Financing grassroots innovation diffusion pathways: the case of UK community energy

This paper explores how finance can better support the diffusion of Grassroots Innovations (GIs), community-led solutions for net-zero transitions. We examine case UK community energy (CE), across three ‘diffusion pathways’: niche replication (growth in number projects), individual scaling an organisation's scale) and collective (a confederation GIs). investigate each pathway through analysis a nationwide survey, interviews four studies. find that while currently supports small-scale CE projects, incompatibility between GIs wider meta-regime inhibits scaling. The sector has responded with diffusion, via business group intermediaries; attracting greater but still insufficient finance. Consequently, to diffuse effectively, they must be supported translate both sectoral regimes (e.g. energy) broader meta-regimes finance). contributes theory on role sociotechnical transitions intermediaries GI diffusion.