Energy as a spatio-temporal project

Abstract

The relation to energy is what carries humanity through every new spatial possibility. The context of the European Green Deal that triggers decarbonisation of many industries and faster energy transition to the latest technologies of renewable energy production is only one among many past and future transitions. All in all, it brings different conditions of possibility to think of energy as a spatio-temporal project. The relevance of space is brought forward when the scaling-up is also a spreading around, highlighting the potential not only in the agglomeration zones but mainly in its interdependence with operational landscapes. These areas must be invested with a renewed understanding of the distribution of renewable energy technologies in landscapes, realising its potential for socio-ecological connectivity and becoming a new backbone of urbanisation that can mediate alternatives for the state of climatic instability. In this direction, the Rhine basin is the location to investigate the relation of energy landscapes in the fossil-fuel age, anticipate the potentials and limitations of the ‘energy transition’ and speculate on the current and future energy modes. The project draws from territorial analyses, energy policy and technical documents and ecological perspectives to build a conceptual tool, introducing transitional landscapes that surpass current dichotomies between the urban and rural, conservation and industry, nature and economy and society. It develops a platform for common grounds where energy landscapes become temporal and spatial “stepping-stones” towards connecting and restoring landscapes towards just coexistence between natural processes, habitats for humans and fauna & flora amongst current and future modes of energy production. Eventually, it could serve as a background for developing policy instruments for rethinking European integration and networks beyond the typical infrastructures in Europe, becoming an alternative way of understanding territorial and regional integration.