Learning Curves Tracing The Optimal Path For Technology Learning Systems

1. Overview Within energy technology policy experience and learning curves have since 1990’s moved from obscurity to mainstream, but there are currently indications of fading expectations on the curves as efficient policy tools. In 1999, the International Energy Agency initiated an international collaboration on experience curves for energy technology policy (IEA 2000, Appendix C) and the initiative was followed up in the two first IEA Energy Technology Perspectives reports (IEA, 2006, 2008). The analyses in these reports contrast with the perfunctory treatment of the curves in the latest report from 2012. Kahouli-Brahmi (2008) found the curves to be standard features in most energy models but today there appear few papers developing the methodology.