Professor Jennie Stephens (Environmental Science and Policy, IDCE) will be traveling to Amsterdam on Sept. 18 to present her research at the International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technology (GHGT). This conference provides a platform for integrating practical and scholarly initiatives related to development and implementation of climate change mitigation technologies.
Professor Stephens will be presenting on her research exploring social learning associated with demonstration projects of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This research is a collaborative project with Nils Markusson (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Atsushi Ishii (Tohoku University in Japan) funded by the Swedish Mistra Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research. This comparative analysis of carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan highlights the importance of integrating careful consideration of social learning, in addition to technical learning, into the demonstration of emerging technologies. Two other research projects that Stephens has contributed to will also be presented at this same conference by other collaborators; these include a comparative state-level analysis of discourse among U.S. energy stakeholders and the public about carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology; and social network analysis of CCS development in the U.S.
Private and public investment in advancing carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technology envisioned by some to reconcile the continued use of fossil fuels – particularly coal – with climate mitigation efforts is controversial because this investment may perpetuate and strengthen fossil fuel use and slow down a transition to more renewable energy systems. Professor Stephens’ research on the social and political dimensions of the development of this controversial technology in the U.S. is important because the U.S. has focused its governmental response to climate change on technology rather than policy to a much higher degree than other nations and CCS has been a critical component of this national technological approach. Also the U.S. has invested more money, in absolute terms, in CCS development than any other country in the world. In addition, due to the disproportionate contribution by the United States to accumulated greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, the U.S. has unique responsibility and potential for political and technological influence over the future trajectory of global atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
