Innovation system analyses and sustainability transitions: Contributions and suggestions for research

This paper argues (1) that technology-specific policies are necessary if we are to meet the climate challenge and (2) that a main contribution of innovation system (IS) analysis to the study of sustainability transitions is that it allows policy makers to identify the processes and components in a system where intervention is likely to matter most. We demonstrate that an IS framework can identify a diverse set of system weaknesses in the field of environmental innovation and identify five venues for further research that can help strengthen the framework and improve its application to environmental innovations. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.