Eco-innovation
The concept of eco-innovation covers all innovation that serve to improve the environment. The aim of environmental innovation is the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by anthropogenic activities, the rehabilitation of already occurred damage and the diagnosis and control of environmental pollution.
General
Environmental innovations may arise from or out of markets. They include technical, organizational, social and institutional innovations and aim to reduce the extent of use of the environment at the lowest possible cost and to enable the sparing use of natural resources.
Environmental innovations are characterized by a double externality, since neither the innovator nor the one who invests in environmental protection, can draw readily yields his actions per se. There is a risk that the actual level of environmental innovation lags behind the overall economic activities desired.
Normative goals of environmental innovations
The Environmental Innovation pursues the normative goal of environmental protection and nature conservation, and the conservation of resources. Through Eco-Innovation first, the resource consumption is reduced, secondly, limited environmental impact and thirdly with respect to a resource inventory - be substituted environmental capital by producing capital. The expectations of the environmental innovations aimed at avoiding foreseeable environmental failures. This environmental innovations are frequent targets of state control and are influenced to a much greater extent than other innovations of state action. The prominent role of the state is an important criterion of demarcation to most other types of innovation.
Examples of environmental innovations
Technical environmental innovations
- Development and introduction of environmentally friendly consumer goods and products
- Environmentally friendly production and substitution of raw materials and new resources
- Development and introduction of new technologies, which enable a more economical use of resources and / or cause less emissions
Economic environmental innovations
- Organizational performance optimization of operational processes ( organizational structure, corporate strategy, corporate culture )
Social environmental innovations
- Emergence of new decision-making formative norms and behaviors
Institutional and legal environmental innovations
- Redesign of the overall social conditions and principles of order
Forms of environmental innovation
Technical environmental innovations can be differentiated into two environmental development lines:
- End - of-pipe technologies are technologies that are downstream of the actually production or consumption process. These are disposal or recycling technologies that reduce the environmental impact. (eg downstream of filter systems )
- Integrated technologies: Integrated Environmental innovations set in contrast to end-of- pipe solutions directly at the source of emissions, that is, the production process or product, and includes all measures which the to a reduction in raw material and energy consumption as well as emission leads. ( eg substitution of CFCs in spray cans)
Other subdivisions of environmental innovations distinguish between radical and incremental innovation as well as technical, organizational, social, economic, institutional and legal environment of innovation.