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Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the work in progress of the ethnographic exploration of the dynamic shifts in the sociotechnical imaginaries of the danish green transition in the intersection of energy justice and energy security under threat from an emerging new cold war.

Paper long abstract:

The 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war has sent shockwaves through the western world. The diplomatic crisis between NATO countries and Russia has been a stark reminder that energy policy is fundamentally intertwined with defence policy. As a result, Energy security can no longer be taken for granted for any nation depending on continued fossil fuel imports from the Russian Federation.

The path of the green transition in Denmark has until now primarily been a planning exercise in minimizing threats to continued economic growth. In recent years the continued expansion of land-based wind power has been frustrated by resistance from local citizens. Planners and investors often dismissed local concerns as “NIMBY” effects. The intransigent successes of local protests have sparked an interest in better understanding the sociotechnical dynamics involved for both politicians and in academia.

The geopolitical crisis also extends into the heating sector, where individual household heat sources based on natural gas are being rapidly abandoned in favour of alternative and district heating.

With the future imaginaries of the green energy transition being sent into upheaval by a European geopolitical crisis, all levels of society are adjusting to this new reality. From parliamentarians, to local politician, to entrepreneurs and local citizens. The boundaries of the future energy imaginary is once again up for renegotiation.

This paper presents the work in progress of the ethnographic exploration of the dynamic shifts in the field in question.