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Nils Markusson

Lancaster University, Lancaster Environment Centre, Faculty Member

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Nils is currently doing research on climate geoengineering governance. Recent work has related to carbon capture and storage technology and technology acceleration of energy supply technologies. Theoretically, the research draws primarily on innovation studies and on science and technology studies.

Nils successfully defended his PhD thesis in July 2007. The thesis concerns environmental innovations and firm organisation. In particular he studied the role of regulation, organisational factors and environmental concerns in shaping technological and environmental outcomes of production technology investment projects.

Previous degrees include MSc by Research in Science and Technology Studies at Edinburgh University, 2002, and MSc in Engineering Physics at Lund University, Sweden, 1996. Nils has also worked for a Swedish government agency as an innovation policy analyst, and R&D programme manager.

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C. Michael Hall

University of Canterbury/Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

B. Harun Küçük

University of Pennsylvania

University of Central Florida

University College Cork

Lancaster University

Kansas State University

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

University of Surrey

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

The University of Newcastle

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Papers by Nils Markusson

Vi kan inte kompensera bort fossila utsläpp

Taking deliberative research online: Lessons from four case studies

Qualitative Research, Dec 29, 2021

Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-... more Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to the question of whether meaningful deliberative research is possible in an online setting. This paper considers the reasons for taking deliberation online, including bringing people together more easily; convening international events; and reducing the environmental impact of research. It reports on four case studies: a set of stakeholder workshops considering greenhouse gas removal technologies, convened online in 2019, and online research workshops investigating local climate strategies; as well as two in-person processes which moved online due to COVID-19: Climate Assembly UK, a Citizens' Assembly on climate change, and the Lancaster Citizens' Jury on Climate Change. It sets out learnings from these processes, concluding that deliberation online is substantively different from in-person meetings, but can meet the requirements of deliberative research, and can be a rewarding and useful process for participants and researchers alike.

Taking deliberative research online: Lessons from four case studies

Qualitative Research, 2021

Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-... more Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to the question of whether meaningful deliberative research is possible in an online setting. This paper considers the reasons for taking deliberation online, including bringing people together more easily; convening international events; and reducing the environmental impact of research. It reports on four case studies: a set of stakeholder workshops considering greenhouse gas removal technologies, convened online in 2019, and online research workshops investigating local climate strategies; as well as two in-person processes which moved online due to COVID-19: Climate Assembly UK, a Citizens’ Assembly on climate change, and the Lancaster Citizens’ Jury on Climate Change. It sets out learnings from these processes, concluding that deliberation online is substantively different from in-person meetings, but can meet the requirements of deliberative research, ...

Attractions of delay: Using deliberative engagement to investigate the political and strategic impacts of greenhouse gas removal technologies

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2021

Concerns have been raised that a focus on greenhouse gas removals (GGR) in climate models, scient... more Concerns have been raised that a focus on greenhouse gas removals (GGR) in climate models, scientific literature and other media might deter measures to mitigate climate change through reduction of emissions at source – the phenomenon of ‘mitigation deterrence’. Given the urgent need for climate action, any delay in emissions reduction would be worrying. We convened nine deliberative workshops to expose stakeholders to futures scenarios involving mitigation deterrence. The workshops examined ways in which deterrence might arise, and how it could be minimized. The deliberation exposed social and cultural interactions that might otherwise remain hidden. The paper describes narratives and ideas discussed in the workshops regarding political and economic mechanisms through which mitigation deterrence might occur, the plausibility of such pathways, and measures recommended to reduce the risk of such occurrence. Mitigation deterrence is interpreted as an important example of the ‘attracti...

Towards a cultural political economy of mitigation deterrence by negative emissions technologies (NETs)

Global Sustainability, 2018

Non-technical summaryIn the face of limited carbon budgets, negative emissions technologies (NETs... more Non-technical summaryIn the face of limited carbon budgets, negative emissions technologies (NETs) offer hopes of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It is difficult to determine whether the prospect of NETs is significantly deterring or delaying timely action to cut emissions. This paper sets out a novel theoretical perspective to this challenge, enabling analysis that accounts for interactions between technologies, society and political and economic power. The paper argues that, seen in this light, the scope of NETs to substitute for mitigation may be easily exaggerated, and thus that the risk of harm from mitigation deterrence should be taken seriously.

Social Science Sequestered

Frontiers in Climate, 2020

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, ... more Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, yet in the growing area of GGR research, humanities and social sciences (HASS) research is often marginalized, constrained and depoliticised. This global dynamic is illustrated by an analysis of the UK GGR research programme. This dynamic matters for the knowledge produced and for its users. Without HASS contributions, too narrow a range of perspectives, futures and issues will be considered, undermining or overpromising the prospects for the responsible development of GGR (and threatening worse side-effects), and limiting our understanding of why and how policy demands GGR solutions in the first place. In response, we present policy principles for bringing HASS fully into GGR research, organized around three themes: (1) HASS-led GGR research, (2) Opening up GGR futures, and (3) The politics of GGR futures.

Beyond “Net-Zero”: A Case for Separate Targets for Emissions Reduction and Negative Emissions

Frontiers in Climate, 2019

Targets and accounting for negative emissions should be explicitly set and managed separately fro... more Targets and accounting for negative emissions should be explicitly set and managed separately from existing and future targets for emissions reduction. Failure to make such a separation has already hampered climate policy, exaggerating the expected future contribution of negative emissions in climate models, while also obscuring the extent and pace of the investment needed to deliver negative emissions. Separation would help minimize the negative impacts that promises and deployments of negative emissions could have on emissions reduction, arising from effects such as temporal trade-offs, excessive offsetting, and technological lock-in. Benefits for international, national, local, organizational, and sectoral planning would arise from greater clarity over the role and timing of negative emissions alongside accelerated emissions reduction.

Book Review: A Case for Climate Engineering, written by David Keith

Climate Law, 2014

Fires in Brazilian Amazon: Why Does Policy Have a Limited Impact? 1 Thiago Fonseca-Morello 2 Rossano Ramos 3 Lara Steil 3 Luke Parry 4 Jos Barlow 4 Nils Markusson 4 Amanda Ferreira 5

The co-evolution of technological promises, modelling, policies and climate change targets

Nature Climate Change

Information Sheets for CCS

ABSTRACT This reports consists of an analysis of the information needs of stakeholders, policy ma... more ABSTRACT This reports consists of an analysis of the information needs of stakeholders, policy makers and members of the public regarding CO2 capture and storage (CCS). 13 information sheets are then provided which are intended to provide an objective, up-to-date account of a wide spectrum of CCS topics - basic concepts and rationale, technology, geology, economics and costs, law and regulations, public acceptability, potential environmental risks and management and policy. It was prepared by a team at the University of Edinburgh, UK, in association with CSIRO, Australia.

The organisation of cleaner innovation:integrating environmental concerns into process technology investment projects

The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving env... more The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving environmental performance is the result of the mechanistic implementation of management strategy. This study instead investigates the politics and contingent organisational dynamics of investment projects, with the aim to shed new light on how environmental concerns are integrated into them. Four case studies in the chemical and dairy industries of Scotland and Sweden are compared. The analysis of the cases is focussed on three themes: the relationship of environmental work and staff with engineering and management, the formation of environmental championing behaviour and the integration of environmental motives into the projects. The book is aimed at academics and policy makers, as it offers a critique of the notion of cleaner technology and explores the structural limits of greening, alongside practical advice on how to promote and manage such greening. It will also be relevant to those with an interest in the interplay between technology and organisation or in the greening of industry.

Eckpfeiler erweiterte Produzentenverantwortung

Okologisches Wirtschaften Fachzeitschrift, Dec 1, 2000

Unpacking the black box of cleaner innovation

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2011

ABSTRACT This paper scrutinizes the concept of cleaner technology, drawing on both a review of th... more ABSTRACT This paper scrutinizes the concept of cleaner technology, drawing on both a review of the literature and case study analysis of new data. By analysing the intentions behind innovations as separate from outcomes, a complex relationship between intentions and outcomes, as well as between different motives, is revealed. The paper argues that cleaner technology is not in fact a type of technology, that the concept obscures the role of underlying environmental motives and ambitions and that cleaner technology innovations do not necessarily deliver the economic gains they are normally understood to do.

Review of 'A case for climate engineering' by David Keith

Characterising CCS learning: The role of quantitative methods and alternative approaches

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2013

... to be 'game changing'. For example, Figueroa and co-authors [23] noted that materia... more

Bringing structure to the championing of environmental improvements in innovation work

... Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation University of Edinburgh www.iss... more

Corrigendum to “Learning pathways for energy supply technologies: Bridging between innovation studies and learning rates”

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014

ABSTRACT Comparing the innovation dynamics and learning effects of different emerging low carbon ... more ABSTRACT Comparing the innovation dynamics and learning effects of different emerging low carbon energy supply technology fields is a key issue for policymakers, investors and researchers. A range of contrasting analytical approaches are available. For example, energy systems modelling using learning rates provides abstracted, quantitative and output oriented accounts of technology learning, while innovation studies research offers contextualised, qualitative and process oriented accounts. Drawing on technology specific accounts of innovation for several different emerging energy supply technologies, this paper introduces a ‘learning pathways’ matrix which adopts an intermediate position between learning rates and innovation studies. The matrix differentiates between the relative orientation of technology fields to radical or incremental innovation, and to concentrated or distributed organisation. A number of archetypal learning pathways are outlined to help bridge between more quantitative, abstracted and more qualitative, contextual accounts of technology learning, enabling learning rates analyses to draw on innovation studies research. The learning pathways approach highlights significant differences in the socio-technical niche origins of different energy supply technologies, and in the evolution of their learning effects over time.

Bounding Boundaries: The Construction of Geoengineering on Wikipedia

Innovation and Society. He previously worked as a research associate at Scottish Carbon Capture a... more Innovation and Society. He previously worked as a research associate at Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage research centre at the University of Edinburgh. That work included contributing to several projects funded by the UK Energy Research Centre. Before his PhD on cleaner technology investments in the process industry, he worked as an innovation policy analyst and R&D funding programme manager at VINNOVA, a Swedish government agency working to develop the country's innovation capacity. In the CGG project, he is working on framing and forms of public consent.

Social Science Sequestered

by Nils Markusson and Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan

Frotniers in Climate, 2020

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, ... more Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, yet in the growing area of GGR research, humanities and social sciences (HASS) research is often marginalized, constrained and depoliticised. This global dynamic is illustrated by an analysis of the UK GGR research programme. This dynamic matters for the knowledge produced and for its users. Without HASS contributions, too narrow a range of perspectives, futures and issues will be considered, undermining or overpromising the prospects for the responsible development of GGR (and threatening worse side-effects), and limiting our understanding of why and how policy demands GGR solutions in the first place. In response, we present policy principles for bringing HASS fully into GGR research, organized around three themes: (1) HASS-led GGR research, (2) Opening up GGR futures, and (3) The politics of GGR futures.

Vi kan inte kompensera bort fossila utsläpp

Taking deliberative research online: Lessons from four case studies

Qualitative Research, Dec 29, 2021

Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-... more Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to the question of whether meaningful deliberative research is possible in an online setting. This paper considers the reasons for taking deliberation online, including bringing people together more easily; convening international events; and reducing the environmental impact of research. It reports on four case studies: a set of stakeholder workshops considering greenhouse gas removal technologies, convened online in 2019, and online research workshops investigating local climate strategies; as well as two in-person processes which moved online due to COVID-19: Climate Assembly UK, a Citizens' Assembly on climate change, and the Lancaster Citizens' Jury on Climate Change. It sets out learnings from these processes, concluding that deliberation online is substantively different from in-person meetings, but can meet the requirements of deliberative research, and can be a rewarding and useful process for participants and researchers alike.

Taking deliberative research online: Lessons from four case studies

Qualitative Research, 2021

Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-... more Researchers using deliberative techniques tend to favour in-person processes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to the question of whether meaningful deliberative research is possible in an online setting. This paper considers the reasons for taking deliberation online, including bringing people together more easily; convening international events; and reducing the environmental impact of research. It reports on four case studies: a set of stakeholder workshops considering greenhouse gas removal technologies, convened online in 2019, and online research workshops investigating local climate strategies; as well as two in-person processes which moved online due to COVID-19: Climate Assembly UK, a Citizens’ Assembly on climate change, and the Lancaster Citizens’ Jury on Climate Change. It sets out learnings from these processes, concluding that deliberation online is substantively different from in-person meetings, but can meet the requirements of deliberative research, ...

Attractions of delay: Using deliberative engagement to investigate the political and strategic impacts of greenhouse gas removal technologies

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2021

Concerns have been raised that a focus on greenhouse gas removals (GGR) in climate models, scient... more Concerns have been raised that a focus on greenhouse gas removals (GGR) in climate models, scientific literature and other media might deter measures to mitigate climate change through reduction of emissions at source – the phenomenon of ‘mitigation deterrence’. Given the urgent need for climate action, any delay in emissions reduction would be worrying. We convened nine deliberative workshops to expose stakeholders to futures scenarios involving mitigation deterrence. The workshops examined ways in which deterrence might arise, and how it could be minimized. The deliberation exposed social and cultural interactions that might otherwise remain hidden. The paper describes narratives and ideas discussed in the workshops regarding political and economic mechanisms through which mitigation deterrence might occur, the plausibility of such pathways, and measures recommended to reduce the risk of such occurrence. Mitigation deterrence is interpreted as an important example of the ‘attracti...

Towards a cultural political economy of mitigation deterrence by negative emissions technologies (NETs)

Global Sustainability, 2018

Non-technical summaryIn the face of limited carbon budgets, negative emissions technologies (NETs... more Non-technical summaryIn the face of limited carbon budgets, negative emissions technologies (NETs) offer hopes of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It is difficult to determine whether the prospect of NETs is significantly deterring or delaying timely action to cut emissions. This paper sets out a novel theoretical perspective to this challenge, enabling analysis that accounts for interactions between technologies, society and political and economic power. The paper argues that, seen in this light, the scope of NETs to substitute for mitigation may be easily exaggerated, and thus that the risk of harm from mitigation deterrence should be taken seriously.

Social Science Sequestered

Frontiers in Climate, 2020

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, ... more Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, yet in the growing area of GGR research, humanities and social sciences (HASS) research is often marginalized, constrained and depoliticised. This global dynamic is illustrated by an analysis of the UK GGR research programme. This dynamic matters for the knowledge produced and for its users. Without HASS contributions, too narrow a range of perspectives, futures and issues will be considered, undermining or overpromising the prospects for the responsible development of GGR (and threatening worse side-effects), and limiting our understanding of why and how policy demands GGR solutions in the first place. In response, we present policy principles for bringing HASS fully into GGR research, organized around three themes: (1) HASS-led GGR research, (2) Opening up GGR futures, and (3) The politics of GGR futures.

Beyond “Net-Zero”: A Case for Separate Targets for Emissions Reduction and Negative Emissions

Frontiers in Climate, 2019

Targets and accounting for negative emissions should be explicitly set and managed separately fro... more Targets and accounting for negative emissions should be explicitly set and managed separately from existing and future targets for emissions reduction. Failure to make such a separation has already hampered climate policy, exaggerating the expected future contribution of negative emissions in climate models, while also obscuring the extent and pace of the investment needed to deliver negative emissions. Separation would help minimize the negative impacts that promises and deployments of negative emissions could have on emissions reduction, arising from effects such as temporal trade-offs, excessive offsetting, and technological lock-in. Benefits for international, national, local, organizational, and sectoral planning would arise from greater clarity over the role and timing of negative emissions alongside accelerated emissions reduction.

Book Review: A Case for Climate Engineering, written by David Keith

Climate Law, 2014

Fires in Brazilian Amazon: Why Does Policy Have a Limited Impact? 1 Thiago Fonseca-Morello 2 Rossano Ramos 3 Lara Steil 3 Luke Parry 4 Jos Barlow 4 Nils Markusson 4 Amanda Ferreira 5

The co-evolution of technological promises, modelling, policies and climate change targets

Nature Climate Change

Information Sheets for CCS

ABSTRACT This reports consists of an analysis of the information needs of stakeholders, policy ma... more ABSTRACT This reports consists of an analysis of the information needs of stakeholders, policy makers and members of the public regarding CO2 capture and storage (CCS). 13 information sheets are then provided which are intended to provide an objective, up-to-date account of a wide spectrum of CCS topics - basic concepts and rationale, technology, geology, economics and costs, law and regulations, public acceptability, potential environmental risks and management and policy. It was prepared by a team at the University of Edinburgh, UK, in association with CSIRO, Australia.

The organisation of cleaner innovation:integrating environmental concerns into process technology investment projects

The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving env... more The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving environmental performance is the result of the mechanistic implementation of management strategy. This study instead investigates the politics and contingent organisational dynamics of investment projects, with the aim to shed new light on how environmental concerns are integrated into them. Four case studies in the chemical and dairy industries of Scotland and Sweden are compared. The analysis of the cases is focussed on three themes: the relationship of environmental work and staff with engineering and management, the formation of environmental championing behaviour and the integration of environmental motives into the projects. The book is aimed at academics and policy makers, as it offers a critique of the notion of cleaner technology and explores the structural limits of greening, alongside practical advice on how to promote and manage such greening. It will also be relevant to those with an interest in the interplay between technology and organisation or in the greening of industry.

Eckpfeiler erweiterte Produzentenverantwortung

Okologisches Wirtschaften Fachzeitschrift, Dec 1, 2000

Unpacking the black box of cleaner innovation

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2011

ABSTRACT This paper scrutinizes the concept of cleaner technology, drawing on both a review of th... more ABSTRACT This paper scrutinizes the concept of cleaner technology, drawing on both a review of the literature and case study analysis of new data. By analysing the intentions behind innovations as separate from outcomes, a complex relationship between intentions and outcomes, as well as between different motives, is revealed. The paper argues that cleaner technology is not in fact a type of technology, that the concept obscures the role of underlying environmental motives and ambitions and that cleaner technology innovations do not necessarily deliver the economic gains they are normally understood to do.

Review of 'A case for climate engineering' by David Keith

Characterising CCS learning: The role of quantitative methods and alternative approaches

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2013

... to be 'game changing'. For example, Figueroa and co-authors [23] noted that materia... more

Bringing structure to the championing of environmental improvements in innovation work

... Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation University of Edinburgh www.iss... more

Corrigendum to “Learning pathways for energy supply technologies: Bridging between innovation studies and learning rates”

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014

ABSTRACT Comparing the innovation dynamics and learning effects of different emerging low carbon ... more ABSTRACT Comparing the innovation dynamics and learning effects of different emerging low carbon energy supply technology fields is a key issue for policymakers, investors and researchers. A range of contrasting analytical approaches are available. For example, energy systems modelling using learning rates provides abstracted, quantitative and output oriented accounts of technology learning, while innovation studies research offers contextualised, qualitative and process oriented accounts. Drawing on technology specific accounts of innovation for several different emerging energy supply technologies, this paper introduces a ‘learning pathways’ matrix which adopts an intermediate position between learning rates and innovation studies. The matrix differentiates between the relative orientation of technology fields to radical or incremental innovation, and to concentrated or distributed organisation. A number of archetypal learning pathways are outlined to help bridge between more quantitative, abstracted and more qualitative, contextual accounts of technology learning, enabling learning rates analyses to draw on innovation studies research. The learning pathways approach highlights significant differences in the socio-technical niche origins of different energy supply technologies, and in the evolution of their learning effects over time.

Bounding Boundaries: The Construction of Geoengineering on Wikipedia

Innovation and Society. He previously worked as a research associate at Scottish Carbon Capture a... more Innovation and Society. He previously worked as a research associate at Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage research centre at the University of Edinburgh. That work included contributing to several projects funded by the UK Energy Research Centre. Before his PhD on cleaner technology investments in the process industry, he worked as an innovation policy analyst and R&D funding programme manager at VINNOVA, a Swedish government agency working to develop the country's innovation capacity. In the CGG project, he is working on framing and forms of public consent.

Social Science Sequestered

by Nils Markusson and Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan

Frotniers in Climate, 2020

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, ... more Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, yet in the growing area of GGR research, humanities and social sciences (HASS) research is often marginalized, constrained and depoliticised. This global dynamic is illustrated by an analysis of the UK GGR research programme. This dynamic matters for the knowledge produced and for its users. Without HASS contributions, too narrow a range of perspectives, futures and issues will be considered, undermining or overpromising the prospects for the responsible development of GGR (and threatening worse side-effects), and limiting our understanding of why and how policy demands GGR solutions in the first place. In response, we present policy principles for bringing HASS fully into GGR research, organized around three themes: (1) HASS-led GGR research, (2) Opening up GGR futures, and (3) The politics of GGR futures.

The social dynamics of carbon capture and storage: Understanding representation, governance and innovation

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged rapidly as a crucial technological option for decarb... more Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged rapidly as a crucial technological option for decarbonising electricity supply and mitigating climate change. Great hopes are being pinned on this new technology but it is also facing growing scepticism and criticism. This book is the first to bring together the full range of social and policy issues surrounding CCS shedding new light on this potentially vital technology and its future. The book covers many crucial topics including the roles and positions that different publics, NGOs, industry, political parties and media are taking up; the way CCS is organised, supported and regulated; how CCS is being debated and judged; how innovation, demonstration and learning are occurring and being conceptualised and promoted; and the role of CCS in the transition to a low carbon energy future. The authors draw on a variety of approaches, concepts, methods and themes and provide a new understanding of innovation in the energy and climate change fields. It tackles the many issues in a way that speaks to those concerned not only to understand these developments, but to those who are involved in the scientific and technological work itself, as well as those charged with evaluating and making decisions relevant to the future of the technology.

The organisation of cleaner innovation: Integrating environmental concerns into process technology investment projects

The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving env... more The environmental innovation literature is dominated by accounts assuming that ever-improving environmental performance is the result of the mechanistic implementation of management strategy. This study instead investigates the politics and contingent organisational dynamics of investment projects, with the aim to shed new light on how environmental concerns are integrated into them. Four case studies in the chemical and dairy industries of Scotland and Sweden are compared. The analysis of the cases is focussed on three themes: the relationship of environmental work and staff with engineering and management, the formation of environmental championing behaviour and the integration of environmental motives into the projects. The book is aimed at academics and policy makers, as it offers a critique of the notion of cleaner technology and explores the structural limits of greening, alongside practical advice on how to promote and manage such greening. It will also be relevant to those with an interest in the interplay between technology and organisation or in the greening of industry.