Eco-innovation is the development of products and processes that contribute to

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

, applying the commercial application of knowledge to elicit direct or indirect ecological improvements. This includes a range of related ideas, from

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

technological advances to socially acceptable innovative paths towards

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. The field of research that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new "ecological"

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

s and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

spread is called eco-innovation diffusion. Eco_friendly_seat

Concept

The idea of eco-innovation is fairly recent. One of the first appearances in the literature was in a 1996 book by Claude Fussler and Peter James. In a subsequent article in 1997, Peter James defined eco-innovation as "new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts".James, P., 1997; 'The Sustainability Circle: a new tool for product development and design', ''Journal of Sustainable Product Design'' 2: 52:57, http://www.cfsd.org.uk/journal Klaus Rennings employs the term eco-innovation to describe three kinds of changes related to sustainable development: technological, social and institutional innovation. Eco-innovation is sometimes called "environmental innovation", and is often linked with

environmental technology Environmental technology (or envirotech) is the use of engineering and technological approaches to understand and address issues that affect the environment with the aim of fostering environmental improvement. It involves the application of scien ...

eco-efficiency Eco-efficiency refers to the delivery of goods and services to meet human needs and improve quality of life while progressively reducing their environmental impacts of goods and resource intensity during their life-cycle. Together with consistency ...

, eco-design,

environmental design Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environm ...

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

, or sustainable innovation. While the term "environmental innovation" is used in similar contexts to "eco-innovation", the other terms are mostly used when referring to product or process design, and when the focus is more on the technological aspects of eco-innovation rather than the societal and political aspects. Ecovation is the process by which business adopts ecological innovation to create products which have a generative nature and are recyclable.

As a technological term

The most common usage of the term "eco-innovation" is to refer to

innovative Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed ent ...

products and processes that reduce environmental impacts, whether the main motivation for their development or deployment is environmental or not. This is often used in conjunction with eco-efficiency and eco-design. Leaders in many industries have been developing innovative technologies in order to work towards

. However, these are not always practical, or enforced by policy and legislation.

As a social process

Another position held (for example, by the organisatio
Eco Innovation
is that this definition should be complemented: eco-innovations should also bring greater social and cultural acceptance. In this view, this "social pillar" added to James's definition is necessary because it determines learning and the effectiveness of eco-innovations. This approach gives eco-innovations a social component, a status that is more than a new type of commodity, or a new sector, even though

and eco-innovation are associated with the emergence of new economic activities or even branches (e.g., waste treatment,

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

, etc.). This approach considers eco-innovation in terms of usage rather than merely in terms of product. The social pillar associated with eco-innovation introduces a governance component that makes eco-innovation a more integrated tool for

Examples

Geothermal power Geothermal power is electricity generation, electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation i ...

– utilized through technology such as dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. *

Hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

– utilized through technology such as

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

s. *

Solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

– utilized through technology such as

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s. *

Tidal power Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods. Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. T ...

– utilized through technology such as tidal barrages and tidal stream generators. *

Wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

– utilized through technology such as

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

Diffusion

Literature in the field of eco-innovations often focuses on policy, regulations, technology, market and firm specific factors rather than

diffusion Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical p ...

. However, understanding of diffusion of eco-innovations recently has gained more importance given the fact that some eco-innovations are already at a mature stage. Survey research shows that most customers hold positive attitudes towards various types of eco-innovations. At the same time, adoption rates of solutions such as dynamic electricity tariffs remain unsatisfactorily low. The "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY) concept is often used to describe what at first seems to be a confusing intention-behavior gap between high levels of public support for eco-innovations and frequent non-engagement or even local hostility towards specific project proposals. Social psychology and economic behavior models could and should be used to overcome these challenges. According to theory on the diffusion of innovation different adopters of innovation can be in different stages of acceptance. Research on eco-innovations in the construction sector reveals that for eco-innovations to gain acceptance among B2B actors, in addition to having a reduced environmental footprint, they need to demonstrate improved efficiency, create new market opportunities, and help to change the mindset from the traditional mass production to that of creating value. Hence, for such innovations to diffuse in a larger market they need to address industry-specific problems, and not simply act as a substitute for an existing technology.

References

External links

Eco-innovation: Potentials and challenges of tomorrow's technologies (conference held in Copenhagen 2005)Environmental technologies Action Plan (ETAP)
A

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

initiative: *
What is ecoinnovation?
( EnviroWindows-

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

). *
European Funding programme for SMEs who want to put an Eco-Innovation on the European market
{{Environmental technology Bright green environmentalism Design Innovation economics Innovation Product management Product development Science and technology studies Sustainable technologies

Concept

As a technological term

As a social process

Examples

Diffusion

See also

References

External links