Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy

Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy
Author: Benjamin K. Sovacool
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2016-04-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1421418975

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.

Energy, Resource Extraction and Society

Energy, Resource Extraction and Society
Author: Anna Szolucha
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 135121392X

Energy is central to the fabric of society. This book revisits the classic notions of energy impacts by examining the social effects of resource extraction and energy projects which are often overlooked. Energy impacts are often reduced to the narrow configurations of greenhouse gas emissions, chemical spills or land use changes. However, this neglects the fact that the way we produce, distribute and consume energy shapes society, political institutions and culture. The authors trace the impacts of contemporary energy and resource extraction developments and explain their significance for the shaping of powerful social imaginaries and a reconfiguration of political and democratic systems. They analyse not only the complex histories and landscapes of industrial mining and energy development, including oil, coal, wind power, gas (fracking) and electrification, but also their significance for contested energy and social futures. Based on ethnographic and interdisciplinary research from around the world, including case studies from Australia, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Turkey, UK and USA, they document the effects on local communities and how these are often transformed into citizen engagement, protest and resistance. This sheds new light on the relationship between energy and power, reflecting a wide array of pertinent impacts beyond the usual considerations of economic efficiency and energy security. The volume is aimed at advanced students and researchers in anthropology, sociology, human geography, science and technology studies, environmental studies and sustainable development as well as professionals working in the field of impact assessments.

Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy

Renegotiating Authority in EU Energy and Climate Policy
Author: Anna Herranz-Surrallés
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2021-09-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000462463

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
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-05-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1509530517

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.

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
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2011-05-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9813107979

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.

Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU

Renewable Energy Policy Convergence in the EU
Author: David Jacobs
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2016-03-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317066308

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.

Political Economies of Energy Transition

Political Economies of Energy Transition
Author: Kathryn Hochstetler
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108843840

Shows that economic concerns about jobs, costs, and consumption, rather than climate change, are likely to drive energy transition in developing countries.

Empowering the Great Energy Transition

Empowering the Great Energy Transition
Author: Scott Valentine
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2019-12-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0231546424

At a time when climate-change deniers hold the reins of power in the United States and international greenhouse gas negotiations continue at a slow crawl, what options are available to cities, companies, and consumers around the world who seek a cleaner future? Scott Victor Valentine, Marilyn A. Brown, and Benjamin K. Sovacool explore developments and strategies that will help fast-track the transition to renewable energy. They provide an expert analysis of the achievable steps that citizens, organizational leaders, and policy makers can take to put their commitments to sustainability into practice. Empowering the Great Energy Transition examines trends that suggest a transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources is inevitable—there are too many forces for change at work to stop a shift to clean energy. Yet under the status quo, change will be too slow to avert the worst consequences of climate change. Humanity is on a path to incur avoidable social, environmental, and economic costs. Valentine, Brown, and Sovacool argue that new policies and business models are needed to surmount the hurdles separating the current consumption model from a sustainable energy future. Empowering the Great Energy Transition shows that with well-placed efforts, we can set humanity on a course that supports entrepreneurs and communities in mitigating the environmental harm caused by technologies whose time has come and gone.

Cities and Low Carbon Transitions

Cities and Low Carbon Transitions
Author: Harriet Bulkeley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2010-12-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1136883266

Current societies face unprecedented risks and challenges connected to climate change. Addressing them will require fundamental transformations in the infrastructures that sustain everyday life, such as energy, water, waste and mobility. A transition to a ‘low carbon’ future implies a large scale reorganisation in the way societies produce and use energy. Cities are critical in this transition because they concentrate social and economic activities that produce climate change related emissions. At the same time, cities are increasingly recognised as sources of opportunities for climate change mitigation. Whether, how and why low carbon transitions in urban systems take place in response to climate change will therefore be decisive for the success of global mitigation efforts. As a result, climate change increasingly features as a critical issue in the management of urban infrastructure and in urbanisation policies. Cities and Low Carbon Transitions presents a ground-breaking analysis of the role of cities in low carbon socio-technical transitions. Insights from the fields of urban studies and technological transitions are combined to examine how, why and with what implications cities bring about low carbon transitions. The book outlines the key concepts underpinning theories of socio-technical transition and assesses its potential strengths and limits for understanding the social and technological responses to climate change that are emerging in cities. It draws on a diverse range of examples including world cities, ordinary cities and transition towns, from North America, Europe, South Africa and China, to provide evidence that expectations, aspirations and plans to undertake purposive socio-technical transitions are emerging in different urban contexts. This collection adds to existing literature on cities and energy transitions and introduces critical questions about power and social interests, lock-in and development trajectories, social equity and economic development, and socio-technical change in cities. The book addresses academics, policy makers, practitioners and researchers interested in the development of systemic responses in cities to curb climate change.

Contested Grounds

Contested Grounds
Author: Daniel Deudney
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780791441152

Presents diverse views on the relationship between environmental politics and international security.