Role of demonstration projects in innovation: transition to sustainable energy and transport

A transition to a low-carbon society involves innovation and policy measures along, at least, four broad categories: (1) the energy supply side , (2) Energy demand and utilization, and related values, (3) Infrastructures, and (4) Multi-level governance. We believe that the role of infrastructures is an overlooked dimension of transition and innovation studies. Infrastructure is often thought of as a planning problem even though infrastructure transformations most often require major innovations (institutional and technological) to be realized. In this paper we will focus on the nature of infrastructure transformations (electricity grid) and its role in building low-carbon innovation systems (new RET).

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