IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ratioi/0365.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Why Green deals may fail – evidence from biogas, bio-ethanol and “fossil free” steel

Author

Listed:

Abstract

Environmental policy is no longer about imposing regulations on industry but is increasingly regarded as industrial policy. Both the EU and national governments are taking more active roles in initiating “green deals” and various technologies aimed to result in sustainable development. In this chapter we describe and discuss some recent experiences of green innovation policies. Historical examples concerning efforts in both biogas and ethanol are combined with a more contemporary description of “fossil free” steel, i.e. steel made by using hydrogen instead of coal. We argue that the presence of large public funds from different funding bodies such as the EU, various government agencies and municipalities has distorted incentives, making it rational for firms to pursue technologies without long term potential. The result has been an absence of sustainable development, mounting debt and financial problems for those actors that have been involved. We explain these results and draw policy conclusions concerning the risks related to green deals. Relatedly, we argue that the EU’s current efforts into hydrogen gas face similar challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandström, Christian & Alm, Carl, 2023. "Why Green deals may fail – evidence from biogas, bio-ethanol and “fossil free” steel," Ratio Working Papers 365, The Ratio Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0365
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cms.ratio.se/app/uploads/2023/06/wp365.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mariana Mazzucato, 2018. "Mission-oriented innovation policies: challenges and opportunities," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(5), pages 803-815.
    2. Robert Bennett, 2008. "SME Policy Support in Britain since the 1990s: What have We Learnt?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(2), pages 375-397, April.
    3. Anders Gustafsson & Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall & Daniel Halvarsson, 2020. "Subsidy Entrepreneurs: an Inquiry into Firms Seeking Public Grants," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 439-478, September.
    4. Schot, Johan & Steinmueller, W. Edward, 2018. "Three frames for innovation policy: R&D, systems of innovation and transformative change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1554-1567.
    5. Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel & Josh Ryan-Collins, 2020. "Challenge-Driven Innovation Policy: Towards a New Policy Toolkit," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 421-437, June.
    6. Grillitsch, Markus & Hansen, Teis & Coenen, Lars & Miörner, Johan & Moodysson, Jerker, 2019. "Innovation policy for system-wide transformation: The case of strategic innovation programmes (SIPs) in Sweden," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 1048-1061.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Calderini, Mario & Fia, Magali & Gerli, Francesco, 2023. "Organizing for transformative innovation policies: The role of social enterprises. Theoretical insights and evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    2. Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, 2022. "Fostering regional innovation, entrepreneurship and growth through public procurement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1205-1222, February.
    3. Joanna Stryjek, 2021. "Counteracting the COVID-19 Crisis with Innovation Policy Tools: A Case Study of the EU’s Supranational Innovation Policy," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 450-468.
    4. Uyarra, Elvira & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Flanagan, Kieron & Magro, Edurne, 2020. "Public procurement, innovation and industrial policy: Rationales, roles, capabilities and implementation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    5. Edler, Jakob, 2023. "Demand, public procurement and transformation," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 79, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    6. Wiarda, Martijn & Sobota, Vladimir C.M. & Janssen, Matthijs J. & van de Kaa, Geerten & Yaghmaei, Emad & Doorn, Neelke, 2023. "Public participation in mission-oriented innovation projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Franz Tödtling & Michaela Trippl & Veronika Desch, 2022. "New directions for RIS studies and policies in the face of grand societal challenges," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(11), pages 2139-2156, November.
    8. Ioanna Kastelli & Lukasz Mamica & Keun Lee, 2023. "New perspectives and issues in industrial policy for sustainable development: from developmental and entrepreneurial to environmental state," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, April.
    9. Isabelle Liotard & Valérie Revest, 2022. "Open innovation and prizes: is the European Commission really comitted?," CEPN Working Papers hal-03524203, HAL.
    10. Isabelle Liotard & Valérie Revest, 2022. "Open innovation and prizes: is the European Commission really comitted?," Working Papers hal-03524203, HAL.
    11. Isabelle Liotard & Valerie Revest, 2021. "Open innovation and prizes: is the European Commission really committed?," LEM Papers Series 2021/14, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Janssen, Matthijs & Wanzenböck, Iris & Fünfschilling, Lea & Pontinakis, Dimitris, 2023. "Governance arrangements for the implementation of transformative innovation policy: Insights from a comparative case study," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/13, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    13. Jessica Catalano & Francesco Giffoni & Paolo Castelnovo, 2021. "The impact of space procurement on suppliers: Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 202102, CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies.
    14. Jan Fagerberg & Håkon Endresen Normann, 2022. "Innovation policy, regulation and the transition to net zero," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20220531, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    15. Verónica Robert & Gabriel Yoguel, 2022. "Exploration of trending concepts in innovation policy," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 259-292, July.
    16. Janssen, Matthijs J. & Abbasiharofteh, Milad, 2022. "Boundary spanning R&D collaboration: Key enabling technologies and missions as alleviators of proximity effects?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    17. Allen, Darcy W.E. & Berg, Chris & Markey-Towler, Brendan & Novak, Mikayla & Potts, Jason, 2020. "Blockchain and the evolution of institutional technologies: Implications for innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    18. Švarc, Jadranka & Dabić, Marina, 2021. "Transformative innovation policy or how to escape peripheral policy paradox in European research peripheral countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Malte Jütting, 2020. "Exploring Mission-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems for Sustainability: Towards a Literature-Based Typology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-28, August.
    20. Oier Imaz & Andoni Eizagirre, 2020. "Responsible Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals in Business: An Agenda for Cooperative Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green deal; biogas; policy failure; entreprenörsstat; riktning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0365. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Martin Korpi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ratiose.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.