International Partnerships and Technological Leapfrogging in China's Clean Energy Sector

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Clean energy technology cooperation is an expanding area of international efforts to curb climate change. By harnessing the technical expertise of multiple nations, multilateral and bilateral cross-border collaboration on clean energy research, development, demonstration and deployment promises to speed clean energy innovation and utilization. Because China is the largest national energy consumer and greenhouse gas emitter, energy technology decisions there in the coming decades have implications for both energy security and environmental sustainability, and will shape future technology and policy decisions in the United States and around the world. China has therefore become the primary target of international clean energy collaboration. This project examines factors that determine the efficacy of cross-national clean energy partnerships. The results of this research will contribute to an improved understanding of how clean energy technology collaboration between various countries and China is occurring, how to improve the effectiveness of international partnerships, and how to measure and evaluate such programs. The focus on partnerships targeting clean energy technologies at different stages of technical maturity and with differing technical characteristics promises to elucidate lessons for intellectual property management within a variety of cross-national research collaborations. Additionally, in measuring the outcomes of existing partnerships, this research will contribute to the development of empirically-grounded innovation metrics and new ways of measuring innovative activity in China, while also informing innovation systems theory in emerging economies. This project will also improve our understanding of China's innovative capacity in critical clean energy technology sectors, and the role of international partnerships in reducing China's greenhouse gas emissions. Broader Impacts. This project will inform the global management of innovation in an area of technological development that benefits both global society and the global environment. The findings of this work will help to inform policy debates on pathways towards low carbon technology development, the respective capabilities of developed and developing countries in innovation and manufacturing, and concerns about intellectual property rights and competition in a globalizing world. Furthermore, it promises to provide new insight into how productive international technology partnerships occur, and how such partnerships may present new opportunities to curb global carbon emissions and to engage with China.