Governing the development of CO2 electrolysis : How do we give an emerging technology a chance to contribute to a carbon neutral Europe?
Chakravarty, Sanghamitra (Technical University of Delft. Department of Multi-Actor Systems)
de Bruijn, Hans (Technical University of Delft. Department of Multi-Actor Systems)
Pérez-Fortes, Mar (Technical University of Delft. Department of Engineering Systems and Services)

Data:	2025
Resum:	Sustainability transition to a climate neutral economy requires the rapid development, testing and scaling of emerging technologies currently in their infancy. Carbon dioxide electrolysis is one such promising emerging technology to produce fossil-free fuels and chemicals for a sustainable chemical industry. This paper investigates enablers and barriers shaping this technology within a European context by combining a technological innovation system (TIS) lens with political economy perspectives. Evidence from over forty semi-structured interviews, policy documents, and an expert consultation workshop reveals a fast-emerging TIS enabled by R&D, legitimisation and advocacy of carbon capture and utilisation as an emission reduction pathway, and complementary technological developments. However, factors such as availability of renewable electricity and carbon dioxide, and a policy bias towards mature technologies to meet urgent emission reduction targets are barriers to its future development. The TIS in this early formative phase, is in a state of flux and vulnerable to shifts in actor strategies, which can result in discontinuities in the learning process. We identify a need for technology-specific policies to support iterative upscaling through long-term projects, encourage niche market formation and strategically manage knowledge. In contrast to the current fit and conform narrative dominated by cost comparison with fossil fuels, we propose a need to empower carbon dioxide electrolysis with a stronger stretch and transform framing by imagining its role in a carbon neutral economy. Our methodology complements existing techno-economic assessments by bringing forth a rich narrative of underlying innovation processes and offers important policy insights for governing emerging technology development.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Carbon dioxide electrolysis ; Technological innovation system ; Political economy ; Governance of emerging technology ; Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) ; Sustainability transition ; Carbon neutral economy
Publicat a:	Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 121 (March 2025) , art. 103942, ISSN 2214-6326

DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.103942

14 p, 2.5 MB

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