2021-02-10

Evgenii Petelin is a new doctoral student at IMES. He will be studying the relation between circular economy and geopolitics, as part of the Mistra Geopolitics project. Get to know him through three quick questions:

What brings you to IMES?
IMES publications on energy security issues caught my attention years ago. During my MSc program at the International Institute of Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University, I came across several new articles on industrial decarbonisation and circularity in steel production and plastics. And I’ve got curious. What attracts me the most is the creative inter-disciplinary environment at IMES.

What is your background?
My academic background is rooted in the study of international relations, Daniel Yergin books on the geopolitics of energy (e.g. 'The Prize', 'The Dependence Dilemma'), and China's energy security research. In 2015-2018, I was employed as an expert at the Institute for Energy Studies of the Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). My research focused on China's energy system transformation, specifically its barriers, support mechanisms, roles and interests of diverse participants, and energy mix outlook. In 2020, I graduated from an MSc program at IIIEE. For my MSc thesis project, I employed an inductive qualitative research design to develop a facilitation strategy for industrial symbiosis in Bjuv (Skåne, Sweden). Through these years of experience, my research interests absorbed different aspects of geopolitics, energy security, and circular economy.

What motivates you to work on geopolitics of circular economy?
Geopolitical concerns complicate the issue of low-carbon transition for many countries. In different cases, these concerns can support or hinder the development of the circular economy. I am curious to understand these interlinks and how they can help to formulate transition pathways.