The importance of scale to energy security

Abstract

Energy security, once solely a local matter, has evolved into several scales of consideration - household, workplace, nation-state, and global systems. In result, energy policies addressing energy security must evolve as well. Based on discussions at a two-day workshop in Singapore, this paper summarizes four of the most important. First, in order for energy policies to embrace both efficacy and equity, they must be considered in terms of their scalar effects; second, energy security at the national level demands that each country initiate a diversity of energy supplies and an abundance of routes for energy delivery; third, establishing proper and effective policies for energy security must closely consider context if they are to be adequate and useful; fourth, energy security requires a non-linear approach to policy formation if threats and challenges are to be adequately conceptualized and addressed. All future research into energy security must explore the complex relationship between scale and energy security. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.