A Case Study on the Diffusion of Carbon Capture and Storage in Denmark: A Systematic Review of Enablers and Inhibitors

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CSS) has emerged as a technology of interest to mitigate climate change ever since the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared the necessity to utilise carbon dioxide removal technologies to limit global warming to below 1.5°C in 2018. Considering the necessity of CCS, this thesis investigates how developments in the technological innovation system (TIS) of CCS enables or inhibits the diffusion of the technology in Denmark. Through a qualitative case study based on an empirical data foundation of nine research interviews with actors engaging in the Danish CCS sphere and comprehensive document analysis, the phenomenon of CCS and its determinants of diffusion are explored. Grounded in the theoretical framework of TIS (Hekkert et al., 2007; Bergek et al., 2008), the system functions approach is applied to systematically map the activities that contribute to the development, diffusion, and use of the innovation. The findings show that the IPCC created initial legitimacy which sparked interest from many stakeholders to develop CCS technology and thus consensus was quickly gained to guide the search for technological development. This resulted in heavy knowledge development and diffusion by way of active research and development activities. These activities constitute functions that interact through a virtuous cycle making them enablers of CCS diffusion. On the flip side, the innovation system currently lacks sufficient entrepreneurial activities and financial resources leading to a lack of competitive market dynamics that could otherwise encourage the diffusion of CCS. These functions are the current inhibitors to further diffusion as they act as bottlenecks that need to be remedied before CCS can enter its next stage of diffusion and take-off substantially. These results highlighted interesting shortcomings of theory. First it is shown that the TIS framework is a suitable heuristic model that enables an integration of several different perspectives, creating a holistic overview of the developments for a certain technology, particularly useful for policymakers. However, the framework does not account for the embeddedness of structures that inform functional outcomes, potentially leading to misinformed conclusions. Case evidence showed that looking more profoundly at business case and model elements is necessary as it is a key structural determinant of entrepreneurial activity, and as such should be integrated into the TIS framework. The study contributes to the literary field of innovation systems by providing such revisions. Subsequently, four recommendations for entrepreneurs wanting to engage with CCS were outlined. Conclusively, this paper has contributed with insights into the trajectory of CCS in Denmark and identified avenues for further research in this empirical field going forward.