CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Pavlenko, Anastasia |
|---|---|
| Title | Energy transitions in the European Union in times of crisis |
| Summary | The European Union (EU) is the global leader in low-carbon energy transitions and at the same time strongly depends on energy imports from Russia. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU faced an unprecedented challenge of simultaneously tackling energy security and climate emergency. This thesis examines whether and how the current crisis affects the speed and direction of the EU’s energy transition. It analyses official documents, statistical data, and media publications to show that in the short-term (1-2 years) the EU’s energy transitions are not likely to be accelerated. The longer-term (5-10 years) goals to significantly expand renewables and low-carbon fuels and to reduce energy demand aim to somewhat accelerate the transition as compared to the pre-crisis plans, but the feasibility of achieving these goals is so far unclear. On the other hand, the envisioned extension of natural gas infrastructure and the unavoidable turn to coal in power generation will likely lock in fossil fuel use. More generally, the thesis argues that while energy security crises can motivate ambitious energy policies, not all of them aim to accelerate low-carbon transitions and some may even backpedal decarbonisation. Furthermore, the implementation of most ambitious decarbonisation targets is likely constrained by factors other than pure policy motivation. This thesis contributes to the scholarly debate on feasible speeds and drivers of transitions and provides a basis for future research on the medium- and long-term effects of the 2022 energy and security crisis. |
| Supervisor | Cherp, Aleh |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/pavlenko_anastasia.pdf |
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