Energy Security

The energy transition is changing the architecture of national political economies and inter-state relations. Until low-carbon fuels and carriers become dominant, ensuring energy security and balancing the conventional energy system with the low-carbon one present challenges for governments and companies alike. The increasing use of low-carbon energy sources is reshaping geopolitics, creating novel dependency relations for those countries that have the resources and technology needed to reach net zero in 2050. HCSS seeks to understand, analyse and address pressing geo-economic and geopolitical issues of energy security in the transition to net zero.

Latest Research

Catch up on our latest research in the field of energy security.

Materials in the Dutch Economy

Beeft de Grond onder de Voeten van de Gasrotonde?

Deep sea mining: hitting the bottom or taking off?

Soy Supply Security for the Netherlands

Groene Boekje: Triple E publication for the Ministry of I&M

What the Official Websites Say on Soy and Palm Oil

Beyond the Welfare State

The Fission of Power: Flex and Flux in an Age of Fragmentation

About the HCSS Energy Security initiative

The HCSS Energy Security initiative focuses on three research areas:

Geopolitics of energy

Security of supply is a key concern in the national interest of every government around the world. For decades, having reserves of oil and natural gas translated into geopolitical influence. Today, old dependencies remain as new ones are emerging. The European Union is facing geopolitical and environmental challenges to securing oil and gas supplies. New dependencies on suppliers of green hydrogen and renewable energy technologies are developing. A purely economic approach to energy relations fails to take into account a significant array of risks associated with dependencies, which is why geopolitics play a key role in HCSS energy research.

Geo-economic implications of the energy transition

Achieving climate goals requires the transformation of infrastructure, industrial processes and households into sustainable and energy efficient sectors. Technological developments, policy support and governmental behaviour in global politics are some of the determinants of a successful energy transition. HCSS contributes to mitigating and overcoming the challenges faced by key economic sectors in the energy transition, in order to achieve a prosperous and competitive new energy system.

Critical minerals

Wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles – they are all dependent on sufficient, affordable and secure supplies of critical raw materials. Yet the global energy transition is expected to lead to an exponential increase in the demand for these minerals. Achieving a net zero energy system depends on foreign supplies of rare earth metals, cobalt or lithium. This creates novel geopolitical dependencies and geo-economic challenges for countries all around the world. Critical minerals are a key area of energy research at HCSS, providing advice to governments and companies on how to address challenges related to securing supplies of raw materials.

HCSS Critical Raw Materials Dashboard