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Energy Security of Central and Eastern European Countries
Abstract
The main purpose of the text is to present a selection of energy security problems affecting Central and Eastern European countries, including a selective comparative analysis in relation to Western European countries. In the first place, a comparative analysis is applied to some general issues concerned with energy security, so that in the end included is a special dimension of energy security, i.e. gas security understood as gas supply security. The comparative analysis covers three dimensions of energy security: (1) socio-economic, (2) innovative and technological and (3) geopolitical (and geoeconomic). Besides, the analysis performed makes use of, as a background and inspiration, theoretical aspects of historical materialism, structural approaches as part of the dependency paradigms of research into international political and economic relations, as well as the presuppositions of the research programme concerning energy security by Cherp and Jewell.
... To a certain extent, consumers should be guaranteed energy at the required time, in the required quantity and form, and at an available price. The priority activity in terms of conducting energy policy is to take care of stable and uninterrupted supplies of energy carriers based on long-term contracts thanks to an independent industrial infrastructure that directly connects supply sources (including deposits) with the territory of Poland (Rosicki, 2023). ...
Purpose: The aim of the study was to present the issue of energy efficiency and dependency as key factors in the country's energy security and to diagnose the current state of Poland's energy security against the background of the European Union. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a descriptive and explanatory research method, primarily analysis of Eurostat data, as well as causal analysis based on a literature review. Findings: The study presents quantitative ways of determining the level of energy security of a country and also presents rankings of EU countries in the context of energy efficiency and energy dependency. The study presents recommended development actions for Poland and the European Union to increase energy security. Research limitations/implications: Constraints in the implementation of the research included difficult access to complete and adequate data or a complete lack thereof. Future research will concern the diagnosis and analysis of the energy mixes of CEE countries in the context of their energy security. Practical implications: Development recommendations for the EU and Poland are presented (reducing the level of network losses in energy transmission and distribution, building highly efficient generation units, increasing the level of use of high-efficiency cogeneration and increasing end-use energy efficiency). Originality/value: The analyses presented fill the research gap concerning the diagnosis of the level of efficiency and energy dependence (of Poland in comparison with EU countries) in the context of ensuring Poland's energy security.
This article aims to describe the EU’s dependence on import and also to a growing danger of impediments in supplies and lack of guarantee of stable prices. In time dependence on import of energy resources and its risks may lead to a disturbance in a stable economic development of the EU countries. At the same time the EU countries are more and more dependent on the import of oil and natural gas. The EU countries are practically at a loss in the face of Russian gas politics, they do not even try to create a solid block, which could change the stance of Russia with the use of diplomatic and economic means. Perhaps in this case a hypothesis could be proposed that the reasons for the crisis are political, not commercial. Germany and France from time to time demonstrate in public their very good relations with the Russian Federation.
Germany s recent Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy) has become a major topic in Western discussions about how to deal best with Vladimir Putin s Russia. This essay proceeds from Interdependence Theory to argue that the Berlin-promoted Nord Stream gas pipeline projects are loosening Russian-Ukrainian economic ties, and thereby easing conflict between the two post-Soviet states. Ukraine s surprisingly peaceful development during its first 20 years as an independent state is contrasted with the escalation of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv in 2013-2014. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030438721000673
Recent gas disputes between Russia and Ukraine have renewed interest in the study of energy security in the EU. This paper's main aim is to evaluate developments in gas supply security in the EU-27 Member States in the context of the gas crises of 2006 and 2009. Based on a causal classification of energy risks, two dimensions are proposed for a synthetic indicator – a Weighted Energy Security Index for gas – allowing us to gauge the degree of gas supply security in the sample countries. Our findings show that gas supply security in the EU-27 has hardly improved. We found one group of countries in which the level of gas security has actually worsened, another group that has made little effort at improvement, and another consisting only of Latvia in which a greater effort is appreciable.
The object of analysis in the text are “energy cultures” in the member states of the European Union (EU-28). The text attempts to verify the legitimacy of the statements pointing to the possibility of grouping the European Union member states according to a special kind of energy use practices.
In order to elaborate the research problem the text features the following research questions: (1) Is it legitimate to claim that within the EU-28 there are special “energy cultures”?, (2) If the claim of the existence of special “energy cultures” is legitimate, what features determine the division among the EU-28 countries? These questions should be associated with the intention to establish the existence of the division of the EU-28 states into “clean” and “dirty” energy cultures. Such a division can be substantiated by individual features of the EU-28 member states, related to energy production, consumption and conversion, e.g. GHG emissions and the commitment to the coal sector.
For the adopted premises to be verified, the analysis employed one of the agglomerative methods (i.e. the Ward’s method) and one of the methods for optimising a given group of objects (i.e. the k-means method). Besides, with the aid of individual tests, the differences in the level of parameters between the isolated clusters of countries were analysed. Furthermore, with the aid of the principal component method groups of independent factors were isolated, and the scope of essential differences in the level of the isolated factors between the grouped EU-28 member states was determined.
The research problem under analysis in this text is 'energy security cultures' in the European Union. The main goal of the research is to conduct a comparative analysis involving selected existing research papers on 'energy cultures.' In the analysis, attention is drawn to research employing quantitative methods based on object clustering methods. Given the necessity to make the research problem more specific, the text addresses the following research questions: (1) Is the claim that the European Union presents special 'energy security cultures' legitimate?, (2) Did the period of 2008-2012 witness changes to the above-established 'energy security cultures' in the European Union? In order to conduct the analysis concerned with the existence or non-existence of 'energy security cultures' in the European Union, the following indices have been adopted: (1) the index of the energy intensity of the economy, (2) the index of energy dependence, (3) the Stirling index, (4) the index of network losses and (5) the index of renewable energy use. It is considered that the selected indices constitute a definiens of the adopted term of an 'energy security culture.' To verify the assumptions made in the analysis, use was made of one agglomerative method (i.e. Ward's method) and one method for optimising a given cluster of objects (the k-means method).
The objective scope of this analysis is focused on selected problems of the Polish energy policy. The text addresses three groups of issues connected with Polish energy policy: (1) institutional and legal matters, (2) forecasting, and (3) problems. In the first case, attention is given to the statutory solutions with regard to the goals, tasks, the model and the elements of the energy policy, as well as to the responsibility of different entities for its implementation. In the second case, scenarios for the development of the energy policy are presented; they are also subjected to a brief comparative analysis. In the third case, attention is given to the presentation of the following issues: (1) energy dependence, (2) energy monoculture, (3) the level of development of renewable energy sources, (4) emissions performance, and (5) energy efficiency. In order for the research problem to be elaborated, the text features the following research questions: (1) to what extent do institutional and legal solutions affect the effectiveness of the energy policy pursued in Poland?; (2) which scenario for the development of Polish energy policy should be deemed most likely?; (3) which problem issues singled out in the analysis should be regarded as the greatest challenge to the Polish energy policy?
Concept of energy security has been subject to multiple attempts for its conceptualization. Nowadays generally accepted approach is based on multiple dimensions and incorporates factors of energy availability, energy affordability, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. This paper used z-scored standardization methodology in order to empirically examine the development of overall energy security via synthesizing the contributions of individual dimensions. We took into account eleven distinct variables which describes the each dimension. We found out, that most important common denominator that distinguishes the most secured countries from its peers within EU is their ability to generate energy indigenously due to its natural endowments. Our analysis further revealed that dimensions that are covered under common energy policies (energy efficiency and environmental stewardship) show signs growing cohesion across countries. However countries which improved their overall energy security relied primarily on their affordability dimension. We need to add that each dimension contributed its significant share to the total energy security index development.
The main objective of the text is to present an analysis that points to the existence of special “energy cultures” in the European Union. The comparative analysis encompassing the results of previous research into “energy cultures” employs statistical methods, i.e. a cluster analysis (Ward’s clustering method and k-means clustering method).
The main sections of the text address: (1) the concept and examples of “energy cultures,” (2) a methodology of analysis, (3) a selection of indexes characterising “energy cultures,” (4) an attempt at grouping the European Union member states with the aid of clustering, (5) conclusions.
With a view to making the research problem more specific, the present text features the following questions: (1) Is the claim that the European Union manifests special “energy cultures” legitimate?, (2) Did the decade of 2001-2011 witness changes in the field of the European Union “energy cultures,” as earlier recognised by the literature?
The article constitutes the problem analysis of the gas pipeline built by the Nord Stream company, i.e. its importance for Poland, the EU and other states, peculiarly in the context of the energy security of the region. This article includes pros and cons of the legitimacy of the construction of the gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed. In this fragment authors more widely referred to the politics pursued by opponents of the plan which was pushed through by the Gazprom, as well as to arguments supporting the need of this gas project. The general conclusion of analysis of the legitimacy of the North gas pipeline construction shows that it is not as unique project as it could seem. And the evaluation of this undertaking depends on national interests of different countries and business entities. In the more distant part of the text, the authors referred to the geopolitical importance of the North Stream gas pipeline for Poland, Germany and Russia and to threats which can result from it. In addition, the article contains a synthetic approach to the situation of gas and gas projects in Poland. At the end of the text there are conclusions and summary of the whole issue. In short, the text refers to the most debated issues in both energy policy and Polish foreign policy.
In recent years, a new type of determinist environmental thinking has emerged. It can be understood to be one strand in a much broader realm of ‘environment talk’. Many human geographers have expressed a combination of scepticism and surprise at the apparently inexorable rise of the neo-environmentalist arguments which differ from early twentieth-century environmental determinism yet continue to draw upon biologistic accounts of human culture. Although geography has in recent years been at the forefront of the academic discussions of environmental change in relation to science, institutional context, political costs and human impacts, the discipline nevertheless has to contend with a widespread misperception of the place of environment in human affairs and the world’s future. This Forum discusses the context for the rise of, and consequences of, determinist accounts.
Scholarly discourses on energy security have developed in response to initially separate policy agendas such as supply of fuels for armies and transportation, uninterrupted provision of electricity, and ensuring market and investment effectiveness. As a result three distinct perspectives on energy security have emerged: the 'sovereignty' perspective with its roots in political science; the 'robustness' perspective with its roots in natural science and engineering; and the 'resilience' perspective with its roots in economics and complex systems analysis. At present, the energy security challenges are increasingly entangled so that they cannot be analyzed within the boundaries of any single perspective. To respond to these challenges, the energy security studies should not only achieve mastery of the disciplinary knowledge underlying all three perspectives but also weave the theories, methods and knowledge from these different mindsets together in a unified interdisciplinary effort. The key challenges for interdisciplinary energy security studies are drawing the credible boundaries of the field, formulating credible research questions and developing a methodological toolkit acceptable for all three perspectives.
As the likelihood increases that Russia will dominate the European Union's (EU) energy supply, questions have emerged as to whether Russia would use the energy weapon to influence EU member policies and extract political concessions. Countervailing voices argue that Russia would be restricted by interdependence and market forces. As of yet, no one has analyzed the assumptions underlying the energy weapon thesis. Moreover, many scholars examining EU-Russian energy relations rely on non-Russian data. This article seeks to fill several informational and theoretical gaps by including Russian sources and first-hand data and by systematically analyzing the conditions that must obtain before an energy supplier can successfully convert its energy resources into political power. The resulting model can be utilized to analyze the capacity of a supplier to use the energy weapon'whether it be Russia, Iran, Venezuela or any other energy heavyweight'and to assess whether the deployment was successful. Five purported cases of Russian manipulation are analyzed in this article and the findings indicate that, more often than not, Russia failed to achieve political concessions. Looking to the future, the plausibility of Russia using the energy weapon to exploit Europe's dependence, particularly on gas, is also examined.
The spike in energy prices and feared natural gas supplies shortage during the winter of 2021/2022 indicate a limited ability of existing energy measures to deliver energy security for the European Union. Moreover, the lack of a common external energy security policy made it difficult for the EU to assume a common energy position towards Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While the pace of decarbonisation needs to increase for the EU to achieve its 2050 goals, the Union must support its member states' energy security (including its external dimension) during the transition period, until it will be provided by domestic low-carbon energy sources.
Based on a content analysis of over 5,500 media articles, this contribution analyses debates about export pipelines in five post-Soviet countries, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine, focusing on time periods of decisive pipeline decisions. The analysis covers the entirety of the policy communities engaging in these debates, identifying opinion leaders, dissenting voices and relevant cleavages. It shows that even in authoritarian regimes broad groups of actors are involved in pipeline debates, with not just the ruling elites, but also representatives of foreign states and companies as well as domestic and foreign experts playing prominent roles. In most cases, a broad consensus about pipeline choices seems to be genuine and not the result of political pressure. This consensus focuses on narrow considerations of direct commercial and political gains from pipeline projects, largely ignoring broader societal and environmental impacts.
Four interpretations of the EU's energy transition can be identified in Russia's political discourse in 2014–2019 based on the matrix that combines realist and liberal approaches to energy relations and the denial or recognition of climate change. The cross-cutting idea of these interpretations is that Russia follows the market logics, whereas the EU either politicises energy relations or chooses economically unreasonable options. Most Russian actors advance all four interpretations in parallel. A liberal interpretation, which recognises climate change, became dominant towards the end of the examined period. Two main policy options are shaped by Russia's political discourse on the EU's energy transition: maintaining the status quo in EU-Russian gas trade and diversifying Russia's export markets. Russia's political discourse reveals a strong ideational difference with the EU on future energy policies, and Russia poorly engages with the EU's post-2030 planning. It is recommended that the EU improve its energy transition communication with Russia, and Russia is advised to enlarge the range of its policy options by better engaging with the EU's long-term energy planning. Russia and the EU also must examine energy transition in the broader context of their relations. Practical project-based cooperation can contribute to ideational convergence between the EU and Russia on future energy policies.
The paper investigates investments in gas infrastructure considering uncertainties in European gas markets. Furthermore, the study addresses the question of whether (more) diversification provides a (better) security of supply improvement. Thus, a stochastic optimization approach is introduced. The uncertainties focus on 2030 and 2045 in three dimensions, namely the Ukraine gas transit, future LNG prices, and the expected gas demand. Considering three diversification strategies, the model GAMAMOD-EU.sto optimizes investments in pipelines, LNG import terminals and gas storages as well as the gas dispatch. Results illustrate trade-offs between optimal gas supply and diversification strategies. Investments in pipelines to North African suppliers are made across all strategies, while the building of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline depend on the respective diversification strategy. Diversification through LNG quota changes the dispatch results significantly. Investments in storages are almost not necessary over all strategies, however, storages provide flexibility to prevent supply shortages, when diversification strategies are applied. Conclusion for policy makers regarding what is needed for preventing malinvestments and high costs in the European gas market are: an enhanced relationship between Russia and the EU and a clear vision on the role of gas in the future European energy system that reduces demand uncertainty.
This textbook on political geography is devoted to a discipline concerned with the spatial dimensions of politics. This course is an introduction to the study of political science, international relations and area studies, providing a systemic approach to the spatial dimension of political processes at all levels. It covers their basic elements, including states, supranational unions, geopolitical systems, regions, borders, capitals, dependent, and internationally administered territories. Political geography develops fundamental theoretical approaches that give insight into the peculiarities of foreign and domestic policies. The ability to use spatial analysis techniques allows determining patterns and regularities of political phenomena both at the global and the regional and local levels.
The Russian gas transit through Ukraine and the possibility of circumnavigating the historically dominant route poses a serious challenge to European gas markets. With the application of market modelling tools, this paper examines Russian export strategies to Europe using different transit route combinations. Although the cessation of Ukrainian transit would not endanger the security of gas supply in Europe, it would result in higher prices in all scenarios. In scenarios that include Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream 2, Ukrainian transit is non-essential for Russia to maintain its current share of EU gas imports. At the same time, the results show that limiting Ukrainian transit is less profitable for Russia: even if all the planned infrastructure is completed, shutting this route would result in losses of close to 5 billion € per year in Russian gas sales. Since it appears inevitable that Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream 2 will be built, a no transit scenario is a real possibility thereafter. In this case the V4 should lobby for Balkan Stream, with investment costs borne by Gazprom. However, if there are continued deliveries via Ukraine there is no need for Balkan Stream.
Between 2014 and 2015, the EU started a new energy policy in order to address, among other issues, the problematic character of energy interdependence with Russia, and thus improve its energy security. The aim of this article is to determine how this policy considered interdependence with Russia in the light of diversification alternatives. Energy security is seen through short-term and long-term dimensions, which can be equated to the concepts of vulnerability and sensitivity interdependence. As the article shows, the alternative of LNG is limited by production and consumption patterns in both Europe and other world markets. It also shows that maintaining interdependence with Russia and reducing the role of transit countries such as Ukraine would yield benefits both in vulnerability and sensitivity interdependence. However, while the EU has strongly based its rhetoric on the promise of LNG, it has ignored alternatives that would maintain interdependence with Russia. Eventually, the EU's energy strategy has acknowledged the limitations of LNG, even though it has not changed its stance towards Russia. In that respect, it seems fair to conclude the EU has not rigorously analysed the transit dimension in its interdependence with Russia and the implications for its energy security.
What role does natural gas play in Russian foreign policy and domestic politics? This article takes an in-depth look at the last two decades of Russian gas policy as a period of change and as a challenge to Gazprom's Russian gas domination over its main market, Europe. Within this framework, the paper focuses on four main themes: 1) Gazprom's position vis-à-vis its domestic competitors, including challenges to Gazprom export monopoly; 2) the changing nature of natural gas markets and its impact on the position of Russian gas in Europe; 3) policy challenges to Russian gas exports to Europe; and 4) Russian gas exports’ pivot to China.
By 2030, the projected decrease in domestic European gas production will result in a shortfall of 12% of the EU's gas demand. In this work, two different strategies to cover this shortfall are investigated: Increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from different global sources versus increased deliveries of Russian pipeline gas via Nord Stream 2. A novel gas system model, which captures both the market behavior of gas traders and gas system operators, is developed and applied. The model is highly detailed, as it simulates all individual components of the Europe-wide gas transmission system with hourly resolution. Simulations show that Nord Stream 2 impacts the gas transit through Poland more severely (23% loss of transit flows compared to 2014) than the transit through Ukraine (13% loss). Completely cutting off Ukraine is found to be a detrimental strategy for Russia, because only 40% of Ukrainian transit can be re-routed via Nord Stream 2 over a short timeframe. Increased imports of LNG are found to require 17% of European gas pipelines to be bidirectional, which requires significant investments into the European gas infrastructure. Additionally, the penetration of LNG is found to be highly sensitive to the price of LNG, with LNG losing 50% market share when priced 20% more expensively than pipeline gas. Hence overall, the choice between Nord Stream 2 and LNG exposes Europe to either a) the political risk of being more dependent on Russia or b) the technical and financial risks of importing the globally traded commodity LNG.
The new and updated seventh edition of Political Geography once again shows itself fit to tackle a frequently and rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. It retains the intellectual clarity, rigour and vision of previous editions based upon its world-systems approach, and is complemented by the perspective of feminist geography. The book successfully integrates the complexity of individuals with the complexity of the world-economy by merging the compatible, but different, research agendas of the co-authors. This edition explores the importance of states in corporate globalization, challenges to this globalization, and the increasingly influential role of China. It also discusses the dynamics of the capitalist world-economy and the constant tension between the global scale of economic processes and the territorialization of politics in the current context of geopolitical change. The chapters have been updated with new examples - new sections on art and war, intimate geopolitics and geopolitical constructs reflect the vibrancy and diversity of the academic study of the subject. Sections have been updated and added to the material of the previous edition to reflect the role of the so-called Islamic State in global geopolitics. The book offers a framework to help students make their own judgements of how we got where we are today, and what may or should be done about it. Political Geography remains a core text for students of political geography, geopolitics, international relations and political science, as well as more broadly across human geography and the social sciences.
Policies and politics are crucial elements of sustainability transitions. Transition pathways unfold as a result of continuous struggles of actors over policy goals and instruments. Taking a policy mix perspective, we study policies and policy preferences of key industry actors in the ongoing energy transition at the level of the European Union. We introduce two central analytical dimensions for transition pathways: the degree of sustainability (here: renewable energy ambition) and the degree of disruption (here: whether to pursue centralized or decentralized energy system configurations). We find that the current EU energy policy mix is heterogeneous with respect to the issue of (de-)centralization, whereas most policies and actors express high or moderate ambitions for renewable energy. Our paper makes three contributions. It demonstrates how actors and policy preferences can be explicitly included in the study of policy mixes. To the literature on transition pathways, we introduce sustainability as another key dimension in addition to disruption. Lastly, we propose a novel methodology for analyzing the politics of transition pathways.
In this classic work Joan Robinson goes back to the beginning and works out the basic theory that is needed for a coherent treatment of the problems that present themselves in a developing economy. This new edition features a new introduction, which discusses the great significance of Robinson's work.
The primary aim of this paper is to explain the 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas conflict. In particular, it attempts to identify the causal mechanisms between their interdependence in the gas sphere and the gas conflict. The paper first shows that existing theories in the study of international relations have limitations in accounting for that conflict. Therefore, a theoretical framework drawing insights from Armstrong's model on dependence-political compliance and Crescenzi's exit model is proposed to explain it. Relying on this framework, this paper demonstrates that the 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas conflict took place through two critical causal mechanisms. In the contexts of the 2008 global financial crisis and Ukraine's anti-Russian policy, Russia and Ukraine both considered issues involved in the gas trade such as debts, prices, transit tariffs, and Ukraine's pipeline system to be very important. Therefore, when Russia issued demands with economic threats, Ukraine refused to comply.
This article explicates the puzzle of strategic restraint in contemporary European-Russian gas relations. The first and second sections compare and contrast successive gas wars since 2006, detailing respective dimensions to restraint and costly paralysis experienced by upstream, downstream, and transit states alike. The third part presents an alternative understanding of energy power politics rooted in social network analysis. It probes the validity of new forms of power, influence, and vulnerability in Russia's evolving gas relations with Europe, as derived from "betweenness centrality" among emerging infrastructure hubs and the quality of corporate alliances across subregions of Central Europe. This includes cursory examination of the credibility and costliness of disruption related to the flexibility and diffusion of gas relationships into/across the northern and southern parts of Central Europe, as well as the social capital within Gazprom's corporate eco-system that bound Russia's lasting prominence as a supplier in these sub-regions. The final section identifies practical guidelines for transcending the current knotty predicament to stabilize commercial trading and peaceful U.S./Euro-Russian energy governance
This book begins with an idea of something which easily goes unnoticed: forces and processes at work on the disregarded margins of highly visible orders, such as in Europe and the other visible blocs of our world, which may challenge, or even reshape, those apparently given realities. The expectation that we could find forces and processes on the margins underpinned our project. Properly considered, that thought suggests that if we look carefully at the margins of larger, substantial entities, such as the socio-political order called “Europe,” we can find interactions between the margins and the center. As I seek to demonstrate in this introduction, we can anticipate that, in such interactions, margins will exhibit three surprising types of effect: dynamics peculiar to their marginality; independent scope vis-à-vis the ostensibly dominant center or centers; and/or a potential to impact on the center(s), perhaps even to the extent of “reshaping” it.
This short article defends the methods utilized in creating an energy security index. It explains why an energy security index is needed, and then justifies research interviews as a data collection tool. Next, it responds to the three strands of Professor Cherp’s critique before offering a few general conclusions for readers concerned about energy security.
This article provides a synthesized, workable framework for analyzing national energy security policies and performance. Drawn from research interviews, survey results, a focused workshop, and an extensive literature review, this article proposes that energy security ought to be comprised of five dimensions related to availability, affordability, technology development, sustainability, and regulation. We then break these five dimensions down into 20 components related to security of supply and production, dependency, and diversification for availability; price stability, access and equity, decentralization, and low prices for affordability; innovation and research, safety and reliability, resilience, energy efficiency, and investment for technology development; land use, water, climate change, and air pollution for sustainability; and governance, trade, competition, and knowledge for sound regulation. Further still, our synthesis lists 320 simple indicators and 52 complex indicators that policymakers and scholars can use to analyze, measure, track, and compare national performance on energy security. The article concludes by offering implications for energy policy more broadly.
Three elements of late nineteenth century society are examined: imperialism as the urgent moment of sociopolitical necessity, Social Darwinism as compelling ideology of an imperial capitalism, and environmental determinism as first version of modern geography. To legitimate imperial conflict and conquest, sociological principles were derived from biology using the methodological linking device of the organismic analogy. Fundamental differences between humans and the rest of nature could not be comprehended within this methodology. Though aimed at a science of society. Social Darwinism in general and environmental determinism as its geographic version were forced to assume a quasi-scientific form in racism, and nature was given a causal power that could not be scientifically justified. Marxism, by comparison, provides a theoretical basis for scientifically comprehending the relations between nature, production, and society. Following Social Darwinism rather than Marxism prevented geography from achieving a science of environmental relations.
The critique of Clark and Dear is criticized as an attempt to make radical geography safe, acceptable, and capable of being synthesized into the mainstream of conventional geography. Pragmatic exigency (“appealing'’to our colleagues) cannot provide the philosophical basis of our future development. Marxist geography instead is an application of dialectical materialism to the analysis of environmental and spatial relations. It necessarily is revolutionary science. This conclusion permanently separates radical geographers from their disciplinary colleagues, but need not prevent critical, informed debate.
The concept of energy security is widely used, yet there is no consensus on its precise interpretation. In this research, we have provided an overview of available indicators for long-term security of supply (SOS). We distinguished four dimensions of energy security that relate to the availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability of energy and classified indicators for energy security according to this taxonomy. There is no one ideal indicator, as the notion of energy security is highly context dependent. Rather, applying multiple indicators leads to a broader understanding. Incorporating these indicators in model-based scenario analysis showed accelerated depletion of currently known fossil resources due to increasing global demand. Coupled with increasing spatial discrepancy between consumption and production, international trade in energy carriers is projected to have increased by 142% in 2050 compared to 2008. Oil production is projected to become increasingly concentrated in a few countries up to 2030, after which production from other regions diversifies the market. Under stringent climate policies, this diversification may not occur due to reduced demand for oil. Possible benefits of climate policy include increased fuel diversity and slower depletion of fossil resources.
Twenty-first century access to energy sources depends on a complex system of global markets, vast cross-border infrastructure networks, a small group of primary energy suppliers, and interdependencies with financial markets and technology. This is the context in which energy security has risen high on the policy agenda of governments around the world and the term ‘energy security’ has quietly slipped into the energy lexicon. The limited discourse about the nature of the term or its underlying assumptions has been totally eclipsed by an almost overwhelming focus on securing supplies of primary energy sources and geopolitics. An examination of explicit and inferred definitions finds that the concept of energy security is inherently slippery because it is polysemic in nature, capable of holding multiple dimensions and taking on different specificities depending on the country (or continent), timeframe or energy source to which it is applied. This ‘slipperiness’ poses analytical, prediction and policy difficulties but if explicitly recognised through definitional clarity, new levels of understanding will enrich the policy debate to deal with obstacles impacting on the constantly evolving nature of energy security.
This paper assesses the relative oil vulnerability of 26 net oil-importing countries for the year 2004 on the basis of various indicators—the ratio of value of oil imports to gross domestic product (GDP), oil consumption per unit of GDP, GDP per capita and oil share in total energy supply, ratio of domestic reserves to oil consumption, exposure to geopolitical oil market concentration risks as measured by net oil import dependence, diversification of supply sources, political risk in oil-supplying countries, and market liquidity.The approach using the principal component technique has been adopted to combine these individual indicators into a composite index of oil vulnerability. Such an index captures the relative sensitivity of various economies towards developments of the international oil market, with a higher index indicating higher vulnerability. The results show that there are considerable differences in the values of individual indicators of oil vulnerability and overall oil vulnerability index among the countries (both inter and intraregional).
Energy security has become a popular catch phrase, both in the scientific arena as well as in the political discussion. Yet, in general the applied concepts of energy security are rather vague. This paper sheds some light on concepts and indicators of energy security. First, we conceptually discuss the issue of energy supply security and explain why it is not to handle by one science alone and what economics may contribute in order to structure the topic. After providing a brief survey of existing attempts to define or measure energy security we suggest an additional dimension along which indicators of energy security may be classified: ex-post and ex-ante indicators. Finally, we illustrate our concept on the basis of several simplified indicators. While ex-post indicators are mostly based on price developments, ex-ante indicators are to a greater extent aimed at illustrating potential problems. Our illustration suggests that it is worthwhile to take into account the market structure along with the political stability of exporting countries.