Griffith Asia Institute Featured Publication
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For a country already uneasy about energy security, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which caused a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, turned pre-existing Japanese concern about the availability of energy into outright anxiety. The subsequent closure of many nuclear reactors meant Japan needed to replace lost power quickly and so had no choice but to secure additional fossil fuels, undermining Japanese diversification policy and increasing global and regional competition for energy. This switch has been at a cost to the already weak Japanese economy whilst the increase in fossil fuel consumption has caused a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
In this book Vlado Vivoda examines the drastically changed environment following the disaster in order to analyse Japan’s energy security challenges and evaluate Tokyo’s energy policy options. Looking at how the disaster exacerbated Japan’s existing energy security challenges, Vivoda considers the best policy options for Japan to enhance national energy security in the future, exploring the main impediments to change and how they might be overcome.
Vlado holds a B.A. (Honours) from the National University of Singapore, and an M.A. (International Relations) from the Australian National University. He completed his Ph.D. on the international political economy of oil at Flinders University in 2008. Since completing his doctorate, Vlado published a book on bargaining in the contemporary international oil industry, along with numerous peer-reviewed articles with journals includingNew Political Economy, Business and Politics, Asian Survey, Journal of East Asian Studies, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Resources PolicyandEnergy Policy.
In 2012, he has been awarded a competitive Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award. Vlado has been cited in two submissions to the Australian Senate “inquiry into foreign investment by state-owned entities”; and a submission to the UK Parliament’s Energy and Climate Change committee’s “inquiry into UK deepwater drilling — implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill”. In November 2012, he was invited as a witness to the Australian House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Economics “inquiry into Australia’s oil refinery industry”. In December 2012, he was invited by the Asian Development Bank to participate in the workshop on “Ensuring Energy Security in Asia and the Pacific”. In 2011, he was invited to participate in the prestigious JENESYS East Asia Future Leader Programme, “Energy Security: Advancements in Cooperation in the East Asian Region”, organized by Japan Foundation. Vlado has given over 50 lectures at various universities.
Most recently, in August 2012, Vlado delivered a course on International Policy and Geopolitics of Energy and Resources at the University College London, School of Energy and Resources, Australia. His publications feature as compulsory course readings at Cambridge University and Peking University. Vlado’s current research focus is on the political economy of mining and energy sectors, and on energy security in the Asia-Pacific region.