The complicated geopolitics of renewable energy
Author(s)
Paltsev, Sergey
Date Issued
October 2016
Journal
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Citation
Paltsev, Sergey et al. "The complicated geopolitics of renewable energy." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 72, 6 (October 2016): 390-395 © 2016 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
A recent UN climate agreement has the potential to shift global energy consumption from a mix dominated by fossil fuels to one driven by low-carbon technologies. It is clear that if this happens, fossil-fuel-producing countries will have to adjust their economies to reflect lower export earnings from oil, coal, and natural gas. The rise of renewable energy may also create new centers of geopolitical power. As renewable resources become widely distributed, supply-side geopolitics are expected to be less influential than in the fossil-fuel era. Instead of focusing on just two major resources, oil and natural gas, low-carbon energy geopolitics may depend on many additional factors, such as access to technology, power lines, rare earth materials, patents, storage, and dispatch, not to mention unpredictable government policies. Despite uncertainty, there is no question that the balance of power in energy geopolitics is shifting from fossil-fuel owners to countries that are developing low-carbon solutions.
Keywords: Energy geopolitics; fossil fuels; low-carbon energy; nuclear power; renewable energy; solar power; wind power
MIT Department
MIT Energy Initiative
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Joint Program on the Science & Policy of Global Change
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2016.1240476
