Epistemic Turbulence in Renewable Energy Engineering on the Chinese “Belt and Road”

Abstract

Energy issues constitute a nexus of technological, political and economic challenges, particularly in light of the global climate crisis. Chinese banks and corporations, guided by a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure investment program called the “Belt and Road Initiative,” now account for one-third of global investment in renewable energy. In this ethnographic study, we explore the professional knowledge and practices of Chinese, Israeli and European engineers working on a pumped-storage hydropower project in Israel with financial and technical backing from Chinese energy firms. We examine how these experts construct and maintain a set of epistemic cultural practices within transnational flows of capital, technology, materials and expertise. Situating our findings within Science and Technology Studies (STS), we use the hydrological engineering concept of “turbulence” as a metaphor for the rapid transnational movements of engineering concepts and personnel in the renewable energy sector.

Internationalizing Chinese standards through infrastructure experimentation: Engineering a pumped storage hydropower project in Israel

“…The first author conducted extensive ethnographic research in 2019 and 2022, spending several months in the field and participating in engineer work meetings and after-work social activities, as well as in-depth interviews and follow-up conversations with 35 sampled engineers. 11 This case study is not meant to be representative of all Chinese PSH projects; instead, it offers a close look at the ways in which Chinese engineering standards are negotiated and implemented in a particular local context. We draw primarily on Chinese engineers' narratives that are based on their rich knowledge of Chinese standards but also on Israeli and European engineers' narratives to make the research data and analysis more comprehensive.…”

“…Particularly in the 'slippage' between the 'ideal standard' on paper and the 'contingencies of practice' of the surge shaft, Chinese standards actively and innovatively engaged with local and South African standards and produced novel engineering knowledge (the patents) for application in local and global contexts. 35 Moreover, commercial contract, approval from the local authority, and other facets of law and legal liability were intertwined with engineers' standard practice, participating in standard negotiations.…”

Chinese standards from the ground up

“…52 In their study of knowledge production and dissemination in a renewable energy project in Israel, Zhuo Chen, Bryan Tilt, and Shaozeng Zhang reveal the barriers Chinese hydropower engineers face in promoting Chinese standards in a situation in which their Israeli and European colleagues swear by their own standards. 53 While they are not automatically accepted or, worse, are routinely rejected, standards become imbricated with people's professional and personal lives. Embracing the mission set out by the central government, the Chinese hydropower engineers sought to promote Chinese standards through careful testing and translation practices in everyday work, because more direct and radical approaches had proven unsuccessful.…”

Open Research Data: Experimenting Towards a Publishing Infrastructure

“…The issue includes Epistemic Turbulence in Renewable Energy Engineering, by Zhuo Chen, Bryan Tilt, and Shaozeng Zhang (2022). They investigate the making of renewable energy in transnational contexts, focusing on the everyday interactions and negotiations between Chinese, European, and Israeli engineers at a hydropower generation project in Israel as part of the Chinese "Belt and Road Initiative."…”