Missions-oriented RD&D institutions in energy between 2000 and 2010: A comparative analysis of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States

In the first decade of the 21st century, governments in many countries around the world expanded or redesigned their support for the development and deployment of advanced energy-supply and energy-demand technologies. By analyzing the institutions that have been created to stimulate energy technology innovation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China-three countries with very different sizes, political systems and cultures, natural resources, and histories of involvement in the energy sector-this paper highlights how variations in national objectives and industrial and political environments have translated into variations in policy. The analysis shows that the countries’ activities differ in terms of three general elements: whether the government's various activities are coordinated or autonomous, whether the business community is significantly involved in the design and running of the initiatives, and whether the implementing institutions focus on single or multiple missions and innovation types. These differences constitute different types of governments’ attempts to activate the state-industry innovation complex. The paper concludes with a discussion of the trade-offs involved in the design of systems for public support of energy RD&D, points to possible gaps in the government approaches to support energy RD&D, and highlights areas of future research.