Framing industrial decarbonization technologies in the public sphere: narratives from the digital ‘town square’ in the United Kingdom

Abstract Recent research underscores the importance of ensuring that net-zero pathways are perceived as legitimate and socially acceptable, as public attitudes can trigger significant backlash. This article investigates the narratives surrounding industrial decarbonization in the UK within Twitter’s ‘digital town square.’ Intermediary agents play a crucial role in shaping this discourse by fostering debate, offering specialized expertise, and promoting specific technological narratives. Our contribution is twofold: first, we systematically analyze tweets from intermediary agents to identify key technological and economic narratives; second, we employ natural language processing to demonstrate a striking consistency between these narratives and the perspectives of incumbent industries and central government. This alignment suggests that the technological selection of certain decarbonization strategies by both industry and government may undermine the social acceptability of industrial decarbonization technologies and associated infrastructure.