BIOFUELS: PERSPECTIVES ON POWER AND TRANSITION

Abstract

Whether biofuels are a green breakthrough, an inventive substitute, or a financial bonanza largely hinges on how we view power and change in the environment. An overview of current theories of power in biofuels research is given in this article, along with a discussion of favorable views that frequently influence more upbeat assessments of the fuels. Through the three ideal type principles of "power with," "power to," and "power over," it reveals the diversity with which one can understand power. By combining these ideas into a single power framework, it is possible to analyze the relationships between the three elements and create a power lens that can be applied to biofuel governance and research. The food price crisis of 2007–2008 brought critics back into the political fold about biofuel policy. Numerous agricultural associations have taken a firm anti-biofuel stance. The paper makes the case that people's inadequate understanding of power as coercion and manipulation (power over) is the reason behind their rejection of biofuels. Even if the way biofuels are currently governed essentially replicates existing systems and viewpoints, we should begin to seriously and thoroughly consider where, when, and how biofuels governance may also enable "green" opposition (power against) and community empowerment (power with).