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Brown,
Marilyn A.
Brown,
Marilyn A.
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ItemUnderstanding Attitudes toward Energy Security: Results of a Cross-National Survey(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-01) Knox-Hayes, Janelle ; Brown, Marilyn A. ; Sovacool, Benjamin K. ; Wang, YuEnergy security is embedded in a complex system encompassing factors that constitute the social environment in which individuals are immersed. Everything from education, to access to resources to policy and cultural values of particular places affects perceptions and experiences of energy security. This article examines the types of energy security challenges that nations face and characterizes the policy responses that are often used to address these challenges. Drawing from a survey of energy consumers in ten countries, we conduct a cross-national comparison of energy security attitudes and analyze each country’s corresponding energy resources, consumption characteristics and energy policies. Through multivariate regression analysis and case studies we find that socio-demographic and regional characteristics affect attitudes towards energy security. Specifically, a strong relationship exists between level of reliance on oil imports and level of concern for a variety of energy security characteristics including availability, affordability and equity. Our results also reaffirm the importance of gender and age in shaping perceptions of security. Level of development, reliance on oil and strong energy efficiency policies also affect individuals’ sense of energy security. In sum, we find that energy security is a highly context-dependent condition that is best understood from a nuanced and multi-dimensional perspective.
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ItemClimate Change and Global Energy Security: Debate and Book Signing(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-11-11) Brown, Marilyn A. ; Sovacool, Benjamin K. ; Curry, Judith A. ; McGrath, Robert T. ; Norton, Bryan G. ; Orlando, Thomas M. ; Deitchman, BenjaminFour faculty at Georgia Tech participated in a debate focusing on the theses of the newly published textbook (Climate Change and Global Energy Security) coauthored by Marilyn Brown (Georgia Tech) and Benjamin Sovacool (Vermont Law School). The book submits that our world already has most of the sustainable energy technologies it needs to do this, but it faces a system of reinforcing barriers that support incumbent technologies, handicap innovation, and prevent change.
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ItemEnergy Security Dimensions and Trends in Industrialized Countries(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-06) Brown, Marilyn A. ; Sovacool, Benjamin K. ; Wang, Yu ; D‘Agostino, Anthony LouisThis article represents one of the first scholarly efforts to correlate actual energy policy and practice with expert views of the multidimensional concept of energy security. Based on the energy security performance of 22 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development between 1970 and 2007, it concludes that many industrialized countries have been unable to make progress toward the goal of achieving secure, reliable and affordable supplies of energy while also transitioning to a low-carbon energy system. However, some national best practices exist, which are identified by examining the relative performance of four countries: the United Kingdom and Belgium (both with noteworthy improvements), and Sweden and France (which have experienced notable slippage in relative performance). The article concludes by offering implications for energy policy more broadly and by providing empirical evidence that our four dimensions of energy security (availability, affordability, energy efficiency, and environmental stewardship) envelop the key strategic dimensions of energy security.
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ItemCompeting Dimensions of Energy Security: An International Perspective(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-01-13) Sovacool, Benjamin K. ; Brown, Marilyn A.How well are industrialized nations doing in terms of their energy security? Without a standardized set of metrics, it is difficult to determine the extent that countries are properly responding to the emerging energy security challenges related to climate change, growing dependence on fossil fuels, population growth and economic development. In response, we propose the creation of an Energy Security Index to inform policymakers, investors and analysts about the status of energy conditions. Using the United States and 21 other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as an example, and looking at energy security from 1970 to 2007, our index shows that only four countries¡ªBelgium, Denmark, Japan, and the United Kingdom¡ªhave made progress on multiple dimensions of the energy security problem. The remaining 18 have either made no improvement or are less secure. To make this argument, the first section of the article surveys the scholarly literature on energy security from 2003 to 2008 and argues that an index should address accessibility, affordability, efficiency, and environmental stewardship. Because each of these four components is multidimensional, the second section discusses ten metrics that comprise an Energy Security Index: oil import dependence, percentage of alternative transport fuels, on-road fuel economy for passenger vehicles, energy intensity, natural gas import dependence, electricity prices, gasoline prices, sulfur dioxide emissions, and carbon dioxide emissions. The third section analyzes the relative performance of four countries: Denmark (the top performer), Japan (which performed well), the United States (which performed poorly), and Spain (the worst performer). The article concludes by offering implications for policy. Conflicts between energy security criteria mean that advancement along any one dimension can undermine progress on another dimension. By focusing on a 10-point index, public policy can better illuminate such tradeoffs and can identify compensating policies.
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ItemPromoting a Level Playing Field for Energy Options: Electricity Alternatives and the Case of the Indian Point Energy Center(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008) Brown, Marilyn A. ; Sovacool, Benjamin K.The Indian Point Energy Center, with two operational nuclear reactors, sits in a densely populated region just 40 miles north of midtown Manhattan. It is a vital part of the electricity supply system for the New York City region, but its propinquity to the largest city in the United States has raised public concerns about its safe operation, particularly in the event of a terrorist attack. Such concerns prompted the U.S. Congress to request a study of potential options for replacing the 2,000 MW of power provided by Indian Point. This paper assesses the potential for electricity alternatives in the Indian Point service area. It documents that increased investments in energy efficiency, combined heat and power facilities, and solar photovoltaics could cost-competitively reduce peak demand in the Indian Point service area by 1 Gigawatt (GW) or more by 2010 and by 1.5 GW by 2015. If the cost of solar photovoltaics can be brought to near competitive levels over the next decade, these totals could be raised to 1.7 GW by 2015, approaching the capacity of the Indian Point Energy Center. This result challenges the conventional focus of system operators and policymaker on supply-side solutions.
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ItemDeveloping an "Energy Sustainability Index" to Evaluate American Energy Policy(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-12-07) Brown, Marilyn A. ; Sovacool, Benjamin K.This paper proposes the creation of an energy sustainability index (ESI) to inform policymakers, investors, and analysts about the status of energy conditions, and to help educate the public about energy issues. The proposed ESI builds on the substantial body of literature on "sustainability" and also draws on past efforts to measure environmental and energy progress – both of which are reviewed below. The index covers four dimensions (oil security, electricity reliability, energy efficiency, and environmental quality) and includes twelve individual indicators. Comparing these indicators in 1970 with 2004, nine have trended in an unfavorable direction, two have moved in a favorable direction, and one has been essentially unchanged. Clearly, the "energy problem" fretted about in the 1970s has not been fully addressed. While the proposed ESI is preliminary and requires further refinement, it takes an important step toward creating a set of indicators that can easily assess and communicate the condition of the U.S. energy system.