The Old and the New Geopolitics of Energy and Its Impact on Energy Security

The implementation of the Paris Agreement (2015) will force a shift from economies based on the intensive use of fossil energies to economies that will use renewable energies with neutral environmental impacts. Beyond the need to preserve the planet, this is a highly complex transformation with potentially huge repercussions on international political economy, i.e. wealth and power, as well on the energy security. In this exploratory approach, a brief literature review is provided, and the operational concepts used (geopolitics, energy transition and energy security) are also outlined. The main purpose is to identify the effects of the overlap of two geopolitics during energy transition (the old geopolitics of fossil fuels with the new geopolitics of renewable energy) and its impact on energy security. The possible consequences at the global level will be also taken into account, including a brief look at the specific case of the European Union.