Technologising the wave: constructing an energy resource in science and policy

Marfuga Iskan­daro­va
Kingston Uni­ver­si­ty Lon­don
Kingston Busi­ness School

Ele­na Simako­va
Inde­pen­dent schol­ar

Tech­nol­o­gis­ing the wave: con­struct­ing an ener­gy resource in sci­ence and pol­i­cy

Abstract. Despite the recent shift from renew­able ener­gy to a low car­bon pol­i­cy, the UK pol­i­cy dis­course still recog­nis­es marine ener­gy as part of the country’s future ener­gy mix. Pro­duc­tion of what we call an “assem­blage” of tech­nol­o­gy and ocean waves trig­gers com­plex sets of ini­tia­tives that pro­vide the basis for the eco­nom­ic via­bil­i­ty and cred­i­bil­i­ty of wave ener­gy extrac­tion. How­ev­er, ques­tions are rarely asked about how the nat­ur­al phe­nom­e­non being part of this assem­blage is con­strued as a resource to become a key ele­ment of promis­es and assess­ments of poten­tial of renew­able ener­gy. This study sheds light on under­ex­plored aspects of the credibility–economy and val­u­a­tion prac­tices formed around renew­able ener­gy that have not yet been prob­lema­tised in social stud­ies of ener­gy. Argu­ing that ocean waves become an ener­gy resource large­ly through resource assess­ment prac­tices, we exam­ine such prac­tices in the con­text of the pro­duc­tion of sci­en­tif­ic and pol­i­cy dis­cours­es around wave ener­gy. Con­sid­er­ing waves as an object of exper­tise, we exam­ine how “wave data” con­sti­tut­ed through mea­sure­ments, sta­tis­ti­cal analy­sis, mod­el­ling and visu­al­i­sa­tion, con­tribute to the assess­ment and legit­imi­sa­tion of wave ener­gy devel­op­ments. We also eval­u­ate the prospects for wave ener­gy to be a “good” in future eco­nom­ic exchange.

Key­words: wave as a resource, renew­able ener­gy pol­i­cy, credibility–economy, resource assess­ment, mod­el­ling, “wave data”

DOI: 10.5840/dspl2020319

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