This project examines the processes by which "clean coal" technologies are being institutionalized, supported, debated, and contested at the local level in economically marginalized communities in Appalachia. A range of conflicting arguments, stories, policy perspectives, and knowledge claims of different stakeholders in these debates are documented and compared. Contemporary proposed coal-to-liquid production, coal gasification, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in five Appalachian communities are analyzed alongside coal gasification and related projects dating back to the 1970s in the region. Struggles over contemporary projects are placed in historical context through both the analysis of the successes and failures of past alternative energy projects and an extensive examination of the social, political, environmental and economic forces that have shaped the changing tides of support for (and resistance to) these technologies over time.
The project increases understanding of the social, historical, political, and environmental implications of clean coal technologies, as viewed by a range of stakeholders in coal-producing communities. It deepens understanding of the ways in which dominant and marginalized groups engage in debates over controversial technologies, and how different stakeholders use data, expert knowledge claims, communications technologies, and other resources to advocate for their positions. This research contributes to literatures in the fields of Sociology, History, Appalachian Studies, and Science and Technology Studies, integrating key concepts from these fields into a multi-disciplinary approach.
The project promotes broader public understanding of and participation in debates about clean coal and other energy alternatives in the Appalachian region. The comparative analysis of alternative energy projects is written for a general audience as well as an academic audience, and made available through the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky. Findings are circulated widely among community groups, researchers, and other constituents of the Appalachian Center in an effort to encourage public dialogue about energy alternatives in the region.
This project examines Appalachia’s carbon problem, and specifically focuses on how "clean coal" technologies have been debated and contested in the region as a possible solution to this problem. Over a two-year period, the postdoctoral fellow and her faculty mentor interviewed a range of people engaged in debates over the energy future of the Appalachian region, from university researchers and engineers to environmental advocates and coalfield residents. A range of conflicting arguments, stories, policy perspectives, and knowledge claims of different stakeholders in these debates have been documented and compared. In addition, this study examines the strategies used by grassroots groups in the Appalachian region who are working for cleaner energy solutions. Some of the key findings of this project are summarized below. 1. There is strong disagreement about the effectiveness and viability of "cleaner coal" technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS)—not only among scientists and politicians, but among and between environmental groups as well. 2. While members of national environmental organizations discuss the pros and cons of new cleaner coal technologies primarily on the basis of emissions and related facts and figures, members of regional organizations are also inclined to approach these topics from a moral and/ or spiritual perspective. 3. Strategies of national and regional organizations fighting against coal-fired power plants differ somewhat, largely as a result of the polarization around the issue of coal in the region. This polarization makes some strategies that work in the national discourse less effective for coalfield residents. 4. The most successful citizen movements working in opposition to new coal-fired coal plants in the Appalachian region have been those involving municipal power companies or cooperatives. 5. While regional sustainable energy activists work squarely in opposition to coal companies, some are willing to work with utility companies on non-coal projects (i.e. wind, small hydro, biomass) even as they oppose their coal projects. Intellectual Merit. This project increases understanding of the social implications of "clean coal" technologies, as viewed by a range of stakeholders in coal-producing communities. It deepens our understanding of the ways in which marginalized groups engage in debates over controversial technologies, and how different stakeholders use data, expert knowledge claims, communications technologies, and other resources to advocate for their positions. Broader Impacts. This project will promote public understanding of energy issues in the Appalachian region. The comparative analysis of alternative energy projects proposed here will be written for a general audience as well as an academic audience, and made available through the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky.
