Governing the Energy Transition

Course available on-campus & remote (online). Students participate in interactive, real-time classes. Energy is a potent and dynamic area of public policy. It fuels our homes, workplaces, industries, economies, and transport systems. At the same time, governments face crucial public policy problems in responding to climate change. Governments are also increasingly supporting the energy transition through the tools of green industry policy, seeking to promote job creation, economic growth, and competitiveness in key industries such as wind power, solar photovoltaics, transport, and hydrogen. In this course we consider the role of public policy in supporting the low carbon energy transition. We examine historical development patterns of low carbon energy technologies, how national innovation systems work, what policy instruments can be used in supporting innovation and industry formation, and how these issues shape international competitiveness of domestic industries for low carbon energy technologies. We look at the challenges facing energy transitions in Australia, but also across the world, particularly China, India, and other countries. We will consider how political factors shape energy transitions. Finally, we will look ahead and discuss how the dynamics of energy transitions worldwide, and global competition in innovation and industrial performance, are changing. Students will engage with scholars and practitioners working on energy issues in an interactive and group-based learning environment.