Technological Regimes, Environmental Performance and Innovation Systems: Tracing the Links

There has been a growth in academic and policy interest in the notion of systemslevel technological changes (regime shifts, systems innovations) that promise to bring about radical improvements in environmental efficiency (cf. Frosch and Gallapoulos 1989; Vellinga et al 1998). Perhaps the clearest example is the debate about shifts to low-carbon energy economies as a way of mitigating climate change (Royal Commission 2000; Grubler et al 1999). This debate stems from three kinds of conviction: that current patterns of economic development are environmentally unsustainable; that these patterns of development are nevertheless deeply entrenched by technological, economic, institutional and cultural commitments; and that alternative technological and institutional configurations can be designed that will deliver both environmental and economic benefits over the longer term.