Fostering technologies for sustainability: learning from the case of wind power in Australia

Sustainable energy systems are widely seen as a desirable goal, but what constitutes such systems and how to make the transition from current practice to sustainable practice are more contested. Developed nations are locked-in to fossil fuel use, with a myriad of economic, technical, institutional and social obstacles discouraging change. Such obstacles are currently being faced by wind power proponents. The latter are promoting wind power in Australia because they believe it has a role in a sustainable energy system. The paper proposes that society can learn about the introduction of `sustainable? technologies from the wind power case and suggests a body of theory and an analytical method for this purpose. The methodological argument is supported by the preliminary results of an ongoing empirical study. The paper concludes with a reflection on the theory and method and an outline of future research.

[1]  M. V. Asselt,et al.  More evolution than revolution: transition management in public policy , 2001 .

[2]  James M. Utterback,et al.  Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation , 1996 .

[3]  F. Geels.  Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study , 2002 .

[4]  Jan van den Ende,et al.  Technological transformations in history: how the computer regime grew out of existing computing regimes , 1999 .

[5]  Gregory C. Unruh.  Escaping carbon lock-in , 2002 .

[6]  Gregory C. Unruh.  Understanding carbon lock-in , 2000 .

[7]  Johan Schot,et al.  Experimenting for Sustainable Transport: The Approach of Strategic Niche Management , 2002 .

[9]  P. Vergragt,et al.  Social experiments in the development of environmental technology: a bottom-up perspective , 1995 .

[10]  A. Bunting.  The social shaping of wind power in Australia , 2003 .

[11]  J. Martin,et al.  Energy technologies: Systemic aspects, technological trajectories, and institutional frameworks , 1996 .

[12]  Hugh Outhred.  A review of electricity industry restructuring in Australia , 1998 .

[13]  Luc Soete,et al.  The greening of technological progress: an evolutionary perspective , 1992 .

[14]  Jane Summerton.  Changing Large Technical Systems , 1994 .

[15]  A. Rip,et al.  The past and future of constructive technology assessment , 1997 .

[16]  R. Harding.  Environmental decision-making : the roles of scientists, engineers, and the public , 1998 .

[17]  K. Weber.  Transforming Large Socio-technical Systems towards Sustainability: On the Role of Users and Future Visions for the Uptake of City Logistics and Combined Heat and Power Generation , 2003 .

[18]  J. R. MacKenzie,et al.  The electricity supply industry of France , 1963 .

[19]  Hugh Saddler.  Energy in Australia: Politics and economics , 1981 .

[20]  Arie Rip,et al.  Antagonistic Patterns and New Technologies , 1998 .

[21]  S. Hultén,et al.  Escaping lock-in: The case of the electric vehicle☆ , 1996 .

[22]  Ibo van de Poel,et al.  On the Role of Outsiders in Technical Development , 2000 .

[23]  P Ekins.  Human choice and climate change, vols 1-4 , 1999 .

[24]  J. Schot,et al.  Regime shifts to sustainability through processes of niche formation : the approach of strategic niche management , 1998 .

[25]  Arie Rip,et al.  The Nelson-Winter-Dosi model and synthetic dye chemistry , 1987 .

[26]  Ian Miles,et al.  Transition to alternative energy supply technologies: the case of windpower , 1996 .

[27]  R. Kemp.  Technology and the transition to environmental sustainability , 1994 .

[28]  Deepak Sharma,et al.  The multidimensionality of electricity reform—an Australian perspective , 2003 .

[29]  W. Sine,et al.  Environmental jolts, institutional change, and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunity in the US electric power industry , 2003 .

[30]  Catherine Mitchell,et al.  The renewables NFFO: A review , 1995 .

[31]  Richard Braun,et al.  People's concerns about biotechnology: some problems and some solutions. , 2002, Journal of biotechnology.

[32]  Ibo van de Poel,et al.  The transformation of technological regimes , 2003 .

[33]  Arie Rip,et al.  Expectations in Technological Developments: an Example of Prospective Structures to be Filled in by Agency , 1998 .

[34]  R.J.F. Hoogma,et al.  Experimenting with sustainable transport innovations : a workbook for strategic niche management , 1999 .

[35]  Rpjm Rob Raven,et al.  Implementation of manure digestion and co-combustion in the Dutch electricity regime , 2002 .

[36]  Frans Berkhout,et al.  Socio-Technological Regimes and Transition Contexts , 2004 .

[37]  Technological regimes: Taking stock, looking ahead , 2002 .

[38]  Volkmar Lauber,et al.  REFIT and RPS: options for a harmonised Community framework , 2004 .

[39]  Johan Schot,et al.  The usefulness of evolutionary models for explaining innovation. The case of the Netherlands in the nineteenth century , 1998 .

[40]  Arie Rip,et al.  Constructing Transition Paths Through the Management of Niches , 2001 .

[41]  Remco Hoogma,et al.  Beyond national and technological styles of innovation diffusion: a dynamic perspective on cases from the energy and transport sectors , 1998 .

[42]  Johan Schot,et al.  Strategies for shifting technological systems : the case of the automobile system , 1994 .