Abstract
In recent years, campaigns to “keep oil in the ground” have sparked political controversy around the world, especially in oil-producing countries like Norway. Climate activists as well as financial experts have warned that large parts of the world’s oil reserves have become “unburnable” or “stranded” as a consequence of international climate goals. This argument relies on a financial logic that is enacted through a series of specific tools, most notably so-called “cost curves” for fossil fuel resources. In this talk, I zoom in on these tools, tracing their roots in geological expertise and economic theory, and analysing their political effects. Using the case of Norway, I show how shifting geo-economic tools have been used to draw boundaries between what is “burnable” and what is “unburnable” at various points in time. I suggest that historicizing the tools with which fossil fuels are made and unmade may provide a better understanding of how fossil fuels are governed, and can help us understand why contemporary struggles to “keep oil in the ground” have had limited success so far.
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The STS seminar is organized by Chalmers University of Technology (The Division of Science, Technology and Society) in collaboration with Gothenburg University (Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science).