Deep, hot and contested: Assembling the geothermal rush in Turkey

Abstract

Governments around the world emphasize the importance of further development and support for geothermal energy to meet decarbonization targets. However, there appears to be a tension between the discourses surrounding geothermal energy as a renewable resource, and the practice of deploying geothermal energy in a sustainable manner on the ground. In this paper, we use assemblage thinking to explore the plural material, social and political tensions surrounding geothermal energy in Turkey, to provide insights on the promises, pitfalls and spatialization of geothermal energy as part of a just and inclusive decarbonization strategy. Turkey experienced massive growth in the exploitation of its geothermal resources for electricity generation in the past decade. Using Q-methodology, a mixed method approach that combines factor analysis and qualitative data, this paper explores the plurality of discourses among a variety of stakeholders involved in or affected by geothermal energy development in the country. Based on the results, four distinct discourses were identified, three of which represent the diverse discourses among proponents of geothermal energy, while the remaining one represents discontent with geothermal expansion. Each of these discourses hints at energy injustices in the development of geothermal energy. Our results show that geothermal proponents are mainly concerned with procedural justice and distributional justice and focus primarily on the pursuit of ‘net justice’. Opponents, on the other hand, mainly struggle against injustices related to severe misrecognition of the land and the people who depend on this land. A focus on increasing social acceptance without broader energy justice considerations runs the risk of creating tools that ‘manufacture consent’, instead of a system that enables the sustainable development of geothermal resources in a just, fair, and societally acceptable manner.