
Statistics report
Energy Technology RD&D Budgets: Overview
Tracking trends in spending on research, development and demonstration
Statistics report
Patents and the Energy Transition
Global trends in clean energy technology innovation April 2021
Technology report
CCUS around the world
Featured pilot, demonstration, and early stage projects
Commentary
India launches support for innovative clean energy start-ups as global investments begin recovery from 2020
Our work on innovation
The energy sector has a long history of disruptive innovation leading to sweeping changes in energy markets, mobility and society at large. Governments are increasingly looking to guide and accelerate the development of technologies for energy transitions and competitive advantage in a changing energy system.
The IEA works with policy and decision makers around the world to track innovation spending, patents and start-ups, model technology potentials, share good policy practice and promote multilateral collaboration. Notably, the IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT) co-ordinates and promotes the development, demonstration and deployment of technologies to meet challenges in the energy sector.
Events
29 Oct 2021 13:00—16:00
Evaluating the impacts of energy innovation policies
26 Oct 2021
TCP Universal Meeting 2021
08 Jul 2021 13:00—14:30
Roundtable: Promoting collaboration among multilateral initiatives for energy innovation
20 May 2021 14:00—16:30