The emergence and troubled growth of a ‘biopower’ innovation system in Sweden

Biopower, i.e. production of power using biomass, has a tremendous potential to deliver CO2 neutral energy in the Nordic countries. This paper analyses the evolution of a biopower innovation system in Sweden where particular attention is given to current driving forces and obstacles to a large-scale diffusion of biopower. In the 1980s and 1990s, this innovation system went through a successful ‘formative phase’ in which all the constituent components of the ‘infant’ system emerged. With the introduction of green certificates and emission trading rights, incentives were created that were large enough to shift the system into a ‘growth phase’, where the extensive district heating system and voluminous production in the paper and pulp industry can be used to produce power on a large scale in CHP plants. An investment boom is now underway and output of biopower is rapidly growing. Yet, there are still substantial obstacles to a realisation of the full potential of biopower. Three of these are outlined and an associated set of policy challenges are specified.