Mobilizing Rivers: Hydro-Electricity, the State, and World War II in Canada

Evenden, Matthew

doi:10.1080/00045600903245847

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…For example, Samaras et al [13] , in detailing the contemporary role of the US military in energy R&D around insulation and mini-grids, also highlight how strategic military decisions have shaped past energy developments such as the First World War transition of the British naval fleet to oil [13] . Matthew Evenden offers a detailed analysis of the ways in which Second World War mobilisation efforts in Canada played a decisive role in accelerating transitions to hydroelectric power under emergency measures to maintain adequate electricity supply to fuel industrial efforts for the Allied campaign [2] , [5] , [11] . More recently, Cohn, Evenden, & Landry conducted a historical analysis of Canadian, German and American mobilisation during the Second World War, and how this conflict played a crucial role in influencing the design of electricity systems in these countries [12] .…”

Section: Situating This Study Within ‘Energy Transitions’ Research: Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While energy transitions occurring during this post-World War II era have often been a point of focus, until recently, as Evenden [2] points out, there has traditionally been a smaller proportion of studies focused on how wartime activities have influenced energy system change. In recent years however, there is a growing sub-set of literature that has focused on the importance of world war as a factor in energy transitions [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] . Elsewhere, in the fields of history and geopolitics, there has been significant attention on oil resource geographies, developments in oil technologies, its uses, industry, infrastructures, logistics, and patterns of import and export during wartime [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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World wars and the age of oil: Exploring directionality in deep energy transitions

Johnstone

McLeish

2020

Energy Research & Social Science

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This paper explores the role of the world wars in 20th century energy transitions, focusing on the growth of oil as a major energy source which accelerated after the Second World War in North America and Europe. We utilise the recently developed Deep Transitions framework which combines Techno-Economic Paradigms and sociotechnical transitions approaches. The first deep transition entails the long running emergence of industrial modernity since the late 18th century which culminated in the post-Second World War economic ‘golden age’ underpinned by rapid and stable growth and prosperity in North America and Western Europe. The Deep Transitions framework draws attention to the increasing role of fossil fuels over this long period, and how fossil fuel consumption accelerated in the 20th century taking on a particular direction where energy, mobility, and food systems became increasingly reliant on oil while the share of coal as a proportion of the energy mix decreased. This paper integrates sociotechnical, historical and geopolitical literatures to examine how the development of the age of oil was shaped by wartime demand pressures and logistical challenges and the search for new solutions to these challenges in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

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Section: Situating This Study Within ‘Energy Transitions’ Research: Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

World wars and the age of oil: Exploring directionality in deep energy transitions

Johnstone

McLeish

2020

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…Drawing on the experiences of the First World War, the engineering response to the increased electricity demand in both the USA and UK saw the intensification of interconnection, pooling, and increasing centralisation of electricity supply (42). In Canada, war time demand particularly for aluminium production influenced plans for the construction of large centralised hydro-electric plants and transmission infrastructure (59,60,212). And before the war's competition a new source of primary energy had been realised in the form of nuclear fission (213).…”

Section: The Second World War Energy Food and Transport And Mechanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We review key literatures to build this analysis that offer different entry points into the precise topic of world wars and sociotechnical systems. This includes literatures focussed on historical accounts of particular technologies and innovations relevant to each system (39)(40)(41)(42)(43); more general themes including institutional and political transformations occurring as a result of the world wars (13,44,45); mass mobilisation in total war (27,29,(46)(47)(48); the role of science in war (9,18,(49)(50)(51)(52); accounts focussed both on the European (53-57) and North American context (27,46,(58)(59)(60); and important transnational spaces and developments (61,62).…”

Section: Introduction: Deep Transitions and Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of War in Deep Transitions: Exploring Mechanisms, Imprints and Rules in Sociotechnical Systems

Johnstone

McLeish

2020

SSRN Journal

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This paper explores in what ways the two world wars influenced the development of sociotechnical systems underpinning the culmination of the first deep transition. The role of war is an underexplored aspect in both the Techno-Economic Paradigms (TEP) approach and the Multi-level perspective (MLP) which form the two key conceptual building blocks of the Deep Transitions (DT) framework. Thus, we develop a conceptual approach tailored to this particular topic which integrates accounts of total war and mechanisms of war from historical studies and imprinting from organisational studies with the DT framework's attention towards rules and metarules. We explore in what ways the three sociotechnical systems of energy, food, and transport were affected by the emergence of new demand pressures and logistical challenges during conditions of total war; how war impacted the directionality of sociotechnical systems; the extent to which new national and international policy capacities emerged during wartime in the energy, food, and transport systems; and the extent to which these systems were influenced by cooperation and shared sacrifice under wartime conditions. We then explore what lasting changes were influenced by the two wars in the energy, food, and transport systems across the transatlantic zone. This paper seeks to open up a hitherto neglected area in analysis on sociotechnical transitions and we discuss the importance of further research that is attentive towards entanglements of warfare and the military particularly in the field of sustainability transitions.

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“…Important insights into identity (especially nationality) and security can be gleaned through the critical analysis of these technology network maps, including an appreciation of the role of both the materiality and representation of infrastructure in identity formation as well as the politics of infrastructure mapping (Krygier ; Evenden ; Caprotti ). As Martin Dodge and Chris Perkins argue, maps “affirm with certainty a link between a place and an interest” (Dodge and Perkins , 16).…”

Section: Why Study Energy Maps?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Energy: Cartographies of Energy Into The Twenty‐First Century

Howell

Baylis

2014

Geographical Review

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“Energy” presents a number of complex and interrelated challenges regarding the environment, economy, and politics. In this paper, we argue that cartography should help clarify our understanding of energy issues, but ask whether this has in fact been the case. In a review of over 100 articles pulled from twenty‐three peer‐reviewed geography journals, we qualitatively assess energy maps published since the early 20th century, examining trends in topic and cartographic technique. Energy maps in geography journals have focused on North America and Western Europe while relying on proportional symbols, grayscale production, and the analysis of energy phenomena at the national scale—tendencies that in many instances have limited our understanding of the ways in which energy is actually consumed. Simultaneously, cartographers are limited to the energy data available to them, frequently precluding small‐scale consumption analysis or consideration of diurnal and seasonal trends. We argue that the future of energy cartography relies on access to consumption data coupled with greater user interactivity.

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Mobilizing Rivers: Hydro-Electricity, the State, and World War II in Canada

Cited by 23 publications

References 11 publications

World wars and the age of oil: Exploring directionality in deep energy transitions

World wars and the age of oil: Exploring directionality in deep energy transitions

The Role of War in Deep Transitions: Exploring Mechanisms, Imprints and Rules in Sociotechnical Systems

Mapping Energy: Cartographies of Energy Into The Twenty‐First Century

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