Technology Assessment

Assessment of the economic and policy drivers of technology adoption, including efficiency improvement in existing technologies as well as the development and deployment of advanced low carbon technologies.

Current and future studies in the Technology Assessment topic area will focus on:

• Mobility - The impact of alternative personal transport pathways on demand for advanced vehicle propulsion technologies and alternative fuels under alternative cost, infrastructure deployment, and policy assumptions. This study will include a focus on competition between low carbon vehicle and purchased transport strategies, and the resulting energy and environmental impact.
• Low carbon electricity and heat - Prospects for nuclear, renewable sources, natural gas, and clean coal to contribute to electricity and heat production in China, considering transmission and intermittency constraints.
• Industrial energy use and trade - The goal of this research will be to quantify the contribution of policies and incentives to efficiency improvements in the industrial sector in China, and to develop a technology-based representation of further improvement opportunities that can be incorporated into energy-economic forecasting models.