Comparative analysis of energy security in the Nordic countries: The role of renewable energy resources in diversification

Security of energy supply has been one of the important debates among citizens and governments of the Nordic countries after the first energy crisis. In response, diversification was defined as the heart strategy to reach a certain level of energy supply. This article discusses about the level of energy security in the Nordic countries with comparison to other developed countries and their neighbors. Then, the support schemes and policies to achieve the energy security and diversification are reviewed based on the system thinking approach with especial focus on the renewable energy resources. This approach provides a unique and powerful tool to explain the complexity and the relationships among the elements of the support schemes in the energy security analysis. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4765695]