The Effect of New User Sectors on the CCS Innovation System

In most mitigation scenarios compatible with achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, carbon capture and storage (CCS) develops and diffuses at a very rapid pace over the coming decades. The technology is frequently discussed as a mitigation option in a variety of industries and sectors, including the power sector, the cement industry, and as a tool for negative emissions through direct air capture and/or bioenergy with CCS. Different sectors and industries have distinct requirements, characteristics, and institutional needs which may require significant adaptations to a technology and its innovation system as it is adopted and used in new sectors. In this short paper, we propose using the technological innovation system perspective (TIS) to explore potential innovation challenges and opportunities CCS faces as the technology is adapted to new and different sectors. We argue that developing a socio-technical understanding of CCS innovation will be important, and present preliminary insights from our ongoing case-study on the effect of new user sectors on the Norwegian CCS innovation system. Preliminary findings include that sector changes may have affected the actor composition of the Norwegian CCS TIS, as well as the legitimacy of CCS in Europe. Our research also indicates that being aware of institutional and physical differences between industries – including differences in innovation modes – may be important for the diffusion of CCS going forward.