A strategic niche management approach for shaping bio-based economy in Europe

The goal of this paper is to investigate the transition towards a bio-based economy as part of a broader sustainable transition in Europe. To analyse the challenges and opportunities associated with the bio-based economy, we applied the Strategic Niche Management approach to investigate the drivers that boost the emergence of the bio-based economy, the factors hindering it, as well as institutional changes which are at the base of the socio-technological transition. Although considered as just one piece of the sustainability puzzle, the bio-based economy behaves as a socio-technical system on its own, providing valuable hints on systemic transitions

Innovation for biorefineries – Networks, narratives, and new institutions for the transition to a bioeconomy

The transition to a bioeconomy is dependent on transformative changes to technologies, organisations, and institutions, which jointly can be described as a socio-technical change. The thesis contributes to the understanding of how the transition is shaped by expectations on and collaborations for innovation forbiorefineries, which can produce chemicals, fuels, and materials needed in a bioeconomy.The thesis poses three research questions: i) what are the systemic characteristics of innovation for biorefineries? ii) how do collaborations and networks shape innovation for biorefineries? and iii) in what ways are expectations and institutions shaping pathways of innovation for biorefineries? These questions are answered with a mixed methods approach.Reorienting the socio-technical system for production and utilisation of chemicals, fuels, and materials towards a bioeconomy requires the overcoming of significant technological and institutional barriers. Though collaborations on innovation for biorefineries are needed to combine knowledge about technologies, materials, and markets they are costly and difficult. Expectations on biorefineries in the bioeconomy are divergent and conflictual. Acknowledging and resolving these conflicts is thus key to build effective and stable partnerships, which has proven to be difficult in the biorefinery field. Further, actors meet barriers to local transformative innovation in the global institutional context in which they are embedded. The thesis shows that transition initiatives are shaped by and dependent on institutional structures on multiple scales, but that opportunities exist for actors to build new networks which can enable the transition to a bioeconomy

Technological Innovation Systems for Biorefineries – A Review of the Literature

The concept of a bioeconomy can be understood as an economy where the basic building blocks for materials, chemicals, and energy are derived from renewable biological resources. Biorefineries are considered an integral part of the development toward a future sustainable bioeconomy. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize current knowledge about how biorefinery technologies are being developed, deployed, and diffused, and to identify actors, networks, and institutions relevant for these processes. Several key findings can be obtained from the literature. First, investing more resources in R&D will not help to enable biorefineries to cross the ‘valley of death’ toward greater commercial investments. Second, while the importance and need for entrepreneurship and the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is generally acknowledged, there is no agreement how to facilitate conditions for entrepreneurs and SMEs to enter the field of biorefineries. Third, visions for biorefinery technologies and products have focused very much on biofuels and bioenergy with legislation and regulation playing an instrumental role in creating a market for these products. But there is a clear need to incentivize non-energy products to encourage investments in biorefineries. Finally, policy support for biorefinery developments and products is heavily intertwined with wider discussions around legitimacy and social acceptance. The paper concludes by outlining current knowledge gap

Innovaatiosysteemit puupohjaisiin biokemikaaleihin liittyen : haasteet ja mahdollisuudet

Metsäteollisuuden toimialaan kohdistuvat rakenteelliset muutokset edistävät sektorin toimijoiden insentiivejä kehittää uusia tuotealueita taantuvien ydintuotteiden tilalle. Puupohjaisia biokemikaaleja pidetään yhtenä merkittävänä tuoteavauksena, joka voi osaltaan kompensoida graafisten paperien kysynnän heikentymisen aiheuttamaa liikevaihdon laskua. Biokemikaalien kohdalla on jo havaittavissa kysyntää esimerkiksi merkittävien tuotebrändien omistajilta, jotka pyrkivät korvaamaan fossiilisia raaka-ainepohjia kestävämmillä vaihtoehdoilla. Uudet puupohjaiset tuotealueet vastaavat muuttuvaan sektorin toimintaympäristöön, mutta vaativat myös uudenlaisia liiketoimintamalleja ja -strategioita sekä uuden osaamisen kehittämistä. Tämä työ tarkastelee suomalaisen puupohjaisten biokemikaalien sektorin kehittymiseen liittyviä systeemisiä heikkouksia ja vahvuuksia sekä niitä politiikkakeinoja, joilla olisi mahdollista edistää tämän sektorin kehittymistä sekä diffuusiota. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena, jossa kirjallisuuskatsausta täydennettiin kahdeksalla puolistrukturoidulla asiantuntijahaastattelulla. Materiaalin analysointiin hyödynnettiin innovaatiotutkimuksen menetelmiä, jotka mahdollistivat systeemiin kohdistuvien heikkouksien ja vahvuuksien identifioinnin. Tuloksista ilmeni useita ajureita, jotka tukevat systeemin jatkuvaa kehittymistä, mutta erityisesti kaksi systeemin sisäistä funktiota identifioitiin, joiden puutteellisen kehittymisen voidaan nähdä heikentävän koko systeemin optimaalista kehittymistä. Tiedon kehittäminen ja leviäminen toimialan osapuolten välillä sekä toisaalta systeemin toimijoiden väliset odotukset ja visiot pystyttiin identifioimaan systeemin kehityksen esteeksi, joiden helpottamiseksi tulisi muodostaa nykyisiä politiikkakeinoja tehokkaampia menettelytapoja. Tämä tutkimuksen käsitellessä ensisijaisesti sektorin systeemisiä heikkouksia ja vahvuuksia olisi tärkeää jatkaa spesifimpien politiikkakeinojen tunnistamista tulevissa tutkimuksissa koko sektorin kehityksen edistämiseksi. Tässä menettelyssä tulee ottaa myös huomioon ennen kaikkea puupohjaiset biokemikaalit osana koko biokemikaalisektoria ja sen kehitystä.The structural changes concerning the forest industry sector will stimulate the incumbents in the sector to develop new product areas for the replacement of the old, declining core products. Wood-based biochemicals are considered as one of the major product areas able to compensate the decline in revenues caused by diminishing demand for graphic papers. There is already existing demand for biochemicals from the owners of major product brands who seek to replace fossil-based raw materials with more sustainable alternatives. New wood-based product areas respond to the changing operating environment of the sector but also require new types of business models and strategies as well as development of expertise from different fields. This work examines the systemic weaknesses and strengths of the development of the Finnish wood-based biochemical sector as well as the policy tools facilitating the development and diffusion of the sector. This study was carried out as a qualitative study where literature review was complemented with eight semi-structured expert interviews. The conceptual basis for analyzing the material were based on innovation theories, enabling the identification of the weaknesses and strengths of the system. The results revealed several drivers for the further progression of the system but specifically two internal functions of the system were identified which can be recognized to hinder the optimal development of the entire system. The development and diffusion of knowledge as well as the differing expectations and visions between system actors were identified as barriers to the further development of the system, necessitating more effective policy measures. As this study addressed specifically the systemic weaknesses and strengths, it would be important for the future studies to address more detailed policy measures in order to enhance the further promotion of the sector. This approach should also consider the relationship of the wood-based biochemicals as a part of the whole biochemical sector and its development

Building a Biorefinery Business - If it does not fit, make it fit - strategies for successful commercialization

Due to a combination of economic challenges as well as uncertain policy conditions in the United States and the European Union, the development of (advanced) biorefineries has been slower than anticipated. This has hampered the transition to a more sustainable and less carbon-intensive economy, namely the bioeconomy. In this thesis, the technological innovation system (TIS) approach is combined with the business model (BM) framework to analyze how biorefineries have addressed commercialization challenges and system weaknesses in practice. Hereby, a business-centered perspective is taken, using case study analysis and expert interviews as major means of empirical data collection. The analysis highlights a number of key strategies that have been applied: (1) cooperation, partnerships and networks play a major role for e.g. the mobilization of resources, market formation and knowledge development and diffusion; (2) a high degree of vertical integration, especially upstream, is found to overcome feedstock related challenges (3) product and market diversification into higher values is perceived as key to overcome dependence on oil prices and policy frameworks. Furthermore, prospects for lignocellulosic biorefineries are considered low due to unfavorable economics and lack of policy incentives. In addition to the empirical contribution, the study contributes with novel insights into the role of agency and individual actors as system builders within the TIS framework. The thesis thus suggests that both actor specific activities as well as policy measures are needed to overcome system weaknesses to achieve successful commercialization of biorefineries

The Hijacking of the Bioeconomy

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Georgescu-Roegen used the term bioeconomy to refer to a radical ecological perspective on economics he developed in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, it has also become a buzzword used by public institutions to announce and describe a supposed current economic and ecological transition. We see in this use an attempt of semantic hijacking of the original term. To support this claim we analyze three different interpretations of the term bioeconomy, presenting each of them as narratives combining distinct visions of future economic development, technical trajectories and imaginaries associated with a particular relationship to nature. Finally, we discuss these narratives in relation to the endorsement they receive by different stakeholders

Influences of technological and sectoral contexts on technological innovation systems

This paper analyses how technological and sectoral context structures influence the functional pattern of a focal technological innovation system (TIS), focusing on value chain interdependencies. Through a case study of the ‘embryonic’ bio-succinate from mixed food waste TIS in Sweden, we show that all identified context structures exert both negative and positive influences on TIS functions by influencing resource availability and accessibility, market conditions and the wider selection environment. Contextual influences result from interdependencies throughout the value chain, but in contrast to previous studies, direct structural overlaps are not as relevant as competition for resources, markets and policy support. Competition does not only come from the regime but also from other related TISs and sectors. The study also confirms the importance of contextual influences from the international TIS. These findings suggest that a wide perspective on context structures and selection pressures should be considered in future research