Abstract
This chapter highlights non-traditional security (NTS) challenges in relation to energy security. It first frames energy security within the context of human security, which provides the foundation for NTS, and then highlights the NTS issues that have arisen in recent years, such as the traditional energy sector (i.e. fossil fuels) and alternative sources of energy. Finally, it attempts to provide some recommendations for addressing these issues keeping the future role of markets, governance, civil societies and technology in focus.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This chapter brings into discussion many of the points and reflections raised at the Regional Workshop on Energy and Non-Traditional Security, Singapore, 28–29 August 2008. The workshop was conducted by the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
- 2.
With oil prices continuing to plummet, it might be inevitable that OPEC would contemplate further production cuts in order to drive up energy prices; see “OPEC Decides Cut in Oil Production, US for “Free Market” Policy—Iran Paper”, in: BBC Monitoring International Reports (31 October 2008).
- 3.
Further fuel subsidy reductions would not come, at least until the end of elections in 2009, although protests have ceased in Indonesia; see “Fuel-price Protests a Test for Jakarta Govt”, in: The Straits Times (14 May 2008).
- 4.
Pump prices could potentially decrease by 15 %, with an anticipated encouragement for increased consumption, which could beset efforts to develop cleaner alternative fuels; see “Update 1—Indonesia Energy Ministry to Propose Fuel Price Cut”, in: Reuters (4 November 2008).
- 5.
The drop in energy prices essentially makes continued reliance on traditional energy more appealing while clean energy development becomes an uneconomical endeavour given the reduced leverage due to falling oil prices; see “Energy: The Dawn of a Disturbing New Reality”, in: Financial Times (3 November 2008).
- 6.
“Energy: The Dawn of a Disturbing New Reality”, in: Financial Times (3 November 2008).
- 7.
Peng, Nie, “Power Use by Energy Guzzlers Hit a New High”, in: China Daily (22 April 2010), at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-04/22/content_9762990.htm (22 December 2011).
- 8.
For instance, see “World Oil Demand Growth to be Led by Asia—IEA”, in: Reuters (10 November 2009).
- 9.
This network of 16 centres is said to be the first batch of such institutions, implying the intention of Beijing to establish more centres in times to come; see “China Sets Up First Batch of 16 Energy Research Centres”, in: AsiaPulse News (7 January 2010).
- 10.
“Another 10-Megawatt Solar Plant Built in Tibet”, in: People’s Daily (23 March 2011), at: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/98649/7329105.html (22 December 2011).
- 11.
“China’s Biggest Wind Farm to Rise in Xinjiang”, in: Asian Power (19 November 2010), at: http://asian-power.com/project/in-focus/china%E2%80%99s-biggest-wind-farm-rise-in-xinjiang (22 December 2011).
- 12.
“Growing Pains of China’s Wind Power Industry”, in: China Daily (28 May 2011), at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/28/content_12598392.htm (22 December 2011).
- 13.
In 2009, global clean energy investments had hit US$146 billion of which Asia already accounted for a third; see “Investments in Asia’s Clean Energy Sector Likely to Reach US$70 Billion”, in: Channel NewsAsia (20 May 2010).
- 14.
“Biofuels: OECD Report Blasts biofuels as “Costly and Ineffective””, in: Europe Agriculture (28 July 2008).
- 15.
McKenna, Phil, “All Washed Up for Jatropha?”, in: Technology Review (9 June 2009), at: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22766/ (22 December 2011).
- 16.
Rogner, Hans-Holger, Nuclear Power and Climate Change, Presentation, at: http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/Pess/assets/03-01708_Rognerspeech.pdf (22 December 2011).
- 17.
Should current energy security issues persist, the state and its citizens face possible future increment of food prices, economic deterioration in the form of inflation and unemployment, poor living environment as a result of pollution-induced health hazards and threats to sociopolitical stability.
- 18.
Potential non-technological problems of CCS, such as leakage from capture, would need to be addressed before such techniques are economically viable for widespread adoption; see “CO2 Capture Key but Still Not Answer”, in: Upstream (30 September 2005).
- 19.
Further research is still needed in order to reduce the cost of fuel cells and develop better output so that such systems can be miniaturised for wider application; see “Fuel Cells Hold Hope of Clean Energy for the Future”, in: The Straits Times (28 April 2007).
- 20.
Investments totalling over US$11 trillion are required in the power sector; capital expenditure is expected to be US$4.3 trillion and US$3.9 trillion in the oil and gas sectors respectively. About half of all energy infrastructure investments will be in developing states, where demand and production are projected to increase the fastest.
- 21.
The Human Rights Watch has alleged that lucrative oil deals made with energy-thirsty nations, such as China and Thailand, has emboldened the ruling military junta to ignore calls for improving human rights and democratisation; see “Activists Urge UN to Impose Energy Sanctions on Myanmar”, in: Oil Daily (21 November 2007).
- 22.
The export of petrochemical plant technology to the Middle East registered a significant surge (48.9 %) between April–September 1990, notwithstanding the Iraqi invasion and subsequent allied military build-up, compared to the same period in 1989. Even so, industrial officials admitted that it would have been almost impossible to resume plant construction in the region, if the war expanded, due to physical security concerns; see “Japanese Industry Shocked, but Copes Coolly with War (Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990)” in: Japanese Economic Newswire (17 January 1991).
- 23.
“Legal Battle Brews over EC’s Regulatory Agency Plan”, in: EU Energy, 176 (8 February 2008).
- 24.
“Thailand: Democrats Criticize Government’s Energy Policy”, in: Thai News Service (11 August 2006).
- 25.
“Proposed Changes Would Rise Accountability of Market Operators”, in: Platts Commodity News (21 June 2007).
- 26.
“ASEAN United in Fight versus Climate Change; Agrees to Adopt RP’s Call for ‘Deep, Early Emissions Cuts’”, in: Philippines News Agency (16 June 2009).
- 27.
For instance, Heherson T. Alvarez, a Philippine official tasked by then President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to head the Philippine delegation to Bonn for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in June 2009 remarked that “In ASEAN, creeping climate change is a common occurrence and its impact is a rising destruction on whole communities and food systems. We must respond to protect the region and its extremely vulnerable population.”; see Ibid.
- 28.
The overarching theme of APAEC 2010–2015 and a vast majority of its projects concerns clean energy technology development; see ASEAN, “ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2010–2015: Bringing Policies to Actions: Towards a Cleaner, More Efficient and Sustainable ASEAN Energy Community”, at: http://www.aseansec.org/22675.pdf (25 October 2010).
- 29.
ASEAN, “Joint Media Statement of the 28th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM)”, Da Lat, Vietnam, 23 July 2010, at: http://www.asean.org/24940.htm (25 October 2010).
- 30.
ASEAN, “Joint Ministerial Statement of the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM)”, Jerudong, Brunei Darussalam, 20 September 2011, at: http://www.asean.org/26626.htm (22 December 2011).
- 31.
“ASEAN Launches $650 m Fund to Build Infrastructure”, in: AsiaOne (26 September 2011), at: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110926-301458.html (22 December 2011).
- 32.
Non-state actors include the private sector as well as civil societies.
- 33.
Environmentalists alleged that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Export–Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) had illegally provided over US$32 billion in financing and insurance for energy projects over the past decade without assessing their impact on global warming as required under the National Environmental Policy Act; see “Global Warming Case against US to Proceed”, in: Oil Daily (25 August 2005).
Abbreviations
- AMEM:
-
ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting
- APAEC:
-
ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation
- APSA:
-
ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement
- ASEAN:
-
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- Btu:
-
British thermal unit
- CCS:
-
Carbon capture and storage
- CHS:
-
UN Commission on Human Security
- CO2 :
-
Carbon dioxide
- EIA:
-
Energy Information Administration
- FERC:
-
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, United States
- GHG:
-
Greenhouse gas
- GNP:
-
Gross national product
- IAEA:
-
International Atomic Energy Agency
- ICT:
-
Information and communications technology
- IEA:
-
International Energy Agency
- IPCC:
-
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- ISEAS:
-
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
- METI:
-
Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
- mmbd:
-
Million barrels per day
- NEA:
-
National Energy Administration, China
- NT2:
-
Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric power project
- NTS:
-
Non-traditional security
- NTU:
-
Nanyang Technological University
- OECD:
-
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- OPEC:
-
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
- ppm:
-
Parts per million
- R&D:
-
Research and development
- RSIS:
-
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- SMEs:
-
Small- and medium-sized enterprises
- UNDP:
-
United Nations Development Programme
- UNFCCC:
-
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
References
Alexandra LA (2008) The role of Indonesian civil society in energy security. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
Andrews-Speed P, Ma X (2008) Energy production and social marginalization in China. J Contemp China 17(55):247–272
Ardiansyah F (2008) Environmental perspective on energy development in Indonesia. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
Barton B, Redgwell C, Ronne A, Zillman DN (eds) (2004) Energy security: managing risk in a dynamic legal and regulatory environment. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Birol F (2007) Energy security: investment or insecurity. In: Coping with crisis, CWC working paper series 14 May International Peace Institute
Bochkarev D, Austin G (2007) Energy sovereignty and security: restoring confidence in a cooperative international system. Policy Paper, 1:1–33 (East-West Institute)
Caballero-Anthony M, Punzalan K, Koh C (2010) Renewable energy: a survey of policies in East Asia. In: NTS alert, 2 (March). http://www.rsis.edu.sg/nts/HTML-Newsletter/alert/NTS-alert-mar-1002.html (Accessed 22 Dec 2011)
Chew A (2008) Technology developments in energy security. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
EIA Energy Information Administration, 2008: International energy outlook 2008 (September) (Washington D.C.: EIA). http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/archive/ieo08/pdf/0484(2008).pdf. Accessed 22 Dec 2011
Hancher L, Larouche P, Lavrijssen S (2004) Principles of good market governance. In: Tijdschrift voor Economie en Management 49(2):339–374
Iida T (2008) Non-traditional dimensions of energy security: socio-economical impact in Northeast Asia. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2002) World energy outlook 2002. OECD/IEA, Paris
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2007) World energy outlook 2007: fact sheet—global energy demand. OECD/IEA, Paris
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2008) Worldwide trends in energy use and efficiency: key insights from IEA indicator analysis. OECD/IEA, Paris
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2010) The impact of the financial and economic crisis on global energy investment. IEA background paper for the G8 energy ministers meeting. 24–25 May 2009, OECD/IEA. http://www.iea.org/ebc/files/impact.pdf. Accessed 4 Feb 2012
Jamil S, Gong L, Caballero-Anthony M (2010) Dependency and complacency. in the energy sector: implication for human security, NTS alert, p 1, Oct
Mendoza MNF (2008) The socioeconomic impact of energy security in Southeast Asia. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
Pascual C (2008) The geopolitics of energy: from security to survival. Brookings Institution,Washington, pp 1–16
Soerjono AR (2008) Towards a new framework: states, regional and global governance. Paper for the regional workshop on energy and non-traditional security, Singapore, 28–29 Aug
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) (1994) Human development report 1994—new dimensions of human security. Oxford University Press, New York
Weatherford MS, Fukui H (1989) Domestic adjustment to international shocks in Japan and the United States. Int’l Org 43(4):585–623
Weiss TG (2000) Governance, good governance and global governance: conceptual and actual challenges. Third World Q 21(5):795–814
Yergin D (2006) Ensuring energy security. Foreign Aff 85:2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Caballero-Anthony, M., Koh, S.L.C., Jamil, S. (2012). Rethinking Energy Security: A Non-Traditional View of Human Security. In: Caballero-Anthony, M., Chang, Y., Putra, N. (eds) Rethinking Energy Security in Asia: A Non-Traditional View of Human Security. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29703-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29703-8_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29702-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29703-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)