Diffusion

The diffusion of low energy innovations is driven by multiple market and non-market mechanisms and involves interactions between consumers, businesses, policymakers and civil society. Information campaigns and financial incentives can play important roles, but the diffusion of more radical innovations requires adjustments in infrastructures, business models, competences, values, cultural discourses and public policies. The inertia and path dependence of existing socio-technical systems obstruct these adjustments and lead to economic, political and discursive struggles. This theme investigates the processes of diffusion for both incremental and radical low-energy innovations, focusing upon the adoption of innovations by users and the associated changes in practices, meanings, infrastructures and policies.