Design of business concept with environmental technology

• In recent years, strategies for sustainable development are arguably among the most discussed issues among political, public and corporate actors. These discussions are spurred by major trends such as climate change, rapid urbanization, critical material and energy resource depletion. To facilitate sustainable development, deep structural and wide reaching changes seem needed in current technologies, infrastructure, businesses and institutions. In the academic discourse, different concepts, methods and tools, have been proposed and continue to be expounded within the framework of sustainable development. Notable among them include the concepts of ecodesign, and product and service systems design. These concepts have contributed to environmental improvements but have been challenged by critics to be expanded beyond products and services to include non-technological changes in order to deliver system wide environmental improvements.Departing from this background, the goal of this article is twofold, first to offer an expanded view on environmental conscious design of products and services with large scaled sociotechnical systems and then to propose and discuss important components to consider when developing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology systems. In doing this, we offer a new way of describing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology systems which incorporates non-technological dimensions such as meeting formal and informal expectations. We propose a set of components to consider when developing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology offering. These components are: market (including regulations), finance, resources, activities, partnership (especially public-private partnership), ownership and responsibility, and legitimacy. Among these factors, regulation, public-private partnership, and legitimacy were  found as particular for environmental technology diffusion.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Miljöledning (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Environmental Management (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Environmental technology

Innovation management

Business model

Technology diffusion

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)