CAREER: Political-Industrial Ecology of Petrochemicals: Energy Metabolism, Landscapes and Governance

该项目将研究与页岩气盆地资源开发相关的区域转型。这些地区的石化产品是通过化学处理乙烷生产的，乙烷是页岩气中的一种副产品，是制造塑料的原料。该项目将通过以下活动研究社会和环境关系：1)分析石化供应链的潜在环境影响；2)与政府、行业、民间社会和学术代表举行利益相关者研讨会，以确定石化发展的不同观点；3)创建石化走廊的沉浸式虚拟实地考察；4)设计页岩气盆地能源史在线课程；并利用研究、推广和教育内容来确定石化开发的潜在负面社会环境后果以及减轻这些影响的机制。该项目将利用政治-工业生态学的理论和方法，这是地理学的一个新兴分支。政治-工业生态学旨在考虑与更广泛的政治-经济，历史和环境背景相关的自然资源开发。通过这一政治-工业生态框架，该项目将：A)对石化供应链进行空间明确的物质和能量流分析；B)对监管石化走廊的不同联邦、州、市法规和私人治理实践进行比较治理分析；C)对考虑系统风险和累积影响的备选治理安排进行情景分析。总的来说，该项目将对石化生产地区的环境系统、生计和监管实践之间的相互关系产生新的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will investigate regional transformation associated with resource development in shale gas basins. Petrochemicals in these regions are produced by chemically processing ethane, a by-product contained in shale gas, into inputs for manufacturing plastics. This project will study social and environmental relationships through the following activities: 1) analyze the potential environmental impacts along petrochemical supply chains; 2) stakeholder workshops with government, industry, civil society, and academic representatives to identify diverse perspectives on petrochemical development; 3) create an immersive virtual fieldtrip of petrochemical corridors; 4) design an online course on the energy history of shale gas basins; and draw on research, outreach and education components to identify potential negative socio-environmental outcomes of petrochemical development and mechanisms to mitigate those impacts.The project will utilize theory and methods from political-industrial ecology, an emerging sub-field of geography. Political-industrial ecology aims to consider natural resource development in relation to their broader political-economic, historic, and environmental contexts. Through this political-industrial ecology framework the project will: A) produce a spatially explicit material and energy flow analysis of the petrochemical supply chain; B) develop a comparative governance analysis of the different federal, state, municipal regulations and private governance practices regulating petrochemical corridors; and C) perform scenario analysis of alternative governance arrangements that consider systemic risk and cumulative impacts. Collectively, the project will create a novel understanding of the inter-relationships between environmental systems, livelihoods and regulatory practices in petrochemical producing regions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.