Multiple Lives of Subsurface in Decarbonization
The political geology/ecology of the subterranean in energy transition
This summer school, organized in collaboration with HARNESS Project, will dive into the politics of sub/surface spaces in the energy transition with attention to spatialities, materialities and temporalities of subterranean renewable energy (ie. Geothermal), carbon-capture & storage (CCS), and hydrogen storage technologies. We will bring together expertise from political ecology, science and technology studies (STS), spatial sciences and critical geography, anthropology to dive into the key concepts and theories on the politics of the subterranean in energy transition.
Time: Mon 2023-08-28 - Fri 2023-09-01
Location: Groningen, the Netherlands
Language: English
The global imperative for decarbonization and energy transition is increasingly framed as a shift towards global land scramble, given the spatially extensive nature of renewables and the divergent land-use patterns these technologies impose. Urgency and intensity of the transformation in the energy sector also has significant implications for the socio-material reconfiguration of subsurface spaces given that the power relations and institutional structures that manage these subterranean spaces are constantly shifting.
The summer school, while featuring cutting-edge scholarly debates on the topic, will also involve practitioners and energy justice activists to reflect on their real-life challenges.
The key objectives of this summer school is to:
Initiate an international research cooperation on the role of subterranean spaces in energy transition with a focus on geothermal energy and CCS (carbon capture and storage)
Creating opportunities for graduate students with a special emphasis on the global South
Bring together researchers, practitioners and activists
Innovate and experiment with educational formats