The Arctic's Energy Crossroads: Critical Minerals, Security, and a New Reference Handbook
The Arctic has moved from a peripheral energy question to a central one. Retreating sea ice is opening new shipping routes and resource claims, and the region now sits at the centre of the global critical minerals race that underpins renewable energy technologies, alongside renewed military positioning by Arctic and non-Arctic powers alike. Published on 7 July 2026, the Routledge Handbook of Arctic Energy Transition was covered on release by Alaska Native News and the Asian Institute of Technology, and carries an endorsement from former U.S. Arctic Ambassador Mike Sfraga, who called it a volume that brings together "an extraordinary team of experts" providing a "comprehensive understanding" of how energy enables northern communities while addressing Arctic security complexities.
Edited by Bram Noble and Greg Poelzer (University of Saskatchewan), Gwen Holdmann (Alaska Center for Energy and Power, University of Alaska Fairbanks), Saurabh Biswas (Asian Institute of Technology), and Diane Hirshberg (University of Alaska Anchorage), the handbook's contribution is its scope: more than 30 chapters, most funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, that assess energy security nation by nation across Canada, Alaska, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Arctic Russia, Sweden, and Greenland, rather than treating the Arctic as a single undifferentiated energy frontier.
Three chapters illustrate the handbook's practical reach. Its treatment of the global critical minerals rush for renewable energy technologies traces how demand for the materials needed in wind, solar, and battery supply chains is reshaping Arctic sovereignty questions. A case study of the Tu Deh-Kah geothermal project examines Indigenous-led energy development as a path to reconciliation in practice, not theory. And a chapter on Longyearbyen, Svalbard, works through what a just energy transition looks like in one of the world's most contested geopolitical hotspots.
For academic and institutional libraries, this is the first comprehensive, nation-by-nation reference on Arctic energy security, and it arrives at a moment when Arctic geopolitics, Indigenous rights, and energy policy are converging in the news cycle as much as in the research literature. It is a natural acquisition for collections supporting international relations, energy policy, geopolitics, or Indigenous studies programmes.
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Q&A
Q: Why is Arctic energy transition a geopolitical issue, not just a technical one?
A: The handbook connects Arctic energy security to the global critical minerals rush, military positioning, and competing resource and shipping-route claims as sea ice recedes.
Q: Which Arctic states does the handbook cover?
A: Canada, the United States (Alaska), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Arctic Russia, Sweden, and Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), each with a dedicated energy security chapter.
Q: Does the handbook address Indigenous rights and energy justice?
A: Yes, an entire section covers the social value of energy in the Arctic, including Indigenous-led projects such as the Tu Deh-Kah geothermal project.
Q: Who endorses this handbook?
A: Former U.S. Arctic Ambassador Mike Sfraga and former Denali Commission energy manager Katie Conway have both publicly endorsed the volume.
Q: Where can I buy the Routledge Handbook of Arctic Energy Transition?
A: Directly from CLNZ Books, with worldwide shipping included in the price.