Selling stories of techno-optimism? The role of narratives on discursive construction of carbon capture and storage in the Japanese media
Selling stories of techno-optimism? The role of narratives on discursive construction of carbon capture and storage in the Japanese media
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.erss.2017.06.010
复制
发表时间：
2017-09
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Shinichiro Asayama;A. Ishii
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Shinichiro Asayama;A. Ishii
人们对碳捕获与封存（CCS）作为缓解气候变化的关键选项寄予厚望，主要是因为CCS拥有协调化石燃料的持续使用与温室气体减排之间的关系的政治资本。然而，CCS 的技术创新最近停滞不前，因此，CCS 在很大程度上仍然作为一种技术想象而存在，更多地是由叙事而非物理现实塑造的。本研究考察了 2006 年至 2013 年日本四家主要报纸如何构建 CCS 技术的叙述或想象。基于话语分析方法，我们确定了 CCS 的三个主要故事情节：（1）大型二氧化碳封存能力的承诺； (2)与化石能源制度的兼容性； （三）高新技术创新前沿。结果表明，这三个故事情节都强烈支持CCS，夸大了对CCS技术前景的盲目乐观，而忽视了它周围的许多风险和不确定性。然而，鉴于 CCS 作为社会技术系统的复杂性，媒体叙事的作用是加强对 CCS 的更广泛的社会了解。该论文认为，需要更加多元化、平衡和批判性的叙述来维持 CCS 的不确定性和乐观情绪之间的良好平衡。
Great expectations have been expressed for carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a key climate change mitigation option, primarily because CCS possesses the political capital to reconcile continued use of fossil fuels with greenhouse gas emissions reduction. However, technological innovation of CCS has recently stagnated, and therefore, CCS still exists largely as a technological imaginary, is shaped more by narrative than by physical reality. This study examines how narratives or imaginaries of CCS technology were constructed in four major Japanese newspapers from 2006 to 2013. Based on a discourse analytic approach, we identify three dominant storylines of CCS: (1) thepromiseof large CO2storage capacity; (2) thecompatibilitywith the fossil energy regime; and (3) theforefrontof high-tech innovation. The results show that all three storylines are strongly in favor of CCS, inflating blind optimism in the technical prospects of CCS while ignoring the many risks and uncertainties around it. Given the complexities of CCS as a socio-technical system, however, the role of media narratives is to enhance broader social learning about CCS. The paper argues that more plural, balanced, and critical narratives are required to sustain a sound balance between uncertainty and optimism over CCS.