NEOBIOME

RD_004: IEA (2025) — Energy Technology Perspectives Clean Energy Technology Guide

Properties5
typesource
source_typereference_dataset
authorInternational Energy Agency
year2025
topicsmethodology_frameworks, energy_generation, energy_storage_grid, building_habitat

8 min read

RD_004: IEA (2025) — Energy Technology Perspectives Clean Energy Technology Guide

Source

https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/etp-clean-energy-technology-guide — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)

Summary

The IEA Energy Technology Perspectives Clean Energy Technology Guide — the operational living dataset that the IEA’s Energy Technology Classification (OT_022) organises. 640 clean energy technologies tracked across 13 columns, with annual Technology Readiness Level (TRL, 1-9 scale) updates from 2020 through 2024. Each row: technology name, sector taxonomy tags, TRL trajectory, IEA-provided net-zero-emissions rationale, supply-chain context, lead countries. The dataset empirically validates the OT_022 crosswalk and gives the NI calculation skill a per-technology readiness lookup. Critical finding: the word “microgrid” appears once and “community scale” appears once across all 640 entries — the IEA tracks component technologies (PV, batteries, inverters), not their integration into community-scale systems.

Key claims

  • Dataset structure: 640 clean energy technologies × 13 columns; sector tags split on mass-manufactured vs large-scale-or-industrial × technology family; annual TRL (1-9 scale) trajectory captured for 2020/2021/2022/2023/2024; ~46 rows have blank TRL 2024 indicating living-dataset deprecation/replacement of retired tracks. RD_004
  • Empirical confirmation of OT_022 crosswalk: CSV sector tags use plain-language names (e.g. “Buildings/Operations and equipment/Heating, cooling and ventilation technologies/Air-source heat pumps”) that map directly to OT_022 IEA codes (A223/A2231 in this example) but do NOT use the letter codes themselves. The crosswalk in iea_edt_taxonomy_mapping is empirically validated. RD_004
  • TRL 2024 distribution (out of 640): TRL 9 (commercial) = 215; TRL 8 (demonstration) = 55; TRL 8-9 = 3; TRL 7 = 71; TRL 6-7 = 1; TRL 6 = 71; TRL 5-6 = 5; TRL 5 = 66; TRL 4-5 = 3; TRL 4 = 67; TRL 3-4 = 6; TRL 3 = 24; TRL 2-3 = 1; TRL 2 = 5; blank = 46. Wide spread — significant capability across all maturity bands. RD_004
  • NI deploy-ready (TRL 9 in 2024) — Onshore wind; Building integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV); Floating solar PV (up from TRL 8 in 2022); Seabed fixed offshore wind turbine; Lithium-ion storage battery; Redox flow storage battery (up from TRL 8 in 2020); Air-to-air heat pumps; Air-to-water heat pump; Exhaust air heat pump; Shallow ground-source heat pump; Anaerobic digester cooking; Building envelope air sealing; Fabric formwork; Electrical storage for building systems integration; Virtual net metering community scale solar; Ice thermal storage in buildings. RD_004
  • NI demonstration / near-commercial (TRL 7-8 in 2024) — Floating offshore wind turbine (TRL 8, up from 7 in 2020); Anaerobic digestion + biomethane production (TRL 7-8); Dynamic building envelope (TRL 8); Smart inverter (TRL 8 — still pre-commercial despite widespread industry-marketing deployment, important NI risk flag); Combined latent and sensible thermal storage (TRL 8); Direct current buildings system (TRL 7 — closest entry to “microgrid”). RD_004
  • NI prototype / early demo (TRL 4-6 in 2024) — Dynamic insulation (TRL 4 — no improvement 2020-2024); Active latent heat storage (TRL 4); Direct lithium extraction from brine (TRL 6, up from 5 in 2020); Tidal stream ocean current (TRL 6 — relevant for coastal NZ communities); Thin shelled concrete (TRL 4); plus 24 categories at TRL 3. RD_004
  • “Microgrid” appears in only 1 sector-tag entry across all 640 technologies (“Direct current buildings system”, TRL 7). F23 Mini grids and microgrids (per OT_022) is a CLASSIFICATION LEVEL, not a TRACKED TECHNOLOGY in the CETG. The IEA tracks COMPONENT technologies (PV, batteries, inverters, EMS) but not their INTEGRATION into community-scale systems. RD_004
  • “Community scale” appears in only 1 technology name across 640 entries: “Virtual net metering - community scale solar (building demand)” (TRL 8 in 2020 → TRL 9 in 2024). Confirms OT_022 finding: community-scale concepts are absent from the IEA tracking universe. RD_004
  • Sector tag “mass-manufactured” (207 entries) vs “large-scale or industrial” (409 entries) — deployment-model dimension not captured in OT_022 letter codes. Mass-manufactured technologies are typically NI-relevant (off-the-shelf community deployment); large-scale-or-industrial are typically utility/grid-scale. The two-axis classification is implicit in the CSV but not in OT_022. RD_004
  • Per-technology “NZErationale” column — IEA provides a Net Zero Emissions argument for every tracked technology, e.g. for Anaerobic digester cooking: “compared to traditional food stoves, biogas reduces carbon emissions, and compared to use of solid fuels, improves indoor air quality”. Useful as a citable IEA position on each tech, but reflects IEA NORMATIVE framing (climate-mitigation primary), not NI/community-SS framing (resilience + autonomy primary). RD_004
  • TRL methodology — the 1-9 (occasionally 11) scale is from US DoD/NASA, adopted by IEA for clean energy: TRL 1-3 research / lab proof of concept; TRL 4-6 prototype / lab-to-pilot; TRL 7-8 demonstration; TRL 9 full commercial deployment; TRL 10-11 mature market. For NI calculation skill: TRL ≥9 = deploy with high confidence; TRL 7-8 = pilot-scale, deployment risk material; TRL <7 = not appropriate for community SS deployment without explicit research-pilot framing. RD_004 ⚠ Scale confirmed 1-11 (annotated 2026-07-17): the authoritative IEA scale documented verbatim in OT_117 (ETP-2024, Annex C, pp.545-546) spans TRL 1-11 — TRL 10 = commercial and competitive but needing integration; TRL 11 = predictable growth at scale (the market-integration stage, directly relevant to community integration). RD_004’s page describes a “1-9 scale” because 9 is the top level actually tracked in this CSV; the distribution claims above are unchanged.
  • TRL trajectory tracking 2020-2024 reveals technology momentum: e.g. Floating solar PV (8→9), Direct lithium extraction (5→6), Anaerobic digestion + catalytic methanation (7→8), Redox flow battery (8→9). Many NI-relevant technologies show stagnation (TRL unchanged 2020-2024), suggesting commercial saturation rather than lack of progress. RD_004
  • Living dataset — 46 of 640 (7.2%) entries have blank TRL 2024, indicating deprecation or replacement. IEA presumably maintains this and re-issues annually. The 2025 file ingested here reflects through end-2024 data. RD_004

Neobiome Intelligence relevance

  1. Per-technology TRL lookup for the NI calculation skill — when an NI design specifies a technology choice (e.g. air-to-water heat pump for community heating), the skill can query RD_004 for the TRL and flag deployment risk. NI rule: TRL ≥9 → commercial off-the-shelf, deploy with confidence; TRL 7-8 → demonstration/pilot, deployment risk material, document scenario; TRL <7 → research stage, do not specify for community SS deployment without explicit research-pilot framing.
  2. NI deploy-ready technology shortlist (TRL 9 in 2024) — onshore wind, BIPV, floating solar PV, lithium-ion + redox flow batteries, all building heat pump types (air-to-air, air-to-water, exhaust air, shallow ground-source), envelope air sealing, anaerobic digester cooking, virtual net metering at community-scale solar. These technologies can be specified in the NI calculation skill with high confidence.
  3. NI deployment-risk shortlist (TRL 7-8 in 2024) — floating offshore wind (TRL 8), biomethane production (TRL 7-8), dynamic building envelope (TRL 8), smart inverter (TRL 8 — still pre-commercial despite widespread deployment in marketing), thermal storage combined latent+sensible (TRL 8), direct current buildings system (TRL 7 — closest entry to “microgrid”). These warrant a “pilot context” caveat in NI design.
  4. Empirical confirmation of iea_edt_taxonomy_mapping — the CSV sector tags map to OT_022 IEA codes via plain-language descriptions, not letter codes. The crosswalk in the concepts page is validated. The §7 framing bias (microgrids tracked at integration level, not discretely) is empirically confirmed here.
  5. Sector tag “mass-manufactured vs large-scale or industrial” introduces a deployment-model dimension not captured in OT_022’s letter codes. NI design should distinguish these: mass-manufactured technologies are typically NI-applicable (community-procurable, off-the-shelf); large-scale-or-industrial are typically utility/grid-scale and need re-evaluation for community SS.

What this dataset does NOT contain (consistent with iea_edt_taxonomy_mapping §6 absent categories):

  • Community ownership models / community-finance instruments / participatory co-design
  • Indigenous knowledge systems / Mātauranga Māori
  • Active mobility (walking, cycling)
  • Water systems (rainwater, greywater, blackwater non-energy)
  • Health systems, education systems
  • Cohousing-specific concepts
  • Microgrid integration patterns (only components are tracked)

Research targets

Documents to retrieve

  • RT_115 (RETRIEVED → OT_117, partially served) — IEA Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) 2024 narrative report retrieved and read verbatim. Delivers the authoritative IEA 11-level TRL scale (Annex C, pp.545-546) and the STEPS/APS/NZE scenario framework (§2.1) behind this CSV’s readiness lookup and NZErationale column; per-technology TRL data and the 640-technology taxonomy are NOT in it (deferred back to this Guide + OT_022). ⚠ Confirms the authoritative scale is 1-11, not 1-9 — see the annotated TRL-methodology claim above.

Research gaps

  • (Updates concepts/iea_edt_taxonomy_mapping §7) — empirical confirmation now appended: F23 “Mini grids and microgrids” tracked at classification level only, not as discrete tech in the CETG. Not a new gap; an empirical observation.

Connections

Links to

Sources (2): OT_022 · OT_117

Concepts (1): IEA ↔ EDT Taxonomy Mapping

Referenced by

Sources (3): OT_116 · OT_117 · OT_121

Concepts (1): IEA ↔ EDT Taxonomy Mapping

EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems

Graph View

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