The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition


Book Description

The world is currently undergoing an historic energy transition, driven by increasingly stringent decarbonisation policies and rapid advances in low-carbon technologies. The large-scale shift to low-carbon energy is disrupting the global energy system, impacting whole economies, and changing the political dynamics within and between countries. This open access book, written by leading energy scholars, examines the economic and geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, from both regional and thematic perspectives. The first part of the book addresses the geopolitical implications in the world’s main energy-producing and energy-consuming regions, while the second presents in-depth case studies on selected issues, ranging from the geopolitics of renewable energy, to the mineral foundations of the global energy transformation, to governance issues in connection with the changing global energy order. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers in energy, climate change and international relations, as well as to professionals working in the energy industry.




Energy Democracies for Sustainable Futures


Book Description

Energy Democracies for Sustainable Futures explores how our dominant carbon and nuclear energy assemblages shape conceptions of participation, risk, and in/securities, and how they might be reengineered to deliver justice and democratic participation in transitioning energy systems. Chapters assess the economies, geographies and politics of current and future energy landscapes, exposing how dominant assemblages (composed of technologies, strategies, knowledge and authorities) change our understanding of security and risk, and how they these shared understandings are often enacted uncritically in policy. Contributors address integral relationships across the production and government of material and human energies and the opportunities for sustainable and democratic governance. In addition, the book explores how interest groups advance idealized energy futures and energy imaginaries. The work delves into the role that states, market organizations and civil society play in envisioned energy change. It assesses how risks and security are formulated in relation to economics, politics, ecology, and human health. It concludes by integrating the relationships between alternative energies and governance strategies, including issues of centralization and decentralization, suggesting approaches to engineer democracy into decision-making about energy assemblages. - Explores descriptive and normative relationships between energy and democracy - Reviews how changing energy demand and governance threaten democracies and democratic institutions - Identifies what participative energy transformations look like when paired with energy security - Reviews what happens to social, economic and political infrastructures in the process of achieving sustainable and democratic transitions




Energy, Governance and Sustainability


Book Description

'In summary, the book provides an interesting mix of energy topics and perspectives that appears somewhat eclectic at first glance. . . . the book is a very useful and scholarly addition to the literature on energy governance and is recommended reading for all those who need to be better informed on the challenges and some of the solutions available at the current time.' - David Grinlinton, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law This timely book makes an original and in-depth contribution to the debate about how to transform our energy governance systems into ones that support a fair, safe and sustainable society. It combines perspectives from leading scholars to provide a global outlook on alternative approaches to energy governance and innovative experiences. Taken as a whole, it offers a unique overview of some of the innovative and novel ways in which law can support the shift to sustainable and equitable energy systems. The first section lays the conceptual and theoretical foundations for alternative approaches to energy governance, including its constitutional foundations, the role of human rights, and an environmentally just system that seeks universal access to energy for all. The second section showcases concrete innovative experiences in energy governance from around the globe, including smart cities, the role of the courts, energy efficiency of buildings and the harnessing of energy from waste. Finally, the authors consider the social justice dimension, discussing the exploitation of energy resources by multinational companies in developing countries and the importance of agricultural production, distribution and consumption in energy transformation. This unique overview of state-of-the-art approaches to transformation of energy governance is vital reading for policy makers and both legal and non-legal scholars concerned with energy law, sustainability and justice, and global governance. Contributors:K. Bosselmann, J. Bowie, N. Chalifour, E. Daly, T. Daya-Winterbottom, C. Derani, A. Guerry, J. Jaria I Manzano, L. Kotzé, E. Le Gal, L. Lin-Heng, M. Low, J.R. May, E.C. Okonkwo, R.L. Ottinger, C. Pappalardo, T. Parejo-Navajas, M.P. Samonte Solis, M.K. Scanlan, J. Wentz




Local Energy Governance


Book Description

Local Energy Governance: Opportunities and Challenges for Renewable and Decentralised Energy in France and Japan examines the extent of the energy transition taking place at a local level in France and Japan, two countries that share ambitious targets regarding the reduction of GHG emissions, their share of renewable energy and their degree of market liberalization. This book observes local energy policies and initiatives and applies an institutional and legal analysis to help identify barriers but also opportunities in the development of renewable energies in the territories. The book will highlight governance features that incubate energy transition at the local level through interdisciplinary contributions that offer legal, political, sociological and technological perspectives. Overall, the book will draw conclusions that will also be informative for other countries aiming at promoting renewable energies. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy policy and energy governance.




Food, Energy and Water Sustainability


Book Description

Societies around the world face an increasingly uncertain future as social and ecological changes create pressure on resource governance, and this uncertainty calls for new models that illuminate the intersections of civil society, public sector, and private sector resource management. This volume presents a diversity of collaborations between various governance actors in the management of the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus. It analyses the ability of emergent governance structures to cope with the complexity of future challenges across FEW systems. Divided into two sections, chapters in the first half of the book present a collection of case studies from around the world exemplifying how FEW nexus challenges are addressed in a multitude of ways and by a variety of actors. Chapters in the second half offer broader perspectives on the management of FEW and underline the lessons that emerge from applying a FEW lens to the question of natural resource governance. The varied examples in this book highlight that the management of FEW is often a question of reinventing, adapting, and building upon existing practices. Such practices are deeply embedded in unique socio-cultural, environmental, and political contexts as well as ‘hard’ infrastructures. Most of all, this edited volume seeks to communicate the wealth of ideas from committed individuals who continue to work to improve natural resource governance and our sustainable futures.




Renewable Energy Governance


Book Description

This book focuses on Renewable Energy (RE) governance - the institutions, plans, policies and stakeholders that are involved in RE implementation - and the complexities and challenges associated with this much discussed energy area. Whilst RE technologies have advanced and become cheaper, governance schemes rarely support those technologies in an efficient and cost-effective way. To illustrate the problem, global case-studies delicately demonstrate successes and failures of renewable energy governance. RE here is considered from a number of perspectives: as a regional geopolitical agent, as a tool to meet national RE targets and as a promoter of local development. The book considers daring insights on RE transitions, governmental policies as well as financial tools, such as Feed-in-Tariffs; along with their inefficiencies and costs. This comprehensive probing of RE concludes with a treatment of what we call the “Mega-What” question - who is benefitting the most from RE and how society can get the best deal? After reading this book, the reader will have been in contact with all aspects of RE governance and be closer to the pulse of RE mechanisms. The reader should also be able to contribute more critically to the dialogue about RE rather than just reinforce the well-worn adage that “RE is a good thing to happen”.




Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions


Book Description

This open access book reframes sustainable energy transitions as being a matter of resolving accountability crises. It demonstrates how the empirical study of several practices of legitimation can analytically deconstruct energy transitions, and presents a typology of these practices to help determine whether energy transitions contribute to sustainability. The real-world challenge of climate change requires sustainable energy transitions. This presents a crisis of accountability legitimated through situated practices in a wide range of cases including: solar energy transitions in Portugal, urban energy transitions in Germany, forestland conflicts in Indonesia, urban carbon emission targets in Norway, transport electrification in the Nordic region, and biodiversity conservation and energy extraction in the USA. By synthesising these cases, chapters identify various dimensions wherein practices of legitimation construct specific accountability relations. This book deftly illustrates the value of an analytical approach focused on accountable governance to enable sustainable energy transitions. It will be of great use to both academics and practitioners working in the field of energy transitions.




Global Governance on Renewable Energy


Book Description

Comparing Germany’s and Brazil’s government perspectives, Sybille Roehrkasten reveals that the ideas on global renewable energy governance are highly contested. In her study, the author sheds light on the politics behind the definition of global governance issues, focusing on two pioneers in the worldwide promotion of renewables and two decisive players in this emergent area of global cooperation. She demonstrates that ideas about problems and solutions in transboundary policy-making differ widely and that these differences are caused by the decision makers’ policy contexts and self-interests. The differences concern key aspects in global governance on renewables, such as global challenges to be addressed, favored renewables options, barriers to renewables promotion and tasks for cooperation.




Global Energy Governance


Book Description

A Brookings Institution Press and Global Public Policy Institute publication The global market for oil and gas resources is rapidly changing. Three major trends—the rise of new consumers, the increasing influence of state players, and concerns about climate change—are combining to challenge existing regulatory structures, many of which have been in place for a half-century. Global Energy Governance analyzes the energy market from an institutionalist perspective and offers practical policy recommendations to deal with these new challenges. Much of the existing discourse on energy governance deals with hard security issues but neglects the challenges to global governance. Global Energy Governance fills this gap with perspectives on how regulatory institutions can ensure reliable sources of energy, evaluate financial risk, and provide emergency response mechanisms to deal with interruptions in supply. The authors bring together decisionmakers from industry, government, and civil society in order to address two central questions: •What are the current practices of existing institutions governing global oil and gas on financial markets? •How do these institutions need to adapt in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century? The resulting governance-oriented analysis of the three interlocking trends also provides the basis for policy recommendations to improve global regulation. Contributors include Thorsten Benner, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; William Blyth, Chatham House, Royal Institute for International Affairs, London; Albert Bressand, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Dick de Jong, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ralf Dickel, Energy Charter Secretariat; Andreas Goldthau, Central European University, Budapest, and Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Enno Harks, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Wade Hoxtell, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Hillard Huntington, Energy Modeling Forum, Stanford University; Christine Jojarth, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University; Frederic Kalinke, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Wilfrid L. Kohl, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Jamie Manzer, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Amy Myers Jaffe, James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University; Yulia Selivanova, Energy Charter Secretariat; Tom Smeenk, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Ronald Soligo, Rice University; Joseph A. Stanislaw, Deloitte LLP and The JAStanislaw Group, LLC; Coby van der Linde, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Jan Martin Witte, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Simonetta Zarrilli, Division on International Trade and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.




Energy for Sustainable Development


Book Description

Energy for Sustainable Development: Demand, Supply, Conversion and Management presents a comprehensive look at recent developments and provides guidance on energy demand, supply, analysis and forecasting of modern energy technologies for sustainable energy conversion. The book analyzes energy management techniques and the economic and environmental impact of energy usage and storage. Including modern theories and the latest technologies used in the conversion of energy for traditional fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, this book provides a valuable reference on recent innovations. Researchers, engineers and policymakers will find this book to be a comprehensive guide on modern theories and technologies for sustainable development.