Papachristos, G;
(2017)
Diversity in technology competition: The link between platforms and sociotechnical transitions.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
, 73
pp. 291-306.
10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.146.
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Abstract
There is an urgent need for a fast transition to a low-carbon economy, which will involve behavioural change and new technologies. This paper focuses on the technological dimension of the transition. Low-carbon technologies usually have a modular architecture that utilize standards to enable interfacing of components. These standards contribute to transition inertia. An important question addressed in this article is whether maintaining technological diversity can help overcome inertia. This requires keeping options open and foregoing returns to scale. It is a trade-off which has technological as well as spatial dimensions which are important because different geographical areas may provide institutional or other advantages to the emergence of distinct technologies. In order to explore this, the platform competition and transitions literature are reviewed, links between them are established, and a system dynamics model is developed where multiple new technologies compete with an incumbent. It is used to answer two questions: Will a larger portfolio accelerate or delay a transition to a new technology, and under which conditions will such an acceleration occur? does spatial differentiation matter to the outcome? The model results show that technological diversity and spatial differentiation matter for the speed of transitions. The challenge is to create a level competitive field for all technologies accounting for the distinct institutional advantages their spatial differentiation may provide. This opens a range of future research directions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Diversity in technology competition: The link between platforms and sociotechnical transitions |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.146 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.146 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Further details about CC BY licenses are available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Access may be initially restricted by the publisher. |
| Keywords: | Socio-technical transition; Niche heterogeneity; Platforms; Standards; System dynamics |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1538657 |
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