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Dr. Michael LaBelle is an associate professor at Central European University in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy. In 2022 he held the position of Open Society University Network Senior Fellow, at the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, based at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. He is an International Member of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Innovation and Transformation (CENRIT) at Macquarie University, Australia. From 2017 - 2021 he held the Jean Monnet Chair in Energy Innovations and Strategies at CEU, awarded by the European Commission.
Professor LaBelle's research is centered on energy governance, energy justice, geopolitics, security, and innovation. The role of state institutions to foster investment is central to understanding the role of companies in developing new energy technologies. His geographic focus is on Central Eastern Europe and the European Union. He is the author of the book, Energy Cultures: Technology, Justice, and Geopolitics in Eastern Europe, published by Edward Elgar. He is also the producer and host of the My Energy 2050 podcast which delivers weekly interviews with leaders in energy transitions research and policy.
Previously, Dr. LaBelle was a faculty member in the CEU Business School and the Mangement Unit in the Department of Economics and Business focused on energy and sustainability in business (2012- 2022). He was also a member of the Atlantic Council’s Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy Network (ELEEP). He worked in the CEU Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy (3CSEP) and at the Regional Center for Energy Policy Research (REKK) at Corvinus University. He has worked on projects for the European Commission, United States Agency for International Development, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Energy Regulators Regional Association and energy consulting companies, and European universities. He holds an MSc and PhD in Geographical Sciences from the University of Bristol.
Podcast:
Please see the My Energy 2050 podcast website (ISSN: 2768-6817)
Most Recent Academic Publications (list occasionally updated):
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie. “Breaking the Era of Energy Interdependence in Europe: A Multidimensional Reframing of Energy Security, Sovereignty, and Solidarity.” Energy Strategy Reviews 52 (March 2024): 101314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2024.101314.
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie, and Tekla Szep. “Europe’s Green Deal: Is the Middle Class Left Behind?” Journal of Public Governance, 61, no. 3, 2023. https://publicgovernance.pl/zpub/article/view/653
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie. “Energy as a Weapon of War: Lessons from 50 Years of Energy Interdependence.” Global Policy [pre-print available] Accessed June 8, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13235.
Herberg, Jeremias, Emily Drewing, Julia-Lena Reinermann, Jörg Radtke, Michael LaBelle, Ana Stojilovska, and Konrad Gürtler. “Energy Spaces: Bridging Scales and Standpoints of Just Energy Transitions.” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 25, no. 2 (March 4, 2023): 135–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2023.2193024.
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie, Géza Tóth, and Tekla Szép. “Not Fit for 55: Prioritizing Human Well-Being in Residential Energy Consumption in the European Union.” Energies 15, no. 18 (2022): 6687. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186687.
Szép, Tekla, Géza Tóth, and Michael Carnegie LaBelle. “Farewell to the European Union’s East-West Divide: Decoupling Energy Lifts the Well-Being of Households, 2000-2018.” Regional Statistics 12, no. 3 (2022): 159–90. https://doi.org/10.15196/RS120307.
LaBelle, Michael. “The Bridge: Natural Gas in a Redivided Europe.” International Affairs 98, no. 3 (May 9, 2022): 1090–92. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiac073.
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie, and Tekla Szép. “Green Economy: Energy, Environment, and Sustainability.” In Emerging European Economies after the Pandemic, edited by László Mátyás, 325–64. Contributions to Economics. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93963-2_7.
LaBelle, Michael Carnegie, Roxana Bucată, and Ana Stojilovska. “Radical Energy Justice: A Green Deal for Romanian Coal Miners?” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, October 22, 2021, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1992266.
A note: For a list of some publications and a quantification of my work there is Google Scholar. For a fuller list, please see my CV (updated once or twice a year). However, to gain a better understanding of my ongoing work, I suggest listening to a few episodes of the My Energy 2050 podcast. This serves an important function in disseminating a wide variety of information and experiences from fellow academics, policymakers, business leaders, and an eclectic mix of people who are all making the energy transition possible. The website also contains my analysis of important energy issues that feed into my academic research output and into course work. The podcast and website are open-access.
