Reframing the Role of Coal in the Energiewende: A Case Study of the Political Construction of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Technologies in Germany

Out of the view of many relevant European political actors CCS has a high potential to serve as a key element of the carbon reduction and mitigation strategy within the power generating sector. The German case represents an interesting exception in this context: despite the high share of coal in power generation, the presence of indigenous coal resources and the strategic plan of nuclear phase and the role coal may play in filling the power generation gap in the future under the spotlight of the Energiewende CCS stalled on the political agenda. Using the techniques of narrative policy analysis, I examine the interplay of the alignment of the CCS technology narrative, the existing energy paradigm in Germany, and the functional pattern of the technology in order to explain the low level of political salience of the technology in the selected institutional environment. This interplay is part of the political construction or the “interpretative flexibility” of technology innovations, or the way in which technologies are constructed as ideas in different institutional settings. Thereby the main interest is to explore the level of functional saturation of two functions of technology innovation systems: legitimacy meaning mainly the level of compatibility with the dominant energy paradigm and positive externalities or coalition building among relevant actors. Keywords: energy technology innovation, Carbon Capture and Storage, Energiewende, technology narratives, functional saturation