Value sensitive design: the case of
shale gas exploitation
Sixth Annual Conference on Competition and
Regulation in Network Industries (CRNI)
22 November 2013
Residence Palace in Brussels.
http://newenergyandfuel.com
Aad Correljé
Behnam Taebi
Eefje Cuppen
Udo Pesch
Marloes Dignum
a.f.correlje@tudelft.nl
b.taebi@tudelft.nl
e.h.w.j.cuppen@tudelft.nl
U.Pesch@tudelft.nl
m.dignum@tudelft.nl
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Challenge the future
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Zimmermann: A functional theory
on resources (1933, 1951)
• “Resources are not, they become; they are not static but
expand and contract in response to human wants and human
actions”
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The creation of resources
• Is driven by “the mother of all other resources”: Knowledge
• Changes with civilization
• Dynamic not only in response to increased knowledge,
improved arts, expanding science, but also…
• changing individual wants and social objectives
• Reflecting every change in the purpose of the appraiser
• Culture modifies natural environments and resources, and
affects human attitudes and relations
• Resources are also returned to “neutral stuff”
April 8, 2015
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Shale gas: the creation of a resource?
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Hypothesis
• ‘Responsible’ shale gas innovation:
• Appropriately reflect divergent stakeholders’ values.
• Both technologies and institutions incorporate values
• Contestation arises when not all values are incorporated
To what extent do current shale gas technologies and institutions
accommodate the variety of (conflicting) stakeholder values and
(how) can technology and institutions be developed in such a way
as to incorporate the variety of (conflicting) stakeholder values?
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Institutional economic approach
• Dominant mainstream economic framing of energy ignores
relationships between energy production/use & society
• Production and consumption of energy are linked to environmental,
economic and social effects,
• With local, regional and global impacts.
• In our approach, environmental, safety and security of supply
issues of energy markets are framed as public values
• E.g. welfare is not considered to be a simple neutral aggregation of
all individual interests aiming at maximization
• We aim at internalizing labor relations, education, social security,
external safety rules etc. into market behaviour as “public values”
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Values from different perspectives
• Ethics relates to:
• Value upheld and value specification
• Values embedded in technologies
• Identifying value trade-offs and reflection on them
• Economics relates to values that are (or have become)
embedded in institutional contexts
• The economic system as a realization of values
• The market and political realm as formative contexts in which
values are stabilized
• STS look at dynamics of values
• In relation to their emergence during innovation trajectories
• In relation to their articulation in stakeholder interaction
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Where are the values in design?
• Value sensitive design aims at incorporating human values in
technological design
• First developed in ICT, and furthered in other engineering fields
• Values at three levels
Institutional
context
Technology
Stakeholders
Participation
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Specifying values
• Values: Generally considered important to be upheld
• Norms: Formulated to realise values
• Design criteria: Very specific criteria for complying with norms
Environmental friendliness
Prevent pollution surface water
Context dependent: e.g. standards
for drinking water purification
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Construction of value hierarchy
• Building on (Van de Poel forthcoming)
• A value hierarchy can be constructed top-down or bottom-up
• Most arguments are voiced on the level of norms
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Example of a value hierarchy
Value
Health and
Safety
Norm
The seismic risks as a result of shale gas exploitation need
to be managed
Design Criteria
There must
be constant
monitoring of
micro-seismic
activities for
the period of
X years
The well need
to be design
such that it
could
withstand
seismic effects
up to Y
There must be
Compensation
Fund for
repairing any
damage
caused up to
the level Z.
Chemicals A,
B and C may
not reach the
biosphere
with a
concentration
higher than a,
b and c.
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Values conflicts in shale gas debate
Source: Correlje, A., Cuppen, E., Dignum, M., Pesch, U. and B. Taebi, Forthcoming. Responsible
Innovation in Energy Projects: Values in the Design of Technologies, Institutions and Stakeholder
Interactions. In Responsible Innovation. Volume II, edited by J. Van den Hoven, E. J. Koops, H. A.
Romijn, T. E. Swierstra and I. Oosterlaken: Springer:
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Preliminary findings 1/2
• We have empirically analyzed the Dutch debate
• Situation in the Netherlands
• Both proponents and opponents are vociferous: rich data
• As regards substantive values
• Proponents and opponents often endorse the same values The
controversy often happens at the level of norm, and how one
value is being operationalized
• Responsible innovation requires a better understanding of
these controversies
• To what extent can the controversy be helped using new
technology: example of new exploitation methods
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E.g. Health and Safety
Arguments in favor
Arguments against
Groundwater contamination is extremely unlikely
because the shale layer is 3000 meters under the
groundwater level. There are six layers of
impervious rocks in between the two layers.
Chemicals could migrate to the surface. (health
& safety, environmental friendliness)
(Health & Safety)
The drill and fracking technologies are proven
and safe. (Health & Safety)
Currently, there is too little known on shale gas
exploration. (health & safety, accountability)
Shale gas requires water. However, in Brabant
this is less than 1% of the industrial water use by
Brabant Water. (Environmental Friendliness)
The large quantities of water that are used for
shale gas exploration could negatively impact
water availability for agriculture. (Welfare, Health
& Safety)
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Preliminary findings 2/2
• Procedural values are often neglected in policy-making
• Questions of distributive justice
• Questions of procedural justice: how to decide, who to decode,
transparency of information and decision-making
• Particularly opponents seem to emphasize and add these
values into the debate
• Responsible innovation of shale gas at least requires appropriate
inclusion of these values into the design of
• Institutions and public participation
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Thank you
• Comments are highly appreciated, now or later through email
• The research team
Aad Correljé
Eefje Cuppen
Marloes Dignum
Udo Pesch
Behnam Taebi
a.f.correlje@tudelft.nl
e.h.w.j.cuppen@tudelft.nl
m.dignum@tudelft.nl
U.Pesch@tudelft.nl
b.taebi@tudelft.nl
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