Moving to the Netherlands has been completely eye-opening for me in more than one way. I came here to pursue a Master in Political Sciences and had a completely different future pictured ahead of me. However, I had the luck to meet someone that got me interested in pursuing a Master in Energy Sciences at Utrecht University and since then my life has taken a 180-degree twist. Through my studies, my following professional experience, and all the people I have met along the way, I have a newly acquired awareness of the issues pressing the environment and the various means to address them. From my choice of study to a diet change and my professional ambitions, my life is now completely different than I had first imagined. Yet, I am now more inspired and with a clearer purpose.
Almost two years after finishing my Master in Energy Sciences, I am lucky enough to be working with a very diverse and equally inspiring group of PhDs in the NEON Project. Together with my promotor, Rudi Bekkers, and my supervisor, Emilio Raiteri, I work on NEON’s Work Package 8. My specific focus is on the role of standardization in accelerating the energy transition. My goal is to assess the suitability of standards in facilitating the introduction, uptake, and diffusion of these new technologies. It is expected that throughout our research, we could gather enough insights for investors aiming to introduce cleantech in the market, as well as for policymakers and other stakeholders with the means of facilitating the process. That is why our first paper aims to provide an archetype of the enabling and disabling factors for technologies with complex supply chains and interoperability requirements. This paper will focus on the dynamics between new technologies entering the market and the (ensuing) market characteristics, including interesting topics such as competition and monopolization.