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.

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.

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

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.

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 book offers the first comprehensive assessment of the various internal and external measures undertaken by the European Union to guarantee security of oil and gas supply. It sets out and analyses in a coherent and thorough manner those aspects of EU external policy that are relevant in establishing a framework for guaranteeing energy security for the Union. What makes the book unique is that it is the first of its kind to bridge the gap between EU energy and EU external policy. The book discusses EU policy towards the major oil and gas producing countries of Russia, the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf at the bilateral as well as regional and multilateral level. It brings together not only the dimensions of trade and investment but also other important aspects of external policy, namely development and foreign policy. The author argues that the EU's energy security cannot be achieved through adopting a purely internal approach to energy issues, but that it is necessary to adopt a holistic approach to external policy, covering efficient economic relations as well as development co-operation and foreign policies towards energy producing countries. The book will be a valuable resource for students of EU law, WTO law or international energy law, as well as scholars and practitioners dealing with energy issues.

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

Combining theoretical reflections and empirical insights from paradigmatic case studies in the area of external energy governance, pipeline politics, Liquefied Natural Gas development and offshore petroleum policy and politics, this ground-breaking study demonstrates that a distinctive and new politics of energy security is definitively emerging in the European Union. Innovative not only in regard to the case studies presented (which include the Caspian region, the Baltic, Mediterrean countries, Central Asia and EU-Russia relations), but also in regard to the analytical framework adopted – an International Political Economy approach informed by an historical institutional perspective – the book challenges the common view of the ‘de-politicisation’ of energy security supported by the mainstream market approach and the power politics and ‘zero-sum game’ view supported by the geopolitical perspective. This book places the study of EU energy politics in the broader, evolving context of global energy markets and explores the complex interactions between EU and national political dynamics and between energy security and environmental concerns at the local level.

Despite efforts to increase renewables, the global energy mix is still likely to be dominated by fossil-fuels in the foreseeable future, particularly gas for electricity and oil for land, air and sea transport. The reliance on depleting conventional oil and natural gas resources and the geographic distribution of these reserves can have geopolitical implications for energy importers and exporters. Global Energy Policy and Security examines the security of global and national energy supplies, as well as the sensitivity and impacts of sustainable energy policies which emphasize the various political, economic, technological, financial and social factors that influence energy supply, demand and security. Multidisciplinary perspectives provide the interrelated topics of energy security and energy policy within a rapidly changing socio-political and technological landscape during the 21st century. Included are two main types of interdisciplinary papers. One set of papers deals with technical aspects of energy efficiency, renewable energy and the use of tariffs. The other set of papers focuses on social, economic or political issues related to energy security and policy, also describing research, practical projects and other concrete initiatives being performed in different parts of the world. This book will prove useful to all those students and researchers interested in the connections between energy production, energy use, energy security and the role of energy policies.

Dated November 2012