Where the Wind Blows: Tracing Global Environmental Governance in Wind Energy Development in Denmark and Taiwan (1970s to the Present)

What is the topic of your doctoral thesis?

“The thesis is about wind energy in Denmark and Taiwan. Denmark was a pioneer of wind energy and has become a centre for the global wind industry. Taiwan is a first mover of offshore wind energy in the Asia-Pacific region outside of China. In addition, there is a strong link between wind energy development in Denmark and Taiwan since the Danish wind industry played a key role for Taiwan’s decision to construct large offshore wind farms. The thesis is part of the ERC-funded project Study of the Planetary Human-Environment Relationship (SPHERE) that traced the history of Global Environmental Governance (GEG). There is an overlap in time between the rise of modern wind energy and the emergence and dispersal of global environmental governance into vast areas of political, corporate, and social life. Although both wind energy and global environmental governance have longer histories, the 1970s played a key role and can be viewed as a starting point. I see wind energy from the perspective of environmental history and analyse the relationship between the rise of environmental thinking and the rise of wind energy.”

Why did you choose this topic?

“When Taiwan’s offshore wind energy development became serious in 2015 and 2016, I was living in Taiwan. Then in 2017, I began working for Professor of Physics Minn-Tsong Lin who later became Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council. I am Danish, and my job was to act as a researcher, presenter and discussion facilitator to provide insights from Scandinavia that might give inspiration in relation to the environment, economy and research policy. As the Danish wind industry became still more active in Taiwan, several colleagues and Professor Lin, who ascribed great importance to egality and justice, asked me about Denmark’s history of wind turbine cooperatives. I therefore researched this topic and gave several presentations on it. When I began as a doctoral student on the SPHERE project at KTH, I sensed that there was an interesting relationship between the history of wind energy and the history of global environmental governance.”

What are the most important results?

“This is a thesis in the field of history. It does not provide a few clear results but narratives with several important points. Wind energy has changed dramatically in its interactions with society. At the beginning of the 20^th century wind energy had little to do with the environment. Instead, it was seen as a means to create rural development and electrify the countryside. As the electricity grid became more centralised and as oil became cheaper, interest in wind dwindled. In Denmark, wind was rediscovered in the 1970s, it was based on an anti-nuclear sentiment and driven forward by a bottom-up movement of grassroots, independent artisans, and small and medium sized businesses from the idea that wind energy was a clean and locally empowering energy source. In the 1990s and 2000s, wind was increasingly seen as a tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and in Taiwan today, you see that multinational companies with green energy targets put pressure on the government to make more renewable electricity available. One main point in the thesis is that the values and benefits ascribed to a particular energy technology are fluid and constantly changing. They are not simply based on the technological and financial advantages of the technology but interwoven with sociotechnical processes in complex ways.”

Did you come across anything unexpected during your thesis research?

“The most surprising to me was how well the case of wind energy in Denmark and Taiwan fitted the overall project topic, and how strong the link was between Denmark and Taiwan. The Danish wind industry was constantly mentioned as crucial by interviewees in Taiwan – both Taiwanese interviewees and interviewees from other countries.

A main point in the SPHERE project is that with the absence of a world government or a single global authority on the environment, global environmental governance has dispersed into almost every realm of society through the normalisation of environmental concerns. In Taiwan, I realised how wind energy had become part of areas that stood out compared to wind energy’s early history as an alternative energy source. Wind energy and green energy had become industrial policy and a concern for some of the world’s largest non-energy businesses.”

Who will benefit from your results? What kind the impact may the thesis have on surrounding society?

“It is hard to say who will use my findings and how. It is primarily of interest for scholars within environmental history and science and technology studies (STS). The case both builds on and challenges some of the established ways of understanding energy development. However, I have also experienced interest from Taiwanese governmental institutions, Taiwanese NGOs as well as representatives from the wind industry. At the moment, I am a bit cautious about engaging too much with actors outside academia as some topics are controversial, and since I still want to edit and polish the articles of the thesis before broadcasting my findings to people with direct influence on energy development. In the long run, I hope that the thesis will contribute to a more well-thought and long-term energy policy with careful consultations between all stakeholders. I also hope that it serves as an example for people involved with energy development and any level that they can make an impact on the future energy situation. An impact can be made both within NGOs, corporate businesses, the government, or in research institutions. It has been done before, and it can be done again. However, we are no longer in the 1970s, and the methods of today has to fit today’s social, political, and technical conditions.”

What will you do next and where can one reach you?

“I will apply for academic positions in Taiwan, most likely a postdoc. You can reach me via Linkedin  or email: mrharboell@gmail.com .”