Renewables Geopolitics: Toward a New Generation of Energy Conflicts?

Abstract

Building on the historical foundations of the geopolitics of energy, thisessay argues that under capitalism, the “energy model” performs morefunctions than only supplying energy to the system. In the fossil fuelmodel, the territorial control of energy sources (coal, oil, gas, and uran-ium) preserves hegemony, and since the 1970s, oil revenue has beenused to sustain global imbalances. Considering that the properties ofrenewable sources are radically different from those of fossil fuels (thereis no possibility of territorial control or commodification), I discuss theconcepts of soft and hard paths as established by Lovins and using theexample of “new hydrogen geopolitics,” in an attempt to create a hardpath renewable model similar to the fossil fuel one, may foster new ten-sions that could catalyze a new generation of energy-related conflicts.