“Ethics of Energy?” Presentation

Energy Attitudes and Literacy in Europe and Beyond: Implications for Energy Policymakers and Practitioners

Benjamin Sovacool This presentation investigates how a mix of energy-users from 11 countries perceives energy and environmental issues such as the affordability of electricity and gasoline, the seriousness of climate change, and preferences for different energy systems. The purpose, in part, is to discuss the relationship between consumer perceptions of energy challenges, adoption of renewable […]

On the Banality of Wilful Blindness

Judith Bovensiepen Notions of corporate and social responsibility are often evoked to appease critics– especially in the petroleum industry. This has led to cynical representations of the energy industry as immoral and to important criticisms of the very notion of “ethical capitalism”. By focusing on the planning and implementation of a large-scale petroleum infrastructure project […]

The Making of an Energy Expert: Scottish Wind and the Entanglements of Ethics and Expertise

Annabel Pinker Drawing on fieldwork on the material politics of wind energy in Scotland, this paper considers how ‘expert’ figures that have burgeoned around the field of renewable energy make themselves both as professional and moral persons. How do those variously positioned as wind energy ‘experts’ at different scales – including engineers, energy consultants, community […]

Energy Ethics When There is No Energy Yet: The case of Turkana

Marianna Betti In Turkana, Northern Kenya, the novelty of hydrocarbon operations initiated by oil company Tullow in collaboration with the Kenyan government in 2012 is triggering both hopes and anxieties among local population. In an isolated and marginalized region, where basic infrastructures are lacking, where basic human needs are not taken care of and where […]

Reverse Curse: The Everyday Ethics of Resources amongst the Sanema of Venezuelan Amazonia

Amy Penfield This paper explores how the Sanema of Venezuelan Amazonia experience the petroleum economy through their everyday handling of large quantities of highly subsidised petrol (gasoline), which has become a remarkably ubiquitous substance in social and political life. The paper critiques the theory of the so-called ‘resource curse’ by exploring local-level experiences with petrol, […]

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