towards a low carbon future a phenomenology of local electricity experiments in germany abstract a characterizing feature of the german electricity transition is that it started as a movement arising from the civil society initially the movement was directed against nuclear energy and later on turned into a movement favoring decentralized forms of energy production and distribution as well as local control over energy questions once these demands found official recognition and regulatory support a dynamic development ensued in which a host of new actors with new ideas and strategies became involved in the field of electricity generation regions cities and villages experimenting with socio technical innovations and aiming to implement new concepts developed governance structures under high uncertainty these governance structures mirror space specific social political technological and economic constellations once the old incumbent actors in the field began to falter both government and electricity providers started to stem the tide of decentralized initiatives whose dynamic in fact has recently been seriously weakened in order to help us better understand these developments in a more generic context the theory of strategic action fields will be applied

understanding systemic analysis in the governance of sustainability transition in renewable energies the case of fuel cell technology in iran abstract considering the complex and evolutionary process of renewable energy development it is imperative to have a framework for its governance the governance of transition toward renewable energies can be divided conceptually into two phases namely systemic analysis and policy making this paper focuses on identifying different methodological steps in the systemic analysis phase these steps provide requisite inputs for the second phase policy making by attaining a concrete understanding of the current status in the first step the boundaries of the transition process are defined by specifying the unit of analysis and identifying the system s components and relations in the second step and in order to have a big picture of the system s transformation the dynamism of technological development is mapped through time in the third step an approach for analyzing and policy making of sustainability transition is chosen by comparing various approaches and selecting the most fitted one all of these methodological steps are finally applied in the case of the iran fuel cell technology development program to show the practicality of the proposed conceptual framework in a real case problem and to provide some insights for practitioners

renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation towards a relational understanding of technical assistance abstract recent decades have witnessed a surge in international programmes established to assist the adoption of renewable energy technologies rets in low and lower middle income countries so far such programmes have yielded mixed success while partnerships between international national and local organisations have become the pre eminent model for ret programmes we know relatively little about their contribution this article traces the role of renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation shifting the analytical emphasis from barriers and drivers to key actors and their relationships it presents a relational approach for the analysis of development assistance for renewable energy drawing on theories concerning the role of strong and weak ties in inter organisational networks through an analysis of seven empirical cases from central america the article provides insights into how different forms of inter organisational relationships can facilitate implementation of ret programmes but do not necessarily enhance the capacities of local organisations in a way to support a more sustainable adoption of rets on the basis of this analysis theoretical and policy implications are given concerning the potential of relational approaches for researching technology diffusion processes and the role of strong and weak ties for the success or failure of renewable energy partnerships

values in the smart grid the co evolving political economy of smart distribution investing in smart grid infrastructure is a key enabler for the transition to low carbon energy systems recent work has characterised the costs and benefits of individual smart investments the political economy of the uk electricity system however has co evolved such that there is a mismatch between where benefits accrue and where costs are incurred leading to a problem of value capture and redeployment further some benefits of smart grids are less easy to price directly and can be classified as public goods such as energy security and decarbonisation this paper builds on systemic treatments of energy system transitions to characterise the co evolution of value capture and structural incentives in the electricity distribution system drawing on semi structured interviews and focus groups undertaken with smart grid stakeholders in the uk this leads to an identification of municipal scale values that may be important for business models for the delivery of smart infrastructure municipalities may thus pursue specific economic opportunities through smart grid investment this supports recent practical interest in an expanded role for municipalities as partners and investors in smart grid infrastructures 2014 the authors published by elsevier ltd this is an open access article under the cc by license

technological discontinuities and the challenge for incumbent firms destruction disruption or creative accumulation the creative destruction of existing industries as a consequence of discontinuous technological change is a central theme in the literature on industrial innovation and technological development established competence based and market based explanations of this phenomenon argue that incumbents are seriously challenged only by competence destroying or disruptive innovations which make their existing knowledge base or business models obsolete and leave them vulnerable to attacks from new entrants this paper challenges these arguments with detailed empirical analyses of the automotive and gas turbine industries we demonstrate that these explanations overestimate the ability of new entrants to destroy and disrupt established industries and underestimate the capacity of incumbents to perceive the potential of new technologies and integrate them with existing capabilities moreover we show how intense competition in the wake of technological discontinuities driven entirely by incumbents may instead result in late industry shakeouts we develop and extend the notion of creative accumulation as a way of conceptualizing the innovating capacity of the incumbents that appear to master such turbulence specifically we argue that creative accumulation requires firms to handle a triple challenge of simultaneously a fine tuning and evolving existing technologies at a rapid pace b acquiring and developing new technologies and resources and c integrating novel and existing knowledge into superior products and solutions

towards improved policy processes for promoting innovation in renewable electricity technologies in the uk this paper analyses recent current and potential future relations between policy processes and substantive outcomes in uk low carbon innovation policy focussing on policies relating to renewable electricity generation technologies it examines the development of policy processes relating to the adoption and implementation of the renewables obligation and how these may affect the current and likely future success of the obligation in promoting low carbon innovation it examines the new policy and institutional processes put in place in the 2003 energy white paper and argues that these are unlikely to provide the strategic long term framework needed to realise the ambitious goals for uk energy policy set out in the white paper finally it outlines some suggestions for further development of policy processes to facilitate improved delivery of these goals based on guiding principles for sustainable innovation policy processes developed by the authors and their colleagues

legitimizing research technology and innovation policies for transformative change combining insights from innovation systems and multi level perspective in a comprehensive failures framework abstract the recent policy debates about orientating research technology and innovation policy towards societal challenges rather than economic growth objectives only call for new lines of argumentation to systematically legitimize policy interventions while the multi level perspective on long term transitions has attracted quite some interest over the past years as a framework for dealing with long term processes of transformative change but the innovation systems approach is still the dominant perspective for devising innovation policy innovation systems approaches stress the importance of improving innovation capabilities of firms and the institutional settings to support them but they are less suited for dealing with the strategic challenges of transforming systems of innovation production and consumption and thus with long term challenges such as climate change or resource depletion it is therefore suggested to consider insights from transition studies more prominently in a policy framework that is based on the innovation systems approach and the associated notion of failures we propose a comprehensive framework that allows legitimizing and devising policies for transformative change that draws on a combination of market failures structural system failures and transformational system failures

the transformation of technological regimes abstract this article explores how the transformation of technological regimes is enabled and constrained by sectoral patterns of innovation four innovation patterns are distinguished the supplier dependent the user driven the mission oriented and the r d dependent innovation pattern on the basis of a multiple case it is shown that there are distinct differences between how these four innovation patterns enable and constrain the transformation of technological regimes and in the degree to which they do so it is further shown that innovation patterns sometimes enable the development and acceptance of innovations that radically deviate from existing regimes and may help to transform such regimes the implications for the management of technology are discussed

a coevolutionary framework for analysing a transition to a sustainable low carbon economy this paper proposes a coevolutionary framework for analysing a transition to a sustainable low carbon economy based on the coevolution of ecosystems technologies institutions business strategies and user practices within a multi level micro meso macro perspective this builds on and develops previous coevolutionary analyses of long term technological and industrial change and recent renewed interest within ecological economics on coevolutionary approaches previous work has analysed how the coevolution of technologies and institutions has led to the lock in of current high carbon energy systems and how the coevolution of physical and social technologies and business strategies has brought significant material and welfare benefits to the minority of the world s population living in industrialised countries the coevolutionary framework proposed here may be used to undertake 1 detailed empirical analyses at a micro meso level of the challenges relating to the innovation and adoption of particularly low carbon technologies 2 as a framework for analysing the multi level interaction of social and technological elements within potential transition pathways to a low carbon energy system 3 to assess the implications for economic growth and prosperity of a transition to a low carbon economy and 4 to assist in the development of more formal multi level evolutionary economic models

identifying barriers in the diffusion of renewable energy sources abstract rapid diffusion of renewable energy sources res in the electricity power sector is crucial if the eu wants to fulfill its 2050 co2 reduction commitments for this reason identifying and alleviating all barriers that hinder the development of res is necessary to the successful deployment of these technologies this paper discusses the main barriers in the diffusion of wind and photovoltaic pv solar power in the greek electricity sector by drawing on the literature of technological innovation systems and system functions furthermore we provide an explanation of the different diffusion rates between the two technologies inadequate financial resources low grid capacity delays in the issuance of building permits opposition from local communities to the construction of wind farms and the lack of a stable institutional framework are among the most important barriers that inhibit the diffusion of the wind and pv solar power the nature of the barriers identified in this study calls for policy intervention

regulating technological change the strategic reactions of utility companies towards subsidy policies in the german spanish and uk electricity markets abstract this paper focuses on how incumbent electric utilities strategically react to subsidy schemes supporting renewable energy technologies in the uk germany and spain firms coordinate the development of their technological capabilities and their political activities to shape their regulatory environment analysing the diffusion of wind power in these countries we show that the different ways in which firms coordinate their technological and political strategies lead to very different market outcomes both for the firms market share and the size of the overall market although incumbents are usually seen as being resistant to change in energy systems we show that spanish utilities proactively drive the diffusion of wind power we speculate about the relation between the ownership structure of the energy system and its inertia with respect to the integration of new technologies we derive novel policy implications that explicitly take into account the strategic actions of incumbent firms shaping the technological and regulatory system

policy changes and the dynamics of capacity expansion in the swiss electricity market abstract capacity of supply is a crucial matter in electricity markets as it directly influences reliability of supply price volatility and blackout risk in this paper we analyse the dynamics of capacity expansion in the swiss electricity market and the impact of different policies such as nuclear phaseout and management of electricity exchanges imports and exports policies this article develops the conceptualization model presented in ochoa p 2007b policy changes in the swiss electricity market a system dynamics analysis of likely market responses socio economic planning sciences 41 4 336 349 we build a system dynamics model based on the dynamics of capacity expansion explained in the latter paper and present and analyse different scenarios we conclude that international electricity exchanges are important for the swiss market as they help to lower costs and to increase the income of the utility companies however we illustrate the need for explicit policies for managing imports and exports of electricity to avoid import dependence from neighbouring countries

the role of intermediaries in low carbon transitions empowering innovations to unlock district heating in the uk abstract the literature on socio technical transitions considers how technological innovations can be established within the context of an incumbent regime that is often resistant or inflexible to change strategic niche management is an approach to catalysing a transition to a new regime using protected niche spaces to enable development and experimentation with an innovation intermediary actors play an important role in establishing these niches as they facilitate knowledge sharing and build the wider networks and systems needed to support an innovation the influence of intermediaries within socio technical transitions and strategic niche management is still an under researched area in this paper we use a decision theatre research process to collect empirical evidence from a range of local stakeholders involved in establishing new district heating projects in the united kingdom uk this method carried out in a group workshop format enables understanding of the interactions between stakeholders throughout the stages of the district heating development process the study suggests that intermediaries can play a role in supporting niche empowering processes the existing institutional framework surrounding intermediary actors and the geographical scale at which they work within that framework are shown to be influential on actors agency to choose their approach to empowering an innovation the work highlights the potential for intermediaries to support the restructuring of this institutional framework to enable more radical stretch and transform empowering activities

risks and tensions in water industry innovation understanding adoption of decentralised water systems from a socio technical transitions perspective abstract globally centralised urban water systems are under pressure to respond to environmental and economic pressures in australia high infrastructure costs and variable rainfall have prompted governments end users and property developers to begin investing in more decentralised systems that use alternative water sources rainwater stormwater and wastewater this trend is based on a fit for purpose principle and is part of a global shift toward sustainable urban water management these developments suggest that australia s urban water sector may be in the early stages of transition and represent a multi decadal shift from centralisation of water supply and sanitation to partial decentralisation based on local conditions much of the scholarship on decentralised systems focuses on drivers and barriers to adoption which implies a static and mechanistic process of change and overlooks the complex interplay between exogenous pressures innovation multiple actors and industry reform this paper addresses this gap by analysing temporal processes of australia s urban water sector using a regionally based case study comprising an historical review and interview study that analyses the multi level decadal and actor developments at the nexus between water service provision and property development the analysis revealed emerging tensions between incumbent water utilities property developers and end users and an inherent conflict between neo liberal and environmental policy agendas such tensions and conflicts are missing from urban water policy and research discourse

the finnish power market are imports from russia low cost electricity market integration of high and low price areas is expected to bring benefits to the consumers in a high price area however these potential benefits are highly dependent on the market characteristics and the policy interventions we use simulation to study the effects of different alternatives for the expansion and operation of the interconnector finland russia on the finnish market a high price area our results show that the current trading arrangement where a single trader owns the transmission rights and limits the trade during peak hours to avoid capacity charges in russia is beneficial for finland at the current interconnection capacity however if the interconnector is expanded the behaviour of the trader would create significant distortions in the finnish market we also analyse the pros and cons of maintaining a strategic reserve in finland in combination with the different scenarios of interconnection expansion and trading arrangements we conclude that in the absence of trust in imports the need for a strategic reserve is undeniable this will slightly reduce the economic benefits of integration for finnish consumers but it will significantly improve reliability

entrapment in large technology systems institutional commitment and power relations abstract large technology systems cannot be developed without social commitments usually including legal especially in the form of contracts organisational involving producers users and financiers and political involving various actors associated with the state commitments without such commitments there can be no innovation and no investment given the high risks that are entailed however embedded commitments can create inertia causing inferior technologies and technology paths to survive long after they should have been abandoned this form of technological lock in may be reinforced when there are close relations between producers and states which prevent markets and democratic processes from operating effectively these phenomena are illustrated through study of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant thorp a nuclear reprocessing plant in the uk the lesson for technology policy is that much more attention needs to be given to the maintenance of reversibility and adaptability in infrastructural development

generation adequacy and transmission interconnection in regional electricity markets the power system capacity adequacy has public good features that cannot be entirely solved by electricity markets regulatory intervention is then necessary and established methods have been used to assess adequacy and help regulators to fix this market failure in regional electricity markets transmission interconnections play an important role in contributing to adequacy however the adequacy problem and related policy are typically considered at a national level this paper presents a simple model to study how the interconnection capacity interacts with generation adequacy first results indicate that increasing interconnection capacity between systems improves adequacy up to a certain level further increases do not procure additional adequacy improvements furthermore besides adequacy improvement increasing transmission capacity under asymmetric adequacy criteria or national system characteristics could create several concerns about externalities these results imply that regional coordination of national adequacy policies is essential to internalise adequacy of cross border effects

international effects of government expenditure in interdependent economies a dynamic analysis of the international transmission of government expenditure shocks under alternative methods of finance is presented the benchmark case of lump sum tax financing yields an expansion in both the short run and the long run levels of domestic activity while crowding out domestic consumption activity abroad declines in the short run and while it is stimulated during the transition long run activity abroad also declines with capital income tax financing the accompanying distortion outweighs the direct expenditure effects so that all these responses are reversed financing with a tax on labour produces ambiguous responses the welfare implications of these policies are also examined

the enactment of socio technical transition pathways a reformulated typology and a comparative multi level analysis of the german and uk low carbon electricity transitions 1990 2014 abstract this paper aims to make two contributions to the sustainability transitions literature in particular the geels and schot 2007 res policy 36 3 399 transition pathways typology first it reformulates and differentiates the typology through the lens of endogenous enactment identifying the main patterns for actors formal institutions and technologies second it suggests that transitions may shift between pathways depending on struggles over technology deployment and institutions both contributions are demonstrated with a comparative analysis of unfolding low carbon electricity transitions in germany and the uk between 1990 2014 the analysis shows that germany is on a substitution pathway enacted by new entrants deploying small scale renewable electricity technologies rets while the uk is on a transformation pathway enacted by incumbent actors deploying large scale rets further analysis shows that the german transition has recently shifted from a stretch and transform substitution pathway to a fit and conform pathway because of a fightback from utilities and altered institutions it also shows that the uk transition moved from moderate to substantial incumbent reorientation as government policies became stronger recent policy changes however substantially downscaled uk renewables support which is likely to shift the transition back to weaker reorientation

social cost benefit analysis of electricity interconnector investment a critical appraisal abstract this paper examines the economic analysis social cost benefit analysis underlying two decisions to build an interconnector norned and the east west interconnector in europe the main conclusion is that current interconnector and transmission investment decisions in europe are unlikely to maximize social welfare the arguments are as follows i it is unclear how much demand for transmission capacity and interconnectors actually exists and thus the benefits of investment are unclear ii both analyses underlying the investments studied are incorrect to the point where in one case even the sign may be wrong iii the main criticism concerns the fact that they do not take the resulting changes in generator investment plans into account and ignore the potential benefits of increased competition iv several smaller issues can be improved such as the discount rate used v decisions at the european level are taken very differently and approval may depend on which authority grants approval vi interconnector decisions receive the most attention although most money goes to transmission investments two research recommendations for future improvements are formulated

generation capacity adequacy in interdependent electricity markets this paper deals with the practical problems related to long term security of supply in regional electricity markets with transmission constraints differences between regulatory policies and market designs in terms of generation adequacy policies may distort the normal functioning of the neighboring markets as well as the reliability of supply we test the effect of heterogeneous regulatory design between two interdependent markets energy only market price capped market without capacity mechanisms and price capped markets with forward capacity contracts obligation we rely on a long term market simulation model in system dynamics that characterizes expansion decision in a competitive regime the results show that differences in market designs affect both price and reliability of supply in the two markets we examine both the short and long terms effect and how free riding may occur where capacity adequacy policies are adopted in one market but not the other the main finding is that the lack of harmonization between local markets in policies to ensure capacity adequacy may lead to undesirable side effects

the verticality of policy mixes for sustainability transitions a case study of solar water heating in china abstract climate change and sustainable development are the defining challenges of the modern era the field of sustainability transitions seeks systematic solutions for fundamental transformations of socio technical systems towards sustainability and exploring the role of policy mixes has been a central research agenda within the field in the extant literature there exists a lack of both conceptual and empirical research on the vertical dimension of policy mixes for sustainability transitions this study provides a multilevel and evolutionary interpretation of the vertical interactions of policy mixes in the process of industrial path development towards sustainability transitions an exemplary case of solar water heating swh technology in shandong province in china is presented capturing both the bottom up and top down processes of interactions on the one hand urban level policy initiatives can inform higher level policymaking on the other hand national level priorities can greatly configure policy strategies for lower level governments moreover as the industry matures the interactions of multilevel policy mixes evolve from simpler unidirectional patterns to more complex bidirectional ones through a vertical policy learning feedback mechanism this study generates two important policy implications that extend beyond the chinese context first dynamic vertical interactions between multilevel governments indicate the need to develop more nuanced perspectives on the design of policy mixes second policy makers need to hold a more dynamic view of policy mixes by recognizing their temporal and coevolutionary nature through the policy learning process

the governance of sustainable socio technical transitions a quasi evolutionary model of socio technical transitions is described in which regimes face selection pressures continuously differentiated transition contexts determine the form and direction of regime change in response to these pressures the articulation of pressures and the degree to which responses are coordinated and based on resources available within the regime define the transition context four alternative contexts are described endogenous renewal re orientation of trajectories emergent transformation and purposive transitions agency and power in the governance of regime transformation are analysed power to affect change depends on regime membership the distribution of resources for change and expectations

exploring the dynamics of water innovation foundations for water innovation studies the urgent need for innovation to address multifaceted and intertwined water related challenges is becoming increasingly clear acknowledged and responded to with cumulating sources and amounts of funding nevertheless the water sector has been claimed to be less innovative than other sectors this special volume on the dynamics of water innovation is based on the realization that in general there is a striking absence of academic studies on the dynamics of water innovation this sv is therefore designed to lay the foundations for the field of water innovation studies in an effort to integrate the emerging insights together the contributions in this sv capture the current understanding of the dynamics of water innovation and provide insights into how the water innovation process can be fostered the purpose of this introductory article is threefold namely to frame the discussion on water innovation dynamics in order to contextualise the contributions of this sv to provide systematic guidance for studying water innovation dynamics and to suggest the way forward for water innovation studies it captures the extent of the field of water innovation studies with a review of the literature of the last three decades and frames water innovations based on five decades of innovation research and drawing on three areas management strategy and policy we provide an innovation studies taxonomy that consists of four organising dimensions type of innovation stage of innovation level of analysis and measurement this taxonomy enables researchers to study the dynamics of water innovation from different combinations of conceptual and thematic angles drawing on the field of innovation studies in a systematic fashion finally we reflect on the way forward for water innovation studies with suggestions for future research 2017 the authors

does size matter simulating electricity market coupling between colombia and ecuador since the beginning of the liberalization era the integration of electricity markets has been promoted in many regions arguing that this will bring benefits in terms of security of supply and efficiency however little progress has been made in the last decades in most regions with some successful exceptions such as the nordpool and more research is needed to determine under which circumstances those benefits are achievable we develop a system dynamics model to analyze the potential benefits and risks of market coupling and to improve the understanding of its implications on policy design this model allows us to simulate the long term behavior of two interconnected countries under different interconnection scenarios and different policies regarding capacity payments the analysis is focused on colombia and ecuador which have been trading electricity for more than 10 years and offer an interesting case study given their complementarity in terms of hydropower supply however the results of the simulations show that this complementarity is not necessarily exploited while the relative size of the countries determines the magnitude of the potential benefits of integration the interconnector capacity plays a key role in achieving those benefits additionally both factors significantly affect the outcome of policies such as the implementation of capacity payments we conclude that capacity policies and integration policies need to be coordinated

incumbents diversification and cross sectorial energy industry dynamics abstract within the sustainability transitions literature established mature or incumbent firms have been stereotyped as locked in to socio technical regimes however we believe regimes have been black boxed and few studies have explored incumbents responses to transition processes this article aims to achieve an improved understanding of incumbents in established energy sectors and their extent of involvement in other niche energy sectors to this avail we analyze data from a first of its kind survey of 133 incumbent firms in norway s two main energy sectors namely oil gas and hydropower providing inter temporal dimensions our data covers incumbents diversification activities beyond their primary sector both in the past cancelled activities present ongoing activity in secondary sectors and future ambitions of diversification and also distinguishes between producers and product service suppliers by incorporating insights on firm diversification our analysis sheds new light on the complex transformation processes associated with sustainability transitions empirical results show considerable heterogeneity in incumbents responses to changing selection pressures which can be explained by recognition that windows of opportunity are opening and some incumbents see potential to leverage their resources and capabilities to capture value in new niche energy sectors in both domestic and international markets

improving australia s renewable energy project policy and planning a multiple stakeholder analysis abstract renewable energy re is part of australia s and the world s energy supply matrix with over a 100 billion spent annually on re projects since 2007 businesses seeking to invest in re projects particularly in the wind and solar energy sectors may face an onerous collection of planning approvals and permitting processes that impede investment and implementation in this study we draw on international and domestic stakeholder inputs to a governmental inquiry in australia to show how re projects might be approved in shortened timeframes with reduced associated costs the process mapping and stakeholder analysis demonstrates that re supply projects can benefit from standardized approval processes and documentation a 360 deep engagement with stakeholders and expanded electricity grid access in resource areas augmented through supportive public policy and planning frameworks in addition stakeholder objections to project approval and implementation streamlining were used to contrast the efficacy of the proposed changes in policy

towards sustainable household consumption exploring a practice oriented participatory backcasting approach for sustainable home heating practices in ireland current attempts to encourage sustainable consumption are failing to make significant advancements and consumption by households in daily practices continues to grow interventions in this area are often based on simplistic behavioural assumptions which overlook the embeddedness of daily consumption practices and fail to challenge escalating consumption demands and expectations against this background there is a need to consider more radical socio cultural technological and organisational innovations that may fulfil the goals of daily practices more sustainably in the future taking the case of home heating the most energy intensive practice in irish households this paper reports on a participatory backcasting study that developed future scenarios and action plans for sustainable heating in contrast to conventional behavioural change models and forecasting techniques this study adopted a social practice orientation this paper focuses on the operationalisation of the social practice approach with special reference to the iterative processes around scenario development and the resultant backcasting outputs participant evaluations of the procedure are presented which indicate that despite significant operational complexity the process was strongly valued and provided significant opportunity for learning amongst stakeholders involved whether such approaches can be integrated into governing systems however will depend on a willingness amongst stakeholders to embrace a radical reconceptualisation of behaviour

emerging in between the multi level governance of renewable energy in the english regions abstract analysis explains the emergence of a regional dimension to the multi level governance of renewable energy in england the case sits in a tense yet informative position between the two poles of ordered and messy multi level governance these tensions which are currently debilitating could be rendered more creative and fruitful if greater authority was devolved to the regions and if policy learning between the regions and the central government was institutionalised more deeply improved legitimacy and accountability mechanisms must accompany increased authority however english ambivalence over regionalisation generally means such changes are unlikely

governing transitions cases and insights from two periods in the history of the uk gas industry the paper aims to inform historically the analyses of future sociotechnical transition pathways in the electricity sector particularly those developed by the transition pathways to a low carbon economy project it also aims to inform the theoretical approach to transitions by focusing on key decisions at branching points that led to transitions in the uk gas energy services regime which occurred under different governance patterns the first historical case study covers the market led transformation of the manufactured gas regime from 1877 to 1914 which developed the end uses of gas beyond lighting to include cooking and extended access to working class consumers the second case study covers the period from 1948 to 1977 historically reconstructing the transition from town gas to natural gas this state led and coordinated conversion to natural gas was preceded by a period of destabilisation of the manufactured gas regime the co existence of several niche technologies and the hybridisation of the key actors and technological infrastructures of the incumbent regime comparing the cases provides insights for future energy service transitions by addressing the significance of power trust and networking in the decision making processes involved in the governance of energy transitions

emerging innovation niches an agent based model the creation of an innovation niche depends on the interaction of three mechanisms involving converging expectations networking among the innovation actors and learning about the novelty through efficient knowledge creation and diffusion such mechanisms define the key characteristics of a network of firms i e the innovation niche and the interaction among them guides the development and diffusion of a new technology in this paper we propose an agent based model to investigate the dynamics characterising such interactions and the role that policy intervention can have in governing the niche development process specifically we consider and assess the impact of two policy actions 1 increasing actors expectations towards the new technology by means of information spreading and 2 providing subsidies aimed at stimulating technological switch our results confirm the importance of policy intervention and show the dominance of information spreading activities over subsidies the former policy action in fact preserves a broad consensus around the new technology a fact which turned out to be fundamental in order to promote efficient knowledge diffusion and the effective use of individual and network resources

decarbonising the power sector via technological change differing contributions from heterogeneous firms abstract in the power sector technological change is a key lever to address the decarbonisation needed to avoid dangerous climate change policy makers aim to accelerate and redirect technological change by targeting relevant firms via climate policy e g the european union emissions trading system eu ets and climate relevant technology policies e g feed in tariffs changes in firm s behaviour i e their research and development r d as well as diffusion activities are at the heart of technological change however firms are heterogeneous actors with varying attributes which perceive policy differently hence they can be expected to react very heterogeneously to these new policies based on an original dataset of 201 firms we perform a cluster analysis grouping firms along their r d and diffusion activity changes we then compare these clusters with regards to the characteristics of the contained firms our analysis results in seven clusters showing very diverse contributions to low carbon technological change suggesting potential for policy to become more effective a comparison of the firms characteristics allows us to derive indicative recommendations on how to adjust the policy mix in order to induce contributions from most firms in the power sector

transition pathways revisited established firms as multi level actors in the heavy vehicle industry abstract the multi level perspective on sustainability transitions positions established firms incumbents as defenders of existing technologies at the regime level by contrast it positions new entrants at the niche level as promoters of new technologies this paper challenges the positioning of firms as actors on either regime or niche levels based on a comparative analysis of technology strategies in the heavy vehicle industry the paper shows that established firms are active at both levels developing several technology alternatives simultaneously this means that incumbents technology strategies determine important parts of the required niche regime interactions the paper also shows how incumbents may pursue contrasting technology strategies while some adopt a dualistic approach keeping regime and niche level activities technologically and commercially separate others develop integrated strategies where niche activities are leveraged to impact upon the regime level the cases studied illustrate how the success of such integrated strategies depends on the emergence of bridging policies bridging policies are relevant both for linking early niche markets to broader regime level markets and for supporting further technological advancements of niche markets

sector based political analysis of energy transition green shift in the forest policy regime in france abstract this article examines energy transition political process from a sector based approach through the analysis of recent shift in the french forest policy regime we demonstrate that since 2007 energy transition policies have led to a harvesting turn within the french forest policy framework meaning that priority is given to wood mobilisation mainly for biomass uses in addition our findings suggest that the political authority wielded by the state over forest policy has shifted from forest administrative services to energy agencies and local authorities finally we show that although implementation of the harvesting turn is a cause of sectoral and inter sectoral tensions energy transition challenge also contributes to a process of re institutionalisation of mediation relationships among forestry stakeholders and wood based industries representatives the article concludes by arguing that sectors should retain relevant institutional frameworks for actors when choosing political arrangements required for implementing energy transition policy

a hard nut to crack implementing supply chain sustainability in an emerging economy abstract in the last decade sustainable supply chain management has become a key topic in the sustainability literature as well as a buzzword in industry and policy circles although research has made substantial contributions there is a lack of understanding on how focal companies operating in emerging economies can lead the implementation of sustainability into their supply chains this research connects and advances the constructs of cleaner production sustainability and supply chains by exploring a classic case of a focal company operating in an emerging economy that even facing considerable challenges has been able to succeed in transforming its entire supply chain drawing from stakeholder theory and contingency theory this research offers four key contributions to the sustainability and supply chain discourses as follows 1 it proposes an innovation centered approach to sustainable supply chain management by adapting and extending the tcos uncertainty framework 2 it suggests that the way a focal company manages and is influenced by its established network of relationships shape the evolution of the supply chain sustainability trajectories 3 it argues that supply chains are dynamic entities and should then be considered and understood through the lenses of evolutionary approaches and 4 it suggests that the implementation and management of sustainable supply chains are context specific challenges and therefore theoretical managerial and policy generalizations are difficult to be achieved

socio technical analysis of the electricity sector of mexico its historical evolution and implications for a transition towards low carbon development abstract the electricity sector of mexico has been found itself in continuous transitions since its beginning in the 19th century however the historical reform to the sector that recently took place together with new energy market configurations around the globe may pose an important challenge to transitioning towards a low carbon sector the work presented here was aimed at understanding in a qualitative manner the complex interactions between the main social technical and environmental aspects that have guided the sector in the past their influence on the current structure and its future development through the application of the multi level perspective mlp with a governance and agency perspective additionally the work tried to elucidate the implications of the incumbent position of the natural gas industry and the possibilities for low carbon technologies the conclusions remark the importance of previous sector configurations in the present structure the important role of government in promoting low carbon technologies together with investment by market actors and the possible window of opportunity that the natural gas industry in mexico may provide to low carbon energy technologies

sustainable energy projects and the community mapping single building use of microgeneration technologies in london microgeneration technologies offer the potential for distributed energy supply and consumption resulting in reduced reliance on centralised generation adoption of microgeneration for use in community settings is usually understood as having a beneficial contribution to sustainable development this is particularly relevant in urban environments which present specific challenges relating to the heterogeneity of building and land use small scale installations in buildings also appear to offer technological flexibility at the human level necessary for local participation in shaping the direction of sustainable development this paper reports on a project concerned with identifying on site energy generation projects in greater london a database was compiled comprising renewable and energy efficient microgeneration installations in multi occupancy buildings the relationships between each project and its associated organisations are mapped as a social network which illustrates the heterogeneity of technologies and actors involved as well as the flows of funding and expertise the structure of the resulting networks indicates a lack of participation by social or not for profit groups who are traditionally identified as community level actors the findings indicate that large institutional actors on the supply side may become regarded as renewable energy experts hence there is a need to consider how the concept of community level actors in urban microgeneration projects is applicable to local government and commercial organisations

escalation of commitment to fossil fuels abstract the use of fossil fuels has been a great boon to human civilization however given the issue of climate change it has become clear that this is a time limited strategy and that we will at some point need to severely curtail and perhaps ultimately eliminate this strategy of meeting our energy needs given this long term perspective the authors argue that continued public investment in fossil fuel industries and infrastructures reflects escalation of commitment continued investment in a failing strategy in this context this paper reviews the research on escalation of commitment and factors that encourage de escalation highlighting strategies that citizens can use to encourage politicians and public administrators to protect long term civic well being by shifting investments away from fossil fuel industries

smart grids and the transformation of the electricity sector ict firms as potential catalysts for sectoral change abstract the sustainability challenges associated with increasing demand and generation of electricity require a far reaching transformation of the energy system smart grid technologies are expected to play a major role in such sectoral transformation while a growing body of literature is concerned with the dynamics and particularities of sectoral transformation most contributions have focused on exogenous shocks or new technological developments as drivers of change this paper complements the existing perspectives by exploring the role of actors as catalysts for transformation within the field of smart grid we study the transformative influence of ict firms on the energy sector in europe more specifically we analyze actor participation in 450 european smart grid projects between 2000 and 2011 as well as acquisitions in the field we find that incumbent firms from the ict sector have gained influence and drive transformation through the creation of variety in terms of technology business models and value chains as a strategic reaction electricity sector incumbents have recently acquired many start ups specialized in ict technology and thus expanded their competence base we conclude that entrants from another sector can be important catalysts for sectoral transformation and should be analyzed more systematically in transition studies

destination unknown pursuing sustainable mobility in the face of rival societal aspirations abstract a growing volume of scholarship and policy practice focuses on developing societal capacity to guide transitions of socio technical systems toward more sustainable alternatives because several prominent modes of transportation are widely regarded as systemically problematic the notion of sustainable mobility has received considerable attention from the standpoint of system innovation sustainability though constitutes only one of many contemporary political objectives and public commitment to goals consistent with such a future is highly equivocal a related challenge arises from the ambivalence that sustainability champions often harbor on an individual level it is probable that efforts to facilitate sustainable mobility will need to be reconciled with rival societal aspirations such as the pursuit of faster and more convenient forms of travel drawing on insights from the multi level perspective this article contrasts the relatively static automobility system with its more dynamic aeromobility counterpart and explores why evidence of an incipient transition is more apparent within the realm of aviation in particular the diffusion of personal aeromobility involving the use of small airplanes for on demand point to point air travel raises perplexing questions for the governance of sustainable mobility

integrating finance into the multi level perspective technology niche finance regime interactions and financial policy interventions abstract any major socio technical transition requires a fundamental re direction of financial capital from incumbent to new technologies and practices while the transitions literature conceptually covers financial markets the role of finance is marginalized and has scarcely been analysed empirically to address this gap here we build on the multi level perspective mlp which considers financial markets as part of the existing regime we argue that the role of finance is highly relevant for the niche regime interaction redirecting finance towards new niche technologies requires that either the niche is fit for and conforms to the financial regime s expectations or the financial regime is stretched and transformed in order to accept and finance niche technologies based on 56 interviews we identify factors that determine interactions between the financial regime and technology niches these include acceptable risk and transaction size an abundance of knowledge and heuristics in both the regime and niche and an extensive existing industry network we further analyse how state investment bank sib interventions in germany the uk and australia aimed to mobilise private finance into low carbon project development affect the interaction between the technology niche and financial regime i e whether they resulted in fitting and conforming the technological niche for the financial regime or stretching and transforming the financial regime our results point to several important effects of sib interventions with most effects fitting the niche to the regime however we also detect effects that stretch and transform the financial regime through evolutionary processes importantly some effects occur as a consequence of the primary effects based on our findings we discuss policy implications on how to accelerate transitions through policies aiming at finance as well as theoretical insights gained through our analysis

niche accumulation and hybridisation strategies in transition processes towards a sustainable energy system an assessment of differences and pitfalls this paper assesses two patterns in transition processes for using them as strategies towards a sustainable energy system i e niche accumulation and hybridisation both play important but different roles in transitions the expected success of these strategies depends on the innovation s history and the innovation context the different strategies are illustrated with several examples from the energy domain

the water utility adoption model wuam understanding influences of organisational and procedural innovation in a uk water utility for uk water and sewerage companies wascs the capacity to innovate capital investment processes and consequently performance outcomes is fundamental as they seek to deliberately change infrastructure to improve the sustainability of service delivery within a comparatively regulated framework innovation is viewed here as being either incremental or radical changes to the products services and processes ways of delivering services which are typical to the organisation wascs product and process innovations may involve changes to some or all of technologies organisational structure and processes behaviour and culture and knowledge and skills within the organisation and its supply chain this paper sets out to provide an understanding of the factors which both enable and constrain the development and adoption of infrastructure investment process innovations in the context of water utilities concerned with water and sewerage service delivery the paper documents the process and results from an inductive research programme of participatory action research undertaken within a large privately owned uk wasc to facilitate infrastructure investment process innovation employee narratives during the innovation process from initiation to adoption decision making were characterised and analysed the findings suggest that the development and adoption of asset investment process innovations tends to be skewed in favour of opportunities which align with i uk and european union legislative and regulatory drivers ii wasc mission policy and goals iii innovation cost advantages over a prescribed period of time iv perceived risks to service provision associated with the introduction of the innovation and v the extent to which the organisational processes and cultures which act to increase the absorptive capacity of the wasc to the proposed innovation are already functioning

investment incentives in the korean electricity market abstract this paper develops a model based analysis of the effects of various capacity incentive systems on new investment in the korean electricity market the restructuring process in korea allocated power generation to six firms competing within a wholesale market albeit strictly on a cost basis because of this cost based pool capacity payments were also introduced to encourage new investment however it is an open question whether the current fixed capacity payment scheme is enough to secure resource adequacy and consideration is being given to alternative mechanisms such as the use of lolp using a detailed market simulation model based on system dynamics we compare these approaches in terms of how they may influence the investors decisions and thereby determine the system reserve margin the simulation results suggest that there may be serious problems in staying with the current fixed capacity payments in order to achieve resource adequacy in contrast an lolp based capacity mechanism may in the longer term increase the reserve margin compared with a fixed capacity payment more generally this paper indicates how crucial the effective modeling of the investment behavior of the independent power producers is for adequate policy support even if they only constitute a fringe in a substantially centrally influenced market

complementary system perspectives in ecological macroeconomics the example of transition investments during the crisis globally societies are facing a number of interrelated environmental economic and social crises this paper is intended to contribute to the development of an ecological macroeconomics that addresses these multiple crises in combination insights from different research communities will be included in this effort taking an ecological economic understanding of sustainability as the point of departure and inspired by systems thinking it is discussed which economic sub systems should be in focus for sustainability transitions and whether relevant guides for sustainability can be formulated for these systems in particular the focus is on systems that are decisive for resource consumption and pollution although their influence on these is indirect a simple typology of sub systems is suggested and applied in relation to an example that highlights the importance of the interplay between macroeconomic provision and distribution systems the example concerns investments in sustainability transitions of provision systems and demonstrates the complexities of implementing such transformations during the economic crisis it also addresses the need for ecological macroeconomics to develop a third position beyond austerity policies and keynesian approaches

technological innovations and sectoral change transformative capacity adaptability patterns of change an analytical framework following up on recent debates about sectoral systems of innovation and production the paper introduces a heuristic framework for analyzing and explaining distinct patterns of technology based sectoral change the concept is based on two interrelated influencing factors the first is the sectoralspecific transformative capacity of new technologies themselves that is their substantial or incremental impact on socioeconomic and institutional change in a given sectoral system the second is the sectoral adaptability of socioeconomic structures institutions and actors confronted with the opportunities presented by new technologies the first factor the sectoral transformative capacity of new technologies enables us to identify the technology based pressure to change and adjust the structural institutional and organizational architectures of the sectoral system the second complementary factor sectoral adaptability helps us to discern the distinct social patterns of anticipating and adopting this technology based pressure the specific interplay between the two influencing factors creates distinguishable modes of sectoral transformation ranging from anticipative and smooth adjustments to reactive and crisis ridden patterns of change even processes of radical sectoral change continue over longer periods of mismatch and are characterized by numerous and mostly gradual organizational structural and institutional transformations

getting round the lock in in electricity generating systems the example of the gas turbine abstract the purpose of this paper is to show how in a situation of lock in in the environment of electricity generation a new technology can succeed in overcoming this situation and become competitive our study will show that it is possible to get round the lock in by bringing into play the increasing returns of adoption in particular production niches where the existence of powerful constraints of techno economic consistency leads to a path of increasing specification then a hybridization of the competing technologies will allow the new technology to emerge from the original niche and take advantage of the increasing returns of adoption which were hitherto the reserve of the former technology we shall then draw lessons from the example of the gas turbine in comparison with the basic model of b arthur

spatial processes in urban energy transitions considering an assemblage of socio energetic nodes urban and energy transitions are increasingly seen as being deeply intertwined the way this relation impacts our approach to energy transition is a current issue for research implementing renewable energy sources in built up areas challenges incumbent supply chains and large technical systems especially for electricity gas and heat approaches to transition such as the multi level perspective mlp highlight the transformation of socio technical regimes but have been criticised for overstating stability of regime and for overlooking spatial and consequently urban processes other concepts are required in order to understand local and non local relationships between niches and regimes this paper suggests a constructivist and pragmatic concept for urban energy transition the socio energetic node sen thanks to which actors and artefacts can be traced within energy networks the sen is a group of elements which collects converts and or supplies energy built by a decision maker interacting with stakeholders and regime rules having identified sens in four french eco districts we observed how they took shape around continuous energy flows and across decision making boundaries highlighting how spatial scale and place specificity impact on energy transition

the structuration of socio technical regimes conceptual foundations from institutional theory abstract in recent years socio technical transitions literature has gained importance in addressing long term transformative change in various industries in order to account for the inertia and path dependency experienced in these sectors the concept of the socio technical regime has been formulated socio technical regimes denote the paradigmatic core of a sector which results from the co evolution of institutions and technologies over time despite its widespread acceptance the regime concept has repeatedly been criticized for lacking a clear operationalization as a consequence empirical applications tend to depict regimes as too monolithic and homogenous not adequately considering persistent institutional tensions and contradictions these are however crucial for assessing transition dynamics in this paper we revisit two concepts from institutional theory that enable an explicit identification of socio technical regimes and more generally a specification of the semi coherence of socio technical systems first we will show that levels of structuration can be conceptualized as degrees of institutionalization thereby treating institutionalization as a variable with different effects on actors the stability of the system and thus the potential for change secondly we draw on the institutional logics approach to characterize the content of various structural elements present in a system and to trace conflicts and contradictions between them we illustrate this approach with an empirical in depth analysis of the transformation of the australian urban water sector since the 1970ies

normative contestation in transitions in the making animal welfare concerns and system innovation in pig husbandry previous studies of system innovations mainly focused on historical cases that were driven by commercial motivations of pioneers and entrepreneurs this article investigates a system innovation in the making that is driven by normative concerns such as sustainability or animal welfare initially formulated by outsiders like special interest groups our central research question is how when and why is normative contestation of existing regimes effective in influencing the orientation of transitions in the making the conceptual framework enriches innovation studies and the multi level perspective with insights from social movement theory smt and political science smt is used to analyze the build up of normative pressure through framing resource mobilization and political opportunity structures from political science we use the notion of multiple streams in our analysis a problem regulatory market and technology stream the research design consists of a comparative case study of pig husbandry systems one case analyses the sub sector of pregnant sows where normative pressures after several decades led to the changes advocated by the contestants the second case concerns the sub sector of pig fattening where normative pressure was less successful the difference is partly explained by the normative pressure for pregnant sows being larger than for fattening pigs the other part of the explanation is that in the first case normative pressure aligned better with the three other streams regulatory market and technology to lead to the changes desired by the contestants 2010 elsevier b v all rights reserved

evolutionary approaches for sustainable innovation policies from niche to paradigm fostering technological innovation is considered as an important element of policies towards sustainable development in the past 10 years evolutionary policy approaches have been increasingly advocated for several reasons they seem well equipped to underpin sustainable innovation policies they focus on dynamics of change and their drivers they allow for a substantive perspective on technologies beyond mere input output relations taking into account trajectories and different characteristics of innovation and they are able to describe circumstances under which established technologies might persist even when they are to some extent inferior to their new competitors lock in however the policy effectiveness of evolutionary approaches in cases in which radical or systemic changes are involved is not yet proven in this paper we assess the theoretical rationale instrumental aspects and the coping with policy constraints of three evolutionary policy approaches which have also been used in empirical studies strategic niche management transition management and time strategies each approach has its strengths and specific problems and all three have to be further developed and tested out but they hold promise for contributing to non incremental change with economic and environmental benefits by shaping processes of variation selection and retention with the outcomes feeding back into policy they may also be used in other areas in which innovation direction is important for instance health care or food

the hygienic transition from cesspools to sewer systems 1840 1930 the dynamics of regime transformation this article addresses the topic of transition and system change and proposes endogenous regime transformation as alternative transition path to technological substitution using sociological and institutional insights the dynamics of regime transformation are conceptualised two characteristics are pressure from outsider groups and adjustments in cognitions norms and formal rules enacted by regime insiders the transformation perspective is illustrated with a historical case study the hygienic transition from cesspools to integrated sewer systems in the netherlands the case study is used to make additions to the transformation perspective particularly with regard to tactical and strategic games

managing electric power system transition in china abstract this research studies the low carbon transition of the electric power sector in china using a multi level perspective mlp of niches socio technical regime and landscape as well as literature on innovation systems three lines of thought on transition process are integrated in the paper to probe the possible transition pathways in china a mlp analysis is presented to understand the current niches regime and landscape of china s power sector a brief analysis on the future macroscopic socio economic transition in the process of industrialization urbanization and modernization of chinese society and its implication on power landscape are depicted to prove the urgency and magnitude of transition in china and why systematic transition management is needed five transition pathways namely reproduction transformation substitution reconfiguration de alignment re alignment and reconfiguration with their possible technology options are presented the paper goes further to propose an interactive framework for managing the transition to a low carbon energy system in china representative technology options are appraised by employing innovation theory to indicate the logic of policymaking within the framework institutional gaps in realizing the transition are also addressed the work presented in the paper will be useful in informing policy makers and other stakeholders and may provide references for power sector transition management in other countries

regime destabilisation as the flipside of energy transitions lessons from the history of the british coal industry 1913 1997 this paper investigates a neglected aspect of the transitions literature the destabilisation of existing regimes and industries it presents an analytical perspective that integrates four existing views on destabilisation and conceptualizes the process as a multi dimensional and enacted phenomenon involving technical economic political and cultural processes this perspective is illustrated with two historical cases of the british coal industry 1913 1967 1967 1997 these cases are also used to articulate five lessons regarding the overall destabilisation process and five lessons regarding the economic and socio political environments of industries the conclusion section translates the historical lessons into insights with relevance for the contemporary challenge of climate change and transitions to low carbon energy systems

equilibrium convergence and capital mobility in neoclassical models of growth abstract we study convergence in economies integrated by capital trade equilibrium generates transitional dynamics even in the absence of internal adjustment costs or borrowing constraints trade lowers the speed of convergence of capital importing economies but increases the convergence of capital exporting economies

deep transitions emergence acceleration stabilization and directionality abstract industrial society has not only led to high levels of wealth and welfare in the western world but also to increasing global ecological degradation and social inequality the socio technical systems that underlay contemporary societies have substantially contributed to these outcomes this paper proposes that these socio technical systems are an expression of a limited number of meta rules that for the past 250 years have driven innovation and hence system evolution in a particular direction thereby constituting the first deep transition meeting the cumulative social and ecological consequences of the overall direction of the first deep transition would require a radical change not only in socio technical systems but also in the meta rules driving their evolution the second deep transition this paper develops a new theoretical framework that aims to explain the emergence acceleration stabilization and directionality of deep transitions it does so through the synthesis of two literatures that have attempted to explain large scale and long term socio technical change the multi level perspective mlp on socio technical transitions and techno economic paradigm tep framework

the economics of renewable energy expansion in rural sub saharan africa accelerating development in sub saharan africa will require massive expansion of access to electricity currently reaching only about one third of households this paper explores how essential economic development might be reconciled with the need to keep carbon emissions in check the authors develop a geographically explicit framework and use spatial modeling and cost estimates from recent engineering studies to determine where stand alone renewable energy generation is a cost effective alternative to centralized grid supply the results suggest that decentralized renewable energy will likely play an important role in expanding rural energy access but it will be the lowest cost option for a minority of households in africa even when likely cost reductions over the next 20 years are considered decentralized renewables are competitive mostly in remote and rural areas while grid connected supply dominates denser areas where the majority of households reside these findings underscore the need to de carbonize the fuel mix for centralized power generation as it expands in africa

knowledge collaboration and learning by aligning global sustainability programs reflections in the context of rio 20 abstract there is widespread concern that the economy is crashing against the earth already causing problems in terms of climate change water depletion and loss of biodiversity yet the global economy still will have to grow two to four fold to provide all future global inhabitants with the average yearly income of 10 000 that is needed to have a reasonable life expectancy and human development index rio 20 was intended to reconcile the need for poverty eradication with a green economy but had limited perceived success this paper analyses how some of the major international sustainability programs that contributed to rio 20 could have supported a more far reaching outcome two problems are identified the programs showed significant overlap and the programs themselves were often incremental in nature seeking compromises and avoiding more radical approaches such as the degrowth agenda to address the first problem we suggest how a natural process of mutual collaboration learning and strengthening could occur the un green economy initiative could focus on providing the socio economic rationale for sustainability bodies like the ipcc and the unep resources panel could focus on providing the environmental rationale and planetary limits related to sustainability programs in the field of sustainable consumption and production as well as resource efficient and cleaner production could focus on providing hands on support and proof of how to change direction there seems no clear cut answer for the second problem some authors suggest relying more on action outside formal policy systems that by nature seek compromises however they also see a required role for government action which is exactly what rio 20 and its supportive policy programs failed to achieve and negotiate

innovation enabling policy and regime transformation towards increased energy efficiency the case of the circulator pump industry in europe abstract when new energy efficient products are struggling with their commercialisation and diffusion into widespread applications you would typically expect policy makers and green lead users to guide the way this paper examines the case of the hot water circulator pump industry in europe where parts of the industry envisioned and worked for a voluntary energy label bringing technological innovation new business and energy savings of approx 85 for each new circulator pump the case study explores the complexities of innovation processes where technology market actors and policy co evolve over time to transform an existing socio technical regime the paper highlights the importance of policies to reduce barriers towards innovation and energy efficiency and shows that it is not always policy makers that establish the crucial policies that change the innovation dynamics for the benefit of the environment and the industry

current challenges of germany s energy transition project and competing strategies of challengers and incumbents the case of direct marketing of electricity from renewable energy sources electricity generated by renewable energies res e already accounts for 25 of germany s electricity supply this has led to recent discussions for a better market integration of res e the paper examines how competing actors and their ideas on market integration developed new services for direct marketing according to their respective origins and tried to shape the regulatory framework the paper analyses this process and explains the current shape of the field of direct marketing medium sized structured actors who favoured res e integration via the conventional wholesale power markets and who formed early close coalitions with res e power producers at the same time have been most successful in terms of market shares moreover they have been very successful for different reasons in building up coalitions with governance units and influencing the field rules and routines based on those findings the paper will conclude with some policy advices for the future adjustment of the current regulative frameworks as long as there is no evidence of how res e can be integrated most effectively and efficiently policies should maintain a competition between different direct marketing strategies to find out which strategies serve the best in terms of achieving a successful energy transition

simulating power integration in latin america to assess challenges opportunities and threats abstract integration of electricity markets started to spread under the world wide trend to economic liberalization while some regions are managing better than others lessons both political and technical highlight challenges ahead that need to be overcome since the early 2000s panama colombia ecuador and peru have decided to integrate their electricity markets eventually creating an enormous latin american electricity exchange ranging from mexico to chile this poses opportunities and threats to the region as it involves cooperation trust and the will to overcome difficulties that may arise in this direction we developed a system dynamics model linked to an iterative algorithm to assess the likely effects of integration on both system expansion and security of supply the model helps us understand the logic of the long term system behavior under different policies assuming market coupling as the dispatch mechanism based on theoretical grounds and after analyzing simulation results under different scenarios we conclude that the integration of electricity markets may render important opportunities regarding security of supply and efficiency and consequently energy might be supplied at lower prices using cleaner technologies however benefits largely depend on policy regulation and technical issues

the two faces of market support how deployment policies affect technological exploration and exploitation in the solar photovoltaic industry the recent years have seen a strong rise in policies aiming to increase the diffusion of clean energy technologies while there is general agreement that such deployment policies have been very effective in bringing technologies to the market it is less understood how these policies affect technological innovation to shed more light on this important question we conducted comparative case studies with a global sample of 9 firms producing solar photovoltaic pv modules complemented by in depth interviews with 16 leading pv industry experts we propose that on the one hand policy induced market growth serves as an important catalyst for innovative activity as it raises the absolute level of firm investments in technological exploration on the other hand however deployment policies create an incentive for firms pursuing more mature technologies to shift their balance between exploitation and exploration toward exploitation firms focusing on less mature technologies cannot tap the potentials of exploitative learning to the same extent as those with more mature technologies therefore stimulating strong market growth may raise the barrier to market entry for less mature technologies we conclude that when designing deployment policies great care should be taken to avoid adverse effects on technological diversity and a premature lock in into more established technologies

mobilizing private finance for low carbon innovation a systematic review of barriers and solutions this paper analyses the field of innovation studies regarding barriers to low carbon innovation and consequences for finance investment and divestment and contributes to a more holistic understanding of the underlying mechanisms a combination of technological barriers combined with economic barriers institutional and political barriers contribute to sub optimal low carbon investment all along the innovation cycle policy makers need to take a systemic approach to enable the redirection of diverse private financial sources instruments range from cutting dirty r d subsidies and support for clean technology innovation and diffusion levelling the institutional playing field and making risks of high carbon and low carbon technologies transparent to providing a consistent but adaptive long term transition strategy this would allow financiers to gradually shift their investments away from high carbon mainstream markets and scale low carbon technology niche markets however financiers also need to sharpen their competencies with regard to new clean technologies and markets

sustainability transitions a political coalition perspective in the case of technology transitions to low carbon sources of energy there is growing evidence that even in countries with a strong political consensus in favor of a transition the pace has been slow in comparison with the need to reduce greenhouse gases one factor that affects the slowness of the transition is political resistance from the incumbent industrial regime using data on the mobilization of resistance from the fossil fuel industry in the united states the study builds on the growing literature on the political dimensions of sustainability transitions by drawing attention to the role of incumbent regime coalitions grassroots coalitions in support of green transition policies and countervailing industrial power case studies of political coalitions for ballot propositions in the u s are used to show how countervailing industrial power especially from the technology and financial sector can tip the balance of electoral spending in favor of grassroots organizations

socio technical barriers to the use of energy efficient timber drying technology in new zealand abstract this study of industrial energy behaviours identifies barriers to the use of energy efficient drying technology in the new zealand timber industry and explores these barriers through the energy cultures lens vented kiln dryers were preferred by larger firms and heat pump kiln dryers were used by smaller firms although few firms could specify all their costs we found no significant differences in the average operating costs drying costs or commercial success of the larger and smaller firms we found that socio technical barriers create energy cultures at the level of both the firm and the sector supporting the dominance of vented kiln dryers the prevailing technologies practices and norms at the sector level strongly support vented kilns the status quo being embedded in the socio technical context hindering technological learning improved energy efficiency and innovation influential stakeholders in the industry were thus part of and locked into the industry wide energy culture and were not in a position to effect change we conclude that actors external to the prevailing industry energy culture need to leverage change in the industry norms practices and or technologies in order to reap the advantages of energy efficient drying technology assist its continued evolution and avoid the risks of path dependency

analysis of factors affecting a shift in a local energy system towards 100 renewable energy community abstract we explore what factors play a critical role in a shift of a local energy system towards 100 renewable energy community by examining the case using a framework that highlights the role of key state and non state actors investors local officials citizens and policy entrepreneurs and the role of governance mode horizontal self steering partnership participation inclusiveness of energy decision making co ownership of the process for the actual outcome the framework is based on recent transition literature that has focused on the dynamics of change the case study provides the evidence of the important role of participation of local community in the open decision making process from the onset their partnership in the local energy system solutions sense of ownership as well as the role of mayor as a policy entrepreneur

technological regimes and sectoral patterns of innovative activities this paper focuses on the relationships between observed patterns of innovative activities within a sector and the related context and underlying microeconomic processes that might account for them it claims that there are some invariant features with respect to relative prices and incentives mechanisms of learning and knowledge accumulation that greatly affect the rate and structure of innovative activity these features are different across sectors the paper proposes that the specific pattern of innovative activity of a sector can be explained as the outcome of different technological regimes that are implied by the nature of technology and knowledge the notion of technological regime provides a synthetic representation of some of the most important economic properties of technologies and of the characteristics of the learning processes that are involved in innovative activities copyright 1997 by oxford university press

sustainable urban regime adjustments abstract the endogenous agency that urban governments increasingly portray by making conscious and planned efforts to adjust the regimes they operate within is currently not well captured in transition studies there is a need to acknowledge the ambiguity of regime enactment at the urban scale this directs attention to the transformative implications of conscious strategic maneuvering by incumbent regime actors when confronting regime structurations this article provides insight to processes of regime enactment performed by local governments by applying a flow oriented perspective on regime dynamics inspired by actor network theory to demonstrate that regime incumbent actors can induce gradual regime adjustments at the urban scale this is done through a case study of an urban development project where the municipality of egedal in denmark has successfully promoted energy efficient buildings through adjustments in existing planning and building procedures

how to benefit from a common european electricity market design abstract the realization of an internal electricity market in europe is currently on the one hand progressing in particular thanks to the wide spread implementation of market coupling solutions for cross border congestion management on the other hand diverging national market designs pose a threat to the continuation of this process given the challenges to electricity market design in a multi regional context we analyze how different design aspects namely cross border congestion management and capacity mechanisms affect welfare and generation adequacy in europe in doing so we rely on an agent based simulation model for electricity wholesale markets which we apply within several numerical computational case studies for the region of central western europe 2012 2030 our results confirm the benefits of market coupling in terms of welfare as well as generation adequacy furthermore we find indications that coordinating market designs across regions supports these targets therefore we recommend that european energy policy forms a stable transparent regulatory framework with cross border market coupling as an integral component in this context energy policy targets should be clearly defined and operationalized which also needs to consider potential conflicts between them finally electricity market designs need to be coordinated among states to benefit most from a common european market

multi regime dynamics in the analysis of sectoral transformation potentials evidence from german utility sectors abstract network bound infrastructure systems as electricity gas water and telecommunications are currently undergoing transformations on various levels and dimensions liberalization technological innovations and socio cultural dynamics are part of this for analyzing these ongoing transformation dynamics as well as exploring future developments of utility systems a theoretical concept is necessary which spans production consumption and governance different levels and also different sectors this paper argues that the multi level perspective is a fruitful starting point allowing the identification of interrelated transformation dynamics in production consumption and governance but that multi regime dynamics need more emphasis particularly in a future oriented analysis

meso level factors in technological transitions the development of td scdma in china this paper uses an industry case study of technological transition from second generation 2g to third generation 3g networks in china to unfold how meso level factors drove the development of td scdma china s home born 3g standard in this purposive transitional process under the coordination of a central authority multiple regime actors government agencies engaged in bargaining negotiation and consensus building that determined the developmental directions and outcome of td scdma td scdma proved to be a political success but an economic failure the policy implications are profound in particular as the silo regulatory model of policy making which focuses on a single industry is gradually replaced by a collective model involving interindustry players issues about how to manage the collective model pose a serious challenge to policy makers in china and other emerging countries the paper provides evidence for the importance of meso level factors in the multi level perspective mlp framework of sociotechnical transitions