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- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Ensuring protection and competitiveness : Characteristics of market formation for biogas
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and research questionPresenting possible solutions to environmental problems such as air quality, greenhouse gases, nutrient recirculation, organic waste and wastewater management, biogas is highly relevant for sustainability transitions. Besides biogas producers, the production and use of biogas engages actors from several sectors, including energy and gas distribution, waste management and wastewater treatment, agriculture, vehicles and transport.The formation of markets for biogas depends on policy interventions at different levels, from the local municipality via the national government to the EU commission. By contrast to other European countries, which tend to subsidize biogas production, the Swedish government has the intention to stimulate demand and to favor the use of purified biogas (biomethane) as a vehicle fuel. While biomethane currently has a strong position as an alternative to fossil fuels in certain niches (notably public transport buses), the Swedish biogas sector faces challenges to reach beyond these narrow market segments.Adopting a market constructivist perspective, this paper will analyze the formation of markets for biogas in Sweden. The following research question will guide the analysis: What characterizes market formation in this case and based on that, what is possible to learn about market formation in relation to sustainability transitions? TheoryMarketing scholars increasingly consider market formation as on-going processes, which a multitude of actors influence through their strategies, activities and capabilities. To understand market formation it is therefore necessary to analyze activities among a wider array of actors than merely producers and their (potential) customers.Following a constructivist perspective, the offer is a core element in market formation. The offer describes the meanings and qualifications that actors impose on the object that is for sale. These meanings and qualifications constitute boundaries between actors and goods. Different actors engage to define the object, as well as its meanings, qualifications and potential value. Without a clear view of what is being exchanged, market formation will be difficult. Market formation also includes institutions that set boundaries and rules for the market. These are neither static, nor pre-conceived; instead, they are shaped and acted upon. Actors influence institutions through dynamic and interactive processes. MethodThe paper combines quantitative and qualitative sources of data to study the Swedish biogas sector. The paper presents detailed data on production and use of biogas in Sweden 2010-2017. This quantitative data is complemented by qualitative data from interviews with representatives from key actors as well as secondary data from industry reports and other written sources. FindingsThe multitude of actors involved complicates market formation for biogas. Different meanings and qualifications are attributed to the offer. Whereas it is possible to perceive biogas as a relatively simple product – a fuel – it is also possible to perceive it as a complex system that may help solving various societal and environmental problems. Different perceptions of the offer have different implications for market formation. Depicting biogas as a complex system implies that the offer will comprise a number of different qualifications. The realization of such a complex system depends on the bonding of various actors. Once established, the bonds will protect biogas from competition. By contrast, depicting biogas as a fuel means that the value of biogas will be assessed in relation to fuel prices. Qualification will thus depend on cost competitiveness vis-a-vis other fuels.Our analysis suggests that although the contrasting perceptions of biogas cause tensions between the actors involved, the different qualifications complement each other in the market formation process. Various environmental and societal benefits makes it possible for actors argue for institutional reforms to help biogas become cost competitive, and increased competitiveness makes it attractive to establish new biogas systems.
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| 2. |
- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Industrial ecology and the boundaries of the manufacturing firm
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Industrial Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 1088-1980 .- 1530-9290. ; 23:5, s. 1211-1225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decisions on organizational boundaries are critical aspects of manufacturing firms’ business strategies. This article brings together concepts and findings from industrial ecology and business strategy in order to understand how manufacturing firms engage in initiatives to facilitate recycling of process wastes. Based on a distinction between waste recovery and use of the recovered resources, the article introduces a typology of four different strategies: Closed, Outsourcing, Diversification, and Open. Each strategy has a unique set of organizational boundaries and is associated with different motives and benefits for the manufacturing firm. The typology of strategies provides a conceptual contribution to assist industrial managers in strategic decision-making, and to support further studies on organizational boundaries in industrial ecology research.
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| 3. |
- Ottosson, Mikael, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Biogas in the Nordic forest industry : current state and future business potential
- 2016
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Ingår i: Industrial Efficiency 2016 - Going beyond energy efficiency to deliver savings, competitiveness and a circular economy. - : European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE). - 9789198048285 - 9789198048292 ; , s. 1-15
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The forest industry is of great importance to the Nordic countries in terms of exports and employment. Today the industry faces tough challenges related to future higher energy prices, increased competition for wood raw material, and a declining demand for traditional paper products. However, there are also possibilities related to the transition to a bio-based economy. This paper focuses on one such avenue, the business potential in using wastewater from pulp and paper mills as a basis for biogas production. The paper identifies biogas plants at Nordic mills currently operating or under construction and, positions the mills according to their decisions on how to engage in activities related to biogas production and use. Requirements for and consequences and of the different positions are discussed in terms of resources and capabilities, governance, and strategy focus.The paper shows that cost reduction is an important driver for biogas production in the pulp and paper industry, but public financial support is needed to justify the investments. Since forest firms do not view biogas production as a core business activity, external actors that can offer turnkey solutions or runt the operations may be needed to facilitate biogas production in the forest industry. While internal use of gas is an option for some mills, it is evident that external demand for biogas, i.e. as vehicle fuel, differ in the three different Nordic countries. In Norway, whose forest industry is the least significant of the three countries, the situation for external use seem to be the most promising, emphasizing the role of public policy interventions in the transport sector for the development of biogas in the forest industry.
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| 4. |
- Ottosson, Mikael, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Local and global market formation : the shaping of the Swedish biogas sector
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several studies of sustainability transitions have used the technological innovation systems approach to study market introduction of renewable new energy technologies (Negro, Hekkert et al. 2007, Alkemade and Suurs 2012, Negro, Alkemade et al. 2012, Jacobsson and Karltorp 2013, Bento and Fontes 2015, Tigabu, Berkhout et al. 2015). These studies have shown that during these early stages, the new technologies and markets tend to be relatively crude. Moreover, established infrastructure, industry structures and institutional practices are often inadequate for the new technologies. This means that the new technology alternatives are rarely competitive on regular markets, which are dominated by existing technologies. Therefore, policy makers are advised to facilitate the formation of protective spaces – niches – which allow for the new technologies to enter the market (Kemp, Schot et al. 1998, Caniëls and Romijn 2008, Smith and Raven 2012). Gathering relevant stakeholders in the formation of networks, such protective spaces will nurture experimentation activities and assist the development and diffusion of knowledge. Moreover these protective spaces will empower proponents of the new technology, helping them to attract resources and build legitimacy for the new technology.While sustainability transitions literature have investigated the early stages of market introduction of renewable new energy technologies thoroughly, the critical step from having an established position in a protected niche to facilitating a broader diffusion to an actual market has received less attention in transition studies. According to Suurs and Hekkert (2009), this step would imply different kinds of innovation system dynamics, in which market formation would be an essential process and Jacobsson (2008) plead for a different set of policy instruments to support such broader market diffusion. Still the market formation processes for renewable new energy technologies are not well understood in sustainability transitions literature.Such formation processes are however well analyzed within the business to business marketing field. Araujo (2007) states that the creation of new markets can be achieved by various activities from different actors. Such market-shaping activities stretch from traditional firm level activities such as sales to activities that involve the entire markets institution e.g. changing the rules of the market (Kjellberg & Helgesson, 2007; Mele, Pels & Storbacka, 2015). In the center of a new market is the market offer. The process of qualifying the product involves different actors’ attempts to qualify desirable attributes and characteristics related to the offer (Callon et al. 2002). This process is especially important in shaping new markets since the market offer in itself is not fixed but rather something in the making. In the center of our study is the overall research question: What actors are involved in shaping the Swedish biogas market and what qualifications does these actors attribute to the product?
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| 5. |
- Ottosson, Mikael, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Shaping sustainable markets : A conceptual framework illustrated by the case of biogas in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier. - 2210-4224 .- 2210-4232. ; 36, s. 303-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By merging findings from transition studies with recent literature on market-shaping, this paper outlines a conceptual framework that describes the shaping of sustainable markets. The framework comprises three critical processes: enabling exchange practices, proving the system and constructing the narrative. Individually, these processes generate different kinds of value – traded, demonstrated and expected value – and the value output from each process serves as input to the other two processes. Hence the value streams link the processes together. We illustrate the framework by analyzing market-shaping processes for biogas in Sweden. The case analysis shows how public and private actors have engaged in a multitude of activities that have built up the market-shaping processes. The analysis highlights the recursive nature of sustainable market-shaping, showing how key actors must repeatedly respond to tensions resulting from growth and aspirations of growth.
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