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/ The 4th International Seville Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA):12 & 13 May 2011
FTA and Grand Societal Challenges:
Shaping and Driving Structural and Systemic Transformations
Governance Options Influencing the Canada Clean Energy Sector
Authors: / Kenneth WhiteGeorge Emery
Sponsors: / Acton White Associates Inc.
Type: / The 4th International Seville Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA)
Geographic Coverage: / Canada
Scope: / Theme 1, Orienting innovation systems towards global challenges and the roles that FTA can play and more specifically, the sub-theme, Enhancing policy coherence between different levels of governance in support of innovation.
Applied Methods: / Interviews with experts and literature review on governance
Evaluation: Impacts: / The primary objective of showing the longer term benefits of Public Private Partnerships has been met
Positive impact on isolated communities in replacing high polluting diesel power with clean energy
Organiser: / Acton White Associates Inc.
Duration: / February 2011 to March 31 2011 / Budget: / n/a / Time Horizon: / 2011 / Date of Brief: / April 1, 2011
Keywords: / Integrate community and business clean energy requirements
Purpose
Our poster illustrates how commercialization pathways can be substantially improved through joint investments by the public, private and academia community in strong clean energy infrastructure and governance options that contribute to greater commercialization success. These investments and governance options promote viable strategic pathways for the clean energy sector over the next 10 to 15 years.
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<Background & Context>
- The global economy is being driven by a global shift in energy use and supply from fossil fuels and large scale generation to a portfolio of renewable and clean energy supply technologies – large and small, and a growing demand in the equipment that are used to convert that energy to useful work. In this regard, Canada has substantial renewable energy assets. Canada is uniquely situated to be a leading global centre in the development of clean energy technologies and in demonstrating how an actual clean energy system can be developed. Canada has both a large supply of biomass for potential feedstocks for biofuel and bioproducts technologies as well as strong capacity in small hydro technologies including run-of-river, wave and tidal power. Canada, similar to many other economies is also developing a strong wind and solar power technology base. Considerable effort is being made toward developing carbon capture and storage technologies associated with Canada unconventional hydrocarbon sector.
In spite of this strong potential and resource base, Canada has numerous clean energy firms and research facilities that generally have not yet become profitable and their prospects to grow profits in the short to medium term remain limited. A dilemma exists between choosing future potential clean energy technologies (competition), and the realization of their commercialization pathways (cooperation). Our poster will illustrate how commercialization pathways can be substantially improved through joint investments by the public, private and academic community in strong clean energy infrastructure and governance options that contribute to greater commercialization success. These investments and governance options promote viable strategic pathways for the clean energy sector over the next 10 to 15 years.
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FTA Process >
In our Poster, we have illustrated strategic pathways for the low carbon clean energy sector and the strong influence that sound public private governance options have in shaping these pathways. We have illustrated graphically, the inter-dependencies and synergies associated with a wide range of clean low carbon energy technologies including hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, biomass-based fuels, wind power, solar power and smaller hydro projects including tidal, wave and run-of-river approaches.
In order to choose among the many commercialization pathways that Canadian R&D and demonstration projects can take, an appropriate governance model is necessary. Governance involves the use of institutions, structures of authority and collaboration to allocate resources and coordinate or control activity in the society or economy. Governance options for pathway choices could range from an academic, university controlled model, to a completely industry controlled model, or one which includes industry, academia and government sponsored industrial clusters and laboratories.
Pathways can be substantially improved through joint investment choices made by the public, private and academic community in strong clean energy infrastructure involving R&D that contributes to greater success in commercialization activity
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Output & Impacts
This poster focuses attention on the Research, Development and Deployment aspect of pathway development. At present, a Clean Energy Virtual Centre is being established that is based on Canadian experience with industrial cluster development, governance of innovation systems and future oriented technology analysis. This Centre would be a Public Private Partnership and would facilitate both technology pathways and governance options.
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<Outcome & Evaluation>
Encouraging the development of industrial clusters associated with clean energy development in Canadian communities and around the world are very important outcomes. These clusters could encourage stronger networks through both weak and strong ties to the entire clean energy value chain.
Through smart grids and distributed power networks large scale energy power stations would work seamlessly in collaboration with local scale energy supply power plants.
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<Other Section if helpful …>
The figure below illustrates several governance models.
Our preferred governance option is Sociocracy, which is based on consent in a circular organization with active discussion and listening.
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<Sources and References>
Discussions with officials from the National Research Council of Canada
Models of Governance and the Vancouver IFCI Cluster, a Study of Governance Models and Best Practices, Acton White Associates Inc. April 2010
<Sources and references>
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<Title>: FTA Brief No. <N>
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