TY - JOUR

T1 - The social and political complexities of learning in carbon capture and storage demonstration projects

AU - Markusson, Nils

AU - Ishii, Atsushi

AU - Stephens, Jennie

PY - 2011/5

Y1 - 2011/5

N2 - Demonstration of a fully integrated power plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale has not yet been achieved, despite growing international political interest in the potential of the technology to contribute to climate change mitigation and calls from multiple constituents for more demonstration projects. Acknowledging the scale of learning that still must occur for the technology to advance towards deployment, multiple CCS demonstration projects of various scales are emerging globally. Current plans for learning and knowledge sharing associated with demonstration projects, however, seem to be limited and narrowly conceived, raising questions about whether the projects will deliver on the expectations raised. Through a comparison of the structure, framing and socio-political context of three very different CCS demonstration projects in different places and contexts, this paper explores the complexity of social learning associated with demonstration projects. Variety in expectations of the demonstration projects’ objectives, learning processes, information sharing mechanisms, public engagement initiatives, financing and collaborative partnerships are highlighted. The comparison shows that multiple factors including the process of building support for the project, the governance context and the framing of the project matter for the learning in demonstration projects. This analysis supports a broader conceptualization of learning than that currently found in CCS demonstration plans – a result with implications for both future research and practice.

AB - Demonstration of a fully integrated power plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale has not yet been achieved, despite growing international political interest in the potential of the technology to contribute to climate change mitigation and calls from multiple constituents for more demonstration projects. Acknowledging the scale of learning that still must occur for the technology to advance towards deployment, multiple CCS demonstration projects of various scales are emerging globally. Current plans for learning and knowledge sharing associated with demonstration projects, however, seem to be limited and narrowly conceived, raising questions about whether the projects will deliver on the expectations raised. Through a comparison of the structure, framing and socio-political context of three very different CCS demonstration projects in different places and contexts, this paper explores the complexity of social learning associated with demonstration projects. Variety in expectations of the demonstration projects’ objectives, learning processes, information sharing mechanisms, public engagement initiatives, financing and collaborative partnerships are highlighted. The comparison shows that multiple factors including the process of building support for the project, the governance context and the framing of the project matter for the learning in demonstration projects. This analysis supports a broader conceptualization of learning than that currently found in CCS demonstration plans – a result with implications for both future research and practice.

KW - Carbon capture and storage

KW - Technology demonstration

KW - Social learning

KW - Innovation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79956280624&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.010

DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.010

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:79956280624

VL - 21

SP - 293

EP - 302

JO - Global Environmental Change

JF - Global Environmental Change

SN - 0959-3780

IS - 2

ER -