Energy Transition Policies

In this workstream we describe and evaluate various policies designed to support the low-carbon energy transition. We are particularly interested in understanding the political economy of new forms of interdependence within the energy transition.

Recent Outreach

2025

  • 12 Apr. Firms and Green Industrial Strategy. Workshop on Green Industrial Policy. Institute for Business in Global Society. Harvard Business School. Cambridge, Mass. [in person]

  • 2 Apr. Enhancing Australia-Taiwan Trade and Economic Security. United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney. [virtual]

  • 25 Mar. Keynote: “The Australia Japan Energy Opportunity”. Australia-Japan Roundtable. Melbourne. [in person]

  • 21 Mar. “The Institutional Roots of Green Industry Policy”. Future Climate Governance: Institutional Transformation, Legal Evolution, and Innovative Public-Private Experimentation. University of Sydney. [in person]

  •  7 Mar. “Climate & Energy Security”. National Security Foundations. ANU National Security College. Melbourne. [in person]

2024

  • 12 Oct. “Australia Embraces Green Industrial Policy. Conference on Asia Visions and Voices: Geopolitical Consequences of US-China Tension. Taipei School of Economics and Political Science. [in person]

  • 24 Sep. “Transition of Mining Industry: The Case of Australia. Energy”. Research Institute Network (ERIN), Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Vientiane. [virtual]

  • 4 Sep. Chair. Energy Security & Transition panel. ANU 2024 Japan Update. Australian National University. [in person]

  • 12 Apr. “Renewable Energy & Grid Transformations at Transitioning the Australia-Japan Energy Partnership – Towards a Carbon-Neutral 2050”. Australia-Japan Business Coordination Committee. Adelaide. [in person]

  • 29 Feb. “The Implications of Decarbonisation in the Indo-Pacific for Australia’s Strategic Interests”. Institute for Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). [virtual]

Research Outputs

Llewelyn Hughes. 2025. “Q&A with Llewelyn Hughes: Interdependence and the Low Carbon Energy Transition”. Nature Energy. 23 April. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01762-4.

Lee White, Llewelyn Hughes, Michelle Lyons, Yuan Peng. 2021. Iterating Localization Policies in Support of Energy Transition: The Case of the Australian Capital Territory. Energy Policy. Vol. 158, 112568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112568

Andreas Goldthau and Llewelyn Hughes. 2020. Comment: Protect Global Supply Chains for Low Carbon Technologies. Nature, 3 September 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02499-8

Annika Bose-Styczynski and Llewelyn Hughes. 2019. Public Policy Strategies for Next-generation Vehicle Technologies: An Overview of Leading Markets. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions Vol. 31 (2019), 262-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2018.09.002

Jonas Meckling and Llewelyn Hughes. 2018. Global Interdependence in Clean Energy Transitions. Business & Politics, Vol. 20, No. 4, 467-491. https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2018.25

Llewelyn Hughes and Jonas Meckling. 2018. Policy Competition in Clean Technology: Scaling Up or Innovating Up? Business & Politics Vol. 20, No. 4, 588-614. https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2018.20

Jonas Meckling and Llewelyn Hughes. 2018. Protecting Solar: Global Supply Chains and Business Power. New Political Economy Vol. 23 No. 1, 88-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2017.1330878

Llewelyn Hughes and Jonas Meckling. 2017. The Politics of Renewable Energy Trade: The US-China Solar Dispute. Energy Policy Vol. 105, 256-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.02.044

Jonas Meckling and Llewelyn Hughes. 2017. Globalizing Solar: Industry Specialization and Firm Demands for Trade Protection. International Studies Quarterly Vol 61, No. 2, 225-235. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqw055

Llewelyn Hughes and Johannes Urpelainen. 2015. Interests, Institutions, and Climate Policy: Explaining the Choice of Policy Instruments for the Energy Sector. Environmental Science & Policy Vol. 54, 52-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.06.014