Joachim Peter Tilsted
Biographic Data
| ID | 1520969 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Joachim Peter Tilsted |
| GIVEN NAMES | Joachim Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Tilsted |
| SIGNATURE | TILSTED J P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Lund University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8106-0512 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 61 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Degrowing a synthetic world
To contain the triple planetary crises associated with fossil-based plastics and chemicals, numerous actors, including a wide range of states, call for a downscaling of primary plastic production. In this light, a material degrowth of the production of plastics and plastic chemicals appears not only ecologically imperative but also within grasp politically. In this paper, I examine the deep-seated challenges that this apparent possibility faces. …
The battle for plastic hegemony
Plastics are a ubiquitous feature of contemporary consumer capitalism. Despite scientific evidence and public awareness of the mounting health and environmental impacts of plastics pollution, global production is projected to grow significantly. Going beyond firm and industry-level accounts, we introduce the concept of a ‘petrochemical historical bloc’ to better capture the diverse alliances of state, corporate, financial, and civic actors that c…
Trasformismo
Transitions research explores the dimensions and loci of stability and change. In theorising the interrelation between the two, the neo-Gramscian notion of trasformismo stipulates how they can be co-constitutive of one another. Trasformismo denotes the ability to accommodate pressures to ensure that socio-technical reconfigurations do not disrupt prevailing social relations and distributions of political power. In this way, the concept describes …
Protecting the right to science in multilateral environmental agreements addressing chemicals and plastics pollution
Scientific evidence supports dominant institutional understandings of the global socio-ecological crises of the triple planetary crisis-climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution-demonstrating the profound impacts of human activities on Earth systems. Pollution is intimately tied to these crises, through extractivism and production of chemicals, including plastics and poses serious threats to the environment and human rights. While science i…
Synthetic transitions
With simultaneous policy and scholarly attention to the pollution crisis and the climate crisis, there is growing recognition that the two are intimately interconnected through the demand for oil, gas, and coal generated by synthetic materials. Drawing on theoretical resources from international political economy and beyond, we show how petrochemicals sit at the intersection of a number of the primary drivers of the climate crisis, including foss…
The future of fossil fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks
Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is l…
Expanding European fossil-based plastic production in a time of socio-ecological crisis
The global plastics industry is undergoing significant expansion, driven by record-scale infrastructure investments that are increasing fossil fuel demand. However, this growth has largely bypassed Europe, where mature markets, limited feedstock availability, and stringent environmental regulations prevail. Despite these constraints, in 2019 the petrochemical conglomerate INEOS announced plans for a new ethane cracker in Antwerp, the single large…
Connected we stand
Using oil, gas, and coal to produce platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to fossil fuel interests. Arguing that internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and are important for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the glo…
Risk on steroids
A global energy transition requires alternatives to fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries and transport sectors, which are particularly reliant on the unique material properties of fossil fuels as fuel and as feedstock. Renewable energy transitions, therefore, demand large-scale investments in green hydrogen to produce substitutes as a means of indirect electrification. In the context of European climate governance, a political consensus ha…
Ending fossil-based growth
The expanding petrochemical industry depends on fossil fuels both as feedstock and a source of energy and is at the heart of the intertwined global crises relating to plastics, climate, and toxic emissions. Addressing these crises requires uprooting the deep-seated lock-ins that sustain petrochemical plastics. This perspective identifies lock-ins that stand in the way of ambitious emission reductions and ending plastic pollution. We emphasize tha…
Corporate climate futures in the making
In this Perspective article, we call for more scholarly attention to the politics of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Specifically, we argue for a need to examine the emission pathways and decarbonised futures that are expressed and promoted through Science-Based Targets and what futures they render more likely in the pursuit of low-carbon transitions. We highlight how the SBTi's guidance material is characterized by a narrow and line…
Imagining circular carbon
Petrochemical producers both rely upon and generate some of the most problematic substances in the current age of socioecological crisis: fossil fuels and plastics. With mounting calls to cap fossil fuel extraction as well as plastics production, the industry appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Nonetheless, betting on continuously increasing global plastic demand, petrochemical production is expanding significantly. This predica…
Petrochemical transition narratives
Being integral to the fossil-based energy order and as a key driver of multiple and intersecting ecological crises, the petrochemical industry faces increasing pressures to transform. This paper examines how major petrochemical companies navigate these pressures. Drawing from literatures on discursive power, narratives, and neoGramscian political economy, we introduce the concept of narrative realignment as a nuanced iteration of corporate discur…
Accounting matters
Ecological modernisation in the form of support to the notion of green growth remains the dominant discourse in environmental policy globally. Still, questions of limits to economic expansion and growth on a planet with finite natural resources have been at the core of environmental discourses at least since the 1970's. A recent effort by Stoknes and Rockström (2018) seeks to unite notions of ecological limits with the concept of green growth by …
Petrochemical transition narratives
Being integral to the fossil-based energy order and as a key driver of multiple and intersecting ecological crises, the petrochemical industry faces increasing pressures to transform. This paper examines how major petrochemical companies navigate these pressures. Drawing from literatures on discursive power, narratives, and neoGramscian political economy, we introduce the concept of narrative realignment as a nuanced iteration of corporate discur…
Accounting matters
Ecological modernisation in the form of support to the notion of green growth remains the dominant discourse in environmental policy globally. Still, questions of limits to economic expansion and growth on a planet with finite natural resources have been at the core of environmental discourses at least since the 1970's. A recent effort by Stoknes and Rockström (2018) seeks to unite notions of ecological limits with the concept of green growth by …
Synthetic transitions
With simultaneous policy and scholarly attention to the pollution crisis and the climate crisis, there is growing recognition that the two are intimately interconnected through the demand for oil, gas, and coal generated by synthetic materials. Drawing on theoretical resources from international political economy and beyond, we show how petrochemicals sit at the intersection of a number of the primary drivers of the climate crisis, including foss…
Corporate climate futures in the making
In this Perspective article, we call for more scholarly attention to the politics of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Specifically, we argue for a need to examine the emission pathways and decarbonised futures that are expressed and promoted through Science-Based Targets and what futures they render more likely in the pursuit of low-carbon transitions. We highlight how the SBTi's guidance material is characterized by a narrow and line…
Connected we stand
Using oil, gas, and coal to produce platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to fossil fuel interests. Arguing that internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and are important for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the glo…
Imagining circular carbon
Petrochemical producers both rely upon and generate some of the most problematic substances in the current age of socioecological crisis: fossil fuels and plastics. With mounting calls to cap fossil fuel extraction as well as plastics production, the industry appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Nonetheless, betting on continuously increasing global plastic demand, petrochemical production is expanding significantly. This predica…
Risk on steroids
A global energy transition requires alternatives to fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries and transport sectors, which are particularly reliant on the unique material properties of fossil fuels as fuel and as feedstock. Renewable energy transitions, therefore, demand large-scale investments in green hydrogen to produce substitutes as a means of indirect electrification. In the context of European climate governance, a political consensus ha…
Expanding European fossil-based plastic production in a time of socio-ecological crisis
The global plastics industry is undergoing significant expansion, driven by record-scale infrastructure investments that are increasing fossil fuel demand. However, this growth has largely bypassed Europe, where mature markets, limited feedstock availability, and stringent environmental regulations prevail. Despite these constraints, in 2019 the petrochemical conglomerate INEOS announced plans for a new ethane cracker in Antwerp, the single large…
Trasformismo
Transitions research explores the dimensions and loci of stability and change. In theorising the interrelation between the two, the neo-Gramscian notion of trasformismo stipulates how they can be co-constitutive of one another. Trasformismo denotes the ability to accommodate pressures to ensure that socio-technical reconfigurations do not disrupt prevailing social relations and distributions of political power. In this way, the concept describes …
The future of fossil fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks
Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is l…
Accounting matters
Ecological modernisation in the form of support to the notion of green growth remains the dominant discourse in environmental policy globally. Still, questions of limits to economic expansion and growth on a planet with finite natural resources have been at the core of environmental discourses at least since the 1970's. A recent effort by Stoknes and Rockström (2018) seeks to unite notions of ecological limits with the concept of green growth by …
Petrochemical transition narratives
Being integral to the fossil-based energy order and as a key driver of multiple and intersecting ecological crises, the petrochemical industry faces increasing pressures to transform. This paper examines how major petrochemical companies navigate these pressures. Drawing from literatures on discursive power, narratives, and neoGramscian political economy, we introduce the concept of narrative realignment as a nuanced iteration of corporate discur…
Ending fossil-based growth
The expanding petrochemical industry depends on fossil fuels both as feedstock and a source of energy and is at the heart of the intertwined global crises relating to plastics, climate, and toxic emissions. Addressing these crises requires uprooting the deep-seated lock-ins that sustain petrochemical plastics. This perspective identifies lock-ins that stand in the way of ambitious emission reductions and ending plastic pollution. We emphasize tha…
Corporate climate futures in the making
In this Perspective article, we call for more scholarly attention to the politics of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Specifically, we argue for a need to examine the emission pathways and decarbonised futures that are expressed and promoted through Science-Based Targets and what futures they render more likely in the pursuit of low-carbon transitions. We highlight how the SBTi's guidance material is characterized by a narrow and line…
Imagining circular carbon
Petrochemical producers both rely upon and generate some of the most problematic substances in the current age of socioecological crisis: fossil fuels and plastics. With mounting calls to cap fossil fuel extraction as well as plastics production, the industry appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Nonetheless, betting on continuously increasing global plastic demand, petrochemical production is expanding significantly. This predica…
The future of fossil fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks
Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is l…
Expanding European fossil-based plastic production in a time of socio-ecological crisis
The global plastics industry is undergoing significant expansion, driven by record-scale infrastructure investments that are increasing fossil fuel demand. However, this growth has largely bypassed Europe, where mature markets, limited feedstock availability, and stringent environmental regulations prevail. Despite these constraints, in 2019 the petrochemical conglomerate INEOS announced plans for a new ethane cracker in Antwerp, the single large…
Connected we stand
Using oil, gas, and coal to produce platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to fossil fuel interests. Arguing that internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and are important for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the glo…
Risk on steroids
A global energy transition requires alternatives to fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries and transport sectors, which are particularly reliant on the unique material properties of fossil fuels as fuel and as feedstock. Renewable energy transitions, therefore, demand large-scale investments in green hydrogen to produce substitutes as a means of indirect electrification. In the context of European climate governance, a political consensus ha…
Trasformismo
Transitions research explores the dimensions and loci of stability and change. In theorising the interrelation between the two, the neo-Gramscian notion of trasformismo stipulates how they can be co-constitutive of one another. Trasformismo denotes the ability to accommodate pressures to ensure that socio-technical reconfigurations do not disrupt prevailing social relations and distributions of political power. In this way, the concept describes …
Protecting the right to science in multilateral environmental agreements addressing chemicals and plastics pollution
Scientific evidence supports dominant institutional understandings of the global socio-ecological crises of the triple planetary crisis-climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution-demonstrating the profound impacts of human activities on Earth systems. Pollution is intimately tied to these crises, through extractivism and production of chemicals, including plastics and poses serious threats to the environment and human rights. While science i…
Synthetic transitions
With simultaneous policy and scholarly attention to the pollution crisis and the climate crisis, there is growing recognition that the two are intimately interconnected through the demand for oil, gas, and coal generated by synthetic materials. Drawing on theoretical resources from international political economy and beyond, we show how petrochemicals sit at the intersection of a number of the primary drivers of the climate crisis, including foss…
Degrowing a synthetic world
To contain the triple planetary crises associated with fossil-based plastics and chemicals, numerous actors, including a wide range of states, call for a downscaling of primary plastic production. In this light, a material degrowth of the production of plastics and plastic chemicals appears not only ecologically imperative but also within grasp politically. In this paper, I examine the deep-seated challenges that this apparent possibility faces. …
The battle for plastic hegemony
Plastics are a ubiquitous feature of contemporary consumer capitalism. Despite scientific evidence and public awareness of the mounting health and environmental impacts of plastics pollution, global production is projected to grow significantly. Going beyond firm and industry-level accounts, we introduce the concept of a ‘petrochemical historical bloc’ to better capture the diverse alliances of state, corporate, financial, and civic actors that c…
Economics (10 works) · Petrochemical (7 works) · Engineering (6 works) · Fossil fuel (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (6 works) · Waste management (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Ecology (5 works) · Global Energy and Sustainability Research (5 works)