Energy vulnerability and its management

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to clarify the distinction between vulnerability and energy dependence of a country and to present simple indicators that are used to analyse energy vulnerability.Design/methodology/approach – This paper introduces the different facets of the energy vulnerability concept and discusses the options available to manage risks arising from energy vulnerability.Findings – The concept of energy vulnerability takes various forms and cannot be reduced to appreciating the degree of dependency of a country concerning energy supplies.Originality/value – The contribution of the paper lies in offering a coherent set of indicators for analysing the energy vulnerability issue and in identifying a potential research area of developing a composite indicator of vulnerability similar to that of the human development indicator.