ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how actors have constructed CSP as feasible and advantageous, on the basis of varying ideological goals, as CSP emerged in three time periods from 1850 to today. Longitudinal analysis can help energy policy analysts understand why a technology framed as emerging has not been adopted and how CSP has related to social inequity. This chapter compares contemporary visions for CSP built it the Sahara to colonial-era megaprojects proposed for the Sahara Desert. It then describes and interprets the history of CSP from 1850 to today. From 1860 to 1914, Proponents of CSP from thought it would provide a substitute once coal ran out. They also focused on its immediate feasibility in areas with abundant sunshine, expensive coal, and a need for irrigation, which marketed it toward use in colonies where coal was expensive and sunlight abundant. Following the oil embargo, states gained interest in CSP to meet energy independence and national security goals. CSP re-emerged after 2000 because of policy interest in climate change mitigation. Today, CSP is intertwined with complicated questions about what counts as a sustainable technology across the triple bottom line, as well as questions about the role of renewable energy in sustainable development.
