Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy

Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy

Author: Benjamin K. Sovacool

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2016-04-29

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 1421418975

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A balanced examination of global energy issues. Energy sustainability and climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humankind. Unraveling these complex and interconnected issues demands careful and objective assessment. Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy aims to change the prevailing discourse by examining fifteen core energy questions from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating how, for each of them, no clear-cut answer exists. Is industry the chief energy villain? Can we sustainably feed and fuel the planet at the same time? Is nuclear energy worth the risk? Should geoengineering be outlawed? Touching on pollution, climate mitigation and adaptation, energy efficiency, government intervention, and energy security, the authors explore interrelated concepts of law, philosophy, ethics, technology, economics, psychology, sociology, and public policy. This book offers a much-needed critical appraisal of the central energy technology and policy dilemmas of our time and the impact of these on multiple stakeholders.


Book Synopsis Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy by : Benjamin K. Sovacool

Download or read book Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy written by Benjamin K. Sovacool and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A balanced examination of global energy issues. Energy sustainability and climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humankind. Unraveling these complex and interconnected issues demands careful and objective assessment. Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy aims to change the prevailing discourse by examining fifteen core energy questions from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating how, for each of them, no clear-cut answer exists. Is industry the chief energy villain? Can we sustainably feed and fuel the planet at the same time? Is nuclear energy worth the risk? Should geoengineering be outlawed? Touching on pollution, climate mitigation and adaptation, energy efficiency, government intervention, and energy security, the authors explore interrelated concepts of law, philosophy, ethics, technology, economics, psychology, sociology, and public policy. This book offers a much-needed critical appraisal of the central energy technology and policy dilemmas of our time and the impact of these on multiple stakeholders.


Contested Energy Policies

Contested Energy Policies

Author: Jale Tosun

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781783480524

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Energy policy is high on the agenda for the European Union, as it seeks to address issues around security of supply, markets, rural development, and carbon emissions simultaneously. In pursuit of these goals many of its policies have been debated and rejected by member states and their publics. This book draws attention to the public and political contestation of these policies and advances a theoretical framework for understanding their role in the EU energy policy-making process. Drawing on literature from comparative politics and policy studies, the book explores the ways in which the EU proposes and adopts particular energy policies, situating the analysis within the EU's multi-level polity and wider discussions about a 'democratic deficit'. It presents four topical case studies of energy policies, using narrative analysis to compare their contestation in different member states. In addition, theories of policy feedback are applied to examine how the EU entraps itself in policy decisions, becoming incapable of making changes even when they are politically expedient, largely due to its aspirations to be a global leader in climate change politics. Building on this detailed empirical analysis, Tosun and Gillard conclude the book by elaborating a new model to formulate falsifiable hypotheses about the pressing issues of energy politics and policy, inviting future researchers to empirically test them.


Book Synopsis Contested Energy Policies by : Jale Tosun

Download or read book Contested Energy Policies written by Jale Tosun and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy policy is high on the agenda for the European Union, as it seeks to address issues around security of supply, markets, rural development, and carbon emissions simultaneously. In pursuit of these goals many of its policies have been debated and rejected by member states and their publics. This book draws attention to the public and political contestation of these policies and advances a theoretical framework for understanding their role in the EU energy policy-making process. Drawing on literature from comparative politics and policy studies, the book explores the ways in which the EU proposes and adopts particular energy policies, situating the analysis within the EU's multi-level polity and wider discussions about a 'democratic deficit'. It presents four topical case studies of energy policies, using narrative analysis to compare their contestation in different member states. In addition, theories of policy feedback are applied to examine how the EU entraps itself in policy decisions, becoming incapable of making changes even when they are politically expedient, largely due to its aspirations to be a global leader in climate change politics. Building on this detailed empirical analysis, Tosun and Gillard conclude the book by elaborating a new model to formulate falsifiable hypotheses about the pressing issues of energy politics and policy, inviting future researchers to empirically test them.


Contested Energy Futures

Contested Energy Futures

Author: Stuart Rosewarne

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789811902253

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This book unpacks the politics of climate change in Australia in the context of successive conservative Coalition governments resisting any moves to mitigate emissions and as local communities and transnational corporations struggle with each other to control the transition to a sustainable energy future. As Australia has abundant clean energy resources in terms of solar and wind, the book offers a test case for study of the energy policy transition in the 21st century. It does so by using tools from political economy and sociology, teasing out public attitudes to renewable energy technologies and innovative infrastructure investments, unpacking the complex parameters of this historical debate, tracing the rise of household 'prosumers' and arguing the case for grassroots ownership of renewable infrastructure or 'energy sovereignty' - already pioneered by some isolated communities in Australia. The cultural and emancipatory benefits of cooperative ventures are well known. However, capitalism is not readily defeated by democracy. The promotion of individual households as 'virtual power stations', of 'smart technologies' and even of cryptocurrency into the energy transition innovative mix opens up ever new horizons for corporate control. Stuart Rosewarne has established a rich research record in the field of environmental and ecological political economy. His research has been published in international journals and the book Climate Action Upsurge: The Ethnography of Climate Movement Politics published in collaboration in 2014 on the development of the climate movement politics was well received. The collaboratively-researched and authored Beyond Coal Rush: A Turning Point for Global Energy and Climate Policy, which is a comparative study of reliance on coal in Australia, Germany and India was published in 2020. Stuart has led the development of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney as one of the world's leading research centres for studies on the political economy of climate change. He designed and lectures in the long-running innovative program on multi-disciplinary based Political Economy of the Environment'.


Book Synopsis Contested Energy Futures by : Stuart Rosewarne

Download or read book Contested Energy Futures written by Stuart Rosewarne and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book unpacks the politics of climate change in Australia in the context of successive conservative Coalition governments resisting any moves to mitigate emissions and as local communities and transnational corporations struggle with each other to control the transition to a sustainable energy future. As Australia has abundant clean energy resources in terms of solar and wind, the book offers a test case for study of the energy policy transition in the 21st century. It does so by using tools from political economy and sociology, teasing out public attitudes to renewable energy technologies and innovative infrastructure investments, unpacking the complex parameters of this historical debate, tracing the rise of household 'prosumers' and arguing the case for grassroots ownership of renewable infrastructure or 'energy sovereignty' - already pioneered by some isolated communities in Australia. The cultural and emancipatory benefits of cooperative ventures are well known. However, capitalism is not readily defeated by democracy. The promotion of individual households as 'virtual power stations', of 'smart technologies' and even of cryptocurrency into the energy transition innovative mix opens up ever new horizons for corporate control. Stuart Rosewarne has established a rich research record in the field of environmental and ecological political economy. His research has been published in international journals and the book Climate Action Upsurge: The Ethnography of Climate Movement Politics published in collaboration in 2014 on the development of the climate movement politics was well received. The collaboratively-researched and authored Beyond Coal Rush: A Turning Point for Global Energy and Climate Policy, which is a comparative study of reliance on coal in Australia, Germany and India was published in 2020. Stuart has led the development of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney as one of the world's leading research centres for studies on the political economy of climate change. He designed and lectures in the long-running innovative program on multi-disciplinary based Political Economy of the Environment'.


Contested Powers

Contested Powers

Author: John-Andrew McNeish

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2015-06-11

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1783600950

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In the global North the commoditization of creativity and knowledge under the banner of a creative economy is being posed as the post-industrial answer to dependency on labour and natural resources. Not only does it promise a more stable and sustainable future, but an economy focused on intellectual property is more environmentally friendly, so it is suggested. Contested Powers argues that the fixes being offered by this model are bluffs; development as witnessed in Latin American energy politics and governance remains hindered by a global division of labour and nature that puts the capacity for technological advancement in private hands. The authors call for a multi-layered understanding of sovereignty, arguing that it holds the key to undermining rigid accounts of the relationship between carbon and democracy, energy and development, and energy and political expression. Furthermore, a critical focus on energy politics is crucial to wider debates on development and sustainability. Contested Powers is essential reading for those wondering how energy resources are converted into political power and why we still value the energy we take from our surroundings more than the means of its extraction.


Book Synopsis Contested Powers by : John-Andrew McNeish

Download or read book Contested Powers written by John-Andrew McNeish and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2015-06-11 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the global North the commoditization of creativity and knowledge under the banner of a creative economy is being posed as the post-industrial answer to dependency on labour and natural resources. Not only does it promise a more stable and sustainable future, but an economy focused on intellectual property is more environmentally friendly, so it is suggested. Contested Powers argues that the fixes being offered by this model are bluffs; development as witnessed in Latin American energy politics and governance remains hindered by a global division of labour and nature that puts the capacity for technological advancement in private hands. The authors call for a multi-layered understanding of sovereignty, arguing that it holds the key to undermining rigid accounts of the relationship between carbon and democracy, energy and development, and energy and political expression. Furthermore, a critical focus on energy politics is crucial to wider debates on development and sustainability. Contested Powers is essential reading for those wondering how energy resources are converted into political power and why we still value the energy we take from our surroundings more than the means of its extraction.


Contested Energies

Contested Energies

Author: Bridget Austin Sparks

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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To gain insight into how the futures of energy are being imagined, contested, and embedded in material and social relations, this project investigates the public disputes and policy discourses surrounding two energy-related proposals: the Millennium Bulk Terminal (a coal export facility in the Northwest), and the Grain Belt Express (wind farm power transmission lines in the Midwest). Energy has become increasingly moralized, contested, and politicized as issues of climate change, competition, and scarcity have made it visible in new ways, pushing issues of energy-its sources, methods of extraction, access to it, and impacts-into the forefront of the national psyche. The development of alternative sources of energy coupled with the dramatic decline in their costs is increasingly challenging the mineral energy regime's dominance. Our society is currently undergoing a transition that is much more than a simple technological shift, but one that represents a broader change to the social order. Energy transport infrastructures play a key role in the design and re-design of energy systems by making it possible to scale up and "lock-in" energy regimes. Therefore, by uncovering the process of how "energy imaginaries"-contemporary social constructions regarding how future energy will be generated, distributed, and consumed- are produced, negotiated, and acted on, this project will provide policymakers and interests groups a more comprehensive understanding of the social changes necessary to decarbonize society and mitigate the effects of climate change. The tools to design specific policies and framings to increase support and overcome barriers to intentionally steer investments towards more sustainable and equitable energy pathways and their conception of the ideal energy future. This dissertation relies on a multi-method approach combining 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, content analysis of over 630 news articles from local and national newspapers, and key policy and archival materials from regulatory agencies, industry partners, and social movement organizations. Through this comparative case study of controversial energy infrastructure projects, this study seeks to construct the emerging discourses around and evaluations of the different energy regimes vying for domination in our nation's construction of an ideal energy future, to uncover the larger shifts in meanings that are occurring around energy, and to understand how these values and visions of the future can become materially embedded through the decisions made around which infrastructures are built. The results of this comparative case study point to three competing imaginaries currently vying for domination. The first is based on the "Make Fossil Fuels Great Again" imaginary which argues that our future lays in the continued domination and investment in fossil fuels. That with the influx of fracked gas, the US has the opportunity to be a net exporter of energy for the first time since the 1950s. It also seeks to maintain the status quo and downplays the threat of climate change. The second is based on a centralized renewable energy system similar to the "Close the Gap" imaginary. In this view, we would rapidly transition to cleaner energy sources through the utilization of utility-scale wind and solar production, and a nationwide network of transmission lines to connect load centers with geographic concentrations of renewables. Due to the scale of the projects, large scale organizations such as investor-owned utilities would be the key decision-makers. This view also calls for more control by regional or federal regulatory authorities to decrease the ability of anyone state to derail a project deemed in the public interest. The third is based on a distributed/decentralized renewable energy system, similar to the "In Your Backyard" imaginary. In this view, we would still transition rapidly to an all or nearly carbon-free energy system, but control over the system would reside with local communities, households, and organizations through the expansion of rooftop solar, offshore wind, energy storage, modular nuclear reactors, etc. A greater degree of regulatory authority would be vested in states and local governments rather than in the federal government. It is most likely that a hybrid system will emerge where distributed renewable production is supported by a national network of transmission line to smooth the variability and intermittency of a nearly 100% renewable energy future. Additionally, these energy imaginaries also provide clues into how the larger economy, political and civil society should be/will be organized in the future, and are therefore worthy of more sociological investigation.


Book Synopsis Contested Energies by : Bridget Austin Sparks

Download or read book Contested Energies written by Bridget Austin Sparks and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To gain insight into how the futures of energy are being imagined, contested, and embedded in material and social relations, this project investigates the public disputes and policy discourses surrounding two energy-related proposals: the Millennium Bulk Terminal (a coal export facility in the Northwest), and the Grain Belt Express (wind farm power transmission lines in the Midwest). Energy has become increasingly moralized, contested, and politicized as issues of climate change, competition, and scarcity have made it visible in new ways, pushing issues of energy-its sources, methods of extraction, access to it, and impacts-into the forefront of the national psyche. The development of alternative sources of energy coupled with the dramatic decline in their costs is increasingly challenging the mineral energy regime's dominance. Our society is currently undergoing a transition that is much more than a simple technological shift, but one that represents a broader change to the social order. Energy transport infrastructures play a key role in the design and re-design of energy systems by making it possible to scale up and "lock-in" energy regimes. Therefore, by uncovering the process of how "energy imaginaries"-contemporary social constructions regarding how future energy will be generated, distributed, and consumed- are produced, negotiated, and acted on, this project will provide policymakers and interests groups a more comprehensive understanding of the social changes necessary to decarbonize society and mitigate the effects of climate change. The tools to design specific policies and framings to increase support and overcome barriers to intentionally steer investments towards more sustainable and equitable energy pathways and their conception of the ideal energy future. This dissertation relies on a multi-method approach combining 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, content analysis of over 630 news articles from local and national newspapers, and key policy and archival materials from regulatory agencies, industry partners, and social movement organizations. Through this comparative case study of controversial energy infrastructure projects, this study seeks to construct the emerging discourses around and evaluations of the different energy regimes vying for domination in our nation's construction of an ideal energy future, to uncover the larger shifts in meanings that are occurring around energy, and to understand how these values and visions of the future can become materially embedded through the decisions made around which infrastructures are built. The results of this comparative case study point to three competing imaginaries currently vying for domination. The first is based on the "Make Fossil Fuels Great Again" imaginary which argues that our future lays in the continued domination and investment in fossil fuels. That with the influx of fracked gas, the US has the opportunity to be a net exporter of energy for the first time since the 1950s. It also seeks to maintain the status quo and downplays the threat of climate change. The second is based on a centralized renewable energy system similar to the "Close the Gap" imaginary. In this view, we would rapidly transition to cleaner energy sources through the utilization of utility-scale wind and solar production, and a nationwide network of transmission lines to connect load centers with geographic concentrations of renewables. Due to the scale of the projects, large scale organizations such as investor-owned utilities would be the key decision-makers. This view also calls for more control by regional or federal regulatory authorities to decrease the ability of anyone state to derail a project deemed in the public interest. The third is based on a distributed/decentralized renewable energy system, similar to the "In Your Backyard" imaginary. In this view, we would still transition rapidly to an all or nearly carbon-free energy system, but control over the system would reside with local communities, households, and organizations through the expansion of rooftop solar, offshore wind, energy storage, modular nuclear reactors, etc. A greater degree of regulatory authority would be vested in states and local governments rather than in the federal government. It is most likely that a hybrid system will emerge where distributed renewable production is supported by a national network of transmission line to smooth the variability and intermittency of a nearly 100% renewable energy future. Additionally, these energy imaginaries also provide clues into how the larger economy, political and civil society should be/will be organized in the future, and are therefore worthy of more sociological investigation.


Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment Of Atomic Energy

Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment Of Atomic Energy

Author: Benjamin K Sovacool

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Published: 2011-05-05

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9813107979

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This book provides a concise but rigorous appraisal about the future of nuclear power and the presumed nuclear renaissance. It does so by assessing the technical, economic, environmental, political, and social risks related to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mills and mines to nuclear reactors and spent fuel storage facilities. In each case, the book argues that the costs of nuclear power significantly outweigh its benefits. It concludes by calling for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency as a better path towards an affordable, secure, and socially acceptable future.The prospect of a global nuclear renaissance could change the way that energy is produced and used the world over. Sovacool takes a hard look at who would benefit — mostly energy companies and manufacturers — and who would suffer — mostly taxpayers, those living near nuclear facilities, and electricity customers. This book is a must-read for anyone even remotely concerned about a sustainable energy future, and also for those with a specific interest in modern nuclear power plants.


Book Synopsis Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment Of Atomic Energy by : Benjamin K Sovacool

Download or read book Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment Of Atomic Energy written by Benjamin K Sovacool and published by World Scientific Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-05-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a concise but rigorous appraisal about the future of nuclear power and the presumed nuclear renaissance. It does so by assessing the technical, economic, environmental, political, and social risks related to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mills and mines to nuclear reactors and spent fuel storage facilities. In each case, the book argues that the costs of nuclear power significantly outweigh its benefits. It concludes by calling for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency as a better path towards an affordable, secure, and socially acceptable future.The prospect of a global nuclear renaissance could change the way that energy is produced and used the world over. Sovacool takes a hard look at who would benefit — mostly energy companies and manufacturers — and who would suffer — mostly taxpayers, those living near nuclear facilities, and electricity customers. This book is a must-read for anyone even remotely concerned about a sustainable energy future, and also for those with a specific interest in modern nuclear power plants.


Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy

Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy

Author: Anna Herranz-Surrallés

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1000462463

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In the context of multiple crises, EU Energy and Climate policy is often identied as one of the few areas still exhibiting strong integration dynamics. However, this domain is not exempt from contestation and re-nationalization pressures. This collection seeks to understand those contradictory integration and disintegration tendencies by problematizing the notion of authority: When, why, and by whom is EU authority in Energy and Climate policy conferred and contested? What strategies are used to manage authority conflicts and to what effect? These questions are examined in some of the knottiest aspects of EU energy and climate policy, for example, the adoption of the landmark Governance of the Energy Union Regulation, the long-drawn-out attempts to complete the EU’s internal energy market, the struggle to achieve ambitious EU targets in renewable energy and energy efficiency beyond 2020, the blurring of economic and security instruments in external energy policy, or the heated discussions over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.


Book Synopsis Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy by : Anna Herranz-Surrallés

Download or read book Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy written by Anna Herranz-Surrallés and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the context of multiple crises, EU Energy and Climate policy is often identied as one of the few areas still exhibiting strong integration dynamics. However, this domain is not exempt from contestation and re-nationalization pressures. This collection seeks to understand those contradictory integration and disintegration tendencies by problematizing the notion of authority: When, why, and by whom is EU authority in Energy and Climate policy conferred and contested? What strategies are used to manage authority conflicts and to what effect? These questions are examined in some of the knottiest aspects of EU energy and climate policy, for example, the adoption of the landmark Governance of the Energy Union Regulation, the long-drawn-out attempts to complete the EU’s internal energy market, the struggle to achieve ambitious EU targets in renewable energy and energy efficiency beyond 2020, the blurring of economic and security instruments in external energy policy, or the heated discussions over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.


Global Energy Politics

Global Energy Politics

Author: Thijs Van de Graaf

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-05-07

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1509530517

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Ever since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism. The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.


Book Synopsis Global Energy Politics by : Thijs Van de Graaf

Download or read book Global Energy Politics written by Thijs Van de Graaf and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-05-07 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism. The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.


The Energy Security Paradox

The Energy Security Paradox

Author: Jonna Nyman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-03-30

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0192552406

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The decisions we make about energy shape our present and our future. From geopolitical tension to environmental degradation and an increasingly unstable climate, these choices infiltrate the very air we breathe. Energy security politics has direct impact on the continued survival of human life as we know it, and the earth cannot survive if we continue consuming fossil energy at current rates. The low carbon transition is simply not happening fast enough, and change is unlikely without a radical change in how we approach energy security. But thinking on energy security has failed to keep up with these changing realities. Energy security is primarily considered to be about the availability of reliable and affordable energy supplies - having enough energy - and it remains closely linked to national security. The Energy Security Paradox looks at contemporary energy security politics in the United States and China: the top two energy consumers and producers. Based on in-depth empirical analysis, it demonstrates that current energy security practices actually lead to a security paradox: they produce insecurity. To illustrate this, it develops the 'energy security paradox' as a framework for understanding the interconnected insecurities produced by current practices. However, it also goes beyond this, examining resistance to current practices to highlight that we not only can do energy security differently: this is already happening. In the process, the volume demonstrates that the value of security depends on the context. Based on this, The Energy Security Paradox proposes a radical reconsideration of how we approach and practice energy security.


Book Synopsis The Energy Security Paradox by : Jonna Nyman

Download or read book The Energy Security Paradox written by Jonna Nyman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The decisions we make about energy shape our present and our future. From geopolitical tension to environmental degradation and an increasingly unstable climate, these choices infiltrate the very air we breathe. Energy security politics has direct impact on the continued survival of human life as we know it, and the earth cannot survive if we continue consuming fossil energy at current rates. The low carbon transition is simply not happening fast enough, and change is unlikely without a radical change in how we approach energy security. But thinking on energy security has failed to keep up with these changing realities. Energy security is primarily considered to be about the availability of reliable and affordable energy supplies - having enough energy - and it remains closely linked to national security. The Energy Security Paradox looks at contemporary energy security politics in the United States and China: the top two energy consumers and producers. Based on in-depth empirical analysis, it demonstrates that current energy security practices actually lead to a security paradox: they produce insecurity. To illustrate this, it develops the 'energy security paradox' as a framework for understanding the interconnected insecurities produced by current practices. However, it also goes beyond this, examining resistance to current practices to highlight that we not only can do energy security differently: this is already happening. In the process, the volume demonstrates that the value of security depends on the context. Based on this, The Energy Security Paradox proposes a radical reconsideration of how we approach and practice energy security.


Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU

Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU

Author: David Jacobs

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-23

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1317066308

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This book examines the coordination of renewable energy policies in the European Union using an innovative theoretical approach to explain national policy making. David Jacobs asks, why are national support instruments for electricity from renewable energy sources converging, even though the harmonisation of these frameworks at the European level has failed? Which causal mechanisms lead to cross-national policy similarities? And what are the implications for policy coordination in the EU? The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing cross-national policy similarities in feed-in tariff design - despite the failure of harmonizing instruments at the European level. He explains these increasing policy similarities by applying policy convergence theory. Policy convergence can occur voluntarily, based on transnational communication, regulatory competition and technological innovations and these findings have important implications for European policy steering. The key to this book is the interrelation of an innovative theoretical concept (coordination of policies in the international arena via voluntary cooperation) with a very topical empirical research focus - the promotion of renewable energies in the EU. It will be essential reading for scholars and students of environmental policy, comparative politics and European studies.


Book Synopsis Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU by : David Jacobs

Download or read book Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU written by David Jacobs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-23 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the coordination of renewable energy policies in the European Union using an innovative theoretical approach to explain national policy making. David Jacobs asks, why are national support instruments for electricity from renewable energy sources converging, even though the harmonisation of these frameworks at the European level has failed? Which causal mechanisms lead to cross-national policy similarities? And what are the implications for policy coordination in the EU? The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing cross-national policy similarities in feed-in tariff design - despite the failure of harmonizing instruments at the European level. He explains these increasing policy similarities by applying policy convergence theory. Policy convergence can occur voluntarily, based on transnational communication, regulatory competition and technological innovations and these findings have important implications for European policy steering. The key to this book is the interrelation of an innovative theoretical concept (coordination of policies in the international arena via voluntary cooperation) with a very topical empirical research focus - the promotion of renewable energies in the EU. It will be essential reading for scholars and students of environmental policy, comparative politics and European studies.