PEAK OIL

2.3. Oil and Aspects of German Energy Security
Depending on context, the term "energy security" is used and operationalised in different
ways. Generally, energy security is understood as "provision of inexpensive, reliable and
environmentally friendly energy" 35 . The German Government defines energy security as a
"secure, sustainable and competitive supply of energy" 36 . These definitions refer to the
"triangle of political goals comprising supply security, cost-efficiency and environmental
compatibility", which is what the term "energy security" actually means.
A baseline study conducted for the EU (DGTREN) by the Clingendael Institute for
International Relations (CIEP) in Den Haag lends the term "energy security" a narrower
definition and sees it as the use of political means to minimise the risk of energy crises. 37 In
this context, energy crises are lasting imbalances between supply and demand, which
provoke price jumps and have negative effects on the economies concerned. Energy security
policy therefore aims at preventing energy supply shortages or even supply disruptions.
Regarding oil, political interest focussed for a long time – and logically enough for importing
countries – on the minimisation of dependences to prevent shortages. 38 More recent studies39 extend this concept to include aspects such as the observation of environmental and climate
protection goals, which potentially place other demands on a sustainable energy policy:
inclusion of the technological environment for transforming societies of the fossil era
into societies of the post-fossil era,
consideration of uncertainties regarding the development of energy demand, e.g. in the
wake of recessions, including the risks this poses for producer countries, or as well
conditioning of national energy policy through the respective nation’s integration in
supranational organisations.
This broader understanding became necessary mainly due to globalisation of the energy
markets, which has led to increasing frictions between various actors on different levels. Peak
oil would have effects on all of the above-mentioned energy security aspects. These effects are
addressed in the following chapters. An extensive analysis of all these problem areas and
their interdependences would, however, exceed the boundaries of this study.
In order to estimate Germany’s long-term oil supply situation it is important to look at
various factors and their complex interrelations. Examples are Germany’s dependence on oil
35 Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Energiesicherheit. Die neue Vermessung der Welt (Munich, 2007:Verlag Antje Kunstmann), 7.
36 Federal Ministry of Defence, White Paper 2006 on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr, 20.
37Clingendael International Energy Programme (CIEP), Study on Energy Supply Security and Geopolitics. Final Report (Den Haag, 2004), 36ff.
38 Cf. Vlado Vivoda, "Evaluating energy security in the Asia-Pacific region: A novel methodological approach", in Energy Policy, 38 (9), September 2010, 5258-5263 (here:
5258).
39 Cf. Andreas Beyer, Theoretische und methodische Grundlagen zur Analyse von Energie- und Energiesicherheitspolitik, Kieler Analysen zur Sicherheitspolitik, No. 27
(Kiel ,February 2010), http://www.isuk.org/1/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Kieler_Analysen_zur_Sicherheitspolitik%20Nr.%2027.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2010); cf.
Matthias Christoph Pröfrock, Energieversorgungssicherheit im Recht der Europäischen Union/ Europäischen Gemeinschaften, Dissertation (Tübingen, 2007),
http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2007/3012/pdf/Dissertation_Proefrock_Energieversorgungssicherheit.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2010).
17