Designing a business case for climate technology in Europe

Over-reliance on one pathway, such as focusing heavily on renewable energy and electrification without advancing additional technology options, increases the risk of missing climate targets. The U.S. policy approach promotes multiple technologies to increase decarbonisation options by supporting technologies with a variety of incentive structures from laboratory to commercialisation, addressing barriers, enabling infrastructure, and providing clarity for large-scale deployment.

To make a successful business case and meet decarbonisation targets, European policymakers should:

• Support technology innovation and embrace an approach that maximises the number of pathways and solutions available. In addition to supporting the rapid scale-up of renewable energy, policymakers should support an expanded set of options that includes conventional and next-generation nuclear energy, carbon capture and storage, climate-beneficial zero-carbon fuels, and their enabling infrastructure.
• Clarify the current technology deployment policy funding landscape across the EU and its Member States, assessing whether or not it is suited to deliver deployment, and how it could potentially be improved and simplified.
• Tailor policy to lower the costs. Policy should bridge the gap between demonstration, deployment, and commercialisation to create a business case to scale up climate beneficial technologies within Europe.
• Enable faster deployment through regulatory streamlining and self-activating policy instruments based on clear, pre-existing criteria that do not require before-the-fact, case-by-case approval.
• Address infrastructure needs with proactive planning and coordination. This helps surmount barriers standing in the way of building out shared energy infrastructure such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen transport and storage, transmission, interconnection, and others.