This volume explores the geopolitics of renewables: the implications for interstate energy relations of a transition towards renewable energy. Noting the different geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems vis-à-vis those of fossil fuels, it investigates specifically how renewables might (re)shape strategic realities and policy considerations of producer, consumer, and transit countries and energy-related patterns of cooperation and conflict between them. Focus is on contemporary developments and how they may shape the coming decades. The objective is to establish a comprehensive overview and understanding of the emerging energy game, one that puts the topic on the map and provides practical illustrations of the changes renewables bring to energy geopolitics and specific countries. To this end, a novel analytical framework is introduced that moves from geography and technology to economics and politics and developments are studied on three levels of analysis: (a) the emerging global energy game, winners and losers; (b) regional and bilateral energy relations of established and rising powers; and (c) infrastructure developments and governance responses. This concluding chapter summarizes the core developments shaping the geopolitics of renewables, using the framework to reflect on the relationship under study and our expectations. It also draws overarching lessons for the field of geopolitics of renewables and regarding the challenges and opportunities countries face in securing an affordable energy supply in the emerging energy game.

This paper explores the potential political implications of the geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems. This is done through a thought experiment that imagines a purely renewable based energy system, keeping all else equal. We start by noting that all countries have access to some form of renewable energy, though some are better endowed than others. We find two major implications for renewable energy based markets: a) countries face a make or buy decision, i.e. they have a choice to produce or import energy; b) electricity is the dominant energy carrier, implying a more physically integrated infrastructure with stringent managerial requirements. Two scenarios illustrate the strategic concerns arising from these implications: Continental, following a buy decision and more centralized network, and National, following a make decision and more decentralized network. Three observations stand out compared to the geopolitics of an energy system based on fossil fuels. First, a shift in considerations from getting access to resources to strategic positioning in infrastructure management. Second, a shift in strategic leverage from producers to consumers and those countries being able to render balancing and storage services. Finally, the possibility for most countries to become a 'prosumer country' may greatly reduce any form of geopolitical concern.