The report finds that high costs and associated risks and financing barriers constrain the deployment of PV and CCS.
It says expansion of PV outside traditional markets is urgently needed for PV technologies to play a leading role in GHG abatement, and that more CCS demonstration projects are needed.
February 2012: A report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), titled “Driving Technological Innovation for a Low-Carbon Society,” analyzes innovations in solar photovoltaics (PV) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in Europe and the US, and proposes policies to support further deployment.
The report finds that high costs and associated risks and financing barriers constrain the deployment of PV and CCS. While observing that European support policies focus mainly on the demand side and US policies focus more on research and development support, the report argues that both types of policies are needed to facilitate innovation and decrease costs. The report also notes that innovation and manufacturing of PV and CCS are increasingly international, while markets remain concentrated in a few countries. For PV technologies to play a leading role in greenhouse gas emissions abatement, the report argues that the expansion of markets is urgently needed. For CCS, the report urges for more demonstration projects to show its viability on a larger scale, and for the development of a CO2 market.
SEI is an Associate Member of the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD), a UNEP-facilitated knowledge network on energy, development, and environment issues. [SEI Press Release] [Publication: Driving Technological Innovation for a Low-Carbon Society]