Publics in the Pipeline: On Bioenergy and its Imagined Publics in Norway and Sweden

In 2009, I attended the Norwegian Bioenergy Days – a conference where the bioenergy industry gathered to discuss the state of their bioenergy fuels, technology and markets.¹ Recurring themes at the conference were red numbers, difficult markets and bankruptcies. Many participants had a bleak outlook because they were unable to generate profits. One presenter asked: “Is something going to happen soon, or should we find another industry?”² The discussions circled around flawed policy, but also around the relationship between bioenergy and competing technologies.³ The conference participants claimed that other renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power were seen as