Power to the green city: transnational dimensions of Freiburg’s solar energy infrastructure

Current policies and research on energy transitions and sustainability largely focus on specific countries or regions. Given the highly interdependent system of technological innovation, resource extraction, manufacturing, trade and governance, a perspective on transnational infrastructures and networks can help to identify and address the interdependency of sustainability challenges and the power structures and imbalances underlying global energy transitions. The project’s focus is the solar power industry. It takes the self-proclaimed “green city” of Freiburg as our starting point to explore transnational networks behind local manifestations of sustainability. The project combines expert interviews with local actors in Freiburg and content analysis of documents to embark on a journey along the solar panel value chain. How are the resources for solar panels governed by corporate and political actors along this chain? To what extent do these practices entrench existing or bring about new forms of unsustainability into the renewable energy sector?

Ansprechpartner: Wiertz T
Email: thilo.wiertz@geographie.uni-freiburg.de

Projektbeginn: 2023
Projektende: 2024

Espinosa C, , Kranke M, , Schütze B, , Wiertz T

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Institut für Umweltsozialwissenschaften und Geographie

Schreiberstraße 20
79098 Freiburg i. Br.

Telefon: 203 - 3563
Email: humangeo@geographie.uni-freiburg.de
http://www.geographie.uni-freiburg.de/de

Gefördert von: Young Academy for Sustainability Research Fördersumme: 1.000 €

• Young Academy for Sustainability Research