Johannes Urpelainen
Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Professor of Energy, Resources and Environment
Founding Director, Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP)
About
Dr. Johannes Urpelainen is the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Professor of Energy, Resources and Environment at Johns Hopkins SAIS. He is also the Director of the Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy (MASE) degree and the Founding Director of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP). He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 2009 and spent the next eight years at Columbia University.
Professor Urpelainen is the award-winning author of six books and over two hundred refereed articles on environmental politics, energy policy, and global governance. He teaches action-oriented classes on energy and environmental policy to equip the next generation of global leaders with deep knowledge, advanced analytical skills — and a passion for transformational social change. As one of the world’s top energy policy experts, Johannes frequently advises governments, international organizations, and the private sector on energy and environment.
As the Founding Director of ISEP, Johannes is responsible for the vision, strategy, and general management of the initiative. His work under ISEP offers pragmatic but effective approaches to providing the world’s population with affordable and abundant energy at minimal environmental impact. In his spare time, Johannes reads biographies and tries to improve his Hindi.
Professor Urpelainen is the award-winning author of six books and over two hundred refereed articles on environmental politics, energy policy, and global governance. He teaches action-oriented classes on energy and environmental policy to equip the next generation of global leaders with deep knowledge, advanced analytical skills — and a passion for transformational social change. As one of the world’s top energy policy experts, Johannes frequently advises governments, international organizations, and the private sector on energy and environment.
As the Founding Director of ISEP, Johannes is responsible for the vision, strategy, and general management of the initiative. His work under ISEP offers pragmatic but effective approaches to providing the world’s population with affordable and abundant energy at minimal environmental impact. In his spare time, Johannes reads biographies and tries to improve his Hindi.
Publications
Johannes Urpelainen Google Scholar PublicationsCo-Written Books
Urpelainen, J. (2018) Escaping the Energy Poverty Trap: When and How Governments Power the Lives of the Poor. Cambridge: MIT PressUrpelainen, J. (2018) Renewables: The Politics of a Global Energy Transition. Cambridge: MIT Press
Urpelainen, J. (2018) Activism and the Fossil Fuel Industry. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
Urpelainen, J. (2018) Organizing Democracy: How International Organizations Assist New Democracies. Chicago: Chicago University Press
Urpelainen, J. (2014) Cutting the Gordian Knot of Economic Reform: When and How International Institutions Help. New York: Oxford University Press
Article Highlights
The Broad Impact of a Narrow Conflict: How Natural Resource Windfalls Shape Policy and Politics. 2018. Journal of Politics 80 (2): 630-646. [With Jasper Cooper and Sung Eun Kim]Does Basic Energy Access Generate Socio-Economic Benefits? A Field Experiment with Off-Grid Solar Power in India. 2017. Science Advances 3: e1602153. [With Michaël Aklin, Patrick Bayer, and S.P. Harish]
Factors Affecting Household Satisfaction with Electricity Supply in Rural India. 2016.
Nature Energy 1: 16048. [With Michaël Aklin, Chao-yo Cheng, Karthik Ganesan, and Abhishek Jain]
It’s All About Political Incentives: Democracy and the Renewable Feed-In Tariff. 2016.
Journal of Politics 78 (2): 603-619. [With Patrick Bayer]
Instruments of Political Control: National Oil Companies, Oil Prices, and Petroleum Subsidies. 2015. Comparative Political Studies 48 (3): 370-402. [With Andrew Cheon and Maureen Lackner]
International Bureaucrats and the Formation of Intergovernmental Organizations: Institutional Design Discretion Sweetens the Pot. 2014. International Organization 68 (1): 177-209. [With Tana Johnson]
Political Competition, Path Dependence, and the Strategy of Sustainable Energy Transitions. 2013. American Journal of Political Science: 57 (3): 643-658. [With Michaël Aklin]
A Strategic Theory of Regime Integration and Separation. 2012. International Organization 66 (4): 645-677. [With Tana Johnson]