Public finance mechanisms across stages of technological development
In the early stages of development, public financial support is needed, both for R&D and then later to encourage deployment (see sections above for examples). Later, private finance can be mobilized for near-competitive technologies and demonstration projects. Public finance mechanisms can encourage the private sector to complement rather than to substitute investment (UNEP, 2011) as illustrated in the figure. As the figure shows, in the later stages of technological development private funding plays a crucial, dominant role compared to public funding for technological advancement. A case can be made for the offshore wind-energy example in Europe. Here, Vestas and Siemens have been the main suppliers to the offshore wind market, with Vestas installing 555 MW and Siemens 278 MW in 2010. In terms of utilities active in the offshore wind market, Vattenfall and E.On installed most new offshore capacity in 2010, 308 MW and 305 MW respectively (GWEC, 2011).
Year: 2013
From collection: Green Economy in a Blue World - Full Report
Cartographer: GRID-Arendal