THE SHIFTING GEOPOLITICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

The transition to renewable energy is expected to reduce dependencies on fossil fuel importers and lower energy prices, but it introduces new geopolitical challenges. The author argues that 'pipeline politics' will be replaced by 'grid politics', where control over interconnectors, hubs, and storage facilities becomes central. For Europe, while the transition offers a path away from reliance on Russia and the Gulf region, success depends on the EU's ability to manage internal divergences in national energy priorities and compete with Asia and the US in the clean tech market and for rare minerals.

• Renewable energy is expected to transform countries into 'prosumer' countries, where trade is driven by economic preference rather than dependency, as nations source more energy domestically.
• The geopolitical focus will shift from the transport of fossil fuels to 'grid politics', involving competition for control over infrastructure such as storage facilities, hubs, and interconnectors to ensure cheap energy availability.
• The energy transition allows Europe to reduce its energy dependencies on Russia and the Gulf region, though the EU must navigate varying speeds of adoption among member states to avoid internal conflict.
• Europe faces industrial competition from the US and Asia in the renewable technology sector; failure to compete as an exporter would make the EU a clean tech importer, while success would lead to competition over rare metals and minerals.
• Projections for the EU indicate that renewable energy consumption could reach 97% by 2050 under a scenario aligned with the Paris Agreement 2C target, compared to only 24% based on recent policies.

APA

Scholten, D. (n.d.). THE SHIFTING GEOPOLITICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GEJ18_GEJ-Scholten.pdf

Chicago

Scholten, Daniel. THE SHIFTING GEOPOLITICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY. Green European Journal, n.d. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GEJ18_GEJ-Scholten.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Scholten |first1=Daniel |title=THE SHIFTING GEOPOLITICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY |publisher=Green European Journal |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GEJ18_GEJ-Scholten.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{scholtenndshifting, author = {Scholten, Daniel}, title = {{THE SHIFTING GEOPOLITICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GEJ18_GEJ-Scholten.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }