Holes of hope and uncertainty – test wells as a site of potential, exploration and the verdict on Greenland’s oil development in the 1970s and 1990s

Priebe, Janina; Mårald, Erland; Vikström, Hanna

doi:10.1080/2154896x.2024.2414644

The Polar Journal

2024

DOI: 10.1080/2154896x.2024.2414644

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Holes of hope and uncertainty – test wells as a site of potential, exploration and the verdict on Greenland’s oil development in the 1970s and 1990s

Janina Priebe,

Erland Mårald,

Hanna Vikström

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

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Glacial energy futures? The history of unbuilt hydropower in Greenland from the 1950s to the 1970s

Priebe

2024

Water Hist

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This article examines how and by whom the future of glacial energy was imagined in Greenland between the 1950s and 1970s, with a specific emphasis on the intersection of discourses of energy and political autonomy. The focus lies on the years from 1953, marking the end of Greenland’s colonial status and its integration into the realm of its former colonial authority, Denmark, until 1979, when the Greenland Home Rule Agreement was enacted. The futures of hydropower are explored through the lens of energy imaginaries, a notion that underscores the interconnectedness between different forms of energy and the organization of social structures. These imaginaries revolving around hydropower circulated in the public-political space in Greenland decades prior to when the first operational hydropower plant came online in 1993. Through a historical empirical analysis, this article identifies the energy imaginaries linked to envisioned hydropower and delineates key phases of their emergence. It also discusses these envisioned futures of hydropower in the historical context of Arctic oil exploration and Greenland’s strivings toward political autonomy. The energy imaginaries of hydropower, especially glacial hydropower generated adjacent to Greenland’s inland icesheet, built on a long-term timeline and autonomous society, in contrast to the oil development that was favoured by Danish authorities at the time. Ultimately, it was the considerations of the sources and scale of the necessary investments that deferred the implementation of hydropower until the late 1980s. However, the groundwork for viewing Greenland’s water resources as a cornerstone for its future independence had been laid.

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Glacial energy futures? The history of unbuilt hydropower in Greenland from the 1950s to the 1970s

Priebe

2024

Water Hist

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Rights of Nature and the Antarctic: An Introduction

Makanse,

Ortega,

Bastmeijer

2024

The Polar Journal

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Holes of hope and uncertainty – test wells as a site of potential, exploration and the verdict on Greenland’s oil development in the 1970s and 1990s

Cited by 2 publications

References 52 publications

Glacial energy futures? The history of unbuilt hydropower in Greenland from the 1950s to the 1970s

Glacial energy futures? The history of unbuilt hydropower in Greenland from the 1950s to the 1970s

Rights of Nature and the Antarctic: An Introduction

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