Contextual structures and interaction dynamics in the Brazilian Biogas Innovation System

Abstract

Although biogas technologies in Brazil have a huge potential and a long history few studies have examined biogas in Brazil as a technological field. Accordingly, this paper aims to understand which conditions enabled or constrained the diffusion of biogas technologies. More specifically, this research applies and adapts the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework to examine biogas-specific and context-related conditions as well as their interplay. Data were collected by performing an event history analysis from 1979 to 2016 along with 24 in-depth expert interviews. Our findings indicate that the evolution of geographically embedded sectoral regulations and infrastructures as well as their interactions have been responsible for major changes in the biogas field in Brazil. By demonstrating how this occurred, this research has opened up new possibilities to promote biogas technologies in Brazil. This study also provides an important analytical method that focuses on exploring activities and their background conditions to consider contextual influences in TIS. Consequently, three major ways of contextual influences for TIS studies are suggested – evolution of contextual structures, interaction of contextual structures and translation of external events by these interactions.