Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Life of a Vision: Power and Energy Justice in the Mediterranean Region

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This project will study the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii), a unique German corporation with 56 shareholder and partner companies, which envisions building 40 large-scale solar and wind power plants in North Africa that will be connected to an integrated transmission network in the Mediterranean region to provide sustainable and affordable electricity for Europe and North Africa. Desertec is immense in scale and ambition, demanding attention both in its own right and as a model for similar enterprises in other regions. This research will analyze how stakeholders envision and design a regional sustainable energy system. The project employs mixed field methods to analyze discursive and social changes within time and context and their underlying power dynamics. The research will trace the vision?s evolution from its inception, couched in terms of a broader discourse on Mediterranean energy integration; through its institutionalization with Dii's founding; to its present proof-of-concept as construction begins in Morocco. Methods include fieldwork in Germany and Morocco, interviews, and document analysis.The Desertec Foundation?s broader vision seeks to provide 90% of the world's population with renewable energy from deserts. This vision, which is being mobilized in the Mediterranean by powerful companies and decision-makers, demands systematic study. This project will offer cross-cultural perspectives on energy justice and articulate energy discourses in North Africa, an understudied and dynamic region. Second, it will enable Dii to anticipate injustices arising from its design and design process while they are still malleable. Third, it will offer lessons for best practices from European clean energy development to contribute to U.S. plans for renewable energy innovation. Results will be disseminated through meetings with U.S. and Mediterranean policymakers and Dii members, analysis written for the Desertec Knowledge Platform, and an energy justice memo to the U.N. Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.