From Brazilian ethanol to global green energy : how divergent perceptions of social and environmental impact shape the commodification of biofuel / Derek Owen Newberry.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Newberry, Derek Owen, author.

Contributor:

Petryna, Adriana, 1966- degree supervisor.

Thomas, Deborah, degree committee member.

Urban, Greg, 1949- degree committee member.

University of Pennsylvania. Department of Anthropology.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

viii, 211 leaves ; 29 cm

Production:

[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] : [University of Pennsylvania], 2014.

Summary:

Brazilian biofuel producers seek to tap into global markets for sustainable energies, but in order to do so, they must meet the social and environmental criteria mandated by the governments of countries where those markets are located. In response, ethanol executives have joined energy experts, government officials, and activists in Brazil and abroad to produce an environmental and social production standard, which is to be implemented by refinery managers. How these stakeholders with different understandings of morally responsible production create and implement standards will determine whether ethanol is successful as a major export and how its socio-environmental impacts are distributed. The author used ethnographic methods of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis to explore the dynamic relationship between actors defining and implementing ethanol standards, describing the knowledge labor and work practices that constitute this emergent green energy commodity chain. Fieldwork was conducted in Sã̃o Paulo among professionals involved in creating ethanol sustainability standards and at a production site in a sugarcane expansion region where sustainable management techniques standards were being put into practice. The research revealed that the work of creating transnational commodity chains requires commensurability in legal and technical as well as ethical criteria for acceptable production, ultimately connecting disparate spaces into a unified assemblage of circulation. This commensurability necessarily entails leaving out alternative means of identifying and managing potential production impacts, a dynamic that creates a constant potential for the proliferation of unaddressed risks for stakeholders in the supply chain, possibly affecting the financial viability of the businesses as well. This is reinforced by the systematic characteristic of contemporary forms of sustainability management, which have the effect of reducing individual judgment and awareness of some of the extended impacts of biofuel production. The author concludes with recommendations on how to use a framework of cultural difference for identifying areas in which these risks could emerge, and preemptively mitigating them before they become unmanageable.

Notes:

Ph. D. University of Pennsylvania 2014.

Department: Anthropology.

Supervisor: Adriana Petryna.

Includes bibliographical references.

OCLC:

909089017