Diffusion of Sustainable Innovations : A Case Study of Optical Gas Imaging

Abstract: During the last two decades, innovations that contribute to sustainable development has received increasing attention in the markets and academia. The diffusion of sustainable innovations is a key element in society’s transformation toward a greener and more sustainable economy. Within industries that utilize industrial gases in their operations, there are thousands of fugitive emission sources that puts strain on the safety of the plant and the personnel. As most gases are combustible and hazardous to humans and the environment, these companies must have effective leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs. In recent years, a new gas detection technology called Optical Gas Imaging have emerged which can identify gas compounds safer and more efficient compared to older leak detection technologies. However, the rate of diffusion of the innovation has been slow and limited to oil and gas industries, even though many other industries such as steel, paper and pulp and chemical industries utilize gases as well. As such, this research has aimed to identify factors that influence the adoption of sustainable innovations within gas-utilizing industries. The qualitative data was gathered through semi structured interviews with gas-utilizing companies in Sweden and analyzed with interpretive methods. The results show that regulatory factors are a strong driver for the diffusion of sustainable innovations while characteristics of price, availability and type of innovationdecision works as barriers. The generated knowledge may contribute on how innovators of a sustainable innovations can overcome these barriers and improve the rate of adoption of sustainable innovations.