The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions

The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions
Author: Douglas Arent
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2017
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0198802242

A volume on the political economy of clean energy transition in developed and developing regions, with a focus on the issues that different countries face as they transition from fossil fuels to lower carbon technologies.

The Political Economy of Sustainable Energy

The Political Economy of Sustainable Energy
Author: Catherine Mitchell
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2008-01-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Mitchell analyses the extent to which the current political paradigm is capable of meeting the challenges of climate change. She argues that unless there are fundamental changes to policy-making, it is unlikely that energy policies will be able to deliver sufficient change to enable a move to a sustainable energy economy.

Economics of Sustainable Energy

Economics of Sustainable Energy
Author: Jaan S. Islam
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 644
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119525926

Co-written by a pioneer of the sustainability movement, this groundbreaking volume offers a new way of thinking about the economics of sustainable energy, a goal that has eluded scientists and economists for decades. Every year, as soon as reports on global economic inequality remind us about the direction our civilization is heading, there is a hysterical reaction, but hysteria dies down within weeks and we go back to the lifestyle that brought us here today. Often the blame is laid on the Millennial generation for their "apathy," "lust for comfort," and "bratty" attitude. Yet, business insider surveys indicate it's the same Millennial generation that overwhelmingly cares for the state of the world and the direction in which our civilization is heading. Nearly 50% of them ranked climate change and destruction of nature as their primary concern. This is followed by concern for war and global conflict, and then global economic inequality. The vast majority of those surveyed are willing and eager to make lifestyle changes. This book breaks open the hypocrisy of our civilization and stops the blame game in its tracks and identifies the root causes of today's world economy, ecology, and global politics. The book demonstrates that changes in lifestyle are necessary but not sufficient. No economic policy or technology development mode has a chance to survive, let alone thrive unless supported by the political establishment. In this process, the government plays a pivotal role. The challenge is to change the attitude of the government from a 'self-serving' controlling mode to a representative philanthropic mode. This new system of economic development and political governance is inspired by a long-forgotten understanding of political economics: medieval Islamic economics. In reviewing the history of economics from trade, currencies, and interest, the strengths and weaknesses of various economic developments over our centuries are evaluated. Based on the historical analysis, a step by step procedure is outlined for this fundamental change in our society today. As a whole, this book is the first in the modern era to offer such a comprehensive analysis, complete with solutions to the entire crisis of today's civilization.

The Political Economy of Coal

The Political Economy of Coal
Author: Michael Jakob
Publisher:
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2022
Genre: Coal mines and mining
ISBN: 9780367491048

This volume provides an overview of the political economy of coal in diverse country contexts. Coal is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, accounting for about 40 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. Continued construction of coal-fired power plants could make the climate targets of the Paris Agreement infeasible to achieve. In spite of sharply declining costs for renewable energy sources, many countries still heavily rely on coal to meet their energy demand. The predominance of coal can only be adequately understood in light of the political factors that determine energy policy formulation. To this end, this edited volume assembles a wide variety of case studies exploring the political economy of coal for across the globe. These includes industrial and developing nations, coal importers and exporters as well as countries that are either substantial coal users, are just beginning to ramp up their capacities, or have already initiated a coal phase-out. Importantly, all case studies are structured along a unifying framework that focuses on the central actors driving energy policy formulation, their main objectives as well as the context that determines to what extent they can influence policy making. This large set of comparable studies will permit drawing conclusions regarding key similarities as well as differences driving coal use in different countries. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy, climate change, resource management, and sustainable development. It will also appeal to practitioners and policymakers involved in sustainable development.

The Political Economy of Sustainable Development

The Political Economy of Sustainable Development
Author: Timothy Cadman
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2015-11-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 178347484X

Since the Rio ‘Earth’ Summit of 1992, sustainable development has become the major policy response to tackling global environmental degradation, from climate change to loss of biodiversity and deforestation. Market instruments such as emissions trading, payments for ecosystem services and timber certification have become the main mechanisms for financing the sustainable management of the earth’s natural resources. Yet how effective are they – and do they help the planet and developing countries, or merely uphold the economic status quo? This book investigates these important questions. Providing a comprehensive analysis and the latest research on sustainable development, the authors compare the divergent approaches to emissions trading. Included is a detailed investigation into illegal logging and the effectiveness of policy responses, with an evaluation of different forest certification schemes. Biodiversity offsets and environmental payments are also explored. Integral to the book are interviews and opinions of the key stakeholders in the political economy of sustainable development. This uniquely comprehensive analysis of the governance quality of different sustainable development mechanisms, unprecedented in its panorama of comparative case studies, is essential reading for all those in the policy, academic and non-governmental communities.

Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy and Natural Resources

Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy and Natural Resources
Author: Andreas Goldthau
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2018-01-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1783475633

This Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the latest research from leading scholars on the international political economy of energy and resources. Highlighting the important conceptual and empirical themes, the chapters study all levels of governance, from global to local, and explore the wide range of issues emerging in a changing political and economic environment.

Global Energy Politics

Global Energy Politics
Author: Thijs Van de Graaf
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2020-05-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1509530517

Ever since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism. The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.

Renewables

Renewables
Author: Michael Aklin
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2018-03-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262344610

A comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy. Wind and solar are the most dynamic components of the global power sector. How did this happen? After the 1973 oil crisis, the limitations of an energy system based on fossil fuels created an urgent need to experiment with alternatives, and some pioneering governments reaped political gains by investing heavily in alternative energy such as wind or solar power. Public policy enabled growth over time, and economies of scale brought down costs dramatically. In this book, Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen offer a comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy analysis. Aklin and Urpelainen argue that, because the fossil fuel energy system and political support for it are so entrenched, only an external shock—an abrupt rise in oil prices, or a nuclear power accident, for example—allows renewable energy to grow. They analyze the key factors that enable renewable energy to withstand political backlash, andt they draw on this analyisis to explain and predict the development of renewable energy in different countries over time. They examine the pioneering efforts in the United States, Germany, and Denmark after the 1973 oil crisis and other shocks; explain why the United States surrendered its leadership role in renewable energy; and trace the recent rapid growth of modern renewables in electricity generation, describing, among other things, the return of wind and solar to the United States. Finally, they apply the lessons of their analysis to contemporary energy policy issues.

The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics
Author: Kathleen J. Hancock
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 833
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190861363

"In many ways, everything we once knew about energy resources and technologies has been impacted by: the longstanding scientific consensus on climate change and related support for renewable energy; the affordability of extraction of unconventional fuels; increasing demand for energy resources by middle- and low-income nations; new regional and global stakeholders; fossil fuel discoveries and emerging renewable technologies; awareness of (trans)local politics; and rising interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the need for energy justice. Research on these and related topics now appears frequently in social science academic journals-in broad-based journals, such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Review of International Political Economy, as well as those focused specifically on energy (e.g., Energy Research & Social Science and Energy Policy), the environment (Global Environmental Politics), natural resources (Resources Policy), and extractive industries (Extractive Industries and Society). The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics synthesizes and aggregates this substantively diverse literature to provide insights into, and a foundation for teaching and research on, critical energy issues primarily in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. Its primary goals are to further develop the energy politics scholarship and community, and generate sophisticated new work that will benefit a variety of scholars working on energy issues"--