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 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
Report
The Need for Net Zero Demonstration Projects
Article
Energy Technology RD&D Budgets Data Explorer
Part of Energy Technology RD&D Budgets
Statistics report
Energy Technology RD&D Budgets: Overview
Tracking spending on research, development and demonstration
Report
Tracking Clean Energy Innovation: Focus on China
Focus on China
Article
Clean Energy International Incubation Centre
Part of How Governments Support Clean Energy Start-ups
Article
Start Up Energy Transition
Part of How Governments Support Clean Energy Start-ups
Report
How Governments Support Clean Energy Start-ups
Insights from selected approaches around the world
Article
Innovation Norway
Part of How Governments Support Clean Energy Start-ups
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.