Socio-technical imaginaries of BECCS in Sweden : climate mitigation and the role of the Swedish forest

Sammanfattning

Sweden has become a key actor in the instrumentalisation of natural resources as substitutes for fossil fuels. One of the most recent developments is the planned deployment of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), currently developed by the bioenergy company Stockholm Exergi. As BECCS relies on forest biomass for energy and electricity production while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (i.e., producing negative emissions), it is closely intertwined with the Swedish forest both as a resource and as an alternative carbon sink. This thesis examines socio-technical imaginaries of BECCS in Sweden, drawing on the concept of socio-technical imaginaries developed by Jasanoff and Kim (2009). It focuses on how these imaginaries shape the development and political legitimacy of BECCS. Specifically, it asks how BECCS is imagined within Sweden’s climate mitigation efforts and how these imaginaries reflect and shape views on the Swedish forest and its role in climate mitigation. Based on seven interviews with key actors involved in the development and governance of BECCS, the analysis shows that BECCS in Sweden is embedded in a socio-technical imaginary that links technological capability, market-based profit generation, and social consensus. The findings demonstrate how this imaginary supports the materialisation of BECCS while marginalising alternative ways of imagining climate mitigation and the role of the Swedish forest within it. The analysis further shows how imaginaries of an undesirable future without BECCS, together with crisis framings, are mobilised to generate political support for the technology. These dynamics connect profitable business cases to specific problem definitions and sustainability solutions, helping explain why certain technological futures become politically and materially viable while others remain marginal or unthinkable.