Landscapes of Lost Energy: Counterfactual Geographical Imaginary for A More Sustainable Society

Abstract

The quest for sustainable energy, one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, calls for more input from academics than 'simply' producing good science. Geographical imaginations are as old as storytelling and mapmaking, but this essay is neither about 'long ago and far away', nor about utopian energy futures. This is a call to geographers to engage with 'alternative present' energy scenarios, using the full range of analytical and discursive tools at our disposal. Drawing on a diverse tradition of imagined spaces and the awareness of absences (material, relational or otherwise), geographers should be able to contribute to the quest for a more sustainable society by assessing, envisaging, and communicating a counterfactual 'here and now', based on good practices existing right now, but not (yet) right here. We need to understand how much more sustainable our bit of the planet would be if we could just, environmentally speaking, 'keep up' with the best of our neighbours. This counterfactual present should be seen as neither radical nor utopian, because it only assumes the historic adoption of best practices which we now know to be feasible and successful. And if thi alternative current scenario looks radically different from the 'real' state we are in, then this goes to show how radically unsustainable our business-as-usual approach has been.

Energy landscapes in Mozambique: The role of the extractive industries in a post-conflict environment

“…In an analysis of energy ‘counterfactuals’, van der Horst (2014: 70) asks, ‘how can we work back from the energy future we want, to design and adopt the right policies today?’ The question is relevant for 21st-century Mozambique. Creating more integrated and socially responsive settings in which energy systems might develop will require opening public debates about what energy is for and whom it serves, rather than foregrounding utopian ideals or techno-scientific solutions premised on the quantity and accessibility of energy resources (van der Horst, 2014). We have argued for the importance of using energy landscapes as a means to examine broader regional and national transformations and their imprint on the everyday spaces that people inhabit (Castán Broto, 2019).…”

“…By expanding grids, African states and leaders increase their visibility among local populations, at least in rhetorical form (Boyer, 2014; Power and Kirshner, 2018). Some of this work draws on landscape-oriented writings on the geographical imagination (van der Horst, 2014). In this view, electricity is a commodity with distinct space-time features, produced in one location and instantaneously consumed in distant locations (van der Horst, 2014).…”

“…Some of this work draws on landscape-oriented writings on the geographical imagination (van der Horst, 2014). In this view, electricity is a commodity with distinct space-time features, produced in one location and instantaneously consumed in distant locations (van der Horst, 2014). Efforts to gain political authority are often expressed in landscapes, for example, as they are made visible in ‘the fixed physical infrastructure that enables [electricity] transport and utilization’ (van der Horst, 2014: 68).…”

“…In this view, electricity is a commodity with distinct space-time features, produced in one location and instantaneously consumed in distant locations (van der Horst, 2014). Efforts to gain political authority are often expressed in landscapes, for example, as they are made visible in ‘the fixed physical infrastructure that enables [electricity] transport and utilization’ (van der Horst, 2014: 68). In sum, energy landscapes are also symbolic representations of broader political state projects through infrastructures and the wider political economic contexts in which these take place.…”

Renewable Energy and Rural Autonomy: A Case Study with Generalizations

“…Fossil fuels are replenished over (a very long) time, whereas renewable energy sources (RES) like wind and waves are 'replenished over space.' It would, therefore, require a more time-focused strategy to deal sustainably with fossil fuels, and a more spacefocused strategy to deal sustainably with renewables [10]. Additionally, combustion of coal, oil, or gas affects the climate and environment, hence the need to employ alternative sources offered by nature [11][12] Fig .…”