Whither policy innovation? Mapping conceptual engagement with public policy in energy transitions research

A transition to sustainable energy will require not only technological diffusion and behavioral change, but also policy innovation. While research on energy transitions has generated an extensive literature, the extent to which it has used the policy innovation perspective – entailing policy entrepreneurship or invention, policy diffusion, and...

Methodology to identify demand-side low-carbon innovations and their potential impact on socio-technical energy systems

The rapid diffusion of demand-side low-carbon innovations has been identified as a key strategy for maintaining average global temperature rise at or below 1.5 °C. Diffusion research tends to focus on a single sector, or single technology case study, and on a small scope of factors that influence innovation diffusion. This paper describes a...

An Agent-Based Social Simulation Model of Belief System Change Applied to the Formation of Consumer Attitudes Towards Clean Energy Technologies

The need for an energy transition has arisen in response to a growing discrepancy between (A) what people find important or valuable in life, and (B) the performance of – or value delivered by – the physical energy system. Since the physical energy system has not changed much in recent decades, it is clear that changes in people’s values are...