Apples, oranges, and consistent comparisons of the temporal dynamics of energy transitions

Arnulf Grubler; Charlie Wilson; Gregory Nemet

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2016.08.015

Apples, oranges, and consistent comparisons of the temporal dynamics of energy transitions

Arnulf Grubler
, Charlie Wilson
, Gregory Nemet

Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

211 Citations (Scopus)

39 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Benjamin Sovacool (2016) has provided interesting food for thought in asking “how long will it take?” for the unfolding of energy transitions. Historical evidence of “grand” or global energy system transitions taking decades to centuries to unfold contrasted with highly selective recent and rapid examples of mostly incremental technological change make for an engaging argument. But the observed contrasts are due to the apples-and-oranges comparison between transitions that are measured differently, defined differently, characterized by different processes, and explained differently.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	18-25
Number of pages	8
Journal	Energy Research & Social Science
Volume	22
Early online date	3 Sept 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.08.015
Publication status	Published - Dec 2016

Keywords

Technology diffusion
Energy transitions
Adoption rates

Access to Document

10.1016/j.erss.2016.08.015

Accepted manuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 420 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214629616301980

Cite this

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abstract = "Benjamin Sovacool (2016) has provided interesting food for thought in asking {\textquotedblleft}how long will it take?{\textquotedblright} for the unfolding of energy transitions. Historical evidence of {\textquotedblleft}grand{\textquotedblright} or global energy system transitions taking decades to centuries to unfold contrasted with highly selective recent and rapid examples of mostly incremental technological change make for an engaging argument. But the observed contrasts are due to the apples-and-oranges comparison between transitions that are measured differently, defined differently, characterized by different processes, and explained differently.",

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