The Geopolitical Economy of Energy Transition: Comparing China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the European Union
This new joint research programme, launched in September 2022, is between the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM, Macau, China) and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS, Leiden, the Netherlands), in cooperation with the School of Government and International Affairs (Durham University, UK).
This interdisciplinary joint research programme brings together 25 senior and junior scholars from Europe (the Netherlands; the UK), China, and South America (Brazil), who are experts on politics, international relations and international political economy, law, economics, energy, and security.
It was initiated by Mehdi P. Amineh (Director of the IIAS Energy Programme Asia; University of Amsterdam), who will manage the programme in cooperation with José Luís de Sales Marques (IEEM, Macau University) and in consultation with Anoush Ehteshami (Durham University).
Background of research
In the last 200 years, fossil fuels have played a critical role in the rise and expansion of the modern state-system and the capitalist world economy. The technological advancements brought about by the use of machine – and muscle – power in production, induced a transformation in sourcing energy from wood and peat to coal, oil, and natural gas. The fossil fuel consumption of mainly industrialised societies has created three major challenges: (1) fossil fuel scarcity; (2) import dependency in countries with scarcity of fossil fuels; and (3) environmental degradation caused by, among others, greenhouse gasses, such as CO2 emissions. To alleviate these problems, a transition from fossil to renewable sources of energy is underway, but far from complete. Carbon-intensity (CO2/GDP) seems to have hardly decreased between 1990 and 2020, and several industrialised and late-industrialised societies have seen both their fossil and clean energy production increase. One of the main challenges of the energy transition is the timing of reducing fossil fuel consumption and the expansion of the clean energy sector without overstepping the limit of secure energy supplies in the main fossil fuel consumer countries and regions.
As major energy consumers and the world’s largest fossil fuel importers, both China and the European Union (EU) face a common challenge of being able to catch-up with the geophysical realities that threaten living standards. Both are also attempting to escape the fossil fuel trap by developing clean energy sources. Within the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has increased its involvement (via trade, investment, and finance) in mainly energy and infrastructure sectors around the world, including in EU member states and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.
Objectives
The purpose of this joint research programme is to study:
- the approaches of China and the European Union to fossil fuel supply security, their policies regarding the transition to renewable energy (RE), and the challenges associated with moving to a clean energy-based economy;
- China’s BRI activities in the energy and infrastructure sectors of selected countries and regions in Europe (i.e., Central and East Europe), Asia (China, West and Central Asia and Caucasus: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), Africa (Egypt and Morocco), and South America (Brazil);
- the related geopolitical and geoeconomic risks and challenges.
The research will encompass the period since 2000, thus accounting for the dramatic transformations which have been taking place across Eurasia, and in particular in the EU’s and China’s energy security strategies and the two sides’ interactions with each other.
Central research questions
The central research questions of the joint research programme are:
- How does China’s investment in new RE sectors compare to that of the EU, and what role does each play in global RE technology development between 2000 and the present?
- What are the mechanisms of involvement and the geopolitical and geoeconomic impacts of China’s BRI activities in (mainly) the energy and infrastructure sectors of the selected countries and regions?
Aims of the research
This new joint research programme has three aims:
- Organisation of international research-oriented meetings and workshops
Organising international research-oriented meetings and workshops in the Netherlands and China to present (ongoing) research and foster exchange of ideas, knowledge, and data between the involved scholars to produce new insights. These exchanges and new insights will help the involved scholars to improve their research.
- Joint research
In this joint research programme, core teams of principal researchers and senior experts will write the basic drafts on the major themes of the study. They will work closely with small teams of additional experts, who will provide substantive input from their specific field of expertise and review the drafts produced by these principal authors. As a team, these scholars and experts cover all aspects of the study. One of the strategies of this joint research programme is to encourage cooperation across this truly international research network, nurture the participation of junior researchers, and build research collaboration across the three partnerships involving two or more researchers in every aspect of the research and its outputs.
- Joint publication
The expected outcomes will include publications in the form of (1) peer-reviewed monograph(s), (2) special issues in key specialised journals, and (3) policy briefings. These publications are based on the following research themes: (i) energy security studies (both renewable and fossil-fuel), (ii) the study of energy security in the European Union and China, and (iii) the rise and worldwide expansion of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative and its geopolitical economic reflections in the key world regions and countries.
Details of the principal investigators
Coordination
This interdisciplinary research programme will be managed by Mehdi P. Amineh (IIAS; University of Amsterdam) in cooperation with José Luís de Sales Marques (IEEM, Macau University) and in consultation with Anoush Ehteshami (Durham University).
Researchers
The following 25 researchers are participating in this joint research programme:
Mehdi P. Amineh – International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
José Luís de Sales Marques – Institute of European Studies, Macau, China
Anoush Ehteshami – H.H. Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Programme, School of Government and International, Durham University, Durham, UK
László Marácz – University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Jeroen van Wijk – Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Wina Crijns-Graus – Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Patricia Wild – University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Emre Demirkiran – International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands
Kevin Spinner – International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands
Laura Linck – International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands
Rafael Almeida Ferreira Abrão – Federal University of ABC, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Paulo Canelas e Castro – University of Macau, Macau, China
Wang Kanjie – University of Macau, Macau, China
Liu Hui - Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
Amjed Rasheed – Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
Jia Liu – H.H. Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Programme, School of Government and International, Durham University, Durham, UK
Ben Houghton – H.H. Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Programme, School of Government and International, Durham University, Durham, UK
Jacopo Scita – H.H. Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Programme, School of Government and International, Durham University, Durham, UK
Wang Yongzhong – Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Tian Huifang – Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Wei Wei – Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Zhou Yimin – Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Lin Shen – Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Jiang Shixue – IInstitute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China”
Details of the research groups
One of the strategies of this joint research programme is to encourage cooperation across this truly international research network, nurture the participation of junior researchers, and build research collaboration across the three partnerships involving two or more researchers in every aspect of the research and its outputs. As such, research groups constitute a core unit for the research output.
These research groups and their members are as follows:
Group 1 – Divergence and convergence in China's relations with West,- and Central Asian states: the cases of Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan
Mehdi Parvizi Amineh – The Political Economy of BRI activities in West and Central Eurasia: the cases of Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan
Jacopo Scita – The Political Economy of BRI activities in West and Central Eurasia: the cases of Iran and Saudi Arabia
Emre Demirkiran – The Political Economy of BRI activities in West and Central Eurasia: the case Turkey
Laura Linck – The Political Economy of BRI activities in West and Central Eurasia: the cases Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
Amjed Rasheed – The Political Economy of BRI activities in West and Central Eurasia: the cases of Iraq and Saudi Arabia
Group 2 – A critical evaluation of China’s BRI in Central and Eastern Europe
Mehdi Parvizi Amineh – A critical evaluation of China-Led BRI in Central and Eastern Europe
László Marácz – A critical evaluation of China’s BRI in Central and Eastern Europe
Kevin Spinner – A critical evaluation of China’s BRI in Central and Eastern Europe
Group 3 – A critical evaluation of China’s BRI in Brazil
Mehdi Parvizi Amineh – Challenges and opportunities of China’s BRI in Brazil and its geopolitical economic impacts
Jiang Shixue – China’s Foreign Relations towards Brazil
Rafael Almeida Ferreira Abrão – Challenges and opportunities of China’s BRI in Brazil and its geopolitical economic impacts
Group 4 – Geopolitical economy of energy transition and the role of hydrogen
Mehdi Amineh – Geopolitical and geoeconomic of energy transition: the case of hydrogen
Patricia Wild – Geopolitical and geoeconomic implications of a hydrogen economy
Jeroen van Wijk – Renewable energy production in Africa and the interest in Africa’s hydrogen export by the Chinese BRI and European GGI: the cases of Egypt and Morocco
Group 5 – A survey of comparative energy transition in the European Union and China: policy, outcome, and challenges
Mehdi Parvizi Amineh – Conceptual and theoretical foundation of energy transition in China and the European Union
Paulo Canelas e Castro – Evaluation of the EU Energy Law: from beginnings to the REPowerEU Plan
Wang Kanjie – China’s Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality: A Perspective of Law and Policy Evolution
Wina Crijns-Graus – The comparative energy transition in the European Union and China: Policy, Practice, and Trends
Hui Liu – The comparative energy transition in the European Union and China: Policy, Practice, and Trends
Group 6 – Belt and Road Initiative in West Asia: Strategic Partnership and its security challenges
Anoush Ehteshami – Geopolitical economy of BRI in West Asia
Amjed Rasheed – People’s Republic of China’s growing interest in energy cooperation with Iraq
Jacopo Scita – The People’s Republic of China-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
Ben Houghton – The People’s Republic of China and its Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships with Iran and Saudi Arabia
Jia Liu – Afghanistan and Iran in the People’s Republic of China’s BRI
Group 7 – Energy security issues: the challenges of supply security and energy transition
Wang Yongzhong – Manifestation, Motivation, and Influence of the New Wave of Resource Nationalism
Tian Huifang – Hydrogen energy under the background of carbon neutralisation: prospects and challenges
Wei Wei – Nuclear power, uranium, and their role in the energy transition
Zhou Yimin – Power shortage and supply chain stability in China
Lin Shen – Analysis of international lithium battery energy storage market
Completed previous projects
From 2006 until now, EPA-IIAS has worked together with four other core Chinese research institutions in cooperation with 11 national and international research centres and universities in Asia, Europe, and North and South America in the context of four interdisciplinary joint research programmes.
The main focus of these programmes was/is comparatively studying ‘energy, political economy, environment’ in China and the European Union in the context of global politics.
Until now, the publications of these joint research programmes have appeared in four edited volumes and three special issues of journals with a total of 85 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.