Why Do Some Technologies Improve More Quickly Than Others? Understanding Innovation to Accelerate Clean Energy Development

Wind and solar energy installations have grown rapidly in recent decades as their costs have fallen. Will these trends continue, thereby allowing these technologies to contribute measurably to climate change mitigation? This talk addresses the topic by considering both the past and the future. We will discuss why solar energy costs have fallen so dramatically, by examining the determinants of these trends-including changes to components of the devices themselves, human efforts to improve these technologies, and a diverse collection of public policies in several nations. We will examine how global markets for renewables might expand under the Paris climate agreement, and how costs might fall further. Finally, we will discuss several intermittent renewables 'companion' technologies, including stationary and mobile energy storage, which may be critical for renewables growth and emissions reductions in the electricity and transportation sectors.

Speaker: Jessika Trancik, MIT