Motors of sustainable innovation

Sustainable energy technologies develop within the context of systems made up by networks of actors, institutions and (related) technologies. These Tech nological Innovation Systems (TISs) do not come into existence overnight but are the result of a bu ildp process. This paper provides insights that support a better understanding of this build-up pro cess for TISs in an early development stage, the so called formative stage. The process of TIS build-up is conceptualised in te rms of seven system functions. The system functions are types of activities necessary for a TIS to deve lop and to support innovation. The main contributio n of this paper is to study the phenomenon of cumulat ive causation, i.e. the idea that TIS build-up may accelerate due to positive feedback loops of system functions that interact over time. Such feedback mechanisms or ‘motors of sustainable innovation’, m ay contribute to the strategic knowledge on emerging sustainable energy technologies. Based on the historical studies of five formative T ISs, involving a variety of sustainable energy technologies, four different motors of sustainable innovation are identified: a Science and Technology Push Motor, an Entrepreneurial Motor, a System Buil ding Motor and a Market Motor. For each motor, a set of typical drivers, barriers and impacts is i dentified. Finally, a Succession Model of Innovatio n s proposed which puts these motors, and their feature s, together in an integrated perspective of relevan ce for practitioners that aspire to intervene in the d ynamics of emerging technologies.