Identifying Ecological Distribution Conflicts Around the Inter-regional Flow of Energy in Turkey: A Mapping Exercise

Cem Iskender Aydin

doi:10.3389/fenrg.2019.00033

Abstract

The consumption of more energy in Turkey is seen as a precondition for the economic and social development of the country in line with its comprehensive ideology of modernization and progress, and hence, a rather aggressive strategy in energy infrastructure investments is adopted since mid 2000s. Because of this aggressive strategy involving expropriation and enclosure of commons societal unrest against the electricity plants at local scale escalated even further, creating numerous local environmental justice conflicts all over the country. While electricity generation in Turkey is mostly carried out at the rural setting, electricity is consumed mostly in the urban setting, where both the household and industrial consumption levels are higher. A comparison of the regional distribution of electricity generation and consumption in Turkey shows that while the electricity generation capacity is concentrated in some cities – Izmir, Sakarya, Adana, Hatay, Zonguldak, Canakkale, Mugla, and Samsun to name a few – it is mostly consumed in the urbanised centres of the country, more particularly in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Ankara, and Izmir (the industrialised cities, considered as the engine of growth in the country). Hence, it would not be wrong to say that some cities such as Canakkale and Zonguldak are designated as “ecological sacrifice zones” for the sake of national growth, illustrating well how Turkey prioritises economic growth (and thus industrialisation) over just ecological distribution. At this background, this paper focuses on the ecological distribution conflicts over electricity generation infrastructures and attempts to provide a mapping of the different electricity generation projects (in operation, under construction or planned) to better understand the urban-rural interplay over the electricity consumption and production. Hence, it attempts to shed light on the growing number of environmental conflicts for the last three decades, following the aggressive neo-liberal policies of modernisation and industrialisation.

Highlights

This paper focuses on the ecological distribution conflicts over electricity generation infrastructures and attempts to provide a mapping of the different electricity generation projects to better understand the urban-rural interplay over the electricity consumption and production
The map is the primary output of a large-scale research initiative called EJOLT1 (Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities, and Trade), aiming at improving the understanding of ecological distribution conflicts in the world, by conducting engaged research with the people struggling in those conflicts (Temper et al, 2015; Martinez-Alier et al, 2016)
The simple mapping exercise provided in this paper, in the first instance, illustrates the unequal ecological exchange between different regions in Turkey

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The size of global economic activity (measured as the global GDP) is getting unquestionably bigger since the industrial revolution, and it is accompanied by the level of material throughput. It is an online inventory of environmental conflicts all around the world, documenting environmental justice movements against particular economic activities on a map, aiming to make mobilisation more visible It highlights EJ claims and serves as a space for activists to receive information and connect with other activists working on similar issues (Temper et al, 2015). The map is the primary output of a large-scale research initiative called EJOLT1 (Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities, and Trade), aiming at improving the understanding of ecological distribution conflicts in the world, by conducting engaged research with the people struggling in those conflicts (Temper et al, 2015; Martinez-Alier et al, 2016). To better understand the nature of these conflicts, a short summary of the energy related conflicts will be provided through mapping of the distribution of different electricity projects in Turkey, to open a pathway for discussing the cross-scale and inter-regional unequal exchange in Turkey

A MAPPING EXERCISE

Findings

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION