| 1. |
- Apler, Anna, 1980-
(författare)
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Contaminated organic sediments of anthropogenic origin: impact on coastal environments
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Baltic Sea is negatively affected by legacy pollutants such as metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are known to have adverse effects on living organisms, including, humans and were banned decades ago. This thesis addresses the dispersal of these pollutants from heavily contaminated, cellulose-rich sediments of industrial origin in the Ångermanälven river estuary in northern Sweden. Relatively thick deposits, known as fiberbanks, in the studied area derive from historical wastewater emissions from the pulp and paper industry (P&PI) that began in the 19th century. These fiberbanks formed on shallow seabeds, where they currently remain. In addition, extensive areas of the deeper seabed are covered by fiber-rich sediments. The fiberbanks contain higher levels of pollutants than the fiber-rich sediments and the sediments less affected by P&PI emissions, and the fiberbank concentrations may be of ecotoxicological concern. Metals and POPs were found to be strongly partitioned to organic material and partitioning coefficients were higher in fiberbanks that contain elevated levels of organic matter. Metals and POPs were detectable in sampled pore water, even if low sediment-water fluxes of metals were expected. Metal contaminant concentrations in sampled bottom water were measured before and after resuspension of underlying sediments, which showed that concentrations of particle bound metals dominated over dissolved forms. One out of three studied fiberbank sites was covered with a natural capping layer that probably shields the water column from metals in the deposit underneath. Studies of geological archives in the form of sediment cores show the rise and fall of an anthropogenic industrial era and the recovery of an aquatic system, but the established chemostratigraphy fails to reveal the current hotspots (fiberbanks) that will stay for decades to come. The potential impacts of climate change and isostatic land uplift are factors that complicate the long-term risk assessment of fiberbanks. These knowledge gaps combined with the lack of a common risk assessment strategy for contaminated sediments hinder the achievement of national quality objectives (NQOs) and fulfillment of Agenda 2030 goals. Fiberbanks resulted from an accelerating global demand for paper products and hence, the issue of these artificial seabed forms is an example of how the geological epoch of humankind, the Anthropocene, can be viewed in a cross-scalar perspective and be important in the management of a sustainable future in the Baltic Sea region.
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| 2. |
- Apler, Anna, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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The Anthropocene in the northern Baltic Sea – the case of contaminated fiberbanks and implications for sustainable development
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The epoch of humankind, the Anthropocene, is usually characterized by the global gaze, which places its focus on global environmental phenomena i.e. global warming and ocean acidification. In this article we argue that the Anthropocene could be better understood with a cross-scalar perspective and present the case of anthropogenic contaminated “fiberbanks” as an example. We present a geological example of the Anthropocene in a Swedish river estuary in the northern Baltic Sea, which hosted nine P&P mills along its’ shores and received large amounts of metal containing wastewater during the 20th century. As a result of the great acceleration and an increased national and global demand for pulp and paper products these fiberbanks formed in shallow waters. As artificial seabed features these thick deposits of contaminated organic-rich material negatively affect the adjacent aquatic environment. By constructing a chemostratigraphy based on sediment cores from accumulation areas and a metal pollution index we show how the aquatic system has recovered from metal pollution. We note, however, that the established stratigraphy fails to identify the fiberbanks, which remain in the shallow zones and are contaminant hotspots. In Sweden, there is an insufficient knowledge of contaminated sediments for a sustainable water and marine management. This knowledge gap in combination with human induced climate changes that may chemically and physically affect sediments and thus, alter dispersion of imbedded pollutants, results in poor understanding and long-term perception of the risks of contaminant dispersion from fiberbanks. We claim that these gaps of knowledge must be filled in order to reach an effective conservation at the same time as a sustainable blue growth in the northern Baltic Sea.
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| 3. |
- Barney, Andrew
(författare)
-
Energy planning for islands : Guiding island energy transition and decision-making
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The importance and benefits of transitioning away from fossil fuel based energy systems is becoming ever clearer. The transition is especially crucial for geographic islands that typically have limited, or no, access to mainland energy networks. This limited access means that they must rely on costly, economically and environmentally, imported fossil fuels for energy production. This isolation and reliance on imported fuels makes islands particularly energy insecure, which is only expected to worsen because of climate change. At the same time, much of the current guidance and policy developed to help plan for islands’ energy transition is based on the conditions and circumstances present on the mainland or on energy planning that focuses primarily on technical or economic parameters. To plan for a smoother, more successful transition away from fossil fuel based energy production on islands, more data is needed about islanders themselves and their local circumstances as well as planning guidance flexible enough to fit the variable needs of island planners that goes beyond a techno-economic focus.In this PhD Thesis and in response to these transition issues, an energy planning platform, REACT-DECARB, has been developed to specifically address the needs of island energy planners. This platform seeks to be holistic in its approach to facilitate the island energy transition planning procedure by considering typical island characteristics and energy transition processes while also including key technical, social, environmental and economic dimensions and granting planners flexibility in how they incorporate them. Additionally, surveys and interviews with island residents are conducted to gain an understanding of islanders’ motivations, priorities and awareness in relation to energy and energy transition as well as to determine if these can be of guidance to island energy transition planners.The applications of the REACT-DECARB platform on geographic islands representing eight different countries from around the EU with varying populations, land areas and climates identified energy transition opportunities and obstacles specific to the islands where the platform was applied as well as to other islands seeking to transition their energy systems. Moreover, these applications of the planning platform demonstrated its ability to help island planners in the development of holistic energy transition paths. The platform takes island energy transition planning beyond a focus on techno-economics by including a wider range of planning dimensions allowing them to decide the methods best suited to their island’s needs. Further, the interactions with island residents demonstrated that their relationships to energy could be informative in the development of energy transition plans as well as likely being critical to their success. Islanders’ understandings, motivations, priorities and awareness were found to be not only directly useful in guiding planners during the designing of island energy transition plans but can also serve to inform planners in how best to educate local residents about and engage them in local energy transition projects. Ultimately, the work in this Thesis contributes to the efforts to make sure islands’, and islanders’, needs and perspectives are considered and included as a part of the wider energy transition.
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| 4. |
- Barney, Andrew
(författare)
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Integrated regional energy planning for islands : Development of a decision-aiding methodological framework and application
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Clear and inclusive planning guidance for island planners seeking transitions away from traditional fossil fuel based energy systems is currently needed. At present, the guidance from the scientific community has largely been provided piecemeal and with significant focus on the specifics of single islands and, more often than not, on proposed energy systems’ techno-economics. To address these gaps in applicability and encourage a more balanced energy project analysis the REACT-DECARB integrated energy planning and decision-aiding platform has been developed. REACT-DECARB seeks to work as a comprehensive planning platform for island energy transition and this thesis investigates the ability of the platform to provide the support to planners needed to facilitate their transition planning. To do so the core concepts, descriptions and applications of decision making as well as a number of energy planning tools are presented. The platform is then described and its individual steps are applied to eight geographic islands within the EU. These applications of the platform identified key opportunities for the islands, such as significant RES potential, while also finding potential obstacles, such as land use conflicts. Further, it highlighted the high economic cost of seeking full electricity autonomy and of using substantial battery capacities. The platform additionally identified the importance local preferences can potentially have on the ranking of future energy scenarios as well as the impact lifetime project environmental costs can have on overall system environmental impacts. In summation, the REACT-DECARB platform is found to be an effective tool in directing island energy decarbonisation efforts by guiding local energy planners in what should be included in their planning and how these key elements can be incorporated in the decisions made. Further, the platform is found to be flexible enough to be applied to more than the specific circumstances of a single island and allows planners to adjust their approaches to its different steps as needed and to better match their capabilities.
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| 5. |
- Blicharska, Malgorzata, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Steps to overcome the North-South divide in research relevant to climate-change policy and practice
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Climate Change. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 7, s. 21-27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A global North-South divide in research, and its negative consequences, has been highlighted in various scientific disciplines. Northern domination of science relevant to climate change policy and practice, and limited research led by Southern researchers in Southern countries, may hinder further development and implementation of global climate change agreements and nationally appropriate actions. Despite efforts to address the North-South divide, progress has been slow. In this Perspective, we illustrate the extent of the divide, review underlying issues and analyse their consequences for climate change policy development and implementation. We propose a set of practical steps in both Northern and Southern countries that a wide range of actors should take at global, regional and national scales to span the North-South divide, with examples of some actions already being implemented.
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| 6. |
- Blicharska, Malgorzata, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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The water–energy–food–land–climate nexus : Policy coherence for sustainable resource management in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Policy and Governance. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1756-932X .- 1756-9338.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of a ‘nexus’ across issues regarding the management of natural resources has gained increasing academic attention in recent years, but there is still relatively limited research on the application of the nexus approach for evaluating policies. This study analyses coherence among the main goals of five policy areas (water, energy, food, land, and climate) in Sweden, drawing upon a desk review, expert assessment, and interaction with stakeholders. The main objective is to enhance understanding of opportunities and challenges posed by such a nexus, understand policy interactions in Sweden, and provide insights into the use of policy coherence analysis as an integral part of resource nexus assessments. The analysis reveals synergies and conflicts between policy goals. For example, Sweden's environmental quality objectives (EQOs) regarding land and all the goals regarding water are either synergistic or neutral. Likewise, climate policy goals are well aligned with the goals regarding energy and ground water quality. On the other hand, the key goal for agriculture, which is food production, is the least coherent with those of the other policy areas. There are conflicts between the EQOs and goals regarding agricultural and forestry production. Stakeholders also indicate that climate goals are treated with higher priority than the goals of other policy areas. Notably, some interactions between policy goals are synergistic or conflicting depending on the context or their interpretation. Implementation of existing goals depends on relevant stakeholders' interests, priorities and interpretations, and on existing prevailing discourses in society, often supported by higher level policies.
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| 7. |
- Kama, Kärg, et al.
(författare)
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Geo-Metrics and Geo-Politics : Controversies in Estimating European Shale Gas Resources
- 2019
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Ingår i: Political Geology. - Cambridge : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319981888 - 9783319981895 ; , s. 105-145
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter explores the relationship between geoscientific knowledge production and geopolitical agencies in the making of new subsurface resources, specifically unconventional fossil fuels. Focusing on recent controversies surrounding the assessment of potential shale gas resources in Europe, we analyse the ways in which highly speculative and contested resource estimates have come to inform the geopolitical imagination of many EU states and, in turn, provided a new impetus for geoscientific inventories and exploration of shale formations. In the first part of the chapter, we engage with recent volumetric accounts in political geography and cognate disciplines to conceptualize these epistemic struggles of resource-making as a case of “subterranean geo-politics”. The empirical analysis in the second part then traces the geo-politics of shale gas prospecting in Poland and the UK, describing how volumetric projections of resource abundance have become undermined by diverse materialities and socio-political constructions of the subsurface. This is evidenced by the difficulties of translating knowledge across geo-economically disparate sites of resource development, notably the failure to apply the US-based expertise to the European context. Finally, we document more recent efforts by the European Commission and other epistemic authorities to overcome the deficiency and incompatibility of local resource estimates by developing standard, EU-specific geo-metrics for shale energy assessment.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Bioenergy as an empty signifier
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article scrutinizes the bioenergy concept in the context of the three challenges of energy insecurity, climate change, and the agricultural crisis that, borrowing from Gramsci, constitute a “global organic crisis”. The analysis, based on theoretical concepts developed by Laclau and Mouffe, explores assessments, reports, policy papers, and other central documents from three influential international organizations, i.e., IEA, FAO, and IPCC, in the areas analysed. We argue that, as a floating signifier in a given field of discursivity, the bioenergy notion loses its unfixed ability to occupy specific positions and convey different meanings within the three overlapping discursive areas of energy, climate, and agriculture. These three discursive formations are “sutured” around the notion of bioenergy, where a hegemonic thread of capitalist economics, fixated on economic growth and presupposing the necessity of cost-effectiveness, results in internal contradictions within the signification, transforming bioenergy into an empty signifier.
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| 10. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Bioenergy as an Empty Signifier
- 2016
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Ingår i: The Review of Radical Political Economics. - : SAGE Publications. - 0486-6134 .- 1552-8502. ; 48:2, s. 235-251
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article provides insight into the contemporary international bioenergy debate and scrutinizes how the idea of biofuel production as a win-win-win solution to energy insecurity, climate change, and agricultural stagnation came into being, what discursive forces bind such a conceptualization, and where dislocations arise. Based on critical assumptions of discourse theory developed by Laclau and Mouffe, the analysis explores assessments, reports, policy papers, and other central documents from three influential international organizations—the International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization—that provide an entry point to the global debate on biofuels. We show that the bioenergy concept occupies specific positions and conveys different meanings within the three overlapping discourses of energy, climate, and agriculture. These three discursive areas are further “sutured” around the notion of biofuel production, where a hegemonic thread of the capitalist market economics, fixated on economic growth and presupposing the necessity of cost-effectiveness, results in internal contradictions and dislocations within the win-win-win conceptualization, emptying bioenergy of any content.
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| 11. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Challenging the food vs. fuel dilemma : Genealogical analysis of the biofuel discourse pursued by international organizations
- 2012
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Ingår i: Food Policy. - : Elsevier. - 0306-9192 .- 1873-5657. ; 37:5, s. 581-588
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper looks critically at how food and agriculture-, energy security-, and climate change-oriented international organizations have consolidated and modified the biofuel discourse in relation to the agricultural system. Using Foucault-based genealogical analysis of discursive formations, the paper traces the last 20 years of institutions’ biofuel debate in relation to rural production. We find that the prevalent motive is an aspiration to combine the agriculture and energy markets into one, which prompts structural changes and challenges in the rural sector. This has implications for the future role and shape of global agriculture and – contrary to the food vs. fuel perspective – calls for re-conceptualizing the biofuel debate as the food vs. food dilemma.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Down the black hole : Sustaining national socio-technical imaginaries of coal in Poland
- 2018
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 41:S1, s. 136-147
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores the socio-technical imaginaries surrounding infrastructures of coal mining and coal combustion in Poland. Contemporary policy makers in Poland mobilise a national imaginary inherited from communist times – encapsulated in the slogan ‘Poland stands on coal’ – that fuses infrastructures of coal extraction and combustion with the fate of the nation. This socio-technical imaginary provides support for coal futures, even in the face of contradictory evidence for domestic resource depletion, poor regional air quality, and global climate change. To examine this process, the paper brings research on socio-technical imaginaries into conversation with work on resource materialities. It highlights how certain materialities of coal (abundance, accessibility, energy density, location) were integral to the emergence of a national socio-technical imaginary of modernisation via coal; and how other materialities (declining resource quality, effects of emissions on respiratory health, coal as CO2-in-waiting) now collide with the political strategies of a government determined to reassert ‘black gold’ as a bedrock of national development for years to come. The paper considers how contemporary political efforts to rehabilitate coal and secure its future in Poland draw selectively upon a socio-technical imaginary of coal-fuelled national modernisation.
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| 14. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Fields of Gold : The Bioenergy Debate in International Organizations
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The concept of producing energy from biomass has, for the last two decades, occupied attention of policy-makers, private industries, researchers and civil societies around the world. The highly contested and contingent character of the biofuel production, its entanglement in the nexus of three problematic issues of energy, climate and agriculture, as well as its injection into the current socioeconomic arrangements, is what makes it timely to analyse.The thesis sheds light on the state of international debate on bioenergy by looking at deliberations of three major global institutions: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Energy Agency (IEA) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The primary aim is to trace and analyse how the concept of bioenergy is conceptualized and contextualized in assessments, reports, policy papers and other documents issued by FAO, IEA and IPCC in the 1990-2010 period. The secondary aim of the thesis, based on results derived from the primary objective, is set to problematize and reflect upon currently dominating socioeconomic arrangements that the concept of biomass-derived energy is inserted into. The research questions are organized around four distinctively contentious issues in the debate: biofuel production in developing countries, the food vs. fuel dilemma, bioenergy as a win-win-win solution and the future role of the second-generation bioenergy technology. The research questions are operationalized by applying four theoretical perspectives: the world-economy, Michel Foucault’s genealogy, discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, and Fredric Jameson’s critical approach.The institutional debate illustrates that, while bioenergy appears to be an easy, plausible and thus attractive patch able to temporarily fix societal challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and agricultural crisis without changing much in the socioeconomic structure, its implementation exposes internal discrepancies of the hegemonic capitalist system. Whether bioenergy could actually function as a feasible win-win-win solution is of secondary importance. It is its economic feasibility expressed in the pressure on cost-effectiveness that matters the most but, at the same time, causes serious internal discrepancies in conceptualizations pursued by the organizations. The results point to two main conclusions. On the one hand, bioenergy is inevitably entrapped by the rules and arrangements of the hegemonic system that, in turn, cause internal contradictions. On the other hand, the institutional debate attempts to stabilize the shaky conceptualization of bioenergy, so that it can appear consistent and plausible, even if the possibility of reaching the closure of meaning fades away, with more conflicts on the rise. Furthermore, the results also show that the three international organizations exhibit uniform patterns of argumentations and the way they similarly discuss biomass-derived energy illustrates the objective to stabilize the meaning and adjust the concept of bioenergy to the hegemonic system.
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| 15. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Fractured visions : Anticipating (un)conventional natural gas in Poland
- 2020
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Ingår i: Resources policy. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0301-4207 .- 1873-7641. ; 68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To better understand the recent Polish shale gas "frenzy", it is pertinent to study (un)conventional natural gas in the broader context of Poland as a post-communist country that has struggled to achieve a meaningful transformation of its coal-dominated energy system. By scrutinising official documents issued by the Polish government institutions between 1990 and 2017, we disclose specific fractures in how the role and scope of natural gas in the energy system have been envisioned in national policies and strategies. We demonstrate that the fractures occur at the intersection of two distinct logics: security concerned with the preservation of existing conditions and transition focused on change in the energy system. We draw attention to the shortcomings of prognostic practices underpinning both security and transition: overestimation in demand forecasts and uncertainty of resource estimates. In the effort to transform the national energy system, Poland's natural gas policy miscalculations have resulted in a substantial demand-side discontinuity and lock-in to one external gas supplier, which exacerbated the country's preoccupation with supply-side security. Yet, Polish high hopes for developing home-grown gas from shales lacked concrete policy visions and were a symptom of long-term stress that has gradually accumulated as the result of supply-demand imbalances.
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| 16. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Post-conventional energy futures : Rendering Europe's shale gas resources governable
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31, s. 32-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the shale gas boom in the United States, unconventional natural gas extracted from organic-rich shale rock formations has generated increasing attention in the European Union (EU). This considerable interest has been spurred by a range of optimistic volumetric appraisals of shale gas resource potential trapped beneath the European continent. The paper critically examines rationalities and practices through which states of resource availability and recoverability are made visible, measurable, intelligible, and thus rendered governable, namely open to new fields of possibilities to act upon. By implementing the concept of socio-technical imaginaries as governmentality approach, the analysis is guided by two objectives: first, to identify visions of shale gas potential contained in a range of resource estimates; second, to scrutinize rationalities of government, that is how shale gas resources are made knowable and purposeful, as well as technologies of government that operationalize these rationalities via practices of calculation, visualization, and inscription. The paper illustrates that, these highly speculative and uncertain assessments can forge powerful volumetric imaginaries of shale gas potential that yield specific governing effects concerned with securitization of unconventional hydrocarbons availability. Consequently, these imaginaries prescribe and legitimize techno-political hopes for certain post-conventional energy futures underpinning the fossil fuel abundance narrative.
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| 17. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Pros and Cons of International Biofuel Production : An overview of research and policy reports 2008
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This briefing from the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research presents a summary ofresearch and policy reports on positive and negative aspects of liquid biofuels. It covers three areas: economic and energy security, rural development and agricultural production and environmental challenges. It will also shortly depict the cases of Brazilian ethanol as a model of processing agricultural crops to liquid fuels for transport, and finally cover the future bioenergy production potential in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The purpose of this briefing is to provide an overview of present discussions and to present arguments from a variety of organisations and scholars. As a service to a reader, the briefing contains an extensive reference list for further studies.The reports and research covered in this briefing are quite disparate. Nevertheless, ten significant conclusions can be observed:• Biofuels cannot solely substitute oil in meeting the expected future energy demand in transportation.• Development of next-generation biofuels can ease the food vs. fuel competition since they can be processed from other sources of biomass than the major food crops.• Countries in tropical regions are more suited for biomass production. However, we lack sufficient research on future stresses compounded due to climate change and economic globalisation.• International trade rules, particularly governing agricultural commodities, as well as development of standards and certifications will play a significant role in shaping global, as well as local conditions of future biofuel production. Thus, the outcomes of trade agreement and policies will impinge on development goals and livelihood security in developing countries.• An important factor for developing countries will be whether biofuels will be considered as an agricultural or non-agricultural good by WTO. If they are classified as agricultural commodities they can be eligible for special measures such as subsidies for environmental reasons. But this may also be used to uphold agricultural subsidies in industrialised countries.• Liquid biofuel production can be beneficial for developing countries in tropical regions. Present research indicates that rural communities in SSA may benefit if they hold control over the local or regional production conditions.• Taking into account present conditions, food security of several SSA countries could be under strain caused by increased biofuel production.• Depending on production conditions, SSA countries can stand to gain in the future.However, we lack comprehensive research on the conditions for a sustainable development of biofuel production which will benefit development aspirations.• Although economies of scale is one factor to consider, sustainable development in SSA can benefit from small-scale production since this type of agriculture can put less stress on environment, in contrast to large-scale production projects.• The production of liquid biofuels in SSA should be directed to meet other important needs in addition to transports (in contrast to the Brazilian example) like heating, cooking and electricity generation.
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| 18. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Simulative governance : on the collaborative narrative of civil society participation in the CDM stakeholder framework
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Politics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0964-4016 .- 1743-8934. ; 25:3, s. 434-453
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is often cited as an exemplar of new, hybrid forms of global environmental governance operating at the public–private interface. Practically, enacting this arrangement involves a wide range of non-state actors. This broad involvement is here assumed to mark a shift towards more polycentric and networked modes of governance in which agents collaborate as ‘stakeholders’ in the process of consensual rule-setting and implementation. Using post-political critique, the depoliticising effects of the stakeholder framework on civil society actors are interrogated, using formal and informal participation opportunities to raise concerns regarding specific CDM projects. The analysis suggests that the CDM’s collaborative narrative of stakeholding structurally fails to stimulate public (re)engagement and is, instead, a prime example of simulative governance that struggles to achieve the simultaneity of two incompatibilities: the participatory revolution and the post-political turn.
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| 19. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Simulative governance : on the collaborative language of civil society participation in the CDM's stakeholder framework
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is often used as a prime example of new and hybrid forms of governance operating at the public-private frontier. The practical enactment of this arrangement involves a wide array of non-state actors. This broad involvement is here assumed to mark a shift towards more polycentric and networked modes of governing where agents are invited as 'stakeholders' in the process of rule-setting and implementation. In this paper we depart from the liberal norm of consensus and instead examine its political effects. We do so by employing the post-political critique to interrogate what it entails for civil society actors to be stakeholders that raise their concerns on specific CDM projects. Based on analyses of documentation of the project validation and direct communication with the CDM Executive Board, as well as interviews with key actors in the CDM process, we ask what kinds of politicizing and/or de-politicizing effects that the stakeholder framework fosters and what spaces for social critique and resistance it produces. The analysis suggests that stakeholding in the CDM constitutes a form of simulative governance that holds a promise of activated civil society participation but, simultaneously, employs tactics that aim at avoiding politicization of local communities and de-politicizing voices of critique from global civic actors. The paper contributes to the post-political critique by lifting it beyond the Western-centric focus on advanced modern societies and opening up to spaces where de-politicization practices can take the form of non-activating potentially political actors.
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| 20. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Speculating on shale : Resource-making and the 'politics of possibility' in Poland and the UK
- 2023
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Ingår i: Political Geography. - : Elsevier. - 0962-6298 .- 1873-5096. ; 107
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper focuses on the speculative character of knowledge and action in relation to subterranean resources, drawing on the curtailed histories of shale gas development in Poland and the UK. It adopts a political-economic orientation towards speculation rather than a narrowly financial one, seeking to understand the 'politics of possibility' associated with speculative resources. Specifically, we build on work in political geography to understand speculation as a form of productive 'resonance' replicating across epistemic, economic, and political domains. Thinking of speculation as resonance - as synchronous vibration across different areas of social life, stimulated by and intensifying uncertainty - offers a novel way of thinking about the possibilities of subterranean resources for forging political alignments. We show how speculation was integral to demonstrating the resource potential of shale in both Poland and the UK, and consider how this speculative character of shale subsequently infiltrated into economic and policy realms. Resonating across these domains, and amplifying epistemic uncertainties about shale, speculation produced a politics of possibility orientated towards 'gambling' on potential outcomes. By taking seriously the political possibilities of the uncertainties attached to subterranean resources, we extend the value of speculation as a concept for analysing the constitutive role of uncertainty in politicaleconomic governance.
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| 21. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Stability rather than change is the order of the day: the case of second-generation biofuels
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper takes a critical look at the conceptualization of second-generation bioenergy based on the institutional discourse pursued by food and agriculture-, energy security-, and climate change-focused international organizations. Set against the backdrop of two distinct perspectives on the understanding and role of innovation, progress, and the future in contemporary capitalist societies, the paper explores how advanced biofuels are distinguished from their conventional predecessors, how the intention to shift from first- to second-generation production patterns is facilitated and justified, and the role of innovation in pursuing this shift. I argue that the notions of “new” and “innovative” put forward in the advanced biofuel project not only exemplify the illusion of an emptied and decontextualized future, but also express an ideological view devoid of utopian potential.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Stakeholding as sorting of actors into categories : implications for civil society participation in the CDM
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Environmental Agreements. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1567-9764 .- 1573-1553. ; 17:2, s. 191-208
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following a deliberative shift towards public–private partnership networks in global environmental governance, the multi-stakeholder framework is increasingly advocated for engaging multiple actors in collective decision-making. As this arrangement relies on proper participatory conditions in order to include all relevant stakeholders, input legitimacy is crucial to achieving legitimate outcomes. However, ‘stakeholding’ implies that actors—recast into a specific institutional context—are sorted into new formal or informal categories. This paper scrutinizes the clean development mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol to interrogate the problematic issue of ‘stakeholding’—i.e. the ‘sorting’ of actors—in enacting the multi-stakeholder framework. Based on an analysis of 25 CDM projects that provides insight into the widest range of participation opportunities for civil society regarding specific projects, this paper considers how certain institutional context of the Mechanism’s stakeholder framework affects the involvement of civil society actors and the implications of this for balanced and fair input legitimacy. The findings suggest that, in practice, the informal corporate-induced sorting of actors into internal and external stakeholders keeps civil society actors outside the CDM’s inner circle, forcing them to voice their concerns regarding specific projects via CDM insiders or through irregular channels. Furthermore, the absence of a clear definition of stakeholder in local consultations results in the inclusion of unsorted actors, destabilizing the distribution of participation opportunities. The paper concludes that recasting the deliberative principles of openness and plurality into the CDM’s corporate-inspired stakeholding creates a specific institutional context that imposes more than one set of perhaps incompatible stakeholder categories while impairing input legitimacy.
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| 24. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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SubCity : Planning for a sustainable subsurface in Stockholm
- 2024
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Ingår i: Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0886-7798 .- 1878-4364. ; 144, s. 105545-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With an expected increase in urbanisation and low-carbon transition efforts, the planning of cities is becoming more challenging, and societies need to rethink how urban infrastructures will be constructed in the future. There is a growing recognition that the use of space below the city will need to be significantly enhanced. However, once transformed, underground space becomes a permanent feature, and major metropolitan areas worldwide are gradually acknowledging the subsurface as a valuable, non-renewable resource, emphasising the necessity for long-term, comprehensive, and sustainable planning of its utilisation. Sweden, including the Stockholm region, has favourable geological conditions for building underground facilities and a long tradition of subsurface engineering. Despite these advantages, Stockholm lacks a comprehensive, long-term underground plan or strategy. For years, major subsurface projects have been driven by short-term needs, potentially hindering the optimal use of space below the cityscape. The overall purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we explore the nascent area of scholarly work concerned with the case of Stockholm’s subsurface. We do so by evaluating the current status and potential of urban underground planning in Stockholm municipality. Second, we seek to advance existing planning knowledge and practices concerning Stockholm’s subsurface by identifying several distinct but interrelated gaps and challenges that impede the immediate integration of urban underground space into strategic decision-making for the future of underground planning in Stockholm. We suggest that further research is necessary in several key areas to facilitate the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term urban underground use and planning in Stockholm City and its metropolitan area.
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| 25. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Sweet dreams (are made of cellulose) : Sociotechnical imaginaries of second-generation bioenergy in the global debate
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 107, s. 431-437
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper critically examines the sociotechnical imaginaries of second-generation bioenergy technology in the global debate, exemplified by the deliberations of international organizations specializing in food and agriculture, energy security, and climate change. The analysis is guided by two objectives: first, to identify and illuminate visions of future advanced biofuels by implementing the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries; second, to scrutinize these imaginaries using a critical and diagnostic utopian method to determine whether the projected visions entail the promise of radical change and hope for socioeconomic transition to a “green” future, or instead manifest an ideological stranglehold striving to perpetuate the status quo. The article demonstrates that sociotechnical imaginaries of advanced biofuel technology superficially project the illusion of utopian potential. On closer examination, however, visions of future second-generation biofuels are limited by the necessity of cost-effectiveness that underpins market competitiveness. They manifest utopian impotence to imagine the future beyond the ideological closure of the currently dominant socioeconomic system.
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| 26. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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The human rights turn : ENGOs’ changing tactics in the quest for a more transparent, participatory and accountable CDM
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Politics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0964-4016 .- 1743-8934. ; 26:4, s. 648-668
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Non-state actors are increasingly participating in international climate diplomacy. The tactics employed by diverse civil society agents to influence climate policymaking are radicalizing through the adoption of more confrontational language. Activist groups have been seeking opportunities to influence policymakers regarding the rules related to transparency, public participation and accountability in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). By scrutinizing efforts of three environmental NGOs (ENGOs) — Climate Action Network, Center for International Environmental Law and Carbon Market Watch — the analysis concentrates on what tactical shifts have occurred in the framing positions and approaches of these activists during the 1997-2015 period. After several years of legal advocacy, expertise and/or critique in an effort to reform input legitimacy of CDM governance, the selected ENGOs have recently drifted away from narratives of green governmentality and ecological modernization and, instead, radicalized their rhetorical tactics by turning to a human rights perspective under the umbrella of climate justice.
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| 27. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Unravelling the argument for bioenergy production in developing countries : A world-economy perspective
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 69:6, s. 1336-1343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper offers a critical look at how energy security-, food and agriculture-, and climate change-oriented international organizations frame biomass energy production in developing countries, in particular, ethanol production in Brazil. Using the world-economy system as a theoretical lens, the paper raises a concern as to whether the way these global institutions frame bioenergy's role in developing regions manifests energy and ecological inequalities between the core and the periphery, as well as creates internal contradictions that perpetuate unequal exchange embedded in the system. Simultaneously, these organizations frame Brazil as a semi-peripheral state that, while successful in finding a niche concurring with the core's demand for cheap energy and cost-effective decarbonization strategies, is not necessarily a suitable role model for the periphery's socio–economic development.
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| 28. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Unravelling the ‘collective’ in sociotechnical imaginaries: A literature review
- 2024
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 110, s. 103422-103422
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of sociotechnical imaginaries (STI) has been increasingly implemented in social science energy research to examine collectively held visions of desirable energy futures. In this paper, we attempt to make sense of the notion of a ‘collective’ central to the STI approach. We do so by performing a literature review of 69 peer-reviewed empirical articles that specifically delve into STIs concerning energy systems and transitions. We ask how ‘collective’ or ‘collectively held imaginary’ is defined and mobilised in these studies and what methods and empirical material scholars employ to access it analytically. Our literature review reveals a predominant emphasis on national collectives, frequently serving as the primary lens for analysis, with studies also exploring the interplay between national and local/regional STIs. Beyond the nation-state, we find instances of research delving into local/regional collectives and internationally or transnationally held STIs. Moreover, we illustrate how the choice of a specific ‘collective’ entry point influences methodological choices. Drawing from our literature review, we call for a more critical and comprehensive engagement with the notion of a ‘collective’ to elucidate how and why specific STIs gain prominence and power or lose acceptance and are marginalised within various collectives, especially in the context of low-carbon energy transitions. We further urge STI scholars to focus on diverse collectives that contribute to a sense of belonging beyond the confines of scale and place, such as class, gender, race, or ethnicity. Additionally, we emphasise the role of individuals, including those less socially prominent, in (re)shaping energy imaginaries.
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| 29. |
- Lechowicz, Kosma, et al.
(författare)
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Disassembling Poland's high-carbon imaginaries from within: The case of local activism in Upper Silesia
- 2024
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 111, s. 103461-103461
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper seeks to understand how dominant high-carbon imaginaries, such as those associated with coal, can be disassembled from within. Although resistance can have a disruptive potential to threaten the prevailing energy narrative, in certain contexts, the complete replacement of the dominant imaginary with an alternative one may not always be feasible or preferable. The paper shows how thinking about disassembly from within can be achieved by bringing the interpretative envelope of sociotechnical imaginaries (STI) into productive conversation with the concepts of hyperobject and hyposubjects. While the analytical framework of STI accounts for the material-normative co-production of future-making, the hyperobject emphasises the effects of human-natural interconnectedness, and hyposubjects elucidate how this mesh can be used generatively through attunement and subscendence. The paper illustrates this way of thinking about disassembling from within by focusing on Upper Silesia, a region in Poland uniquely bound to coal. Through the case of a local activist group Queer Silesia, the paper provides a perspective on disassembly from within where elements of the old but prevailing imaginary can be repurposed to create visions of the post-coal future without erasing the resource's legacy or compromising social cohesion.
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| 30. |
- Mutter, Amelia, 1989-
(författare)
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Multiple Imaginaries of the Fossil Fuel Free Future : Biogas and Electricity in Swedish Urban Transport
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I kölvattnet av klimatkrisen har det blivit allt tydligare att det fossilbaserade transportsystemet måste genomgå en global omvandling. Många alternativ för förnyelsebara drivmedel har föreslagits, alla omgivna av föreställningar om hur dessa tekniker kommer att bidra till en bättre framtid. Dessa föreställningar påverkar utvecklingen eftersom implementeringen av varje alternativ teknik kräver uppbyggnad av mångfaldiga socio-tekniska ensembler som stöder dess användning. Som ett resultat av detta är det troligt att processen för att ersätta fossila bränslen med dessa förnybara alternativ kommer bli komplex. Avhandlingen betraktar uppkomsten av två av dessa föreställningar om förnybara bränslen och studerar visioner om biogas och el i ett svenskt sammanhang. Biogas har en lång historia som transportbränsle i Sverige där, även om den utgör en liten andel av den totala bränsleanvändningen, utgör den ändå grunden för många kommunala kollektivtrafiksystem. Elektriska fordon har blivit alltmer attraktiva när fler aktörer anammar en föreställning som ser en framtid där fordon är delade, autonoma och elektriska. Denna interaktion exemplifieras i kollektivtrafik i städer eftersom många kommuner börjar implementera elbussar i ett försök att öka energieffektiviteten och minska föroreningarna. Denna avhandling följer tre fallstudier där föreställningarna om biogas och elfordon samverkar: kollektivtrafik i städerna Linköping respektive Malmö samt en analys av det omfattande nationella policydokumentet Fossilfrihet på väg. Avhandlingen bidrar till en bredare förståelse för hur visioner kan påverka tröghet och förändring av transportalternativ inom den bredare omställningen till en fossilfri framtid.
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| 31. |
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| 32. |
- Stoddard, Isak, et al.
(författare)
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Three Decades of Climate Mitigation: Why Haven't We Bent the Global Emissions Curve?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Annual Review of Environment and Resources. - : Annual Reviews. - 1543-5938 .- 1545-2050. - 9780824323462 ; 46, s. 653-689
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite three decades of political efforts and a wealth of research on the causes and catastrophic impacts of climate change, global carbon dioxide emissions have continued to rise and are 60% higher today than they were in 1990. Exploring this rise through nine thematic lenses-covering issues of climate governance, the fossil fuel industry, geopolitics, economics, mitigation modeling, energy systems, inequity, lifestyles, and social imaginaries-draws out multifaceted reasons for our collective failure to bend the global emissions curve. However, a common thread that emerges across the reviewed literature is the central role of power, manifest in many forms, from a dogmatic political-economic hegemony and influential vested interests to narrow techno-economic mindsets and ideologies of control. Synthesizing the various impediments to mitigation reveals how delivering on the commitments enshrined in the Paris Agreement now requires an urgent and unprecedented transformation away from today's carbon- and energy-intensive development paradigm.
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| 33. |
- Wachtmeister, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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How Many Wells? : Exploring the Scope of Shale Gas Production for Achieving Gas Self-Sufficiency in Poland
- 2021
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Ingår i: Natural Resources Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1520-7439 .- 1573-8981. ; 30:3, s. 2483-2496
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poland has been estimated to possess large volumes of technically recoverable shale gas resources, which has raised national hopes for increasing energy security and building export capacity. In this paper, we aim to examine political claims and hopes that Poland could achieve natural gas self-sufficiency and even become a gas exporter by harnessing domestic shale potential. We do so by relying on well-by-well production experience from the Barnett Shale in the USA to explore what scope of shale gas extraction, in terms of the number of wells, would likely be required to achieve such national expectations. With average well productivity equal to the Barnett Shale, at least 420 wells per year would be necessary to meet the domestic demand of 20 Bcm in 2030. Adding Poland’s potential export capacity of five Bcm of gas per year would necessitate at least 540 wells per year. Such a significant amount of drilling and hydraulic fracturing would require reconsideration and verification of national energy security plans and expectations surrounding shale gas production. A more informed public debate on technical aspects of extraction would be required, as extensive fracking operations could potentially have implications in terms of environmental risks and local land-use conflicts.
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