Reflections on Energy Policy Research

Does anyone remember the Nabucco pipeline project? It was part of the European Union’s early diversification efforts and was supposed to transport natural gas from Iraq to Baumgarten in Austria via Turkey. It was shelved long ago for various reasons. However, for me it is still a remarkable pipeline: around this time in 2009, I was doing a course project about Turkey’s attempts to join the European Union and Nabucco prompted me to think carefully about studying energy security and energy policy, which has become an integral part of my life ever since. 

Today, the energy policy landscape is fundamentally different in many ways compared to the initial years of my research. One of the first communications from the European Commission about energy policy (2007) discussed the risks of oil price rising to $100 per barrel in 2030. That was an optimistic assumption, given how many times we have breached this threshold between 2007 and now. I most certainly made some predictions in my earlier academic works, but my PhD dissertation was in the safe space of history, and I explored the energy policy of the European Union in 2006-14. Back then, the diversification of oil and gas suppliers was the cornerstone of the energy policy and the nexus between energy and climate policies was not as pronounced as these days.  Still, I think some issues from the past are very much relevant: divergent national interests of the Member States will continue to pull the energy policy in different directions. As climate change is now part of the equation, the situation is likely to remain complicated. 

Does it make our research more challenging? Absolutely. We have to juggle lots of concepts, theories, frameworks and tools to get to the crux of existing energy policy problems. But it also getting more and more interesting by the day. Energy policy research offers a fantastic opportunity to study the issues at the intersection of industry, politics, societal development, international relations, climate, and the environment. And for me, this has always been the most appealing feature of these inherently interdisciplinary studies. 

Personal transitions

The world of energy is changing, and researchers need to follow suit. Continued learning is also a great part of our job, which helps to navigate the energy transition and move into new areas of research. I started my journey with the energy policy of the European Union, then shifted my focus to oil and gas policies of individual countries in Europe and North America, and now I mostly deal with the decarbonization of the hydrocarbon industry. All these issues are closely related, making it easier to leverage existing expertise and yet, the amount of new knowledge one must process to keep up with the industry trends is enormous. Nevertheless, it is exciting to make small personal discoveries and it is a great motivation to move forward and explore new aspects of energy policy. 

Some things may never change 

Balancing the interests of multiple stakeholders is probably one of the most problematic issues in energy and climate policies. Disputes and conflicts are almost inevitable, and this is where we as researchers can thrive. People disagree about everything: the role of fossil fuels, upstream projects, pipelines, environmental impacts, climate change etc. Will things get better when we finally minimize our reliance on hydrocarbons? I don’t think so. There is always room for disputes. Energy is ubiquitous, and instead of fossil fuels we will debate renewables and hydrogen, hydropower and nuclear power, EVs and long-term energy storage. We used to have protests and lawsuits against oil and gas pipelines – now we have protests and lawsuits against CO2 pipelines. These skills are transferable. As to the energy policy researchers, I think the task will remain the same: help to bridge the gap between the divergent interests of different actors by digging deep into the most pressing issues and spreading the knowledge among everyone concerned.

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