Energy transition or adaptation of fossil capitalism? “Renewable” megaprojects and territorial conflicts in Brazil

Alessandro Donaire de Santana; Margarete Cristiane de Costa Trindade Amorim; João Osvaldo Rodrigues Nunes

doi:10.1590/SciELOPreprints.16331

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Alessandro Donaire de Santana Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1626-4751
- Conceptualization
- Data Curation
- Investigation
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
- Formal Analysis
Margarete Cristiane de Costa Trindade Amorim São Paulo State University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3975-493X
- Validation
- Investigation
- Writing – Review & Editing
- Data Curation
João Osvaldo Rodrigues Nunes São Paulo State University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-4056
- Data Curation
- Validation
- Supervision
- Writing – Review & Editing
- Visualization
- Formal Analysis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.16331

Keywords:

Climate change, Energy transition, Renewable energy, Fossil capitalism

Abstract

The renewable energy transition is widely regarded as essential for mitigating climate change. In this context, this study seeks to examine whether the so-called “green” energy transition represents a structural socio-economic transformation or whether it merely constitutes an adaptation of fossil capitalism aimed at preserving its inherently unsustainable model of production. The research, of an analytical and explanatory nature, is grounded in a critical review of the literature and in the analysis of institutional documents, with the objective of problematizing the “green” energy transition.

In the Brazilian case, hydroelectric power and wind farms are adopted as empirical examples that reveal the contradictions inherent to this process. The findings indicate that the renewable energy transition operates predominantly as a strategy of adaptation within fossil capitalism, whereby the discourse of sustainability is mobilized to legitimize the expansion of energy enterprises that continue to generate socio-environmental impacts and territorial conflicts.

Therefore, the study contributes to the field of Critical Geography by highlighting the limits of the “green” energy transition within the dynamics of contemporary capitalism.

Versão em português em:

https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/preprint/view/16267