Technological learning and the political shaping of technology: The management of R,D&D of wind and wave power in the UK

Abstract

AbstractThis paper recognises the important role of learning in the process of the shaping or construction of technology. Previous research (e.g. by Collingridge, Genus and Woodhouse) has investigated and suggested ways in which the costs of the inevitable errors made when implementing new or risky technologies may be kept low and the learning obtained subsequently incorporated into the technology in question. In particular, the adoption of trial‐and‐error forms of the gradual implementation of flexible technology has been advocated as a useful decision making strategy for coping with the need to make decisions under uncertainty.The paper considers the recent history of wind and wave power in the United Kingdom. It examines the extent to which a number of factors related to the process of research, development and demonstration (R,D&D) in these areas have provided stimuli or impediments to such trial‐and‐error implementation and opportunities to learn about the technologies involved. Here, the concept of technological momentum is central to the analysis. The paper is concerned to relate the discussion to the prospects for the development of a renewable energy sector in the UK, capable of competing on reasonable terms with rival conventional or nuclear energy sources. Conclusions drawn concern the extent to which various political and market related factors distort the construction and competitive process, so as to frustrate the technological learning relevant to potentially socially and commercially beneficial energy sources.