Drivers of environmental innovation - Vinnova

More documents

Recommendations

Info

It can be observed that the material on environmental drivers of innovations is limited. This study, therefore, covers much of the existing literature. The identified material shows a strong bias towards policy instruments, rather than market related and other drivers, and their effects on environmental innovation. An explanation for this may be that the market as an important driver of environmental innovation is a relatively new phenomenon and has as yet not received much attention by researchers. 1.3 What is an environmental innovation? Innovation can be defined in many ways. A definition commonly referred to is that of Schumpeter: “the commercial or industrial application of something new – a new product, process or method of production; a new market or source of supply; a new form of commercial, business or financial organisation” (Schumpeter, 1934). New is usually interpreted as new to the economy, and not just new to a single firm. The diffusion of technology already on the market is thus not included within innovation. Most of the literature identified in this study is focussed on product and process innovations, and to a lesser extent on organisational innovations. Environmental innovations could in principle be defined in two ways: firstly by the effects of the innovation on the environment and, secondly, by the intention of the innovator to reduce the environmental impact of processes or products. Innovations that are not driven by a conscious intention to reduce environmental impact may nevertheless have this quality. An example might be increased fuel efficiency of a car arising from the incremental improvement of the motor. The prime motivation for such an innovation is most likely performance or price considerations, but the effects on environmental performance may anyhow be positive. Hemmelskamp defines environmental innovation as an ”innovation which serves to prevent or reduce anthropogenic burdens on the environment, clean up damage already caused or diagnose and monitor environmental problems” (Hemmelskamp, Forthcoming). Hemmelskamp also differentiates between endof-pipe and integrated environmental technologies, where end-of-pipe technologies are by their very nature incremental process innovations (Hemmelskamp 1997). Malaman defines a closely related concept, cleaner technologies, as: ”all modifications in processes and products which reduce impact on the environment, as compared to the processes and products which they have substituted” (Malaman, 1996). Both these definitions appear to focus on the effects of innovations rather than on the intention. A problem with this may be deciding which innovations in practise actually reduce the environmental impact of products and production. 14
But there are also problems with a definition that focuses on the intention of the innovators. As industry moves on from end-of-pipe solutions to integrated technologies and product innovations, the environmental motivation for the innovation may become entangled with other motivations. It may also be difficult to establish the relationship between the dedicated environmental activities of firms and the environmental performance of industry. The OECD emphasises the systemic character of environmental innovations. In the past environmental technology referred to pollution control or end-of-pipe technologies, but today integrated solutions are more common and all technologies can be considered environmental in cases were they are employed to reduce environmental impact. The use of integrated solutions increases the number of areas of knowledge and technology that may contribute. Environmental innovations will also occur in all industries rather than only in the dedicated environmental goods and services sector. Innovations in a wide range of industries have significant environmental impacts. Some innovations, for example information and communication technology innovations induce structural changes in the economy generating ”unintentional” environmental benefits. Both these aspects illustrate that environmental innovations may to a large extent be systemic and complex in that they involve many areas of knowledge and many different industrial sectors (OECD, 2000). One way to address and reduce this complexity is to categorise environmental innovations according to differences in their use. Kemp and Malaman list similar categories of environmental innovations: Kemp Pollution control technologies Waste management Clean technology Recycling Clean Products Clean-up technology Monitoring and assessments technologies (Malaman, 1996; Kemp, 1998). Malaman Cleaner products Input reduction Input substitution Energy saving technologies Cleaner production processes Recovery and recycling technologies Cleaner products which modify the production process of other firms Environmental diagnostics and monitoring Add-on or end-of-pipe technologies Other researchers stress that all technologies may contribute to environmental innovations, but the above lists appear to be both categories of use as well as distinctive technologies. It is unclear if they are selected by their effect on the environment or by the intention of the innovator. 15
Page 1 and 2: Drivers of environmental innovation
Page 3 and 4: Drivers of environmental innovation
Page 5 and 6: Preface Innovations such as new pro
Page 7 and 8: Sammanfattning Denna rapport är en
Page 9 and 10: Övergången mot ett mer marknadsdr
Page 11 and 12: Summary This study aims to provide
Page 13: 1 Introduction ”7KH# RQO\# SDWK#
Page 17 and 18: 2 Environmental innovations in firm
Page 19 and 20: ”sustainable development is a key
Page 21 and 22: was in general no larger change in
Page 23 and 24: positive environmental effects alth
Page 25 and 26: That location also plays an importa
Page 27 and 28: adapted, with the latter indicating
Page 29 and 30: 4 Environmental policy instruments
Page 31 and 32: oth in the regulated industry and o
Page 33 and 34: Table 1 Summary of innovation effec
Page 35 and 36: marginal cost of abatement is lower
Page 37 and 38: according to Hemmelskamp (Forthcomi
Page 39 and 40: The Dutch studies looked for the pr
Page 41 and 42: Kemp claims that the effectiveness
Page 43 and 44: Table 5 Summary of innovation effec
Page 45 and 46: There is clearly a need for more em
Page 47 and 48: conditions. These perspectives are
Page 49 and 50: This study shows that the way envir
Page 51 and 52: Hemmelskamp, J. (Forthcoming) “En
Page 54 and 55: Appendix 1 Theoretical approaches t
Page 56: and their interaction. It opens up
Page 59 and 60: efficiency nor on optimising within
Page 61 and 62: on the theory of terms of trade. A
Page 63 and 64: egulation may lead to increases in
Page 65 and 66:
average productivity increases. Thi
Page 68:
VINNOVA, SE-101 58 Stockholm, Swede
show all

Drivers of environmental innovation - Vinnova

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?