Powering tomorrow Navigating the energy transition landscape 2024 - Flipbook - Page 6
Energy security
takes center
stage as the clean
energy transition
gains momentum
Around the world, governments,
companies, and investors grappling
with climate change have made it clear
that they want a clean energy transition.
But at the same time, their respective
nations need energy security: that is,
a reliable, resilient, affordable, and
climate-sensitive energy supply.
Recent events have highlighted tensions
between those wants and needs. For instance,
the war in Ukraine catalyzed a resurgence
in natural gas production in the West and
beyond, as countries sought to reduce
dependency on Russian-generated gas. At
the same time, extreme weather events and
climate-related disasters, be they wild昀椀res in
California or a winter storm in Texas, have put
energy grids to the test, revealing signi昀椀cant
reliability challenges—oftentimes with the
very renewable energy sources aimed at
(eventually) preventing such weather
events in the 昀椀rst place.
Meanwhile, minerals needed to power
critical components of the energy transition
like electric vehicles are fast-becoming
hot commodities. That demand is creating
tensions between producers and consumers
in developing nations, and with China,
which currently handles the majority of
raw processing for several key minerals.
In response, policymakers worldwide are
implementing regulations and subsidies
to protect their countries’ energy supplies
and shore up their respective roles in the
transition. From the In昀氀ation Reduction Act
(IRA) in the United States (U.S.) to foreign
subsidies regulations in the European Union
(EU) and the nationalization of mineral
deposits in the Global South, such actions only
add to the geopolitical complexity of weaning
the global economy o昀昀 fossil fuels.
Tier 1
Government relations
Legal 500 U.S., 2023
6
Hogan Lovells | Powering tomorrow: Navigating the energy transition landscape
