Search

The energy transition requires new sustainable forms of energy production to replace fossil-fuels. This new energy often requires substantial land areas or is tied to the resource location or both. UK data, in 2020, shows traditional, locationally flexible, power generation produced 1,715 MWe per square kilometre of land used, while locationally tied wind energy provides only 3.8 MWe/km2 onshore or 2.8 MWe/km2 offshore. Substantial dispersal of energy development is likely to lead to increased local environmental effects and social acceptance issues. Exacerbated by an implementation gulf between the domains of energy policy and planning practice, this leads to insufficient provision to meet projected demand. This thesis explores this gap by asking how best to plan for dispersed energy, by investigating whether dispersed energy can be provided without undue local environmental effects? This is examined via a case study which develops a plan modelling dispersed shale gas development across Northern England. It observes the institutional gulf, also evident in published research, in dispersed energy provision in the UK, due to insufficiently scoped regional energy strategies and impotent statutory planning for dispersed energy. The research demonstrates that local environmental effects of dispersed energy can be avoided or minimised by deploying a positive planning approach. This should include: a whole-system perspective including technical understanding; covers both energy production and transportation; and assesses overall and cumulative effects in holistic positive planning rather than serial project-level decision-making. Strategic positive planning is aided by evaluating alternative scenarios and integrating planning and environmental assessment techniques, rather than the detached support tool of environmental assessment. Importantly, rather than seeking public views on inappropriately sited, developer identified proposals, positive planning applies criteria-based site selection which seeks to avoid effects on environmental and social receptors. However, implementing this planning approach requires institutional change to bridge the policy/planning gap.

The automotive industry is a major manufacturing sector in the economy of Thailand. However, industrialisation in Thailand, largely based on the traditional 'take-make-dispose' linear economy model, has not only placed increased pressure on the resource base of the economy, but it has also resulted in increased dependency of the industrial sector on large and foreign enterprises and in environmental pollution due to end-of-life vehicles. Dependence of industry and the economy at large on the linear economy model has been at the heart of structural unsustainability underlying the Thai economy. Environmental pollution is also a cause for concern. Hence the case for transition to a circular economy. Transition of the auto-sector in Thailand to the CE model is not without barriers that arise in the market. These become apparent when considering the range of factors associated with prevailing consumption and production behaviours that influence the transition process. In this study, the factors that influence the behaviours of customers and producers of automotive products are investigated. This study on the switching behaviour of customers is based on the 'Push-Pull-Mooring' (PPM) theory of migration; and for investigation of the survey data, the structural equation model (SEM) is adopted. The findings of the demand-side study of the automotive remanufacturing market show that the decision of customers to switch to remanufactured products is significantly related to the special benefits and environmental benefits deriving from the use of these auto products, consumers' attitudes towards such products, and the risk of obsolescence that would be attached to remanufactured auto-products. Particularly, the suspicious attitude of customers towards the so-called 'like-new' remanufactured products were found to have a significant direct and indirect influence on their switching intentions. Meanwhile, the findings of the supply-side study indicate that the factors influencing auto-manufacturers to induce remanufacturing auto-businesses in Thailand are product maturity, financial costs, lack of skilled labour and technical aspects. A sustainable business model (SBM) for remanufacturing and 'circular' practices in the Thai automotive industry is developed as a policy and decision framework based on the empirical findings of the study. The SBM is developed as a practical business model for remanufacturers to launch 'circular' businesses in the auto sector in Thailand.

There is a growing policy need in many countries for improvements in the innovativeness and competitiveness of business enterprises. This is reflected in a recent shift of emphasis from resource-based growth to knowledge-based growth. One result of this policy trend has been growth in the belief that science and technology park projects can provide a vehicle for the emergence of innovative enterprises and for the implementation of the triple helix innovation system - the engagement among government, universities, and industry. In Thailand, this prompted the establishment of science parks, with the first regional science park, the Northern Thailand Science Park (NSP), launched in 2018. What is unclear - and what has yet to be probed - is how such policy initiatives have helped promote the development of innovative and competitive enterprises, and why some firms choose to be located within these science parks. In this thesis, these questions are explored, based on the combined experiences of 22 tenant firms in the NSP through a questionnaire-based survey and face to-face interviews using quantitative and quantitative methods. In this study, the provision of space, utility and facilities is found to be what matters most for the majority of tenant firms who decide to join the NSP by creating an eco-system that encourages tenants to support each other by sharing knowledge and experiences, which can result in new ideas and the emergence of venture companies. Firms agreed the services they received from the NSP were helpful in achieving better results in terms of innovative and competitive performance than would be the case if they had not joined the park. In the longer term, firms believe that the NSP can incubate and continue to support them as they evolve as competitive enterprises. It is also found that the science parks respond to the learning needs of younger start-up firms, supported by firms that have been long in residence in the park. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are found to be more likely than larger and/or older enterprises to develop innovative inputs. This study also finds that the provision of infrastructure and facility (INFA) and prospecting of market opportunities (MAOP) by the park have significant positive influence on the expected innovative performance/ innovative output of tenant firms. On the basis of findings of this study, bolstered by the experiences across other countries covered in the literature, it can be argued that science parks have an important role to play as intermediary agency integrating tenant firms into the triple helix system of innovation. This is supported by the results of both the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the survey data. The science park ecosystem - and its triple helix underpinning - provide favourable conditions for triggering interactions among tenant firms to learn from specialised knowledge and experiences that can be accessed via the science park platform as long as they are well managed.

This thesis aimed to study the impact of research and development (R&D) on the Thai seafood industry's development, particularly that of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the majority of the sector. This study evaluates expenditure on R&D, the effect of R&D on product and market performance, and the role of networking in supporting the R&D activities of SMEs in the seafood industry. To explore the continuity of R&D investment and cross-check the rate at which R&D affects business development, the period selected for data collection was 2013-17. A 48% response rate is achieved, with 115 of 237 target firms (Thai SMEs in the seafood industry) participating in the questionnaire survey. This was followed by interviews with nine SMEs (chosen from those who completed the questionnaire survey) and four case studies. In addition, two representatives of universities and one from a government organisation were interviewed. The findings of this research are that R&D improves the total sales and export revenues of Thai SMEs in the seafood industry. Furthermore, R&D supports product development in this sector. However, the application of R&D generates only minor changes in terms of product development. A small demand-pull effect and Thai SMEs' limited resources are not sufficient to support significant investment in R&D for product development. Meanwhile, Thai SMEs in the seafood industry are found to engage in external networking for specific purposes. Limited R&D investment might be due to the lack of a R&D platform. Furthermore, the R&D policy direction in Thailand is not clear, and might be affecting the macro picture that drives this group. Therefore, it is recommended government organisations should establish R&D platforms that meet the needs of key players and have an economic impact. While academic institutions should support their experts to circulate knowledge from academia to business stakeholders.

Transition from a linear to circular economy requires fundamental restructuring of the global production-consumption systems. Such restructuring is dependent on the development and proliferation of niche technologies and innovations which promote ‘inner loop’ activities necessary to achieve such a transition such as reuse, repair and remanufacturing. To achieve this, the approach to managing innovation must be redesigned to cope with the increased complexity of moving from linear value chains to circular ‘inner loop’ value webs of material reuse. This thesis therefore examines a novel innovation policy tool which employs a triple helix-based niche manager to strategically manage ‘inner loop’ niche innovation networks in-line with the broader circular economy transition. This thesis undertook in-depth studies of two triple helix-based niche managers in Scotland (the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre and the Scottish Institute for Remanufacturing) between September 2015 and March 2018. A novel methodological approach using social network analysis was developed. This allowed each triple helix-based niche manager’s impact on their respective niche innovation networks’ structure and composition to be empirically measured; and as such, the network members’ capacity to develop ‘inner loop’ innovations. By combining the social network analysis of 86 network members with 173 network member surveys and triple helix-based niche manager focus groups, the reasons behind the changes in network structure and composition are explored in depth. This thesis finds that the triple helix-based niche managers were able to perform key nurturing and empowering roles necessary for steering the innovation networks in-line with a circular trajectory. In terms of nurturing, they were able to build diverse networks, increase shared learning and raise expectations of the niche. In terms of empowering the innovation networks, they were able to connect niche actors with regime actors, direct circular economy funding into the niche and lobby policy makers in terms of niche requirements.