Barriers to Adoption of Novel Environmental Technologies: Contaminated Sediments

Abstract

New technologies face high barriers to adoption compared to existing technologies for several reasons including a perceived sense of increased risk, a lack of experience with the new technologies among managers and/or regulators, or simply the fact that decision makers are not aware of the availability of the technology. Environmental technologies, however, may be especially difficult to move from innovation to commercialization. Partly this may be because environmental resources exist largely in the public domain where private industry may be unable to fully capture the economic benefits of novel technologies. But also, it may be because environmental projects often involve multiple stakeholder groups with competing or mutually exclusive interests. No single technology is likely to emerge which is perceived by all stakeholders as superior to all competing alternatives on all decision criteria. Therefore, novel technologies are likely to involve tradeoffs that engender both support and objections. This chapter provides a review of some of the difficulties in implementing novel contaminated sediments technologies in the marketplace. Brief descriptions of several technologies are provided, and the contrasting objectives and perspectives of different groups essential to environmental innovation are discussed.