Research and development for commercializing alternative energy

At the IPI World Congress in Helsinki Jorma Ollila, who serves as chairman of both Royal Dutch Shell and Nokia, stressed the need for the right government policies and incentives. Ollila said:

. . . we need government support for changes. Government support is critical over the course of next decade -- to deploy by 2020s. We have it in the lab, we do not have commercial projects. This process is not viable without the right kind of government support.

Looking at the Obama government's actions, related to the stimulus package: I see significant and commendable R&D support. Europe took some significant decision earlier this spring -- the US will go there too I understand.

Charles Kolstad of UC Santa Barbara addressed the question as to whether government or the private sector ought to conduct research and development aimed at the commercialization of alternative energy technologies:

Charles Kolstad: Price of carbon will have an impact. Without a price of carbon it's hard to get behavior change. In terms of R&D, we have not been successful in many areas. Compact florescent light bulb is most effective success of the past 30 yrs. Govt R&D succeeds best when the horizon is far away. When it comes to consumer technologies evidence isn't there (that governments can drive innovation).

See the full text of Charles Kolstad's talk (Pdf).

The IPI panel on climate change also included Ali Sayigh of the World Renewable Energy Network (WREN). It was moderated by Curtis Brainard of the Columbia Journalism Review. Jotman live-blogged the entire panel discussion -- see "Technology and innovation: Climate change Rx?"

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