Renewables are a game changer for interstate energy relations. Their abundance and intermittency, possibilities for decentral generation and use of rare earth materials, and generally electric nature of transportation make them very different from fossil fuels. What do these geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems imply for infrastructure topology and operations, business models, and energy markets? What are the consequences for the strategic realities and policy considerations of producer, consumer, and transit countries and energy-related patterns of cooperation and conflict between them? Who are the winners and losers? The Geopolitics of Renewables is the first in-depth exploration of the implications for interstate energy relations of a transition towards renewable energy. Fifteen international scholars combine insights from several disciplines - international relations, geopolitics, energy security, renewable energy technology, economics, sustainability transitions, and energy policy - to establish a comprehensive overview and understanding of the emerging energy game. Focus is on contemporary developments and how they may shape the coming decades on three levels of analysis: * The emerging global energy game; winners and losers * Regional and bilateral energy relations of established and rising powers * Infrastructure developments and governance responses The book is recommended for academics and policy makers. It offers a novel analytical framework that moves from geography and technology to economics and politics to investigate the geopolitical implications of renewable energy and provides practical illustrations and policy recommendations related to specific countries and regions such as the US, EU, China, India, OPEC, and Russia

From climate change over shale gas to the race for the Arctic, energy makes headlines in international politics almost daily. Thijs Van de Graaf argues that energy is in dire need of global governance. He traces the history of international energy cooperation from the notorious 'Seven Sisters' oil-companies cartel to the recent creation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He analyses how international institutions have been created for securing oil rents, coordinating consumer-countries' energy security policies, promoting producer-consumer dialogue, managing regional gas markets, and dealing with energy-related environmental externalities. Drawing on the emerging regime complexity literature, he constructs a novel analytical framework to explain the fragmented architecture of global energy governance, and studies prospects for institutional reform at the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the G8/G20.

The rise of new powers such as China and India is sending shockwaves through the global multilateral system. This volume systematically examines how 13 multilateral institutions are responding to this shift, with some deploying innovative outreach and reform activities, while others are paralyzed by gridlock or even retreat from the global scene.

Multipolar governance permits a number of important states to have significantly more economic and political clout than others, but among them there is hardly any hierarchy. The new energy challenge, with its intricate socio-economic, ecological and international-political considerations, is a multi-dimensional, multi-level and multi-actor issue that requires a minimum of 'central' political steering, because neither the invisible hand of the market, nor unilateral or bilateral power politics are capable to bring about sustainable solutions. Global Energy Governance in a Multipolar World investigates the relationship between the emergence of a multipolar world order and the enormous challenges of global energy governance that the world is facing in the 21st century. It reflects on fundamental questions such as how the main consuming countries can avoid conflict over scarce resources, how they will cooperate to bring about open energy markets, energy conservation and efficiency, and how they can promote renewable energy sources.

This Handbook is the first volume to analyse the International Political Economy, the who-gets-what-when-and-how, of global energy. Divided into five sections, it features 28 contributions that deal with energy institutions, trade, transitions, conflict and justice. The chapters span a wide range of energy technologies and markets - including oil and gas, biofuels, carbon capture and storage, nuclear, and electricity - and it cuts across the domestic-international divide. Long-standing issues in the IPE of energy such as the role of OPEC and the 'resource curse' are combined with emerging issues such as fossil fuel subsidies and carbon markets. IPE perspectives are interwoven with insights from studies on governance, transitions, security, and political ecology. The Handbook serves as a potent reminder that energy systems are as inherently political and economic as they are technical or technological, and demonstrates that the field of IPE has much to offer to studies of the changing world of energy.

Renewables are a game changer for interstate energy relations. Their abundance and intermittency, possibilities for decentral generation and use of rare earth materials, and generally electric nature of transportation make them very different from fossil fuels. What do these geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems imply for infrastructure topology and operations, business models, and energy markets? What are the consequences for the strategic realities and policy considerations of producer, consumer, and transit countries and energy-related patterns of cooperation and conflict between them? Who are the winners and losers? The Geopolitics of Renewables is the first in-depth exploration of the implications for interstate energy relations of a transition towards renewable energy. Fifteen international scholars combine insights from several disciplines - international relations, geopolitics, energy security, renewable energy technology, economics, sustainability transitions, and energy policy - to establish a comprehensive overview and understanding of the emerging energy game. Focus is on contemporary developments and how they may shape the coming decades on three levels of analysis: * The emerging global energy game; winners and losers * Regional and bilateral energy relations of established and rising powers * Infrastructure developments and governance responses The book is recommended for academics and policy makers. It offers a novel analytical framework that moves from geography and technology to economics and politics to investigate the geopolitical implications of renewable energy and provides practical illustrations and policy recommendations related to specific countries and regions such as the US, EU, China, India, OPEC, and Russia

The rise of new powers such as China and India is sending shockwaves through the global multilateral system. This volume systematically examines how 13 multilateral institutions are responding to this shift, with some deploying innovative outreach and reform activities, while others are paralyzed by gridlock or even retreat from the global scene.

From climate change over shale gas to the race for the Arctic, energy makes headlines in international politics almost daily. Thijs Van de Graaf argues that energy is in dire need of global governance. He traces the history of international energy cooperation from the notorious 'Seven Sisters' oil-companies cartel to the recent creation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He analyses how international institutions have been created for securing oil rents, coordinating consumer-countries' energy security policies, promoting producer-consumer dialogue, managing regional gas markets, and dealing with energy-related environmental externalities. Drawing on the emerging regime complexity literature, he constructs a novel analytical framework to explain the fragmented architecture of global energy governance, and studies prospects for institutional reform at the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the G8/G20.