For decades, studies of oil-related conflicts have focused on the effects of natural resource mismanagement, resulting in great economic booms and busts or violence as rebels fight ruling governments over their regions' hydrocarbon resources. In "Oil Sparks in the Amazon," Patricia I. Vasquez writes that while oil busts and civil wars are common, the tension over oil in the Amazon has played out differently, in a way inextricable from the region itself.
Oil disputes in the Amazon primarily involve local indigenous populations. These groups' social and cultural identities differ from the rest of the population, and the diverse disputes over land, displacement, water contamination, jobs, and wealth distribution reflect those differences. Vasquez spent fifteen years traveling to the oilproducing regions of Latin America, conducting hundreds of interviews with the stakeholders in local conflicts. She analyzes fifty-five social and environmental clashes related to oil and gas extraction in the Andean countries (Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia). She also examines what triggers local hydrocarbons disputes and offers policy recommendations to resolve or prevent them.
Vasquez argues that each case should be analyzed with attention to its specific sociopolitical and economic context. She shows how the key to preventing disputes that lead to local conflicts is to address structural flaws (such as poor governance and inadequate legal systems) and nonstructural flaws (such as stakeholders' attitudes and behavior) at the outset. Doing this will require more than strong political commitments to ensure the equitable distribution of oil and gas revenues. It will require attention to the local values and culture as well.

Can catastrophic climate change in this century be averted without strangling the world economy and global aspirations for improved living standards?both of which depend on the continuing prominence of fossil fuels in the 21st century? Power Struggle: World Energy in the Twenty-First Century argues that it can. Moroney demonstrates that energy is the cornerstone of world civilization and global economic growth by measuring the tight coupling between energy per capita and real standards of living. Fossil fuels-oil, natural gas, and coal-today account for 88 percent of world energy. The author shows that renewable energies such as solar, wind, ethanol, and biodiesel cannot be deployed to replace fossil fuels on a globally significant scale within the next 50 years. Fossil fuels, he maintains, will continue to dominate world energy for the next half-century, in spite of the coming severe depletion of world reserves of conventional oil and gas. But since the burning of fossil fuels is the principal source of carbon dioxide emissions, which are in turn the principal source of global warming, how can catastrophic climate change be avoided? The solution to the dilemma, says Moroney, is to capture and permanently store most of the carbon dioxide emitted by the human race. Half of all human CO2 emissions originate in 8,000 electric power plants, refineries, steel mills, and other manufacturing facilities around the world. The technology is at hand to capture the CO2 emissions from these big plants and store them, permanently and harmlessly, in geological traps and the deep ocean, instead of releasing them into the atmosphere. Coal-fired power plants with near-total capture of CO2 emissions willbecome operational in the United States and Western Europe as early as 2012. If the world is to thread the perilous straits of economic and climate catastrophe, international cooperation and capital investment on a scale unprecedented in human history will be required. Power Struggle marshals the most important facts concerning world energy reserves: where oil, natural gas, and coal, and uranium reserves are located; how long they will last at projected rates of consumption; and why the most prosperous countries of the world will increasingly rely on oil and natural gas imports from the Middle East and Russia. Moroney shows why it is reasonable to expect that unconventional oil and gas sources such as heavy crude oil, tar sands, and oil shale will come on stream as feasible long-term substitutes for the world's depleted reserves of conventional oil and gas.

This book presents original, peer-reviewed research papers from the 4th Purple Mountain Forum -International Forum on Smart Grid Protection and Control (PMF2019-SGPC), held in Nanjing, China on August 17-18, 2019. Addressing the latest research hotspots in the power industry, such as renewable energy integration, flexible interconnection of large scale power grids, integrated energy system, and cyber physical power systems, the papers share the latest research findings and practical application examples of the new theories, methodologies and algorithms in these areas. As such book a valuable reference for researchers, engineers, and university students.

Cross Country Pipeline Risk Assessments and Mitigation Strategies describes the process of pipeline risk management and hazard identification, using qualitative risk assessment, consequence modeling/evaluation, pipeline failure rates, and risk calculations, as well as risk mitigation and control strategies. The book evaluates potential causes of pipeline failure in the oil and gas industry based on a wide range of data that cover more than 40 years of operating history. Additionally, it details a consistent approach that allows for proper estimation of potential risk and offers methods for mitigating this potential risk. This approach is then combined with consequence modeling to fully calculate the different forms of risk presented by pipelines. Cross Country Pipeline Risk Assessments and Mitigation Strategies is an essential resource for professionals and experts involved in pipeline design as well as researchers and students studying risk assessment, particularly in relation to pipelines.

On 26 April 1986, the unthinkable happened near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat: two massive steam explosions ruptured No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, immediately killing 30 people and setting off the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosions were followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released huge amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere for the next nine days, spreading across the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and especially neighbouring Belarus, where around 70% of the waste landed. The following clean-up operation involved more than half a million personnel at a cost of $68 billion, and a further 4,000 people were estimated to have died from disaster-related illnesses in the following 20 years. Some 350,000 people were evacuated as a result of the accident (including 95 villages in Belarus), and much of the area returned to the wild, with the nearby city of Pripyat now a ghost town. Chernobyl provides a photographic exploration of the catastrophe and its aftermath in 180 authentic photos. See the twisted wreckage of No. 4 Reactor, the cause of the nuclear disaster; marvel at historic photos of the clean-up operation, with helicopters spraying decontamination liquid and liquidators manually clearing radioactive debris; see the huge cooling pond used to cool the reactors, and which today is home to abundant wildlife, despite the radiation; explore the ghost town of Pripyat, with its decaying apartment blocks, empty basketball courts, abandoned amusement park, wrecked schools, and deserted streets.

After decades of stability, power systems are currently undergoing a rapid transition - demand patterns are evolving, while supply sources are shifting to renewable energies at an accelerated pace. This book, written by an experienced energy professional, combines the various aspects of supply and demand developments to offer a unified perspective. It highlights the key changes that the world of electric utilities and power systems will face in the coming decade, as well as the major challenges that will emerge as a result. Supplemented by a wealth of global and local data, the book describes the major patterns that affect both supply and demand, and provides a quantified analysis of their impacts on power system grids and markets. Lastly, it explores the new technologies that can enable the success of these transformations.

This book highlights what are likely to be the future megatrends in the water sector and why and how they should be incorporated to improve water governance in the coming decades. In this first ever book on megatrends for the water sector, 22 leading world experts from different disciplines representing academia, business, government, national and international organisations discuss what the major megatrends of the future are and how they will radically change water governance in the coming decades.

The Caspian Sea region is rich in oil and natural gas and can potentially become a major energy supplier. Despite the interest of the three Caspian countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, their energy resources have remained mainly undeveloped a decade after their independence. The main factor that has prevented the full development of the Caspian energy resources has been the difficulty of selecting long-term safe, reliable, and economically viable export routes. The three landlocked Caspian countries have no choice but to depend on their neighbors to access international waters for their exports. For many reasons, including internal stability and extensive oil facilities and pipelines, Iran offers the most suitable routes to all three Caspian countries. However, despite the interest of the Caspian energy-exporters, in using this route, the U.S. policy of containment of Iran has prevented them from doing so. For political, economic, and security reasons, the existing in-use Georgian and Russian routes cannot and will not be a long-term solution for energy exports. The insistence of the American government on imposing the expensive and unreliable Turkish route on the reluctant Caspian energy-exporters and its categorical rejection of the Iranian route have created a major obstacle to the development of the Caspian energy industries.

As Peimani suggests, if this policy continues, many oil and gas exporters will opt for the Iranian route without regard to existing U.S. punitive legislation. The results could well be the isolation of the U.S. in the Caspian region and a gradual exclusion of American oil companies from the region. This overview will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and policymakers involved with economic and political issues of the region.

This book addresses the hazard of gas explosions in sealed underground coal mines, and how the risk of explosion can be assessed, modeled, and mitigated. With this text, coal mine operators and managers will be able to identify the risks that lead to underground mine gas explosions, and implement practical strategies to optimize mining safety for workers. In six chapters, the book offers a framework for understanding the sealed coal mine atmosphere, the safety characteristics that are currently in place, and the guidelines to be followed by engineers to improve upon these characteristics. The first part of the book describes the importance and characteristics of underground gas mine explosions in a historical context with data showing the high number of fatalities from explosion incidents, and how risk has been mitigated in the past. Chapters also detail mathematical models and explosibility diagrams for determining and understanding the risk factors involved in mine explosions. Readers will also learn about safety operations, and assessments for the sealed mine atmosphere. With descriptions of chapter case studies, mining engineers and researchers will learn how to apply safety measures in underground coal mines to improve mining atmospheres and save lives.

This unique volume offers an up-to-date overview of all the main aspects of groundwater in the Nile Delta and its fringes, as well as latest research findings. The themes covered include: * Nile Delta aquifer formation and its characteristics * The use of the groundwater in the Nile Delta and its implications * Sedimentology and hydrogeophysical characteristics * Groundwater investigations and aquifer characterization using current direct resistivity and induced polarization * Groundwater contamination and degradation * Saltwater intrusion and its control * Delineation of groundwater flow and seawater intrusion using various techniques, including one-dimensional subsurface temperature profiles, geoelectrical resistivity, and integrated subsurface thermal regime and hydrogeochemical data * Modeling of groundwater and of saltwater intrusion in the Nile Delta aquifer * Excessive pumping and groundwater quality assessment for irrigation and drinking purposes * Groundwater management for sustainability in the Nile Delta. The volume appeals to postgraduate students, researchers, scientists, professionals, decision makers and planners.

The opening of the Caspian Sea basin to Western investment following the breakup of the Soviet Union produced a major contest for access to the region's vast energy reserves on the part of powers as close as Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and as far away as Japan and the United States. Indeed, the struggle to exploit Caspian oil has been one of the most monumental geopolitical developments of the post-Cold War era as external powers vie for political, economic, and military influence in a region brimming not only with oil, but also with ethnic conflicts and historical animosities.

The coming decade of rapidly increasing demand for energy will ensure the continued interest and engagement of external powers with often competing geopolitical agendas. Thus the geopolitical developments spawned by the opening of the Caspian Sea are likely to continue to far outweigh the actual impact of Caspian oil on world energy markets. This collection of essays by prominent scholars and international experts offers several important and often conflicting interpretations of the events unfolding along the shores of the world's oldest oil-producing region.

The Economics and Econometrics of the Energy-Growth Nexus recognizes that research in the energy-growth nexus field is heterogeneous and controversial. To make studies in the field as comparable as possible, chapters cover aggregate energy and disaggregate energy consumption and single country and multiple country analysis. As a foundational resource that helps researchers answer fundamental questions about their energy-growth projects, it combines theory and practice to classify and summarize the literature and explain the econometrics of the energy-growth nexus. The book provides order and guidance, enabling researchers to feel confident that they are adhering to widely accepted assumptions and procedures.

Water Policy Science and Politics: An Indian Perspective presents the importance of politics and science working together in policymaking in the water sector. Many countries around the developed and developing world, including India, are experiencing major water scarcity problems that will undoubtedly increase with the impacts of climate change. This book discusses specific topics in India's water, agriculture and energy sectors, focusing on scientific aspects, academic and political discourse, and policy issues. The author presents cases from the interrelated sectors of water resources, supplies, sanitation, and energy and climate, including controversial topics that illustrate how science and politics can work together.

The establishment of clean, safe water is one of the major challenges facing societies around the globe. The continued urbanization of human populations, the increasing manipulation of natural resources, and the resulting pollution are driving remarkable burden on water resources. Increasing demands for food, energy, and natural resources are expected to continue to accelerate in the near future in response to the demands of these changing human populations. In addition, the complexity of human activities is leading to a diversity of new chemical contaminants in the environment that represent a major concern for water managers. This will create increased pressure on both water quantity and quality, making it increasingly difficult to provide a sustainable supply of water for human welfare and activities. Although protection of water resources is the best long-term solution, we will also need innovative novel approaches and technologies to water treatment to ensure an adequate superior quality resource to meet these needs. Solving tomorrow's water issues will require unique approaches that incorporate emerging new technologies. Great advances have been made in the area of nanotechnology. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, nanomaterials are extensively used in antibacterial medical products, membrane filters, electronics, catalysts, and biosensors. Nanoparticles can have distinctly different properties from their bulk counterparts, creating the opportunity for new materials with a diversity of applications. Recent developments related to water treatment include the potential use of carbon nanotubes, nanocompositae, nanospheres, nanofibers, and nanowires for the removal of a diversity of chemical pollutants. By exploiting the assets and structure of these new materials, such as increased surface area, high reactivity, and photocatalytic action, it will be possible to create technologies that can be very efficient at removing and degrading environmental pollutants. Understanding and using these unique properties should lead to innovative, cost-effective applications for addressing the complexities of emerging needs for water treatment and protection. Although still in the early stages, research into the application of nanotechnology shows great promise for solving some of these major global water issues. This comprehensive text describes the latest research and application methods in this rapidly advancing field.

Worldwide, the electric utility industry has been changing over the last several years as deregulation and privatization have been instituted. These changes in how the industry does business are summarized, and the evolving experience of the deregulation in 15 major countries is analyzed. In addition to the analysis, theoretical models and detailed case studies are provided to illustrate the changes. Utility regulatory agency personnel, utility management staff, and research professionals will all be interested in this work.

Water Use Management, and Planning in the United States is designed with new college classes on water resources in mind. It provides information on hydrology, biology, geology, economics, and geography along with historical water policies and regional regulations. The text reflects the transdisciplinary nature of water resources management, moving between descriptive discussions and quantitative analysis to bridge the social and physical sciences. Also providedare frequent case studies and examples to illustrate real-world applications, and includes sidebars throughout to reinforce major points. This book is a result of the authors years of teaching, giving a prescription for an intelligent integrated systemsapproach to water resources management.
Key Features
* Classroom tested
* Quantitative analyses are accompanied by worked examples
* Frequent case studies highlight important applications
* Sidebars reinforce major points and provide parenthetical information

Everybody knows that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing the planet. The costs of failure to act are becoming unthinkable. Yet we know now that if developed countries agree to cut their collective emissions by 30% by 2020, annual economic growth would be trimmed by less than 0.2% - a small price to pay to avoid the potential long-term costs of climate change. Moreover, it is easy to appreciate the positive value of other benefits such as reduced air pollution, security of energy supply at predictable prices, and improved competitiveness through innovation.

Now, for the growing number of enterprises and investors committed to combating climate change with renewable energy technologies, here at last is a minutely detailed analysis of the opportunities and obstacles involved in developing a coherent and effective business strategy. Beginning with an in-depth and up-to-date overview of what we know about the climate change issue, the author goes on to an extensive survey of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), both existing and under development. Recognizing that, in the current state of global awareness, the European Union has taken by far the largest steps in tackling the enormous problems entailed by climate change, she explores in unprecedented detail the various "green" energy incentives and support schemes available under various programs available both at EU level and in each of the 27 Member States.

Both project developers and investors will find out here exactly how to: significantly reduce the main market entry barrier - high costs; exploit synergies and avoid negative spillover effects through coordinated action; draw on all available policy levers, fiscal policies, structural and financial market reforms and external action; ensure full coherence between immediate actions and the EU's medium- to longer term objectives; take full account of the global nature of the problem and shape the EU's contribution to international responses; comply with technical provisions for monitoring, reporting and verification; and discern investment trends in the RES markets.

Providing both knowledge of the industry and of relevant investment instruments, " Renewable Energy Sources" will serve as a powerful liaison between project developers and investors in the renewable energy market. Interested companies and their counsel will find here a ready reference for information on sources of equity/venture capital, detailed knowledge of available subsidies, business expansion strategies, viable investment options, and advantageous networks.

This book traces the history of the nuclear power industry in the United States from the 1950s when electricity from nuclear power was expected to be too cheap to meter, to the 1990s when the nuclear power industry lies in shambles and the landscape is dotted with the billion dollar carcasses of unfinished or inoperable nuclear power plants. Using the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant on Long Island as a case study, and reviewing the civil racketeering trial relating to that plant, McCallion details how a fatal combination of fraud, incompetence, and naivete has driven utility companies to the brink (and in some cases, beyond the brink) of bankruptcy in the vain quest for the nuclear power fix.

'Professor Sakmar's book is a must read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the most dynamic segment of the global energy industry.' - Jay Copan, Executive Director, LNG 17With clear and direct text, supplemented with key maps, charts and graphics from government, industry and other sources, the book moves the reader smoothly through the early history of LNG up to current developments, including shale gas and North American LNG exports. The book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding global gas markets and the energy policy challenges facing us in the 21st century.' - Jacqueline L. Weaver, A.A. White Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center, US Countries around the world are increasingly looking to liquefied natural gas (LNG) - natural gas that has been cooled until it forms a transportable liquid - to meet growing energy demand. Energy for the 21st Century provides critical insights into the opportunities and challenges LNG faces, including its potential role in a carbon-constrained world. This comprehensive study covers topics such as the LNG value chain, the historical background and evolution of global LNG markets, trading and contracts, and an analysis of the various legal, policy, safety and environmental issues pertaining to this important fuel. Additionally, the author discusses emerging issues and technologies that may impact global LNG markets, such as the development of shale gas, the prospects of North American LNG exports, the potential role of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and floating LNG. The author contextualizes the discussion about the importance of LNG with an analysis of why the 21st century will be the 'golden age' of natural gas. Accessible and non-technical in nature, this timely book will serve as an essential reference for practitioners, scholars and anyone else interested in 21st century energy solutions. Contents: Preface Introduction 1. The Role of Natural Gas and LNG in the 21st Century 2. The LNG Value Chain 3. The Evolution of LNG Markets and Primary Demand Regions 4. Global LNG Supply 5. Global LNG Demand and Emerging Demand Markets 6. The Globalization of LNG: The Evolution of LNG Trade, Pricing and Contracts 7. Safety and Environmental Sustainability of LNG 8. Global LNG Mega Projects and Players Qatar and Australia 9. New Players and Projects Russia, Peru, Yemen, and Papua New Guinea 10. The Role of Shale Gas in the Golden Age of Gas 11. The Impact of Shale Gas on Global Gas Markets and the Prospects for US and Canadian LNG Exports 12. Emerging Issues in the LNG Industry Conclusion: The Future Looks Bright for LNG as a Fuel for the 21st Century Index

This multivolume handbook is the most comprehensive and updated reference of advanced geospatial techniques for water resource and watershed management. It addresses complex solutions that appear in individual articles but require an exhaustive search for assimilation. By assembling these tremendous advances in an expertly curated resource and making it available in depth to professionals and the water research community worldwide, this successful vehicle will help readers in elevating the quality and variety of water research and solutions. A broad range of authors, specialties, sources, institutions, countries, and continents showcase exemplary approaches and capabilities for the 21st century.