The disciplinary foundations of energy law

Abstract

This introductory chapter overviews the key theoretical and methodological discussions in energy law. The chapter first outlines the development of energy law as a discipline and highlights the existing theoretical debates in energy law research (Section 2). It next explores the key characteristics that have emerged during the evolution of the discipline and explains how those characteristics influence methodological choices and approaches in energy law (Section 3). The chapter then builds on these existing theoretical and methodological discussions and highlights possible and likely future avenues for research in energy law (Section 4). Finally, the chapter offers conclusions (Section 5).