Technology innovation systems and technology diffusion: Adoption of bio-digestion in an emerging innovation system in Rwanda Aschalew D. Tigabu a, ⁎, Frans Berkhout a , Pieter van Beukering a a Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences (FALW), VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV, Amsterdam, Netherlands article info abstract Article history: Received 16 November 2012 Received in revised form 26 August 2013 Accepted 7 October 2013 Available online xxxx Ensuring modern household energy services is a key focus for national governments of many developing countries and of international development agencies aiming to support sustainable development issues, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. While renewable energy options are considered to have social and environmental benefits, and despite substantial efforts to support the dissemination of new and improved renewable energy technologies, rates of diffusion remain extremely low. For instance, biogas digester penetration in Rwanda accounts for just 1% of national potential as of 2012. This is in part due to the lack of innovation systems, which foster technology diffusion. This paper analyzes the development of a technological innovation system (TIS) for bio-digestion in Rwanda between 2000 and 2011. We apply the so-called ‘functions approach’ in analyzing the emergence of a Rwandan biogas technological innovation system. We show the accumulation through time of TIS functions, linking these to the weak diffusion of bio-digesters. We argue that international development assistance should aim to support to the build-up of technological innovation systems in their support for energy technologies. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Technological innovation systems Innovation system dynamics Functions approach to innovation systems 1. Introduction Improving access to modern energy services in developing countries, where over two and half billion people do not have access, has been a key aspect of sustainable development efforts [1]. Among the measures, promotion of renewable energy has often been considered as one of the desirable and practicable options [2,3]. This is partly because sustainable modern energy can be generated from locally-accessible and affordable natural resources through the use of renewable energy technologies [4]. Bio-digesters are among the renewable energy technologies that have been thought to serve as robust sources of modern energy to households and communities of rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa [5]. As a result, a range of efforts has been made to promote bio-digestion in the continent. Despite growing optimism and support for biogas use, the number of units installed in the region remains in the order of a few thousands [6,7]. Much of the introduction and diffusion process has been driven by public initiatives, including the dissemination of biogas plants free of cost of investment on the part of beneficiaries in several African countries [5]. These programs aimed to demonstrate the benefits and the technical viability of the technology, with the hope that such efforts would initiate a sustainable market in the long run [5]. However, this and other policy approaches have fallen short of inducing widespread adoption and a well-functioning market for biogas. Indeed, many newly installed digesters have been rapidly abandoned by users [6,8]. In general, “…biogas initiatives in Africa failed to grow from a product-based project approach implemented by a single actor towards a market-oriented program in which various actors co-operate on the basis of institutional arrangements” [8]. To explain this low level of market diffusion, we propose a systematic approach that takes into account the complex institutional context in which the technology is promoted, diffused and adopted. The established theoretical insight on innovation and diffusion processes suggests that the introduction and adoption of new technologiesare consequences of both group and Technological Forecasting & Social Change xxx (2013) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 20 59 98 38 13. E-mail address: aschalew.tigabu@ivm.vu.nl (A.D. Tigabu). TFS-17873; No of Pages 13 0040-1625/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.10.011 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Technological Forecasting & Social Change Please cite this article as: A.D. Tigabu, et al., Technology innovation systems and technology diffusion: Adoption of bio-digestion in an emerging..., Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.10.011