The Messy Politics of Clean Coal: Contested Energy Alternatives in the Appalachian Coalfields

该项目考察了在阿巴拉契亚经济边缘化社区的地方一级，“洁净煤”技术如何在当地得到制度化、支持、辩论和竞争的过程。这些辩论中不同利益相关者的一系列相互矛盾的论点、故事、政策观点和知识主张都被记录下来并进行了比较。对阿巴拉契亚五个社区当代拟议的煤制油、煤气化和碳捕获和封存(CCS)项目进行了分析，并对该地区20世纪70年代的煤气化和相关项目进行了分析。通过对过去替代能源项目的成功和失败的分析，以及对社会、政治、环境和经济力量的广泛审查，对当代项目的斗争放在了历史的背景下，这些力量塑造了这些技术的支持和抵制的变化趋势。该项目增加了对清洁煤炭技术的社会、历史、政治和环境影响的理解，正如产煤社区的一系列利益攸关方所认为的那样。它加深了对占主导地位的群体和边缘化群体参与有争议技术辩论的方式的理解，以及不同的利益相关者如何使用数据、专家知识主张、通信技术和其他资源来为自己的立场辩护。这项研究对社会学、历史学、阿巴拉契亚研究和科学技术研究领域的文献做出了贡献，将这些领域的关键概念整合到一个多学科的方法中。该项目促进公众更广泛地了解和参与关于阿巴拉契亚地区清洁煤炭和其他能源替代品的辩论。替代能源项目的比较分析是为普通受众和学术受众撰写的，并通过肯塔基大学阿巴拉契亚中心提供。研究结果在社区团体、研究人员和阿巴拉契亚中心的其他成员中广泛传播，以努力鼓励公众就该地区的能源替代方案进行对话。

This project examines the processes by which "clean coal" technologies are being institutionalized, supported, debated, and contested at the local level in economically marginalized communities in Appalachia. A range of conflicting arguments, stories, policy perspectives, and knowledge claims of different stakeholders in these debates are documented and compared. Contemporary proposed coal-to-liquid production, coal gasification, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in five Appalachian communities are analyzed alongside coal gasification and related projects dating back to the 1970s in the region. Struggles over contemporary projects are placed in historical context through both the analysis of the successes and failures of past alternative energy projects and an extensive examination of the social, political, environmental and economic forces that have shaped the changing tides of support for (and resistance to) these technologies over time. The project increases understanding of the social, historical, political, and environmental implications of clean coal technologies, as viewed by a range of stakeholders in coal-producing communities. It deepens understanding of the ways in which dominant and marginalized groups engage in debates over controversial technologies, and how different stakeholders use data, expert knowledge claims, communications technologies, and other resources to advocate for their positions. This research contributes to literatures in the fields of Sociology, History, Appalachian Studies, and Science and Technology Studies, integrating key concepts from these fields into a multi-disciplinary approach. The project promotes broader public understanding of and participation in debates about clean coal and other energy alternatives in the Appalachian region. The comparative analysis of alternative energy projects is written for a general audience as well as an academic audience, and made available through the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky. Findings are circulated widely among community groups, researchers, and other constituents of the Appalachian Center in an effort to encourage public dialogue about energy alternatives in the region.