Geopolitics and security of energy supplies (original) (raw)
How Does Energy Security Definition Vary Across Nations? A Review of Major Energy Consumers
Journal of Technology Innovations in Renewable Energy, 2015
The energy security issue has been paid close attention by many countries owing to the rising energy demand, the limited energy reserve, and the climate change problem. In spite of the broad concern, there is no globally accepted definition of energy security because, for any country, the impact of energy insecurity is highly correlated with its economic status, its resource endowment, its geopolitical partnership, as well as many other nation-specific features. Therefore, by using some of the world's largest energy consuming nations as examples, this article reviews the definitions of energy security and discusses the strategies to enhance it, in order to provide insight for policy makers from different countries. The results find that major energy consuming countries take measures to improve energy security status primarily by improving energy self-sufficiency and increasing energy diversification. Besides, this study also provides suggestion for different countries to take part in international energy cooperation in order to achieve a Pareto improvement of their energy security statuses.
The EU's Energy Security in Relation to the on-going Energy Transition
The EU's Energy Security in Relation to the on-going Energy Transition, 2021
In this essay, the European Energy Security Strategy (EESS) from 2014, with a focus on diversification and an on-going energy transition to greater amounts of renewable energy, will be assessed in relation to overall effects this has had on the energy security of the EU
European energy security dilemma: major challenges and confrontation strategies
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated theoretical framework for energy security concept and to shed light on the policies and strategies applied by the European Union countries to confront the challenges that faces them. Design/methodology/approach-The research paper uses Regional Security complexes theory, which mainly developed in Copenhagen school for security studies, that founded by Barry Buzan. This school tried to clarify the untraditional security aspects, through expanding its scope by adding new dimensions than military perspective. Findings-Despite the consolidated efforts exerted by the European Union to assure safe levels of energy security, and their continuous pursuit to be liberated from Russian energy over dependence, but the results are still limited. Originality/value-The value of this research paper stems from the fact that it encompass the theoretical aspect by shedding light on all the developments occurred to energy security concept, in addition to the Empirical side, by analyzing various European energy security challenges and their confrontation strategies.
Lecture Notes in Energy, 2016
study of energy: from science and engineering to the analysis of energy policy. The series' scope includes but is not limited to, renewable and green energy, nuclear, fossil fuels and carbon capture, energy systems, energy storage and harvesting, batteries and fuel cells, power systems, energy efficiency, energy in buildings, energy policy, as well as energy-related topics in economics, management and transportation. Books published in LNE are original and timely and bridge between advanced textbooks and the forefront of research. Readers of LNE include postgraduate students and non-specialist researchers wishing to gain an accessible introduction to a field of research as well as professionals and researchers with a need for an up-to-date reference book on a well-defined topic. The series publishes single and multi-authored volumes as well as advanced textbooks.
Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to
2013
Europe as a major energy consumer faces a number of challenges when addressing future energy needs. Among these challenges are rapidly rising global demand and competition for energy resources from emerging economies such as China and India, persistent instability in energy producing regions such as the Middle East, a fragmented internal European energy market, and a growing need to shift fuels in order to address climate change policy. As a result, energy supply security has become a key concern for European nations and the European Union (EU). A key element of the EU's energy supply strategy has been to shift to a greater use of natural gas. Europe as a whole is a major importer of natural gas. Although second to Norway as a supplier to Europe, Russia remains one of Europe's most important natural gas suppliers. Europe's natural gas consumption is projected to grow while its own domestic natural gas production continues to decline. If trends continue as projected, Europe's dependence on Russia as a supplier is likely to grow. And, while it could be in Europe's interest to explore alternative sources for its natural gas needs, it is uncertain whether Europe as a whole can, or is willing to, replace a significant level of imports from Russia. Some European countries that feel vulnerable to potential Russian energy supply manipulation may work harder to achieve diversification than others. Russia has not been idle when it comes to protecting its share of the European natural gas market. Moscow, including the state-controlled company Gazprom, has attempted to stymie Europeanbacked alternatives to pipelines it controls by proposing competing pipeline projects and attempting to co-opt European companies by offering them stakes in those and other projects. It has attempted to dissuade potential suppliers (especially those in Central Asia) from participating in European-supported plans. Moscow has also raised environmental concerns in an apparent effort to hinder other alternatives to its supplies, such as unconventional natural gas. Successive U.S. administrations and Congresses have viewed European energy security as a U.S. national interest. Promoting diversification of Europe's natural gas supplies, especially in recent years through the development of a southern corridor of gas from the Caspian region as an alternative to Russian natural gas, has been a focal point of U.S. energy policy in Europe and Eurasia. The George W. Bush Administration viewed the issue in geopolitical terms and sharply criticized Russia for using energy supplies as a political tool to influence other countries. The Obama Administration has also called for diversification, but has refrained from openly expressing concerns about Russia's regional energy policy, perhaps in order to avoid jeopardizing relations with Moscow. Nevertheless, although supplying natural gas to Europe from the Caspian Region and Central Asia has been a goal of multiple U.S. administrations and the EU, it is far from being achieved in volumes significant to counter Russian exports. This report focuses on potential approaches that Europe might employ to diversify its sources of natural gas supply, Russia's role in Europe's natural gas policies, and key factors that could hinder efforts to develop alternative suppliers of natural gas. The report assesses the potential suppliers of natural gas to Europe and the short-to medium-term hurdles needed to be overcome for those suppliers to be credible, long-term providers of natural gas to Europe. The report looks at North Africa, potentially the most realistic supply alternative in the near term, but notes that the region will have to resolve its current political, economic, and security instability as well as the internal structural changes to the natural gas industry. Central Asia, which may have the greatest amounts of natural gas, would need to construct lengthy pipelines through multiple countries to move its natural gas to Europe.
Energy Security in South East Europe
Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century
SouthEast European (SEE) region is an important geo-strategic energy corridor and transit energy region, and there is a strong need for new energy projects in order to ensure energy security and energy transit towards and across Europe. Despite the interest of SEE countries to actualise energy investment projects, the implementation proved to be a slow process since no major regionally significant project in the oil and gas sector has been completed during the last decade. In most SEE countries, regional cooperation in the field of energy has been perceived as a necessary part of the European integration process. At the beginning of the present decade, the main targets of the EU energy policy have been incorporated in the long-term strategies of SEE countries. The focus has been redirected towards modernisation of existing energy facilities and construction of new ones, improvement of energy efficiency and increasing share of renewable energy sources. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of planned energy projects and to discuss problems in their realisation. Since the results of many initiatives were inadequate due to the lack of financial mechanism, our analysis focuses on financial possibilities within various financial institutions with special reference to EU institutions and funds whose resources can be used by SEE countries.
Energy Security Issues in Contemporary Europe
Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues, 2018
Throughout the history of mankind, energy security has been always seen as a means of protection from disruptions of essential energy systems. The idea of protection from disorders emerged from the process of securing political and military control over energy resources to set up policies and measures on managing risks that affect all elements of energy systems. The various systems placed in a place to achieve energy security are the driving force towards the energy innovations or emerging trends in the energy sector. Our paper discusses energy security status and innovations in the energy sector in European Union (EU). We analyze the recent up-to-date developments of the energy policy and exploitation of energy sources, as well as scrutinize the channels of energy streaming to the EU countries and the risks associated with this energy import. Moreover, we argue that the shift to the low-carbon production of energy and the massive deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) might become the key issue in ensuring the energy security and independency of the EU from its external energy supplies. Both RES, distributed energy resources (DER) and "green energy" that will be based on the energy efficiency and the shift to the alternative energy supply might change the energy security status quo for the EU.