ABSTRACT
Building on the "long wave" theories of global economic development introduced by Kondratiev and Schumpeter, Christopher Freeman and Carlota Perez, in a now classical essay, presented a theoretical concept that can be regarded as a path-breaking achievement in the field of evolutionary economics and the sociology of technical change. While the classical sociologists pointed mainly to the sociotechnical potential of altering modern societies modes of production, since then the search for new energy sources has remained a marginal, poorly defined topic in sociological theory. Despite the United States having one of the highest rates of energy consumption in the world, it could become a future energy export nation, which presumably could have far-reaching consequences for global energy prices as well as for government support for renewable energies and entrepreneurial investment. A number of recent energy transition studies have been presented by Dutch social scientists.
