Industrial prosumption-based energy transition technologies investigation for wastewater sector

By leveraging internal resources and incorporating external technologies, industrial sectors have the potential to become energy prosumers, that is, both energy consumers and producers. This study developed a framework that incorporated the technological paradigm and open innovation to understand the evolution of technologies over time and the structural innovations in transitional systems needed to facilitate industrial sector prosumption. The framework tracked the development and diffusion trajectories of emerging technologies and identified three innovation modes: utilizing internal system resources (internal resource-driven innovation), absorbing external knowledge (external technology-driven innovation), and integrating technologies from both internal and external sources (integrated innovation). As a prime example of industrial prosumption, the framework’s value was demonstrated in an investigation of the wastewater sector, for which bibliometric analysis of 2335 publications was employed to identify the wastewater sector’s energy transition technologies. The analysis revealed three distinct technological development and diffusion periods over the past three decades focused on sustainable development, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and eventual carbon neutrality. In the early stages, the internal resource-driven innovation resources were found to have higher competitive advantages; however, as the transition progressed, external technology-driven innovation influences played a more prominent role, which led to greater diversity in the integration of transition technologies. It is also concluded that integrated innovation is going to play a more important role in the future industrial prosumption. Overall, this review can enrich the knowledge of technological development and diffusion trends for industrial prosumers and provide openness strategies for wastewater sector energy transitions.