Jennie C. Stephens

Higher education as a change agent for sustainability in different cultures and contexts

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to enhance consideration for the potential for institutions of higher education throughout the world, in different cultures and contexts, to be change agents for sustainability. As society faces unprecedented and increasingly urgent challenges associated with accelerating environmental change, resource scarcity, increasing inequality and injustice, as well as rapid technological change, new opportunities for higher education are emerging. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on the emerging literature on transition management and identifies five critical issues to be considered in assessing the potential for higher education as a change agent in any particular region or place. To demonstrate the value of these critical issues, exemplary challenges and opportunities in different contexts are provided. Findings – The five critical issues include regional-specific dominant sustainability challenges, financing structure and independence, institutional organization, the extent of democratic processes, and communication and interaction with society. Originality/value – Given that the challenges and opportunities for higher education as a change agent are context-specific, identifying, synthesizing, and integrating common themes is a valuable and unique contribution.

Wind Energy in US Media: A Comparative State-Level Analysis of a Critical Climate Change Mitigation Technology

Wind power is a critically important climate change mitigation technology, and the most rapidly growing renewable energy technology in the USA. Wind energy can provide carbon-free electricity generation, so within societal discourse on how society should minimize the risks of climate change it is widely recognized and acknowledged as a valuable technology. Despite recent increases in wind turbine installation in the USA, the high-level of variation in deployment patterns of wind technology in different states cannot be explained simply by wind resource patterns. Other factors, including differences in the state-level, socio-political context, seem to be influencing wind development. This research compares these contextual differences by using media analysis to assess state-level public discourse about wind technology. Through comparative content and frame analysis of newspaper coverage of wind power in Texas, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, we explore state-level variations in the salience of wind in public discourse, the focus on wind power as a climate change mitigating technology, and the framing of wind powers risks and benefits. In addition to identifying distinct state-level variation in wind energy discourse, the results demonstrate that winds climate change mitigation potential has been a limited but growing part of media coverage on wind power.

Growing interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) for climate change mitigation

Abstract Interest in technologies associated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been growing rapidly in both the public and private sectors over the past five to ten years as governments, industry, and individuals grapple with how to reconcile increased energy demand with the need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations to mitigate the risks of climate change. CCS technology involves capturing the CO2 produced during fossil-fuel combustion and storing it in underground geologic reservoirs instead of emitting it into the atmosphere. The idea of engineering the storage of carbon has developed from relative obscurity to an increasingly recognized approach to stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This paper (1) identifies several influential nongovernmental stakeholders and discusses their contributions to CCS and (2) describes how governmental influence through political positions, government-supported research and development, and economic policy tools and international treaties have influenced CCS initiatives. While the relative strength of nongovernmental and governmental influences is not quantified, this treatment of the various factors contributing to the advancement of CCS technology highlights the complexity associated with integrating developments in science and engineering into sustainable practices.

Wind Deployment in the United States: States, Resources, Policy, and Discourse

A transformation in the way the United States produces and uses energy is needed to achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets for climate change mitigation. Wind power is an important low-carbon technology and the most rapidly growing renewable energy technology in the U.S. Despite recent advances in wind deployment, significant state-by-state variation in wind power distribution cannot be explained solely by wind resource patterns nor by state policy. Other factors embedded within the state-level socio-political context also contribute to wind deployment patterns. We explore this socio-political context in four U.S. states by integrating multiple research methods. Through comparative state-level analysis of the energy system, energy policy, and public discourse as represented in the media, we examine variation in the context for wind deployment in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, and Texas. Our results demonstrate that these states have different patterns of wind deployment, are engaged in different debates about wind power, and appear to frame the risks and benefits of wind power in different ways. This comparative assessment highlights the complex variation of the state-level socio-political context and contributes depth to our understanding of energy technology deployment processes, decision-making, and outcomes.

BioEarth: Envisioning and developing a new regional earth system model to inform natural and agricultural resource management

As managers of agricultural and natural resources are confronted with uncertainties in global change impacts, the complexities associated with the interconnected cycling of nitrogen, carbon, and water present daunting management challenges. Existing models provide detailed information on specific sub-systems (e.g., land, air, water, and economics). An increasing awareness of the unintended consequences of management decisions resulting from interconnectedness of these sub-systems, however, necessitates coupled regional earth system models (EaSMs). Decision makers’ needs and priorities can be integrated into the model design and development processes to enhance decision-making relevance and “usability” of EaSMs. BioEarth is a research initiative currently under development with a focus on the U.S. Pacific Northwest region that explores the coupling of multiple stand-alone EaSMs to generate usable information for resource decision-making. Direct engagement between model developers and non-academic stakeholders involved in resource and environmental management decisions throughout the model development process is a critical component of this effort. BioEarth utilizes a bottom-up approach for its land surface model that preserves fine spatial-scale sensitivities and lateral hydrologic connectivity, which makes it unique among many regional EaSMs. This paper describes the BioEarth initiative and highlights opportunities and challenges associated with coupling multiple stand-alone models to generate usable information for agricultural and natural resource decision-making.

Spreading the News on Carbon Capture and Storage: A State-Level Comparison of US Media

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has received abundant federal support in the USA as an energy technology to mitigate climate change, yet its position within the energy system remains uncertain. Because media play a significant role in shaping public conversations about science and technology, we analyzed media portrayal of CCS in newspapers from four strategically selected states. We grounded the analysis in Luhmanns theory of social functions, operationalized through the socio-political evaluation of energy deployment (SPEED) framework. Coverage emphasized economic, political/legal, and technical functions and focused on benefits, rather than risks of adoption. Although news coverage connected CCS with climate change, the connection was constrained by political/legal functions. Media responses to this constraint indicate how communication across multiple social functions may influence deployment of energy technologies.

Diverse Perceptions of Stakeholder Engagement within an Environmental Modeling Research Team

Integrating stakeholder perspectives is increasingly important in environmental science as a growing number of research projects are justified with a “solutions” orientation prioritizing societal relevance. In earth systems modeling, there is potential for model developers to engage with stakeholders who may use modeling results to inform decisions about resource management and policy. Challenges associated with stakeholder engagement relate to how researchers perceive the role of stakeholders and how they view the utility of integrating knowledge and perspectives from outside academia in model development. This study analyzes researchers’ perceptions of stakeholder engagement within BioEarth, a large collaborative regional earth systems modeling project designed to integrate input from agriculture and forestry sector decision-makers. The project addresses the impact of climate change on water, nitrogen and carbon cycling in the US Pacific Northwest. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess perceptions of stakeholder engagement among the 18principal investigators (PIs). Results reveal that PIs have varying perceptions of the role of stakeholders in earth systems modeling and diverse assessments of the optimal type and timing of stakeholder engagement. As funding agencies and research institutions promote increased collaboration with stakeholders from outside academia, these findings demonstrate fundamental differences of opinion among environmental scientists regarding the value of stakeholder engagement. This research has implications for transdisciplinary research projects that seek to address sustainability challenges by involving stakeholders in technical academic modeling. Facilitating learning opportunities for researchers who are new to stakeholder engagement is essential, as is close collaboration among researchers with different levels of prior stakeholder engagement experiences.

Carbon Capture and Storage: A Controversial Climate Mitigation Approach

As the threats of climate change grow, the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel burning is increasingly acknowledged by governments around the world. The potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a set of technologies that offers a politically appealing vision of a ‘cleaner’ way to use fossil fuels, has provided powerful motivation for large public and private investments in CCS technology. But investing in CCS is controversial because, although some consider it a critical climate mitigation technology, others view it as an expensive fossil fuel subsidy that could inadvertently perpetuate, rather than reduce, fossil fuel reliance.

Environmental Advocacy Groups' Perspectives on Carbon Capture and Storage

As the idea of carbon capture and storage (CCS) has rapidly evolved from a relatively obscure concept to an increasingly recognized potential climate change mitigation approach that could contribute to stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, environmental advocacy groups have been engaged in a limited, but growing, capacity in public discussions related to carbon storage. Given the critical role that environmental advocacy groups play in shaping public perceptions of different potential approaches to solving environmental problems and given the recognition that public perception of CCS will influence its advancement, this paper reviews the perspectives and positions of several prominent environmental advocacy groups related to CCS. While several environmental organizations have taken strong positions in favor of biological carbon storage and against the idea of oceanic carbon storage, most environmental groups have been cautiously hesitant in their public stance and assessment of the more advanced concept of injecting captured CO2 underground into natural geologic reservoirs. Concerns that CCS may detract from efforts and funds to support increased use of other existing energy technology alternatives as well as apprehension about ill-defined risks and impacts associated with storing CO2 underground have contributed to the hesitancy to support CCS.

The evolving international CCS community

About the Editors Nils Markusson has 16 years experience in the area of innovation and technology studies. He works as a Research Associate at the Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage research centre at the University of Edinburgh, on several projects on different aspects of CCS innovation processes. Simon Shackley works on assessing options for removal and storage of CO2. This includes techno-economic, sociopolitical and policy evaluations and implications. He first became interested in CCS in 2000 having analysed the potential limitations of carbon mitigation from other leading options. Benjamin Evar is a PhD student at the Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage research centre at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the emerging governance of carbon capture and storage, and the role of science in policymaking.