A Decision Support System for Public Funding of Experimental Development in Energy Research

Simon Hirzel,Tim Hettesheimer,Peter Viebahn,Manfred Fischedick

doi:10.3390/en11061357

Abstract

New energy technologies may fail to make the transition to the market once research funding has ended due to a lack of private engagement to conclude their development. Extending public funding to cover such experimental developments could be one way to improve this transition. However, identifying promising research and development (R&D) proposals for this purpose is a difficult task for the following reasons: Close-to-market implementations regularly require substantial resources while public budgets are limited; the allocation of public funds needs to be fair, open, and documented; the evaluation is complex and subject to public sector regulations for public engagement in R&D funding. This calls for a rigorous evaluation process. This paper proposes an operational three-staged decision support system (DSS) to assist decision-makers in public funding institutions in the ex-ante evaluation of R&D proposals for large-scale close-to-market projects in energy research. The system was developed based on a review of literature and related approaches from practice combined with a series of workshops with practitioners from German public funding institutions. The results confirm that the decision-making process is a complex one that is not limited to simply scoring R&D proposals. Decision-makers also have to deal with various additional issues such as determining the state of technological development, verifying market failures or considering existing funding portfolios. The DSS that is suggested in this paper is unique in the sense that it goes beyond mere multi-criteria aggregation procedures and addresses these issues as well to help guide decision-makers in public institutions through the evaluation process.

Highlights

In view of the 1.5 degree Paris Agreement [1] and the European target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels [2], the successful and the widespread utilization of efficient and climate friendly new energy technologies is becoming more important
It is necessary to consider these. To help overcome these challenges and to facilitate the evaluation process, this paper proposes. To help overcome these challenges and to facilitate the evaluation process, this paper proposes an operational decision support system (DSS) for evaluating the proposals of large-scale projects in an operational decision support system (DSS) for evaluating the proposals of large-scale projects in experimental energy research as public funding opportunities
Each sub-criterion deals with specific aspects of the proposal

Summary

Introduction

In view of the 1.5 degree Paris Agreement [1] and the European target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels [2], the successful and the widespread utilization of efficient and climate friendly new energy technologies is becoming more important. Industrialized countries are striving to facilitate and accelerate the transition to higher technology readiness levels (TRL, e.g., [3]) by using public funds to spend on research activities with a defined scope, budget, and duration (e.g., [4]). Energy Agency (IEA) alone, for example, spent USD 16.6 billion on energy research, development, and demonstration in 2016 [5]. The theory is that, apart from private benefits, the publicly funded research and development (R&D) activities of firms yield positive spillovers for the economy as a whole. Energies 2018, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW on optimal from a societal perspective (e.g.,(e.g., [6,7]) In this state on their their own, own,which whichisisconsidered considered optimal from a societal perspective.

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Discussion

Conclusion