Doctoral Dissertation Research: Implementing International Standards in the Commodification of Brazilian Biofuels

博士论文研究：在巴西生物燃料商品化中实施国际标准

• 批准号: 1155918
• 负责人: Adriana Petryna
• 金额: $ 0.78万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-02-15 至 2013-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1155918&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Implementing; International

University of Pennsylvania doctoral student, Derek Newberry, supervised by Dr. Adriana Petryna, will undertake research on the creation and implementation of biofuel standards in São Paulo, Brazil. Brazilian biofuel producers seek to tap into global markets for sustainable energies but in order to do so, they must meet the social and environmental criteria mandated by the governments of countries where those markets are located. In response, ethanol executives have joined energy experts, government officials, and activists in Brazil and abroad to produce an environmental and social production standard, which is to be implemented by refinery managers. How these stakeholders with different understandings of morally responsible production create and implement standards will determine whether ethanol is successful as a major export and how its socio-environmental impacts are distributed. This research will therefore analyze the dynamic relationship between actors defining and implementing ethanol standards, describing the knowledge labor and work practices that constitute this emergent green energy commodity chain. Derek Newberry will conduct ethnographic fieldwork in São Paulo among professionals involved in creating ethanol sustainability standards and at a production site in the interior of the state where the standards are being put into practice. He will use a range of social science research methods including participant observation and in-depth interviews to collect data on the ethical ideas held by different actors about what constitutes morally responsible production. He will also investigate the work practices through which ideas about sustainable ethanol are selected and how these affect the standards and the production chain.Findings from this research will contribute to social science theory of how local processes connect with international ones, as viewed through the lens of cultures of regulation. The research may also support the promotion of transparency for ethanol standards negotiations that affect both the producers and the local residents who are impacted by production of this energy. Funding this research also supports the education of a graduate student.

宾夕法尼亚大学博士生德里克·纽伯里 (Derek Newberry) 在阿德里安娜·彼得里纳 (Adriana Petryna) 博士的指导下，将在巴西圣保罗开展生物燃料标准的制定和实施研究，巴西生物燃料生产商寻求进入全球可持续能源市场，但为了做到这一点。因此，它们必须符合这些市场所在国家政府规定的社会和环境标准。为此，乙醇高管与巴西和国外的能源专家、政府官员和活动人士一起制定了环境和社会生产标准，这就是这些对道德负责任生产有不同理解的利益相关者如何制定和实施标准将决定乙醇作为主要出口产品是否成功以及其社会环境影响如何分布。因此，本研究将分析定义参与者之间的动态关系。实施乙醇标准，描述构成这一新兴绿色能源商品链的知识劳动力和工作实践，德里克·纽伯里 (Derek Newberry) 将在圣保罗参与制定乙醇可持续标准的专业人员以及该州内陆的生产基地进行人种学实地考察。标准正在制定中他将运用一系列社会科学研究方法，包括参与观察和深入访谈，收集不同参与者关于什么是道德责任生产的道德观念的数据。他还将调查这些观念通过的工作实践。关于可持续乙醇的选择以及它们如何影响标准和生产链。这项研究的结果将有助于从监管文化的角度来看当地流程如何与国际流程相联系的社会科学理论。该研究也可能支持这一理论。提高影响双方的乙醇标准谈判的透明度受这种能源生产影响的生产者和当地居民也支持研究生的教育。