Schmitt T (2012)
Publication Language: German
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2012
Book Volume: 56
Pages Range: 244-263
Journal Issue: 4
Postfordist energy policies? Desertec as a scenario towards a restructuration of energy supply
within the EUMENA-region. In 2009 the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) was founded by
several, predominant German enterprises including the NGO “Desertec Foundation”. The objective
of DII is to organize the conditions for the realisation of the Desertec idea, which aims to supply,
in a large scale manner, Europe with electricity produced in solar power plants in NorthAfrica
and the Arabic peninsula. The Desertec concept is playing with and combining different myths as
the desert, the large-scale, ”megatechnic” vision and the reconciliation of the North and the South.
Critics of Desertec argue that the project has the intention to impede an energy transition towards
decentralized energy structures in Europe and that Desertec has a neo-colonial attitude. Both the
Arab spring and the disaster of Fukushima have changed the discoursive landscape and the institutional
conditions around the realisation of Desertec. The paper raises and responds to the question,
whether Desertec can be seen as a Fordist or a Postfordist project according to the categories of the
French regulation school. Additionally, the Desertec concept is reflected from a cultural geography’s
point of view.
APA:
Schmitt, T. (2012). Postfordistische Energiepolitiken? Das Desertec-Konzept als Szenario zur Restrukturierung der Energieversorgung in der EUMENA-Region. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie, 56(4), 244-263.
MLA:
Schmitt, Thomas. "Postfordistische Energiepolitiken? Das Desertec-Konzept als Szenario zur Restrukturierung der Energieversorgung in der EUMENA-Region." Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie 56.4 (2012): 244-263.
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