Green innovation

Green Innovation

What is green innovation. By Felix Peniche

Similar terms and Four interchangeable notions

"Schiederig et al 2014, have found Four interchangeably notions are among the total number of 8,516 scientific articles:

1) 40.7% (3,469) apply the notion “environmental innovation”,

2) 31.9% (2,716) the notion “sustainable innovation”,

3) 17.6% (1,495) “eco-innovation” or “ecoinnovation”

4) 9.8% (836) the notion “green innovation”. "

Commonly Used Definitions

1) Fussler and James (1996) "new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts” (cited from Bartlett and Trifilova (2010: 2)

2) Kemp and Pearson (2007: 3) define eco-innovation as “the production, assimilation or exploitation of a product, production process, service or management or business method that is novel to the organization (developing or adopting it) and which results, throughout its life cycle, in a reduction of environmental risk, pollution and other negative impacts of resources use (including energy use) compared to relevant alternatives"

3) The Europe INNOVA panel: “eco-innovation means the creation of novel and competitively priced goods, processes, systems, services, and procedures that can satisfy human needs and bring quality of life to all people with a life-cycle-wide minimal use of natural resources (material including energy carriers, and surface area) per unit output, and a minimal release of toxic substances” (cited from Reid and Miedzinski (2008: 7)

4) OECD (2009: 19). ecoinnovation is defined as “the creation or implementation of new, or significantly improved, products (goods and services), processes, marketing methods, organisational structures and institutional arrangements which - with or without intent - lead to environmental improvements compared to relevant alternatives”

5) Arundel and Kemp (2009: 34) “It is about innovations with lower environmental impact than relevant alternatives. The innovations may be technological or non-technological (organizational, institutional or marketing-based). Eco-innovations can be motivated by economic or environmental considerations. The former includes objectives to reduce resource, pollution control, or waste management costs, or to sell into the world market for eco-products”

6) European Commission (2007): "Eco-innovation is any form of innovation aiming at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development, through reducing impacts on the environment or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of natural resources, including energy” (Cited from J. Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010)

7) "Environmental innovation is innovation that serves to prevent or reduce anthropogenic burdens on the environment, clean up damage already caused or diagnose and monitor environmental problems” VINNOVA (2001)

For something to be considered a “Green Innovation”("Sustainable Innovation", "Eco-Innovation", or "Ecological Innovation") it must be:

1) A product or service in a market, (.i.e. sold to a consumer) ,

2) Which out-competes existing products or services; or further changes how products and services are produced and or used. (i.e. is successful economically and setting new standards for behavior),

3) Which further eliminates or drastically reduces negative impacts to the environment (resource use, pollution, ecosystem loss, etc.). Or conversely restores or supports ecosystem function.

4) Includes in addition to a product or service, information regarding analyses like “Life Cycle-Assessments (LCA) or better “full-cycle” evaluation of its process.

Schiederig et al 2014, note that “To our knowledge, a recent and comprehensive literature review of the status quo is lacking”. They nonetheless “identified six important aspects in the different definitions: 1. Innovation object: Product, process, service, method 2. Market orientation: Satisfy needs/ be competitive on the market 3. Environmental aspect: Reduce negative impact (optimum = zero impact) 4. Phase: Full life cycle must be considered (for material flow reduction) 5. Impulse: Intention for reduction may be economical or ecological 6. Level: Setting a new innovation/ green standard to the firm”

Some methodologies for evaluation of processes of “eco-innovationn” or “green innovation”:

1) Input measures: Research and development (R&D) expenditures, R&D personnel, and innovation expenditures (including investment in intangibles such as design expenditures and software and marketing costs);

2) Intermediate output measures: the number of patents; numbers and types of scientific publications, etc;

3) Direct output measures: the number of innovations, descriptions of individual innovations, data on sales of new products, etc;

4) Indirect impact measures derived from aggregate data: changes in resource efficiency and productivity using decomposition analysis. “Eco-efficiency means less environmental impact per unit of product or service value (WBCSD, 2000). Eco-efficiency = product or service value / environmental impact

The following are relevant components of eco-efficiency:

1) Quantity of product produced or sold, net sales or value added as output indictor

2) Energy consumption, from renewable sources and non-renewables

3) Water consumption.

4) Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: these include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N20), hydro- and perfluorocarbons (HFCs, PFCs)

5) Other emissions to air: nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide etc 6) Total waste, broken down in toxic and non-toxic waste”

7) Impact on ecosystem function (state (health or resilience) of natural habitat, ecosystem services (food, CO2 sequestration, Bioremediation),

Hard versus Soft definitions of "Green Innovation"

A clear difference between “hard sustainability” and “soft sustainability” may arise, which depending on the valuing of either will result in practical contradictions. For example a definition of “green innovation “subscribing to a “soft” definitiontion of sustainability may be a “more efficient way to burn fossil fuels”. Yet such a technology, from a “hard” green innovation perspective would infact reflect the problem which is solved by the green innovation itself.

Definitions of Soft “green innovation” as defined to Driessen and Hillerbrand (2202:334) involves a “innovation” which “yield significant environmental benefits”. Further by Chen, Lai et al. 2006:534 “as hardware or software innovation that is related to green products or processes, including the innovation in technologies that are involved in energy-saving, pollution-prevention, waste recycling, green product designs, or corporate environmental management”.

Green

The “Green” as “Sustainability” Brundtland report, commissioned by the UN where it is defined as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The concept of sustainable development does imply limits - not absolute limits but limitations imposed by the present state of technology and social organization on environmental resources and by the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities” (Brundtland, 1987: 24) Arundel, A. and R. Kemp (2009). Measuring eco-innovation. United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology. Maastricht, UNU-MERIT #2009-017.

MEI CLASSIFICATION OF ECO-INNOVATION

• A. Environmental technologies -
  • Pollution control technologies including waste water treatment technologies
  • Cleaning technologies that treat pollution released into the environment -
  • Cleaner process technologies: new manufacturing processes that are less polluting and/or more resource efficient than relevant alternatives -
  • Waste management equipment -
  • Environmental monitoring and instrumentation -
  • Green energy technologies -
  • Water supply -
  • Noise and vibration control
• B. Organizational innovation for the environment: -
  • Pollution prevention schemes -
  • Environmental management and auditing systems: formal systems of environmental management involving measurement, reporting and responsibilities for dealing with issues of material use, energy, water and waste.Examples are EMAS and ISO 14001. -
  • Chain management: cooperation between companies so as to close material loops and to avoid environmental damage across the value chain (from cradle to grave)
• C. Product and service innovation offering environmental benefits: -
  • New or environmentally improved products (goods) including eco-houses and buildings -
  • Green financial products (such as eco-lease or climate mortgages) -
  • Environmental services: solid and hazardous waste management, water and waste water management, environmental consulting, testing and engineering, other testing and analytical services -
  • Services that are less pollution and resource intensive (car sharing is an example)
• D. Green system innovations: -
  • Alternative systems of production and consumption that are more environmentally benign than existing systems: biological agriculture and a renewables-based energy system are examples”

History

While “Innovation” has been formally defined as consisting a a) new products or services, which 2) are implemented, and 3) have a significant quantitative or qualitative impact. The study of “innovation” itself has proven problematic, given it involves in a sense studying how drastic changes will happen. The handbook of service Innovation notes “ In “Innovation: A Critical Assessment of the Concept and Scope of Literature” Baunsgaard and Clegg put forward the argument that service innovation is not taken up in the literature in a consistent manner, and inherent issues with defining innovation results in noncumulative and noncomparable studies that affect how innovation is researched.”

A "overburdened concept":

Inherently both constructs of “Green” & “Innovation” are overburdened concepts. While “Innovation” has been formally defined as consisting a 1) new products or services, which 2) are implemented, and 3) have a significant quantitative or qualitative impact. The study of “innovation” itself has proven problematic, given it involves in a sense studying how drastic changes will happen. The handbook of service Innovation notes “ In “Innovation: A Critical Assessment of the Concept and Scope of Literature” Baunsgaard and Clegg put forward the argument that service innovation is not taken up in the literature in a consistent manner, and inherent issues with defining innovation results in noncumulative and noncomparable studies that affect how innovation is researched.”