Managerial and organizational challenges encountered in the development of sustainable technology: Analysis of Swedish biorefinery pilot and demonstration plants

Johanna Mossberg,Johan Frishammar,Patrik Söderholm,Hans Hellsmark

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124150

Abstract

Pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) perform critical tasks in the development of new sustainable technology by bridging basic knowledge generation and large-scale commercialization. Significant private and public funding has therefore been allocated to PDPs addressing climate change, pollution abatement technology and/or increased resource efficiency. After technology verification, PDPs typically struggle with evolving objectives, and reports of stalled or delayed development are common. Key problems may center on technical difficulties, but challenges of a non-technical nature are equally important, not least for the development of clean technology. This paper draws on a longitudinal case study of four PDPs used for advanced biorefinery technology development in Sweden and delineates the key managerial and organizational challenges that arise in and around such plants. By taking the actor networks around PDPs as the main unit of analysis, this paper gives a detailed description of various challenges, such as the division of responsibility for the operation and ownership of the PDPs, unclear roles and objectives, and the lack of specific competences and resources in the actor networks. One important conclusion is that improved knowledge about such challenges should increase the resilience of actor networks in and around PDPs, and also help shorten the formative phase of developing sustainable technology.

Highlights

History shows that most technologies developed in laboratories fail to make it to market, that developing new knowledge fields may take several decades (Wilson, 2012), and that many companies engaging in such development suffocate in the so-called ‘valley of death’ (Nemet et al, 2018)
This paper addresses the role of pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) in verifying and optimizing new sustainable technology and bringing it to market, with an emphasis on the challenges associated with managing and organizing the actor networks that surround such plants
The organizational challenges center on how to organize the PDP and the associated actor networks, and these challenges tend to be closely linked to the specific characteristics of such plants

Summary

Introduction

History shows that most technologies developed in laboratories fail to make it to market, that developing new knowledge fields may take several decades (Wilson, 2012), and that many companies engaging in such development suffocate in the so-called ‘valley of death’ (Nemet et al, 2018). The frequency of such outcomes may be high in the case of sustainable (e.g., fossil-free, resource-efficient) technologies.

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Conclusion