Global Energy Politics Final Exam

turbines

Nuclear reactors: Form of thermal power generated from fission of Uranium atoms (which are large: 235ish nucleons) and releases heat which uses steam to spin ____.

nuclear waste dilemma

Difficulties of finding long-term, safe disposal of radioactive byproduct that remains hazardous for tens of thousands of years. It needs to be put into repositories underground in mountains. Spent fuel rods, bomb materials, also problematic.

fuel rods

Long, slender, sealed metal tube, typically made of zirconium alloy, containing stacked ceramic pellets of enriched uranium dioxide that serve as the fuel for nuclear reactors. They’re bundled into assemblies—containing 90 to over 200—and placed into a reactor core to generate electricity through nuclear fission.

fukishima, japan

March 2011: major nuclear disaster caused by tsunami. inability to cool reactors after shutdown compromised containment and resulted in the release of radioactive contaminants into the surrounding environment

Centralized energy grids

• Large, distant power plants to supply broad areas, offering high stability and economies of scale.

• Historically favored large-scale incumbent utilities and wealthy urban centers, often shifting the negative physical and environmental impacts of infrastructure—such as massive transmission towers or generation plants—onto rural and lower-income communities

Distributed energy

Produces electricity near the point of use (e.g., rooftop solar), improving resilience and reducing transmission losses.

Energy democracy

• A shift toward distributed infrastructure and renewable energy creates a new set of "winners" by enabling ____ which allows local communities, "prosumers," and marginalized groups like Indigenous peoples to capture economic rents, create jobs, and participate directly in decision-making

• Harnessing the energy transition to restructure the political economy of the energy sector.

• Enhanced citizen participation, economic redistribution, political geography (wind and solar require more land and involve more local actors than thermal power)

Thermal power

_______ stations generate electricity by using a heat source to boil water into high-pressure steam, which drives a turbine connected to an electrical generator. Forms include fossil fuel (coal, natural gas, oil), nuclear, geothermal, and biomass plants. They provide most global electricity.

stranded assets; fuel poverty

Renewable transition creates "losers”: incumbent energy companies whose multi-billion dollar investments in old infrastructure become "____" as well as disadvantaged citizens who may face "______" if the benefits of new technologies, such as electric vehicle incentives, accrue primarily to the privileged while the costs of the transition are passed on to all consumers

NIMBY

Localization can trigger _____ opposition as energy systems become more visible in urban areas.

Decisions about grid design are never purely technical but involve constant trade-offs between different social groups.

learning curves

Renewable energy technologies follow _______ where costs decline by a consistent percentage—roughly 20% for solar PV—with each doubling of cumulative installed capacity. Thus fossil fuels are growing more and more expensive in comparison to renewables.

benefits of renewable transition for developing nations

• Most demand for new electricity will come from low- and middle-income countries in Africa & Asia; we have the opportunity now to ensure that much of the new power supply will be provided by low-carbon sources.

• Solar could boom in countries in the global south with sunny climates.

• Falling energy prices means that people’s real incomes rise. We could both reduce emissions and achieve more economic growth for the poorest places in the world.

smart grid

Digitally enabled electricity infrastructure that utilizes real-time information to coordinate generation, demand, and distribution. Provides the flexibility needed to manage the variability of sources like wind and solar. However, they note that these infrastructures could be used by utilities to monitor households rather than reflexively engaging them.

Death Spiral

• Potential financial crisis where rising adoption of distributed renewable energy (like rooftop solar) reduces utility revenue, forcing them to raise rates on remaining customers, which in turn drives more consumers off the grid, causing further revenue losses

• Lower wholesale prices driven by cheap renewable energy

• Decreasing demand from grid as users generate their own power.

Concentrated Solar Power Generation

• Using mirrors to focus sunlight onto a receiver, creating high-temperature heat that drives conventional steam turbines

Photovoltaic Power Generation

Converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor materials, typically silicon, which release electrons when struck by photons. Among the fastest growing renewable technologies.

demise of early EV

• Early EV had low top speeds (20 mph) and low range.

• Batteries were expensive, heavy, and fragile.

Lithium ion-battery

What was the critical technological innovation that made it possible for EVs to compete with gasoline powered vehicles?

• reliable, long-lasting charge storage

• lightweight

• high specific energy (up to four times that of lead-acid)

• relatively affordable with reasonable charge times

4 perks of lithium ion batteries compared to earlier EVs

Top down approach to democratize tech over time

Explain Tesla’s strategy to create a viable EV market.

2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

• Allocated $7.5 billion for a national charging network.

• Mandates EV charging stations in new buildings in many regions.

• Signed into law by Biden

fossil fuel regulations

• Norway’s 2025 sales ban on gasmobiles

• EU and California’s 2035 bans on new petrol and diesel vehicles

• China’s increasing quotas that require a specific percentage of new car sales to be new energy vehicles

China

As of 2018, ____ refined:

• 51% of the world's lithium

• 62% of refined cobalt

• 100% of spherical graphite

Rare-earths market

• The supply, processing, and demand for 17 specialized elements (lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium) essential for high-tech, green energy, and defense applications.

• Over 90% controlled by China

CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co)

China has built more than 10 times the EV-battery manufacturing capacity of the United States. Produces up to 90% of all EV batteries worldwide. Their company, _____, alone controls nearly ⅓ of the global car-battery market.

ICE (internal combustion engine), LIB (lithium-ion battery)

Having historically lagged behind the U.S., Germany, and Japan in traditional ____ technology, China made a strategic decision to "leapfrog" ICE technology by focusing entirely on _______ development

BYD

The US prohibits Chinese cars (cheaper, cleaner) especially from leading manufacturer ____ to protect US automobile business.

Lithium Triange

• The strategic importance of the Middle East and Russia for oil and gas is being challenged by the _______ in South America (Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina), which holds about half of the world's identified lithium resources.

• Lithium = "white petroleum"

Mexico

___ has nationalized its lithium industry to ensure domestic benefits

Bolivia

____ has sought a domestic value chain where they produce batteries rather than just exporting raw materials.

Democratic Republic of Congo

_______ provides 70% of the world’s cobalt. This concentration creates significant risks due to:

• unethical mining practices

• political instability, leading to efforts by other nations to find cobalt-free chemistries or alternative suppliers.

2022 Inflation Reduction Act

• Aims to shift supply chains toward North American partners to reduce reliance on "unfriendly" competitive sources. OPEC-like lithium cartels inspired this

• Requires EV batteries to be sourced from North America or trade partners to qualify for tax credits.

Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS)

• Average cost of every unit of energy a battery provides over its entire working life in dollars per megawatt hour

• Accounts for every penny spent, including the initial purchase, the cost of electricity used to charge the battery, routine maintenance, and the final cost to recycle or dispose of it

• Unlike studies that focus only on the investment cost of the battery pack, ____ includes operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, charging costs, replacement and disposal costs, and end-of-life expenses

• LCOS accounts for the specific application of the battery, including the number of annual cycles and the average discharge duration, which can significantly alter the economic outcome.

Hydrogen

Japan and Europe are investing heavily in ____ technology to diversify away from battery-only dependence.

Cooling systems (20-30 degree C)

To slow the loss of charging capacity in EV batteries, they can managed with a _______

stationary storage

When electric vehicle (EV) batteries lose about 20% of their capacity, they are often no longer suitable for transport – but remain highly effective for _______. Repurposed for residential, industrial, or grid-scale backup allows for a longer functional life and helps recoup original investment costs.

Urban mining

• Advanced Recycling technique.

• Rather than disposal, a "circular economy" approach allows for the recovery of up to 95% of critical minerals—such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel—through processes like shredding and hydrometallurgy.

• Cleaner and eventually more cost-effective than primary mining

Lithium-ion phosphate

To reduce reliance on problematic materials, manufacturers are shifting toward more stable chemistries, such as _____, which is more thermally stable than traditional cobalt-based options.

Gray Hydrogen

• Hydrogen type produced via steam methane reformation

• Most common current method of hydrogen for transport energy: 95% of supply.

• Carbon-intensive, releasing 10 tons of CO2 for every ton of hydrogen (Worst environmentally.)

Black Hydrogen

• Hydrogen type generated through the gasification of coal

• Together with Gray hydrogen, they are the easiest to do.

Green Hydrogen

• Hydrogen type, separated from water via electrolysis powered by renewable energy (wind or solar); it is a low-carbon fuel but currently significantly more expensive than gray hydrogen

• The best environmentally

Blue hydrogen

• Hydrogen type produced via steam methane reformation (ie, from fossil fuels)

• Utilizes Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to trap waste carbon, often promoted as a transitional "fossil" hydrogen

White/Gold Hydrogen

• Hydrogen type naturally occurring hydrogen tapped from subsurface underground stores, where it is replenished by water reacting with iron minerals under high pressure

Electrolysis

Electrolysis is an electrochemical process that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, providing a key method for producing carbon-free "green hydrogen" when powered by renewables.

ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies

Companies investing heavily in hydrogen hubs to leverage their existing expertise in liquid fuels and distribution

Japan

As an energy-poor country, they’ve prioritized developing liquefied hydrogen (LH2) imports and targeting 200,000 fuel-cell vehicles by 2025.

• Toyota (the Mirai car)

• Alstom (hydrogen trains)

• Airbus (combustion planes)

• Daimler (long-haul liquid-hydrogen trucks).

Hydrogen based transportation projects by major vehicle manufacturers

Norway

Pioneer in the field of hydrogen transportation, ___ uses green hydrogen for forklifts, buses, and trucks, aiming for 500,000 hydrogen vehicles following its 2025 fossil-fuel-vehicle ban.

• Rapid and irreversible momentum for the global deployment of renewable energy

• Declining costs

• Pollution & climate change

• Renewable energy targets

• Technological innovation

• Corporate and investor action

• Public opinion

The IRENA (Intern’l Renewable Energy Agency) identifies 6 enabling trends that are driving the rapid deployment of renewables.

Reduced conflict; renewed conflict

Vakulchuk (vah-kool-chook) has 2 camps about geopolitics and the transition to renewable energy sources

Renewed conflict

Contends that the transition may simply replace old tensions with new ones, such as intense global competition for critical minerals and heightened vulnerabilities to cybersecurity attacks on digitalized energy infrastructure.

Reduced conflict camp

Argues that because renewable energy sources are geographically abundant and difficult to manipulate, the transition will foster energy self-sufficiency and decrease the likelihood of traditional inter-state resource wars

Renewed conflict camp

Contends that the transition may simply replace old tensions with new ones, such as intense global competition for critical minerals and heightened vulnerabilities to cybersecurity attacks on digitalized energy infrastructure.

Geopolitics

• How a state exercises power over territory and geography, emphasizing the strategic importance of natural resources, location, and military-industrial leadership

• Dominant mode is coercion: utilizing military force or hard economic "sticks" to ensure the security of supply and demand through the control of physical infrastructure

Geoeconomics

• Building and exercising power through economic factors and international markets within an interdependent global system.

• Places industrial and technology leadership over territorial control, using a spectrum of power that includes both "sticks" (sanctions) and "carrots" (investment agreements and regulatory diplomacy)

• Inward-oriented toward building domestic resilience and autonomy

• Outward-oriented toward shaping global production networks to make others strategically dependent on one’s own economy

petrostates

Losers of renewable energy transition: ____, fossil fuel exporters that rely heavily on oil and gas rents for national budgets and social stability.

Russia

Losers of renewable energy transition: While wealthy exporters like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have initiated proactive diversification plans to adapt, others like ____ may see a sharp decline in global reach due to their current lack of clean technology innovation.

Australia, Indonesia, Poland

Losers of renewable energy transition: Countries heavily dependent on coal: ___, ___, and ____, which face significant economic disruption as thermal power is phased out faster than other hydrocarbons. The risk of a geopolitical "backlash" from these declining powers remains a central concern during the transitional phase.

IRENA (International Renewable Energy Association)

The ____ report reviews the vulnerability of fossil fuel exporters to the renewable transition.

Relatively low exposure

IRENA report: Countries with ______ (Fossil fuel rents account for less than 10% of their total GDP)

• Norway: exceptional quality of governance and high standard of living, which provide a robust foundation for transition

• Malaysia: successfully followed "Hartwick’s rule" by transforming subsoil assets into reproducible physical and human capital

• Bahrain and Colombia

High resilience

IRENA report: Countries with ___: These countries are "highly exposed" (meaning fossil fuel rents typically exceed 20% of their GDP) but possess the financial buffers and institutional capacity needed to reinvent themselves

• The Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait): While deeply dependent on oil and gas rents, these nations have high per capita GDPs and have initiated comprehensive national visions to diversify their economies

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE): proactive adaptation; set a target of 44% clean energy by 2050 and utilizes its wealth to host IRENA and fund renewable projects globally, positioning itself as a hub for the new energy era

• Saudi Arabia: It is noted for its "Saudi Vision 2030" plan, which aims to shield the economy from the volatility of international commodity prices through structural diversification

• Brunei Darussalam: Like the Gulf states, it is categorized as highly exposed but highly resilient due to its high income levels and capacity for adaptation

Technologically Advanced Exporters

IRENA report: _____ like the United States: Although it became a net exporter of natural gas in 2017 and is nearing oil self-sufficiency, the US is uniquely positioned because it is a leader in the "clean energy race.” Its dominance in patents and new technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles ensures it can gain geoeconomic influence even as its fossil fuel assets decline in value

National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC)

Trump admin’s program to advise the president on reducing dependence on foreign imports, leading the world in manufacturing and AI, reducing deficits and debts by utilizing domestic energy assets, improving critical mineral industry

geothermal, hydro

National Energy Dominance Council’s “good renewables”

solar, wind (ugly, take up space, intermittency)

National Energy Dominance Council’s “bad renewables)

2022 IRA and OBBBA

____ meant to increase elecricity production, revolved around renewable energy, gave clean energy tax credits to consumers, “made in America,” provisions for CCS (US still maintains its lead)

_____ ended most of those tax credits, direct hit to EV sectors, explicitly supports traditional industrial sectors, will dramatically slow all efforts for transition to renewables.

FEOC - Foreign Entities of Concern

Policy disqualifies US nuclear plants from tax credits if they use fuel from ___ such as China or Russia after 2028. However, because the US is heavily reliant on these nations for nuclear fuel and lacks immediate domestic alternatives, this policy could leave the US power sector in a precarious position or force an increased dependency on other allies like France.

Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs)

US previously contributing about 8.5% of total funds for climate justice in developing countries through program called _____; OBBBA sends a "notably negative signal" to the developing world, who may turn to China for resource/energy partnerships