To conform or to transform? A comparative case analysis of the societal embedding of biogas systems

Abstract

The diffusion of new socio-technical systems is essential for tackling contemporary sustainability challenges. Against the backdrop of literature on societal embedding this paper explores the diffusion of socio-technical systems as a process of co-constructing innovations and their societal environments. This paper uses a comparative research design to analyze the diffusion of biogas systems across four Brazilian states. In doing so, this paper makes two contributions. First, it contributes with nuances regarding the fit-and-conform and stretch-and-transform typology, showing that innovations exhibit not only hybrid patterns across societal environments but also across different sectors (e.g. agriculture, sanitation, and waste management). Furthermore, innovations exhibit hybrid conform and transform patterns across different administrative levels (e.g. municipal, state, and national). Second, it broadens the empirical base of societal embedding studies to the Global South and biogas technologies which represent a fragmented context and a complex innovation, respectively. Altogether, the paper contributes to further understanding of why multi-functional socio-technical systems, such as biogas systems, diffuse in certain contexts and not in others.

Keywords:

• Sustainability transitions
• socio-technical interactions
• anaerobic digestion
• diffusion
• societal embedding
• Global South

Acknowledgements

This paper is part of the author’s PhD research, and benefited from constructive comments provided by Wisdom Kanda, Thomas Magnusson, Olof Hjelm, and four anonymous reviewers. The research was funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, project number P2021-90266.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Abiogás (Brazilian Biogás Association) – www.abiogas.org.br

2 CIBiogás (International Center for Renewable Energy) – www.cibiogas.org

3 Sabesp (Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo) – www.sabesp.com.br

4 USP (Univeristy of São Paulo) - www.usp.br

5 Raízen - www.raizen.com.br

6 ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency) – www.gov.br/aneel

7 Cocal – www.cocal.com.br

8 Gás Brasiliano - www.gasbrasiliano.com.br

9 CEPE (State Energy Policy Council)

10 ARSESP (Regulatory Agency for Public Services of the State of São Paulo) – www.arsesp.sp.gov.br

11 CEDAE (Rio de Janeiro State Water and Sewage Company) – www.cedae.com.br

12 Petrobras (Brazilian Oil and Gas Company) – www.petrobras.com.br

13 Comlurb (Municipal Urban Cleaning Company of Rio de Janeiro)

14 Sanepar (Sanitation Company of Paraná) – www.sanepar.com.br

15 Itaipu (Binational Hydroelectric Power Plant) – www.itaipu.gov.br

16 Based on the average exchange rate in 2021: 1 EUR = 6.38 BRL

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Energimyndigheten.