Just transformation: The places, politics and ethics of fossil free society

Lysekil is a coastal city that has undergone several industrial transformations. Granite, herring, the engine, and coastal tourism have shaped city life. Since 1975, oil has also been an important part of the city's ecology. Preemraff is nestled in Brofjorden a few miles north of the city and is today Scandinavia's largest oil refinery. The construction was one of Sweden's largest infrastructure investments in the 1970s and has since been an important source of jobs and regional development for Lysekil and its surrounding area. Today, the refinery is part of the private oil group Preem and employs around 600 industrial workers and engineers.

During the latter half of the 2010s, Preemraff was at the center of the Swedish climate policy debate. Plans to expand the refinery were met with criticism from the environmental movement and led to a series of appeals in the Land and Environment Court of Appeal. The battle over Preemraff was about the facility's carbon dioxide emissions and whether the expansion was compatible with Sweden's national climate goals. In 2020, Preem announced that the expansion had been halted and that Preemraff Lysekil would be converted into a biorefinery.

Oil refining is a part of Lysekil's ecology.

In Luleå, steel has been produced since the late 19th century. The steel industry gained momentum during the 1940s when the newly formed state-owned company Norrbottens Järnverk AB (NJA) began exporting iron ore-based steel to a war-torn Europe. In the following decades, the city was organised around the infrastructure and jobs required by the growing steel production. Luleå became known as the steel city. When the Swedish steel industry faced profitability problems in the 1970s, the Swedish parliament decided to transform the steel mills in Luleå, Borlänge, and Oxelösund into Svenskt Stål AB (SSAB). Today, SSAB is a global company with 1,100 employees at the Svartön industrial area in Luleå.

In the steel industry, coke is used as a reducing agent to convert iron ore into steel. The process is emission-intensive, and the steel industry is currently a sector with a large climate footprint. Since 2017, SSAB has collaborated with the mining company LKAB and Vattenfall to replace coke with hydrogen, thereby creating a fossil-free value chain from mine to final product. HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) is a pilot plant in Luleå that has produced the world's first fossil-free sponge iron directly reduced with hydrogen.

Today, steel is a part of Luleå's ecology.

In Slite, cement has been produced for over 100 years, and the large limestone quarries characterise the landscape around the small coastal community on the eastern part of Gotland. The Cementa factory in Slite has had different owners over the years and has been operated by the German group Heidelberg Cement since 1999. About 230 people work here, currently producing most of the cement used in Sweden.

Limestone that is crushed and burned is the main ingredient in cement. During the production process, large amounts of carbon dioxide are released. To reduce the climate footprint of the factory in Slite, Cementa plans to build a technical facility that can separate and capture the factory's emissions. By 2030, Cementa's production is to be climate neutral.

In Slite, great natural values are at stake when the industry is transitioning. Environmental organizations and locals have appealed Cementa's permit to quarry limestone, citing the effects on groundwater and the local ecology. In December 2022, the Land and Environmental Court of Appeal decided to grant Cementa a permit for continued and expanded quarrying activities in Västra brottet and File hajdar.

Cement is today a part of Slite's ecology.

By: Clifton Evers and Michele Riveroll
Perfume. 2023.

Guaiac wood, Birch tar, Iso E Super, Cedramber, Ethyl Linalool, Cumin essence, Birch essence, Cypress essence, Juniper berry essence, Dibutyl sulfide, Spirodecane, Isopropyl Dimethyl Dioxaspirodecane 10, 4 Xylenol Methyl Linolenate, Cumin Nitrile 10%, Guaiacol 1%, Hydrocarbon resin

This perfume has been developed in dialogue with people who work at and live near the oil refinery in Lysekil. For some, the scents from the refinery are associated with everyday life, job security and prosperity. The scent curtains evoke memories from a time when the industry created new communities, job opportunities and hope for the future. For others, the scents raise concern. One resident likened the smells from the industry to a "bomb". Others told how the winds from the refinery make it difficult to sell their house and keep them trapped in a polluted natural environment.

Smells affect our relationship to industries and can in turn affect the social dynamics of industrial communities. These are the aromas that have been used to build up the final scents. In perfume making, individual scent substances are referred to as "notes" which in turn can build up "chords", i.e. a more complex scent theme that communicates something special.

By: Lysekil residents in collaboration with Clifton Evers
Mixed textiles. 2023.

This textile banner was created during a workshop in Lysekil. The purpose of the workshop was to explore people's images of Lysekil's transition town identity and future prospects. The participants shared different experiences and perspectives.

Some participants said that young people leave Lysekil when given the opportunity. Those who stay feel isolated and estranged from friends who have moved away from the city. One participant sought solace in the forest and shared how forest walks help to cope with the feeling of being the only one left behind. Others expressed their love for the sea and Lysekil's marine life. They shared the hope of a future blue economy driven by marine biological research and sustainable tourism. Can such a future lure young people back to the city?

This banner shows how young people in Lysekil connect with the forest and the sea, rather than the local oil refinery industry. Their creative textile art holds hopes for a sustainable city and testifies to how important green and blue natural environments are for the well-being of young people.

By: Luleå residents in collaboration with Clifton Evers
Mixed textiles. 2023.

This fabric banner was created during a series of workshops in Luleå, in October 2022. The purpose of the workshops was to explore people's images of Luleå's identity and future prospects.

Some participants expressed pride in Luleå's history as the steel city and praised the industry's ambition to take the lead towards fossil-free operations. They looked forward to sustainable urban development with a focus on green technology and electrified transport solutions. Others expressed frustration, disappointment, and shame towards a segregated city that has failed to involve the entire community in urban development. These participants longed for a more diversified city with a broad cultural life and a more complex identity.

Some participants shared how social conformity and control make it difficult to express and explore visions of the future that deviate from the city's industrial heritage.

By: Residents of Lysekil and Clifton Evers
Pen and cards. 2023.

These postcards from the future have been created by people in Lysekil. During our workshops, we asked them to imagine and write about Lysekil's identity and future.

The postcards bear witness to how inadequate economic resources and relationships are when we navigate an uncertain future. The participants underline the importance of caring for the environment and our fellow human beings. They highlight values such as solidarity, empathy and justice.

This care even extends across species boundaries and generations. They raise questions about how we create a sustainable society that cares about more than just economic exchange.

The postcards ask us to care about caring.