Globalizing the Energy Revolution: How to Really Win the Clean-Energy Race

I co-authored an article on innovation in clean-energy technology in Foreign Affairs with my CFR colleagues Michael Levi, Elizabeth Economy and Adam Segal.

Even with extremely ambitious programs, no one country will produce the majority of the clean-energy innovation that the world needs. We examine innovation in Brazil, India and China, and argue that an open innovation system is essential to speeding up the development and diffusion of clean-energy technologies.

But even in an open system, energy technology tends to spread slowly, making openness alone insufficient. Different countries’ efforts need to be tightly connected so that they can build on one another. We believe that the U.S. government needs to lend a hand, actively helping spread advanced energy technology, something that developing countries have demanded for years. Specifically, we argue that the U.S. government must do more to promote cross-border innovation and protect intellectual property rights.

The article can be accessed here.