Steady-state market share

The basic steps followed in the product penetration assessment are presented in Figure II. This procedure first entails a static economic analysis based on the competition between the biomass-derived product price and the market price. The resuit is a steady-state market share, reflecting a situation that would be expected to exist after a period during which the competitive economic forces remained constant. Steady-state conditions do not hold soon after the introduction of a new, cost-competitive mission, technology, or product. The marketplace will be in a state of flux as the newcomer gains wider recognition and acceptance. 

As an idealization, the share of a particular market that a single new technology or product can attain at any particular time under steady-state... 

Steady-State Market Share to Biomass-Derived Product —... 

The market penetration model converts the average market prices into marginal prices before use in the steady-state market share analysis. The equation used for this purpose is ... 

Decision-makers also influence market share. Even if a new technology is somewhat more expensive than the alternative, some fraction of purchasers will choose it, perhaps because of environmental or "energy independence" considerations. Alternatively, some fraction of purchasers will continue to use their familiar fuel source even if economic considerations dictate a change to a new one. Imperfect price information also affects the market share curve. These various factors are aggregated into the one market share parameter. In a perfect market with high price elasticity and none of these real world effects, y would be infinite, and the product with even a very slight economic advantage would obtain a 100 percent steady-state market share. 

Steady-state market share — The fraction of the product market that a biomass-derived product would supply at a point long after the biomass product production price and market price had become unchanging with time. 

Market share parameter (T) — A variable used to characterize the behavior of an energy marketplace. This variable is an estimate of the steady-state market share of a biomass product once the comparative economics are determined. 

The stellarator research, although cut back 50 years ago, had not been stopped. Stellarators have two advantages compared to tokamaks as there is no driven current, (1) stellarators are better candidates for steady-state operation and (2) they lack the current driven instability. The drawback of stellarators is that they require a very sophisticated design and state-of-the art industrial technology. At the time of writing of this chapter, stellarators seem to have their share on fusion reactor market as second-generation devices. 

Plastic pipe demand has been growing at a steady rate since 1967. In the United States its share of the total pipe market is more than 60%. Factors contributing to the accelerating use of plastic pipes include their low cost relative to conventional materials, excellent corrosion resistance, ease of installation, and wider building acceptance. 

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