National responses to energy vulnerability

Energy availability has again become an important and polarizing issue. Different countries have made distinctive choices affecting the importance of energy as a determinant of economic growth. Analysis of these varying choices helps put the current debate over oil imports in historical context, and illuminates the relative merits of supply-side and demand-side solutions. Some nations have achieved a more effective policy synthesis than others. The objective of energy security is to assure adequate, reliable supplies of energy at reasonable prices and in ways that do not jeopardize major national values and objectives. Energy vulnerability is a state of energy insecurity, typically due to insufficient or inadequately protected domestic supplies. The countries reviewed in this paper illustrate a variety of responses to energy vulnerability. A "best" response would be hard to define given the vastly different policy contexts. It is nonetheless clear that every country combines supply- and demand-side initiatives into an integrated portfolio that addresses price, availability, environmental impact, and other broad public values