The Politics of Shale Gas in Eastern Europe: Energy Security, Contested Technologies and the Social Licence to Frack (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Public Policy)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 3/29/2018
EAN 9781107183940, ISBN10: 1107183944
Hardcover, 212 pages, 23.4 x 16.4 x 1.6 cm
Language: English
Fracking is a novel but contested energy technology – so what makes some countries embrace it whilst others reject it? This book argues that the reason for policy divergence lies in procedures and processes, stakeholder inclusion and whether a strong narrative underpins governmental policies. Based on a large set of primary data gathered in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, it explores shale gas policies in Central Eastern Europe (a region strongly dependent on Russian gas imports) to unveil the importance of policy regimes for creating a 'social license' for fracking. Its findings suggest that technology transfer does not happen in a vacuum but is subject to close mutual interaction with political, economic and social forces; and that national energy policy is not a matter of 'objective' policy imperatives, such as Russian import dependence, but a function of complex domestic dynamics pertaining to institutional procedures and processes, and winners and losers.
1. Introduction
shale gas, energy security and comparative public policy
2. The policy context
European energy security and Russian import dependence
3. The analytical context
policy regimes and the social license
4. The stalling front runner
Poland
5. The nay-sayer
Bulgaria
6. A no with options
Romania
7. The comparative public policy of shale gas in Eastern Europe
8. Conclusion
shale gas, technology transfer and energy security.