Oil, Power and Social Differentiation: A Political Ecology of Hydrocarbon Extraction in Ghana

While there is a voluminous scholarship focused on the nexus between resource extraction and development, the issue of how the harms and benefits of extraction are differentiated among several stakeholders based on factors such as their access to power, authority over decision-making, social status, and gender require further examination. This paper combines theoretical insights from assemblage thinking and political ecology to unpack the intertwined range of actors, networks, and structures of power that inform the differentiated benefits and harms of hydrocarbon extraction in Ghana. It can be observed from this study that power serves as a crucial ingredient in understanding relations among social groups, including purported beneficiaries of extractive activities, and other actors that constitute the networked hydrocarbon industry. Scale also reveals the relational nature of the different levels (i.e. global, national, sub-national, local) at which the socio-ecological ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ of hydrocarbon extraction become manifest. Based on these findings, the paper contributes to ongoing scholarly and policy discussions around extractivism by showing how a multi-scalar analysis reveals a more complex picture of the distributional politics, power asymmetry, and injustice that underpin resource extraction.

Identification of suitable Botryococcus braunii strains for non-destructive in situ hydrocarbon extraction

The process of milking microalgae is a promising approach to reduce the downstream costs for the production of valuable substances from microalgae by avoiding the steps of harvest, dewatering, and cell disruption of the common process chain (cultivation, harvesting, dewatering, cell disruption, extraction, purification). The green microalga Botryococcus braunii is particularly suited for this process due to its ability to produce large amounts of long-chain hydrocarbons accumulating in an extracellular matrix. The extracellular location of hydrocarbons is an enormous advantage in comparison with other microalgae that accumulate lipids in intracellular lipid bodies. At present, only a few B. braunii strains (UTEX 572, CCAP 807/2, SAG 807/1, FACHB 357, Bot22, and SCCAP 1761) have been examined for the process of long-term repetitive milking. In order to identify promising candidates for the milking process, twelve different B. braunii strains (SAG 30.81, SAG 807/1, UTEX 572, UTEX 2441, CCAP 807/2, ACOI 58, ACOI 1257, SCCAP K-1489, var. Showa, Bot22, SCCAP K-1761, and CCALA 779) were investigated in terms of growth, lipid accumulation, nutrient uptake, solvent compatibility, and extracellular hydrocarbon extractability. Based on these results, a ranking was defined in view of eligibility for non-destructive hydrocarbon extraction. Results indicate a particular potential for hydrocarbon milking for two of those twelve B. braunii strains. The strain Showa (71 out of 75 ranking points), which has not yet been examined for long-term repetitive milking, and the strain Bot22 (64 out of 75 ranking points) seem to be the most suitable strains for the milking process. They both possess good extractant compatibility including hydrocarbon extractability as well as high biomass and lipid productivity.