Doctoral Dissertation Research: Renewable Energy Transition and Economic Growth

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

State goals of high economic growth rely symbolically and materially on reliable electricity. However, in the context of climate change, states increasingly face pressure to transition to renewable sources of energy. This doctoral dissertation research focuses on the practices connecting solar energy to mass electricity grids. Examining solar energy transition as a social, technical, and material process, this project investigates how renewable energy transitions shape ideals of national development amidst concern over environmental change. The dissertation research project trains a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis and builds capacity for future scientific research at the site. Research findings are shared broadly with academic and non-academic audiences, including policy experts and solar energy stakeholders. To study the relationships between energy transition, economic growth, and environmental change, the researcher engages in behavioral methods such as participant observation among solar energy installers, developers, technicians, and consumers, as well as interviews with representative samples of these stakeholder populations. Researchers examine how these groups perceive, produce, and use solar energy in relation to the state and ideals of economic growth. In addition, researchers conduct semi-structured interviews with a sample of key informants in the solar energy industry and solar energy customers. Media analysis of news coverage of solar energy projects provides complementary data to contextualize the ethnographic research. The findings of this research contribute to debates in science and technology studies, environmental science, and the anthropology of the state. 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.