Discourse, discursive power, and Social License to Operate: The case of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the United Kingdom

BECCS, with the upscaling of domestic biomass feedstock, is envisaged to play an important role in meeting the UK's net zero commitments. However, BECCS is controversial which has implications for social acceptability. This paper aims to examine how discourse and discursive power of different groups engaged in the debates about BECCS can condition a Social License to Operate (SLO). It contributes to a growing body of critical social science studies of CSS and advances SLO scholarship by integrating the concept of discourse. A wide constituency of actor groups active in the debate about BECCS in the UK was identified. Text analysis of position statements of 27 organisations, semi-structured interviews and a workshop were used to undertake discourse analysis, assess discursive power, and explore the implications of these for a SLO, using framing of distributional and procedural fairness, confidence in governance, and trust. Analysis confirmed polarised discourses prevailing across organisations, but with many nuances, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of BECCS. Overcoming discourse polarisation and discursive power struggles emerges as a key need for achieving a SLO. The paper concludes with two ways to address this. First, the importance of deliberative discussions to accommodate polarised views bringing in different knowledges and values is clear. Secondly, adaptability from all groups is required, including a shared responsibility and agency for reviewing and responding to governance, political demands, evidence and societal interests. Both are in-line with the notion of SLO being intangible and non-permanent, and allow for normative complexity around achieving net zero. BECCS with domestic biomass crops is key to the UK's decarbonisation plans. Draws on an under-studied constituency of actors across the UK Integrates analysis of discourse analysis and SLO, methodologically and theoretically Demonstrates importance of adaptability to allow SLO normative complexity