Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/107284 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5139
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper explores cost-effective low-carbon R&D and capital investment portfolios for the electricity generation sector through 2060. We present a novel method for long-term planning by combining an economic model of endogenous non-linear technical change and a generation capacity planning model with key features of the electricity system. The model captures the complementary nature of technologies in the power sector; physical integration constraints; and the opportunity to build new knowledge capital as a non-linear function of R&D and accumulated knowledge, which reflects the diminishing marginal returns to research characteristic of the energy innovation process. We show portfolios for future scenarios with and without carbon emission limits, and demonstrate the importance of including various features by comparing results from a reference version of the model to results from alternative versions that omit these features. Our results caution that using economic frameworks that do not incorporate critical electricity and innovation system features may over- or under-estimate the value of emerging technologies, and therefore the cost-effectiveness of R&D opportunities.
Subjects: 
electricity generation
electricity capacity planning
energy R&D portfolios
energy innovation
endogenous technical change
JEL: 
Q42
Q54
Q55
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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