The gas turbine: A new technological paradigm in electricity generation

The use of gas turbines in the electric industry of many countries has beep increasing. Their demand now represents more than 50% of the world market of thermal power plants. In this article we test the paradigm concept to ex plain the technological change that represents the gas turbine in electrici ty generation. We also discuss the limits and problems of this concept to u nderstand the technological change in the power industry. Finally, we propo se possibilities to extend this concept to make it more operational in a re al problem of technological change. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.