The role of borderlands in the energy transition: Toward a theoretical framework

Abstract

Scholars have yet to devote sufficient attention to the reciprocal relationship between renewable energy (RE) and the dynamics of political borders. This oversight is surprising given the tangible examples demonstrating how RE projects are strategically sited as part of, near, across, and even distant from political borders. This study asserts that the selection of border sites for RE is influenced by the interplay of conditions prevalent in borderlands. Accordingly, it seeks to establish a theoretical foundation for the search for causalities between conditions in contact zones on the fringes of national states (borderlands) and RE transition. To this end, the study builds a multidimensional taxonomy of RE spatial relations in borderlands. It then suggests competing relationships between the physical, political, and regulatory conditions prevailing in borderlands and the choice of RE spatial relations in borderlands. It concludes by proposing a research agenda that addresses the reciprocal interaction between border studies and the energy transition.