Research Professor of Climate and Society at the Finnish Environment Institute. She holds a long research record focused on energy efficiency, decarbonization, and innovation. One of her current projects is focused on national defense and the low-carbon energy transition. This is our starting point to understand the changes Finland is experiencing in its shift away from Russia and how energy security is reframed.
As you'll hear towards the end of the interview, Paula introduces the concept of landscape shocks. How multiple crisis impact and shape the roll-out of the energy transition. How regimes emerge (51:00) and shift over time. The landscape was viewed as external, but how do these big events (like pandemics) influence the energy transition?
Essentially, in our conversation, we work backward looking at the small changes that are building up and fostering and driving the energy transition. From Finland's shifting relationship with Russia to the role that energy efficiency can play in national security.
The undertone of our conversation is how we conceptualize the energy transition. For example, energy security is moving away from stockpiles of natural resources to thinking about the impact of renewable energy production and the role this will play in the future. Therefore, demand response becomes important not only for grid management but for security.
Further informing the landscape events, are issues of energy justice and security. How global justice is tied to resource flows from the global south, and the role this plays in the energy transition and impact on energy security. Perceiving this through different scales. If the north becomes more secure with renewable technologies with resources from the global south, what happens to those countries selling their resources for our security?
You'll find our conversation wide-ranging, but academically engaging. Paula has published widely on a range of energy topics and she's well-versed in Finnish, British, and EU energy policy topics. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
A final note, this interview was done for my 2022 role as an Open Society University Network, Senior Fellow at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. Funding was generously provided to produce the podcasts for the episodes recorded in 2022. And now it is 2023 but I still have a few more in my back pocket.
#77 Harvesting the Wind: Planting renewable energy in the Midwest — Sarah Mills
#75 Theatre of Energy Activism — David Schwartz
#74 Border Zone: Emerging Geopolitical and Climate Risks in Finland — Emma Hakala
#73 A Break in the Wall? The challenge of energy communities — Vjeran Pirsic
#72: The Big Conversation on Germany’s Energy Crisis — Pieter de Pous
#71: Taking action in Romania’s energy transition — Alin Tanase
(Ep. 70) Waking up to Estonia’s Energy Challenge — Ingrid Nielsen
(Ep. 69) Prosecuting modernity: The end of cheap energy — Tere Vadén
(Ep. 68) Phasing out coal in the South East of Europe? — Ioana Ciuta
(Ep.67) The Influence of the Long 1970s Energy Crisis — Rüdiger Graf
(Ep. 66) Economic Incentives for the Energy Transition — Benjamin Görlach
(Ep. 65) Navigating the Energy Price Crisis — Cillian O’Donoghue
(Ep. 64) Breaks in the Wall: History of East-West Energy Relations — Frank Bösch
(Ep. 63) The Massive Challenge of Hydrogen — Florian Kern
(Ep. 62) Europe’s Energy Crisis in a Time of War — Sam Raszewski
(Ep. 61) The return of the Carbon Storm — Michael LaBelle
(Ep. 60) Deescalating energy efficiency: There is no quick fix — Interview with Rod Janssen
(Ep. 59) Building the Smart Grid: Algorithms of Entrepreneurship — Cristina Corchero
(Ep. 58) The 1600 TWh Challenge: Innovating our way to zero carbon — Gerard Reid
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