Security Of Energy Supply In Europe

This edited collection highlights the different meanings that have been attached to the notion of energy security and how it is taken to refer to different objects. Official policy definitions of energy security are broadly similar across countries and emphasize the reliability and affordability of access to sufficient energy resources for a community to uphold its normal economic and social functions. However, perceptions of energy security vary between states causing different actions to be taken, both in international relations and in domestic politics. Energy Security in Europe moves the policy debates on energy security beyond a consideration of its seemingly objective nature. It also provides a series of contributions that shed light on the conditions under which similar material factors are met with very different energy security policies and divergent discourses across Europe. Furthermore, it problematizes established notions prevalent in energy security studies, such as whether energy security is ‘geopolitical’, and an element of high politics, or purely ‘economic’, and should be left for the markets to regulate. This book will be of particular relevance to students and academics in the fields of energy studies and political science seeking to understand the divergence in perspectives and understandings of energy security challenges between EU member states and in multilateral relationships between the EU as a whole.

In economic, technical and political terms, the security of energy supply is of the utmost importance for Europe. Alongside competition and sustainability, supply security represents a cornerstone of the EU s energy policy, and in times of rising geopolitical conflict plays an increasingly important role in its external relations. Within this context, the contributors analyse and explore the natural gas, nuclear, and hydrogen energy sectors, which will be of critical significance for the future of energy supplies in Europe. The book opens with an extensive exploration of the very definition of supply security and moves beyond sector-specific debates to highlight the political sensitivity surrounding energy security. The expert contributors apply a policy perspective, underpinned by theoretical discussion, to economic analysis in order to yield policy-relevant conclusions. They illustrate that the EU lacks a coherent transnational energy policy, that national energy policies fail to match EU goals and that, ultimately, sustainable energy policies, more competition, and better regulation will improve global welfare. Academics and EU policymakers both at national and international levels will find that the topical policy recommendations, extensive overview of supply security, and detailed perspectives on the natural gas, nuclear and hydrogen sectors presented herewith constitute an invaluable reference and research tool.

Low-Carbon Energy Security from a European Perspective draws on the European Commission‘s funded project MILESECURE-2050. It considers low-carbon energy security and energy geopolitics in Europe, with a focus on four thematic clusters: challenging the energy security paradigm; climate change and energy security objectives (the components of a secure and low-carbon energy system); energy security in a geopolitical perspective, as it relates to economics, resource competition, and availability; and the influence of large scale renewable energy projects on energy security and shifting geopolitical alliances. An overarching narrative is that optimizing the energy system simultaneously across different objectives may be impossible, i.e., lowest cost, least environmental impact, minimal downtime, regional supply. This book explores these charged topics through insights from a series of novel, new energy project case studies, and demonstrates the need for difficult political conversations within Europe and beyond by posing fundamental yet new questions about the energy security paradigm. Offers a unique perspective on low-carbon energy security by considering the assumptions behind current energy security needs Suggests the benefit of envisioning energy security through out-of-the-box scenario development with respect to the energy system Includes energy in an international scenario with case studies from Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Morroco, China, South America, and Europe Draws on the European Commission‘s funded project MILESECURE-2050

Open discussion invited by the European Commission on energy supply and security.

The aim of the paper is to identify and evaluate existing and potential EU energy supply risks on the basis of a sector-specific approach. Moving away from common generalisations on security of energy supply as well as from those studies that focus only on one sector, it brings together all types of fuel and analyses the risks related to each of them. The result is a comprehensive picture of the energy security challenges faced by the EU in the long-term. The paper can be seen as a tool to avoid overlapping, incoherence and contradictions in the process of assessing security of supply and aims to formulate a consistent and more unified European energy policy.

This book examines the latest developments of the European Union's energy policy and, particularly, the way security of its energy supply is taken into account and handled. As one of the three objectives of the EU energy policy, the security of supply emerged as a central element of the policy, following the January 2009 gas crisis and now with the consequences of the Fukushima events. The contributions to the book analyze the extensive developments toward energy security, the impact of the third internal market package on its reinforcement, and the major role to be played by infrastructures in physically ensuring the security of supply. It discusses the most recent and relevant instruments adopted by the European Union in the fields of oil (the so-called oil stocks directive) and gas (the regulation on security of gas supply). In the field of electricity, the book reports on the experience of the transmission system operators working together in the European Network (ENTSO-E) to guara

​As energy is becoming one of the crucial concerns in the EU, this volume provides an in-depth analysis and interdisciplinary perspective on European energy security. Given the multidimensional nature of energy security in terms of physical availability, affordability and geopolitical security, it brings together authors from different backgrounds pursuing a distinctly multidisciplinary approach. The authors' different perspectives correspond to the three sections of the book: international relations, which focuses on Eastern EU partners; energy economics, which highlights the current unconventional hydrocarbons revolution and its impact on EU energy and climate strategies; and public policy, which analyzes EU policies in the context.

Moving beyond most conventional thinking about energy security in Europe which revolves around stability of supplies and the reliability of suppliers, this book presents the history of European policy-making regarding energy resources, including recent controversies about shale gas and fracking. Using the United States as a benchmark, the author tests the hypothesis that EU energy security is at risk primarily because of a lack of market integration and cooperation between member states. This lack of integration still prohibits natural gas to flow freely throughout the continent, which makes parts of Europe vulnerable in case of supply disruptions. The book demonstrates that the EU gas market has been developing at different speeds, leaving the Northwest of the continent reasonably well integrated, with sufficient trade and liquidity and different supplies, whereas other parts are less developed. In these parts of Europe there is a structural lack of investments in infrastructure, interconnectors, reverse flow options and storage facilities. Thus, even though substantial progress has been made in parts of the EU, single source dependency often prevails, leaving the relevant member states vulnerable to market power abuse. Detailed comparisons are made of the situations in the Netherlands and Poland, and of energy policy in the USA. The book dismantles some of the existing assumptions about the concept of energy security, and touches upon the level of rhetoric that features in most energy security and policy debates in Europe.

This edited collection highlights the different meanings that have been attached to the notion of energy security and how it is taken to refer to different objects. Official policy definitions of energy security are broadly similar across countries and emphasize the reliability and affordability of access to sufficient energy resources for a community to uphold its normal economic and social functions. However, perceptions of energy security vary between states causing different actions to be taken, both in international relations and in domestic politics. Energy Security in Europe moves the policy debates on energy security beyond a consideration of its seemingly objective nature. It also provides a series of contributions that shed light on the conditions under which similar material factors are met with very different energy security policies and divergent discourses across Europe. Furthermore, it problematizes established notions prevalent in energy security studies, such as whether energy security is ‘geopolitical’, and an element of high politics, or purely ‘economic’, and should be left for the markets to regulate. This book will be of particular relevance to students and academics in the fields of energy studies and political science seeking to understand the divergence in perspectives and understandings of energy security challenges between EU member states and in multilateral relationships between the EU as a whole.

Energy security is a burning issue in a world where 1.4 billion people still have no access to electricity. This book is about finding solutions for energy security through the international trading system. Focusing mainly on the European Union as a case study, this holistic and comprehensive analysis of the existing legal and geopolitical instruments strives to identify the shortcomings of the international and EU energy trade governance systems, concluding with the notion of a European Energy Union and what the EU is politically prepared to accept as part of its unified energy security.