Biochar in the British print news media: an analysis of promissory discourse and the creation of expectations about carbon removal

Nerlich, Brigitte; Morris, Carol; Price, Catherine; Harris, Holly

Abstract

Biochar is amongst a growing suite of approaches developed to address the climate crisis by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; yet public awareness of biochar is low. In this situation, mass-media reporting plays an important role in making an issue public and in creating expectations about its risks and benefits. In British broadsheet newspapers, a promissory, future-oriented discourse on biochar has emerged that is rhetorically configured through, for example, evaluative adjectives, verbs, hyperbole, and allusions to literary and cultural symbols that confer a sense of mystique. Biochar is promoted as an almost magical fix, based on its ability to soak up and store carbon, improve soil health, increase crops yields, and reduce pollutants. Conversely, some of the possible negative aspects of biochar are couched in the form of sarcasm and parody, while others are made invisible. This sets biochar up as a moral good that the public ought to accept, rather than opening up a public debate about its risks and benefits. Engaging in a fine-grained rhetorical analysis of the way promises about biochar are constructed expands the methodological and empirical repertoire of the sociology of expectations and, in future, can be applied to the analysis of other emerging climate change technologies, especially those relating to carbon removal.

Citation

Nerlich, B., Morris, C., Price, C., & Harris, H. (2024). Biochar in the British print news media: an analysis of promissory discourse and the creation of expectations about carbon removal. Science as Culture, 33(3), 392-416. https://doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2023.2285057

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 23, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 28, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 29, 2024
• Journal: Science as Culture
• Print ISSN: 0950-5431
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-1189
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 392-416
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2023.2285057
• Keywords: Biochar; greenhouse gas removal; media; promissory discourse; rhetorical analysis; hyberbole
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27376112
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09505431.2023.2285057
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=csac20; Received: 2022-06-23; Accepted: 2023-08-23; Published: 2023-11-28