Green petroculture: The case of the Swedish oil corporation Preem's pine biodiesel narrative and its opponents

Petroculture has received increased attention globally, but primarily related to core sites of fossil fuel extraction or literary works. However, little is known about how petroculture is implicated in corporate green narratives. This is a major gap in the petroculture literature, which sometimes assumes an uncritical position on the sustainability potential of renewables. Today, corporate and state actors are at the very forefront of deciding the visions and shape of future human-environmental relations. With diminishing oil reserves, many oil companies are restructuring into “energy companies” while opening the monetary flow towards the investment and development of renewables. It is therefore high time to examine how these corporations challenge or reproduce some of the basic premises and assumptions of petroculture in their “green” transition. The purpose of the project is to critically interrogate “green” narratives of oil corporations through the lens of petroculture. In particular, the project seeks to understand what happens when petrocultures meet the biophysical constraints and limits of renewable energy systems. From a broader perspective, the overarching purpose of the project is to contribute to a better understanding of how culture and power interrelate in the attempt to shape an ecologically sustainable future.