CCS technological innovation system dynamics in Norway

Abstract

CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) is today seen as a key technology to cut carbon emissions in many hard-to-abate sectors such as energy-intensive processing industries and the waste sector. Although CO₂ capture is technically possible, key challenges for realizing CCS persist. Over the past decade, CCS has taken a new direction with more focus on application in energy-intensive industries rather than the energy sector. For CCS value chains to materialize, innovation and implementation thus needs to occur amongst an array of actors, with different innovation modes, institutions, and policy regimes, and with varying sectoral capacities for adaptation and change. There has so far been limited social science research on CCS innovation dynamics, which we suggest approaching as a socio-technical change process. To better understand this process, we draw on the sustainability transitions research field and employ the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework to study the CCS innovation system in Norway. We find that, overall, the Norwegian CCS TIS displays systemic weaknesses for example in the form of market formation and resource mobilization, yet recent developments suggest a relatively positive momentum for this technological field which is key to meeting Norwegian and global climate mitigation targets.