On the Fundamentals of Defining and Measuring Energy Security

This paper seeks to introduce an acceptable theoretical definition of energy security based on its fundamental principles. This represents a departure from studies attempting to enlarge the definition to include the other two dimensions of the energy trilemma – affordability and environmental sustainability. While they are no doubt closely inter-related, criteria related to affordability and sustainability should not be subsumed into an energy security concept, because this obscures the relationship between these distinct properties of energy systems – which is precisely what needs to be practically considered by policy-makers when they assess the costs, benefits and trade-offs of taking specific energy policy decisions. Rather than attempting to render energy security in complex multi-dimensional terms, this article proposes an abstraction of energy security to a state of being, one in which a given energy system is able to provide a continuous availability of energy services for consumers. This theoretical, context-free definition does not directly reference economic or environmental dimensions. In this way, the notion of ‘secure’ energy can remain conceptually distinct from affordable or environmentally acceptable energy. This, in turn, can prompt analysts and policy-makers alike to systematically consider how energy sources, technologies, policies and practices may enhance this narrower definition of security while constraining or enabling other policy goals. It is only through dismantling and then reconstructing our understanding of energy security that its dynamic relationship with affordability and sustainability can be conceptually elaborated, leading to more coherent remedies for resolving the energy trilemma. The paper also highlight the problems of selective usage of energy indicators related to dependence and diversity to justify and substantiate geopolitical interventions in energy markets.