Promoting LNG as A Marine Fuel in Norway: Reflections on the Role of Global Regulations on Local Transition Niches

Sofiane Laribi and Emmanuel Guy
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Sofiane Laribi: Department of Management, University of Quebec at Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, Canada
Emmanuel Guy: Department of Management, University of Quebec at Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, Canada

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Contemporary societies are marked by constant tensions between the notion to improve sustainability and the reluctance to engage in uncertain changes. In any sector, the transition is a delicate and complex process that involves many actors, organizations, and institutions. Niche analysis approaches such as the multilevel perspective model (MLP) explain how such a process grows from innovation within a very restricted field to its generalized application on a global scale. Shipping is a sector particularly challenged by the transition process away from heavy fuel oil towards more environment-friendly alternatives such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or even non-fossil alternatives. Within this industry, Norway stands as an early adopter and leader of the emerging transition. Drawing from a wide discussion of the treatment of scale in transition literature and from this national case study, we propose that the transition process can emerge not only from a local niche perspective, as widely documented in the literature, but can also be driven by changes at a much larger scale and initiated by new international regulations.

Keywords: liquefied natural gas; multi-level perspective (MLP); niche-based analysis; shipping; sustainability transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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