Understanding upscaling and stagnation of farm-based biogas production in Sweden through transitional and farming logics

Abstract Biogas has recently attracted increased attention as an energy carrier in the Swedish agricultural sector. After a few years of growth, the agricultural biogas sector has now plateaued and few new have been established in recent years. This paper aims to understand the upscaling and stagnation of farm-based biogas in Sweden using interviews with key stakeholders and document studies. Through a combination of concepts used in socio-technical transition and large technical systems literature, the paper takes stock of national developments with a particular focus on three case regions. With an appreciation of regional contexts and different actor logics driving biogas development, the results present different growth patterns, stagnation factors and possible pathways for future upscaling. The paper concludes with a discussion on the future of the Swedish agricultural biogas sector.