Energy security

Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption (as opposed to household energy insecurity). Access to cheaper energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities. International energy relations have contributed to the globalization of the world leading to energy security and energy vulnerability at the same time.

Renewable resources and significant opportunities for energy efficiency and transitions exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Rapid deployment of wind power and solar power and energy efficiency, and technological diversification of energy sources, would result in significant energy security.

Threats to a nation's energy security include:

• Political/Domestic instability of major energy-producing countries (e.g. change in leadership's environmental values, or regime change)

• Reliance on foreign countries for oil

• Foreign in-state conflict (e.g. religious civil wars)

•Foreign exporters' interests (e.g. Quid Pro Quo/blackmail/extortion)

•Foreign non-state actors targeting the supply and transportation of oil resources (e.g. theft)

• Manipulation of energy supplies (e.g. mega-corporation or state-backed racketeering)

• Competition over energy sources (e.g. biofuel (biodiesel, bioethanol) vs oil (crude, distilled fuel) vs coal vs natural gas vs nuclear vs wind vs solar vs hydro (dam, pumped))

• Unreliable energy stores (e.g. long time to spin a turbine to create power, or Li-ion battery grid explosion, or pumped hydro dam becoming clogged)

• Attacks on supply infrastructure (e.g. hackers stopping flow pumps inside a pipeline or intentionally surging an electrical grid to over/underload it)

•Terrorism (e.g. napalming oil and/or fuel reserves)

• Accidents (e.g. shoddy weld causing debris buildup in a pipeline)

•Natural disasters (e.g. wind turbine collapsing from a major earthquake)