Abstract
Russia is an energy giant in terms of both nonrenewable and renewable energy. Furthermore, Russia has large resources and the technologically relatively well-developed society and economy needed to foster an energy transition towards renewables and a low-carbon economy. Russia has a large bioenergy potential via its forest resources, but its vast territory also gives it the potential to develop wind, small-scale hydro, and solar and geothermal power in an economically viable way. Despite this promising starting point, high dependence on the extraction of natural resources – which defines the Russian economy and politics – is a factor delimiting the transition towards carbon neutrality and renewable energy. In particular, the central role played by oil and gas industries in the Russian economy and the strong linkages between political power and the fossil energy sector seem to be at odds with the energy transition objectives that have also been set in Russian official strategies since the early 2000s. The energy sector covers roughly a quarter of national GDP, and export of oil and gas alone accounts for one third to half of Russian state budget revenues. In this situation, defined by the realities of Russia’s political economy, it is difficult to set a fair playing ground for those industries and actors that make it possible to pave the way for an energy transition towards a low-carbon society. Despite this challenging political and institutional situation, Russia has officially promoted the use of renewables and an increase in its energy efficiency.
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Tynkkynen, VP. (2019). Energy Governance in Russia: From a Fossil to a Green Giant?. In: Knodt, M., Kemmerzell, J. (eds) Handbook of Energy Governance in Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73526-9_25-1
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