From autumn 2022 to 2025, the MaRC project developed a political–economic framework explaining why capital formation for renewables lags behind technological progress. The research combined analysis of energy-agency and industry reports (IEA, OPEC, corporate filings), selective expert interviews, and comparative historical study of oil and gas markets to situate renewable investment within broader systems of energy finance. The project’s original focus on the materiality of production (minerals, batteries, large-scale generation) was integrated with analysis of financial logics and market performativity—how models, forecasts, and narratives shape investor behavior.
Main scientific results:
Energy performativity and institutions: The project demonstrates that projections by institutions like the IEA do not merely describe markets but perform them—shaping expectations, capital allocation, and climate policy. This concept of performing energy provides a new tool for studying the politics of transition uncertainty (peer-reviewed article, 2025).
Transition volatility: Synthesizing fossil and renewable evidence, the project theorizes structural volatility—instability produced within markets themselves by capital intensity, material constraints, and performative forecasting.
Integration: A monograph, Carbon Purgatory (Oxford, est. 2026), consolidates these findings into a framework describing the prolonged coexistence of hydrocarbons and renewables.
These outcomes offer a grounded explanation for why renewable-capital mobilization remains uneven and how institutional design and market coordination can mitigate volatility and accelerate transition investment.
