Governing technological zones, making national renewable energy futures

摘要

This article examines linkages between strategies and imagined futures by focusing on one, often neglected facet of governance: science and innovation policy. Using the case of renewable energy imaginaries in Scotland, the article explores how strategies are used to create technological zones and knowledge infrastructures. In creating strategies for low-carbon futures, Scottish nationalists draw on imaginaries of an energy-independent nation in order to enable specific futures. By incorporating these imaginaries into strategic planning documents, nationalists exploit a powerful narrative from which to manifest energy futures. Further, through creating technological zones and knowledge infrastructures, the Scottish Government can work to actualize these futures even though its political power is limited. While it can be tempting to view strategies as a series of steps that implement policies in order to progress toward a desired future, this case demonstrates the nuanced ways in which energy futures and imaginaries of nationhood can be made tractable through science and innovation strategy, illustrating the dynamics through which these sociotechnical strategies enable specific futures and communities. The speed and scale of Scotland's energy transition also raises questions about what might be possible in terms of transitioning other sectors or collectives that are constrained in their political power.