Energy Policy

Offers an innovative look at why science and technology cannot alone meet the needs of energy policy making in the future.

A balanced examination of global energy issues. Energy sustainability and climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humankind. Unraveling these complex and interconnected issues demands careful and objective assessment. Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy aims to change the prevailing discourse by examining fifteen core energy questions from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating how, for each of them, no clear-cut answer exists. Is industry the chief energy villain? Can we sustainably feed and fuel the planet at the same time? Is nuclear energy worth the risk? Should geoengineering be outlawed? Touching on pollution, climate mitigation and adaptation, energy efficiency, government intervention, and energy security, the authors explore interrelated concepts of law, philosophy, ethics, technology, economics, psychology, sociology, and public policy. This book offers a much-needed critical appraisal of the central energy technology and policy dilemmas of our time and the impact of these on multiple stakeholders.

Sustainable development is triggering a re-assessment of innovation and technological change in all fields, and energy is no exception. A key challenge of energy sustainability is to examine the range of credible potential pathways of combined social, environmental and technological systems under conditions of uncertainty, stagger, personal preferences and complication. Conventional energy resources essentially fossil fuels are becoming limited because of the swift increase in energy demand. This disparity in energy demand and supply has placed enormous coercion not only on consumer prices, but also on the natural world; this requires mankind to look for sustainable energy resources. Sreekanth. K J, PhD begins this book by first describing the energy efficiency and emission reduction characteristics of the road transportation sector in Chapter One. Chapter Two proposes the costs of renewable energy promotion and benefits through an analysis of the European case by Margarita Ortega Izquierdo and Pablo Del Río. Next, Chapter Three, by Jiang Yu and Zheng Fang, presents a review on residential electricity price policies in China. In Chapter Four, Fotouh Al-Ragom discusses the behavior change approach with a metric to promote and sustain energy efficiency. The Nigerian electricity market and its future is explained in Chapter Five by Karen Maguire and Kolawole Olaniyi. The institutionalization of the common gas market in the context of institutional evolution of the Eurasian economic union by Elena Shadrina is explained in Chapter Six.

Our future depends on what we do about energy. This stark fact, clear since the oil embargo of the 1970s, has been hammered home through crisis after crisis—and yet our government has failed to come up with a coherent energy policy. John Deutch, with his extraordinary mix of technical, scholarly, corporate, and governmental expertise in the realm of energy, is uniquely qualified to explain what has stood in the way of progress on this most pressing issue. His book is at once an eye-opening history of the muddled practices that have passed for energy policy over the past thirty years, and a cogent account of what we can and should learn from so many breakdowns of strategy and execution. Three goals drive any comprehensive energy policy: develop an effective approach to climate change; transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy technologies; and increase the efficiency of energy use to reduce dependence on imported oil. Why has every effort in this direction eventually fallen short? Deutch identifies the sources of this failure in our popular but unrealistic goals, our competing domestic and international agendas, and our poor analysis in planning, policy-making, and administering government programs. Most significantly, The Crisis in Energy Policy clarifies the need to link domestic and global considerations, as well as the critical importance of integrating technical, economic, and political factors. Written for experts and citizens alike, this book will strengthen the hand of anyone concerned about the future of energy policy.

Activists, scientists and policymakers around the world have long argued that we need to find sustainable and secure solutions to the world's energy demands. At issue for citizens worldwide is whether we are scientifically literate enough to understand the potential policy choices before us. Understanding Energy and Energy Policy is a one-stop resource for understanding the complexities of energy policy and the science behind the utilization of energy sources. The multidisciplinary perspective presented in this book is necessary for readers to be able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of potential energy policies. The book draws on case studies from the global North and South, from countries that are resource poor and resource rich, while providing explanations of the science and politics behind burning fossil fuels, and power created through nuclear energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, biofuels and water.

Carbon Capture and Storage in International Energy Policy and Law identifies the main contemporary regulatory requirements, challenges and opportunities involving CCS from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. It draws on the scholarship of renowned researchers across the fields of international energy law and policy to address CCS regulation and its impact on climate change, sustainable development, and related consequences for energy transition. In this vein, the book aims to address issues related to energy, energy justice and climate changes (including CCS technology). Contributors discuss the main challenges and advantages concerning international energy and the forms CCS may contribute to energy security, climate change, adaptation and mitigation of GHG emissions and sustainable development. In this light, the book discusses CCS as a bridge that integrates international energy, climate change and sustainable development. Covers contemporary regulatory command-and-control and market incentive instruments across the local, regional and/or international spheres in-depth and in comparison Reviews deregulatory impacts, modern financing of CCS, liability of the involved parties, and pertinent environmental issues Addresses sociotechnical aspects of CCS and its specific impact on the international arena Discusses the interplay of carbon capture and storage, renewables and the overall energy transition, current pathways to sustainable development

This open access book advocates for the Social Sciences and Humanities to be more involved in energy policymaking. It forms part of the European platform for energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities’ activities, and works on the premise that crossing disciplines is essential. All of its contributions are highly interdisciplinary, with each chapter grounded in at least three different Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines. These varying perspectives come together to cover an array of issues relevant to the energy transition, including: energy poverty, justice, political ecology, governance, behaviours, imaginaries, systems approaches, modelling, as well as the particular challenges faced by interdisciplinary work. As a whole, the book presents new ideas for future energy policy, particularly at the European level. It is a valuable resource for energy researchers interested in interdisciplinary and society-relevant perspectives. Those working outside the Social Sciences and Humanities will find this book an accessible way of learning more about how these subjects can constructively contribute to energy policy.

This book calls for rethinking current climate, energy and sustainability policy-making by presenting new insights into the rebound phenomenon; i.e., the driving forces, mechanisms and extent of rebound effects and potential means of mitigating them. It pursues an innovative and novel approach to the political and scientific rebound discourse and hence, supplements the current state-of-knowledge discussed in the field of energy economics and recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Building on central rebound publications from the past four decades, this book is divided into three main sections: Part I highlights new aspects of rebound economics by presenting insights into issues that have so far not been satisfactorily researched, such as rebounds in countries of the Global South, rebounds on the producer-side, and rebounds from sufficiency behaviour (as opposed to rebounds from technical efficiency improvements). In turn, Part II goes beyond conventional economic rebound research, exploring multidisciplinary perspectives on the phenomenon, in particular from the fields of psychology and sociology. Advancing such multidisciplinary perspectives delivers a more comprehensive understanding of rebound’s driving forces, mechanisms, and policy options. Part III puts rebounds into practice and presents several policy cases and sector-specific approaches, including the contexts of labour markets, urban planning, tourism, information and communication technologies, and transport. Lastly, the book embeds the issue into the larger debate on decoupling, green growth and degrowth, and identifies key lessons learned for sustainable development strategies and policies at large. By employing such varied and in-depth analyses, the book makes an essential contribution to the discussion of the overall question: Can resource-, energy-use and greenhouse gas emissions be substantially reduced without hindering economic growth?