Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends

Sandra Hasanefendic; Marjolein Hoogstraaten; Martin  Bloemendal; Wouter  Boon; Han Brezet; Maryse M.H. Chappin; Lars  Coenen; Yuxi Dai; Paula Femenias; Remi Elzinga; Johan Frishammar; Nicolien van der Grijp; Anke van Hal; Elizabeth von Hauff; Renee Heller; Hans Hellsmark; Thomas Hoppe; Olindo  Isabella; Matthijs Janssen; Jenni Kaipainen; Tamas Keviczky; Mohammad Khosravi; Thaleia Konstantinou; Stefan Kwant; Janneke van der Leer; Adriaan  van der Loos; Zhongxuan Ma; Christian May; Toon Meelen; Erwin Mlecnik; Trivess Moore; Mette Alberg Mosgaard; Seyedesmaeil Mousavi; Simona O. Negro; Gregory Nemet; Marianna Nigra; David Reiner; Frank van Rijnsoever; Marianne Ryghaug; Rudi Santbergen; Svein Gunnar Sjotun; Iva Ridjan Skov; Tomas Moe Skjolsvold; Carla K.  Smink; Patrik Soderholm; Sybrith Tiekstra; Philip J. Vardon; Gerdien de Vries; Rong Wang; Bart Bossink

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends

Sandra Hasanefendic, Marjolein Hoogstraaten, Martin Bloemendal, Wouter Boon, Han Brezet, Maryse M.H. Chappin, Lars Coenen, Yuxi Dai, Paula Femenias, Remi Elzinga, Johan Frishammar, Nicolien van der Grijp, Anke van Hal, Elizabeth von Hauff, Renee Heller, Hans Hellsmark, Thomas Hoppe, Olindo Isabella, Matthijs Janssen, Jenni KaipainenTamas Keviczky, Mohammad Khosravi, Thaleia Konstantinou, Stefan Kwant, Janneke van der Leer, Adriaan van der Loos, Zhongxuan Ma, Christian May, Toon Meelen, Erwin Mlecnik, Trivess Moore, Mette Alberg Mosgaard, Seyedesmaeil Mousavi, Simona O. Negro, Gregory Nemet, Marianna Nigra, David Reiner, Frank van Rijnsoever, Marianne Ryghaug, Rudi Santbergen, Svein Gunnar Sjotun, Iva Ridjan Skov, Tomas Moe Skjolsvold, Carla K. Smink, Patrik Soderholm, Sybrith Tiekstra, Philip J. Vardon, Gerdien de Vries, Rong Wang, Bart Bossink^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Research into the impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations is crucial to diversifying, scaling up, and accelerating the sustainable energy transition. Although there is vast research into sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations, research literature offers a fragmented collection of findings. A coherent overview of themes and insights regarding the transformative impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations on sustainable energy systems from the past, present, and near future is lacking and necessary to increase experiments and demonstrations’ impact on the sustainable energy transition. The research in this study fills this knowledge gap by providing such an overview and yields novel insights into the organized function and impact of experiments and demonstrations. It spans a broad spectrum of sustainable energy technologies, the empirical domains where these are invented, developed and applied, and the stakeholders involved. The overview is the outcome of a Delphi study in which the insights of 47 international scientific research experts in sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations are bundled and explained. This study presents a thematic overview of the significant insights regarding past and current sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations and outlines a research agenda for the future. Policymakers, practitioners, and scientists can leverage this to inform their sustainable energy policies, business strategies, and research programs.

Original language	English
Article number	104018
Pages (from-to)	1-21
Number of pages	21
Journal	Energy Research & Social Science
Volume	122
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018
Publication status	Published - 5 Mar 2025

Keywords

demonstrations
demonstration plants
experiments
innovation
transition
pilot plants
pilot projects
technology
sustainable energy

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10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

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Cite this

Hasanefendic, S., Hoogstraaten, M., Bloemendal, M., Boon, W., Brezet, H., Chappin, M. M. H., Coenen, L., Dai, Y., Femenias, P., Elzinga, R., Frishammar, J., van der Grijp, N., van Hal, A., von Hauff, E., Heller, R., Hellsmark, H., Hoppe, T., Isabella, O., Janssen, M., ... Bossink, B. (2025). Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends. Energy Research & Social Science, 122, 1-21. Article 104018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

@article{86014e31dda34cecaa97b19831b1c7c3,

title = "Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends",

abstract = "Research into the impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations is crucial to diversifying, scaling up, and accelerating the sustainable energy transition. Although there is vast research into sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations, research literature offers a fragmented collection of findings. A coherent overview of themes and insights regarding the transformative impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations on sustainable energy systems from the past, present, and near future is lacking and necessary to increase experiments and demonstrations{\textquoteright} impact on the sustainable energy transition. The research in this study fills this knowledge gap by providing such an overview and yields novel insights into the organized function and impact of experiments and demonstrations. It spans a broad spectrum of sustainable energy technologies, the empirical domains where these are invented, developed and applied, and the stakeholders involved. The overview is the outcome of a Delphi study in which the insights of 47 international scientific research experts in sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations are bundled and explained. This study presents a thematic overview of the significant insights regarding past and current sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations and outlines a research agenda for the future. Policymakers, practitioners, and scientists can leverage this to inform their sustainable energy policies, business strategies, and research programs. ",

keywords = "demonstrations, demonstration plants, experiments, innovation, transition, pilot plants, pilot projects, technology, sustainable energy",

author = "Sandra Hasanefendic and Marjolein Hoogstraaten and Martin Bloemendal and Wouter Boon and Han Brezet and Chappin, {Maryse M.H.} and Lars Coenen and Yuxi Dai and Paula Femenias and Remi Elzinga and Johan Frishammar and {van der Grijp}, Nicolien and {van Hal}, Anke and {von Hauff}, Elizabeth and Renee Heller and Hans Hellsmark and Thomas Hoppe and Olindo Isabella and Matthijs Janssen and Jenni Kaipainen and Tamas Keviczky and Mohammad Khosravi and Thaleia Konstantinou and Stefan Kwant and {van der Leer}, Janneke and {van der Loos}, Adriaan and Zhongxuan Ma and Christian May and Toon Meelen and Erwin Mlecnik and Trivess Moore and Mosgaard, {Mette Alberg} and Seyedesmaeil Mousavi and Negro, {Simona O.} and Gregory Nemet and Marianna Nigra and David Reiner and {van Rijnsoever}, Frank and Marianne Ryghaug and Rudi Santbergen and Sjotun, {Svein Gunnar} and Skov, {Iva Ridjan} and Skjolsvold, {Tomas Moe} and Smink, {Carla K.} and Patrik Soderholm and Sybrith Tiekstra and Vardon, {Philip J.} and {de Vries}, Gerdien and Rong Wang and Bart Bossink",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018",

language = "English",

volume = "122",

pages = "1--21",

journal = "Energy Research & Social Science",

issn = "2214-6296",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

}

Hasanefendic, S , Hoogstraaten, M, Bloemendal, M, Boon, W, Brezet, H, Chappin, MMH, Coenen, L, Dai, Y, Femenias, P, Elzinga, R, Frishammar, J, van der Grijp, N, van Hal, A, von Hauff, E, Heller, R, Hellsmark, H, Hoppe, T, Isabella, O, Janssen, M, Kaipainen, J, Keviczky, T, Khosravi, M, Konstantinou, T, Kwant, S, van der Leer, J, van der Loos, A, Ma, Z, May, C, Meelen, T, Mlecnik, E, Moore, T, Mosgaard, MA, Mousavi, S, Negro, SO, Nemet, G, Nigra, M, Reiner, D, van Rijnsoever, F, Ryghaug, M, Santbergen, R, Sjotun, SG, Skov, IR, Skjolsvold, TM, Smink, CK, Soderholm, P, Tiekstra, S, Vardon, PJ, de Vries, G, Wang, R & Bossink, B 2025, 'Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends', Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 122, 104018, pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations

T2 - Reviewing research, market and societal trends

AU - Hasanefendic, Sandra

AU - Hoogstraaten, Marjolein

AU - Bloemendal, Martin

AU - Boon, Wouter

AU - Brezet, Han

AU - Chappin, Maryse M.H.

AU - Coenen, Lars

AU - Dai, Yuxi

AU - Femenias, Paula

AU - Elzinga, Remi

AU - Frishammar, Johan

AU - van der Grijp, Nicolien

AU - van Hal, Anke

AU - von Hauff, Elizabeth

AU - Heller, Renee

AU - Hellsmark, Hans

AU - Hoppe, Thomas

AU - Isabella, Olindo

AU - Janssen, Matthijs

AU - Kaipainen, Jenni

AU - Keviczky, Tamas

AU - Khosravi, Mohammad

AU - Konstantinou, Thaleia

AU - Kwant, Stefan

AU - van der Leer, Janneke

AU - van der Loos, Adriaan

AU - Ma, Zhongxuan

AU - May, Christian

AU - Meelen, Toon

AU - Mlecnik, Erwin

AU - Moore, Trivess

AU - Mosgaard, Mette Alberg

AU - Mousavi, Seyedesmaeil

AU - Negro, Simona O.

AU - Nemet, Gregory

AU - Nigra, Marianna

AU - Reiner, David

AU - van Rijnsoever, Frank

AU - Ryghaug, Marianne

AU - Santbergen, Rudi

AU - Sjotun, Svein Gunnar

AU - Skov, Iva Ridjan

AU - Skjolsvold, Tomas Moe

AU - Smink, Carla K.

AU - Soderholm, Patrik

AU - Tiekstra, Sybrith

AU - Vardon, Philip J.

AU - de Vries, Gerdien

AU - Wang, Rong

AU - Bossink, Bart

PY - 2025/3/5

Y1 - 2025/3/5

N2 - Research into the impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations is crucial to diversifying, scaling up, and accelerating the sustainable energy transition. Although there is vast research into sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations, research literature offers a fragmented collection of findings. A coherent overview of themes and insights regarding the transformative impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations on sustainable energy systems from the past, present, and near future is lacking and necessary to increase experiments and demonstrations’ impact on the sustainable energy transition. The research in this study fills this knowledge gap by providing such an overview and yields novel insights into the organized function and impact of experiments and demonstrations. It spans a broad spectrum of sustainable energy technologies, the empirical domains where these are invented, developed and applied, and the stakeholders involved. The overview is the outcome of a Delphi study in which the insights of 47 international scientific research experts in sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations are bundled and explained. This study presents a thematic overview of the significant insights regarding past and current sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations and outlines a research agenda for the future. Policymakers, practitioners, and scientists can leverage this to inform their sustainable energy policies, business strategies, and research programs.

AB - Research into the impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations is crucial to diversifying, scaling up, and accelerating the sustainable energy transition. Although there is vast research into sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations, research literature offers a fragmented collection of findings. A coherent overview of themes and insights regarding the transformative impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations on sustainable energy systems from the past, present, and near future is lacking and necessary to increase experiments and demonstrations’ impact on the sustainable energy transition. The research in this study fills this knowledge gap by providing such an overview and yields novel insights into the organized function and impact of experiments and demonstrations. It spans a broad spectrum of sustainable energy technologies, the empirical domains where these are invented, developed and applied, and the stakeholders involved. The overview is the outcome of a Delphi study in which the insights of 47 international scientific research experts in sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations are bundled and explained. This study presents a thematic overview of the significant insights regarding past and current sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations and outlines a research agenda for the future. Policymakers, practitioners, and scientists can leverage this to inform their sustainable energy policies, business strategies, and research programs.

KW - demonstrations

KW - demonstration plants

KW - experiments

KW - innovation

KW - transition

KW - pilot plants

KW - pilot projects

KW - technology

KW - sustainable energy

U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018

M3 - Article

SN - 2214-6296

VL - 122

SP - 1

EP - 21

JO - Energy Research & Social Science

JF - Energy Research & Social Science

M1 - 104018

ER -