Barešić, Domagoj;
(2020)
Sustainability transitions in the maritime transport industry: the case of LNG in northern Europe.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
There is a significant research gap in understanding how socio-economic, socio-political processes and ‘protective spaces’ shaped by them can lead to alternative fuel transitions in maritime shipping. Use of LNG as a marine fuel in northern Europe since the 1990s has elements of such a transition and is used as a historical case study in this thesis. LNG, even though a fossil fuel, due to its requirement for novel bunkering infrastructure and significant technological innovation has elements of a ‘radical’ innovation introduced to address societal challenges (in particular SOx and NOx emissions). In order to understand what insights LNG can give on ‘sustainability transitions’ in shipping, this thesis asks the following research question: What do the historical adoption dynamics of LNG as a marine fuel in northern Europe tell us about the nature of fuel transitions in the maritime transportation industry? The research question is divided into two sub-questions: 1. How has the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel in northern Europe unfolded? 2. What insights can the historical adoption of LNG give on the future maritime industry fuel mix? This thesis contributes to addressing three specific research gaps: firstly, the empirical gaps in studying ‘sustainability transitions’ in maritime shipping and secondly in understanding the historical spread of LNG as a ship fuel in northern Europe. The thesis also contributes to the theoretical gap in studying scale and space in ‘sustainability transitions’ literature. To answer the research question and address the research gaps, the thesis develops a novel conceptual framework, the MarSTF – Maritime Sustainability Transitions Framework that applies concepts from ‘sustainability transitions’ literature with insights from ‘economic geography’. The MarSTF develops novel conceptual categories in ‘sustainability transitions’ literature to understand the role of ‘protective spaces’ in maritime transport transitions, taking place over time, space and scale.
Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
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Qualification: | Ph.D |
Title: | Sustainability transitions in the maritime transport industry: the case of LNG in northern Europe |
Event: | UCL (University College London) |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10112016 |
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