The geoeconomics and geopolitics of biofuels

Master Thesis
Συγγραφέας
Vanos, Pantelis
Βανός, Παντελής
Ημερομηνία
2025-10Επιβλέπων
Paravantis, IoannisΠαραβάντης, Ιωάννης
Προβολή/ Άνοιγμα
Λέξεις κλειδιά
Biofuels ; Geoeconomics ; Geopolitics ; Energy transition ; Global energy governance ; Sustainability policy ; Strategic dependencies ; Economic statecraft ; Industrial strategy ; Green finance ; Energy security ; ΙnterdependenceΠερίληψη
This master’s thesis examines how the global shift from fossil fuels to bio-based energy is reshaping power, trade, and energy security. As the European Union (EU) moves from fossil “stocks” to renewable “flows,” risks shift from reserves and transport routes to climate stability, land governance, certification, and financial resilience. Using a geo-economic perspective, the thesis explores how states employ subsidies, regulation, technology, and public finance to shape influence in the expanding biofuel economy. Biofuels emerge as a strategic intersection where environmental ambition, industrial strategy, and geopolitical competition converge. The findings show that the EU leads through regulatory power, the United States (US) through large-scale fiscal incentives, and Asian economies through innovation and coordinated industrial policy. Together, these approaches form a multipolar energy system governed as much by finance, standards, and technology as by physical resources themselves.
Four key tensions define this transformation: security vs sustainability, scale vs innovation, autonomy vs interdependence, and legitimacy vs fragmentation. These tensions reveal that the energy transition is not only technical but systemic, transforming how states manage interdependence and power. This thesis concludes that biofuels exemplify the rise of green geoeconomics, where influence depends less on controlling resources and more on the capacity to coordinate markets, capital, and trust across an interconnected global order.


