Consume thy rival may be the new law of corporate survival in the U.S. utilities industry. This book describes close to $70 billion of global utility mergers stemming from the anticipated deregulation of the U.S. gas and electrical utilities industries. Occurring from 1995 to 1997, these mergers are completely restructuring U.S. power utilities. Thirty-seven billion dollars of these mergers, a full 53 percent, occurred abroad. About two-thirds of the foreign mergers were U.S. takeovers, while the remaining one-third was mergers, defensive and otherwise, of U.K. firms with other U.K. firms. This may be the first time U.S. industrial restructuring has generated more investment abroad rather than in domestic markets.

Exploring the diversity of strategies and changes driving these mergers, the author concludes that although complex, the mergers can be explained by strategies traditionally used in domestic M&As. These very large U.S. utilities now consider themselves to be operating in a global industry of private, deregulated utilities, and they are determined to survive through mergers that help them cut costs, spread expenses, and increase profits.

Durable business performance is crucially dependent on a stakeholders strategy and accessible entrepreneurial finance available within macro-economic and regulatory environments. The reflections on issues and policies of progress are mainly concerned with enabling entrepreneurial risk-takers to operate within an optimal business environment. This book covers these issues.

Because political events can determine the success or failure of an investment abroad, transnational companies must make every effort to analyze political risks as part of the decisionmaking process. States and Companies, written especially for students of international business and executives of transnational companies, presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of political risk. Although the author focuses his study on the international oil industry, his explanatory model of political risk is applicable to most transnational companies. Lax's study is important because it focuses on developing a context for understanding political risk rather than simply offering a predictive methodology. He provides the theoretical groundwork for this understanding by explaining political risk in terms of a broader theory of interaction between host states and transnational corporations. The inherent conflict of interests and issues hierarchies between these two actors, Lax argues, is the root cause of political risk.

In the new millennium, understanding China's energy economy is crucial for politicians, businesspeople and energy economists, as China's energy policy choices will mean both challenges and opportunities for the world in terms of an increasing share of primary energy consumption and investment. This book initially reviews the literature on China's energy economy and in so doing reveals that many important areas have been overlooked or are outdated in their coverage. Given the size of China and its global importance, the book then review s China's current energy situation and fills the gaps in the literature for those who are interested in and concerned about China's economic development and energy reform in the new millennium.

The book is different from previous studies in several important ways: Firstly, it presents recent, pioneering research rather than a simple textbook, several sections of which have been published in high-quality energy journals. Secondly, the book first subdivides China's energy intensity change into aspects of budget constraint, technological change, factor substitution, energy demand and economic growth using a newly developed econometric approach. Thirdly, it provides many new and different econometric findings and derives many new policy implications for China's energy economy. And lastly, it brings to light a wealth of new knowledge for those who are interested in China's energy economy, the world energy market and global environmental and climate change issues."

This book describes the impact of modernization on the organization and sustainability of Urban Water Systems in Europe (UWSEs). Bolognesi explains that the modernization of UWSEs was a regulatory shock that began in the 1990s and was put into action with the EU Water Framework Directive in the year 2000. This process sought to reorganize water governance in order to achieve certain sustainability goals, but it fell short of expectations. Modernization and Urban Water Governance provides an update on the organization and sustainability of UWSEs, while drawing from a comparative analysis of German, French, and English water models and an institutionalist explanation of the current situation. With a focus on transaction costs, property rights allocation and institutional environments, this book argues that the modernization of UWSEs tends to depoliticize these systems and make them more resilient but also limits their potential for sustainable management. This book will be relevant to those wishing to understand the real impacts of water reform in Europe according to national contingencies.

Nanotechnology progresses its concerts and suitability by improving its effectiveness, security and also reducing the impact and risk. Various chapters in this book are written by eminent scientists and prominent researchers in the field of nanotechnology across the world. This book is focused to put emerging techniques forward using nanoparticles for safe and nutritional food production, protecting crops from pests, increasing nutritional value and providing solutions for various environmental issues. The outcome of this book creates a path for wide usage of nanoparticles in food, agriculture and the environment fields. This book has clear and simple illustrations, tables and case studies to understand the content even by non-experts. This book especially deals with the nanotechnology for controlling plant pathogens, food packaging and preservation, agricultural productivity, waste water treatment and bioenergy production. Hence, this book can be adopted and used by many researchers and academicians in the fields of food, agriculture, environment and nanotechnology for catering the needs of sustainable future. The salient features of this book are * Describes nanotechnology as an interdisciplinary and emerging field in life sciences* Useful for researchers in the cutting edge life science related fields of nanoscience, nanobiology and nanotechnology* Deal with various problems in food, agriculture and environmental sector for sustainable solutions through the application of nanotechnology* Supported with illustrations in color, tables and case studies (wherever applicable), and * Contributed and well written by nanotechnology experts from across various disciplines

This work follows upon the author's previous volume, The Political Economy of Venezuelan Oil, and investigates the general workings of the Mexican oil industry in relationship to the economics and politics of Mexico. Specifically the author examines Mexico's state-run oil concern, PEMEX, and the costs and benefits of Mexican oil policy--for the nation as a whole and for special groups. Using in-depth interviews and extensive data from PEMEX and other sources, Randall explores issues such as PEMEX's relationships with workers and the oil union, with suppliers of capital goods and services, with the regions in which oil is produced, and with specific groups of oil consumers. Given the critical and negative publicity PEMEX has received over its lifetime, Randall also seeks to answer questions regarding the extent of corruption, overstaffing, and lax management within PEMEX, which she finds to be less than is often alleged. Students of energy and development economics will find Randall's study an important contribution to the literature of Latin American economic policy. In addition to examining the internal workings of PEMEX, Randall describes and analyzes measures taken to correct earlier abuses and to increase efficiency. She reveals the intricate relationships among Mexican oil production, OPEC, the United States, and other nations, and explores the contradictory aspects of Mexican economic and oil policies that inhibit the ability of the oil industry to reach official goals. Throughout, Randall traces the transformation of PEMEX from a nationalized industry that mainly produced crude oil for export to one that has expanded to include refined products and petrochemicals. As a result of this expansion, Randall demonstrates, PEMEX has had a major impact both on the market for labor and capital goods and on the regions in which it operates. Her conclusions regarding the current and future prospects for PEMEX have important implications for the study of economic and energy development throughout the Third World.

Since the discovery of oil, the countries of the Persian Gulf have been caught in a vicious circle. With increasing oil revenues, rulers have made self-enrichment their motivation while foreign powers have exploited the region and provided support for oppressive regimes. Early exploitation of the region's oil was colonial in practice; today, oppressive rulers and foreigners work hand-in-hand to the detriment of the citizenry. Rulers have no incentives to foster good institutions, especially the rule of law, as independent and efficient institutions would undermine their control over oil revenues.This book takes a chronological look at the impact of oil in the region and examines how vast oil revenues have encouraged oppressive governance and corrupted development policies, impeding human, political, and economic progress. Hossein Askari argues that there is an urgent need for visionary political and economic reform in order to prevent a regional catastrophe. Rulers must start by publicly acknowledging that oil belongs to the people of all generations and that it must be managed accordingly - efficiently, equitably, and transparently.

This edited volume looks at energy poverty, an issue whose pivotal role in the fight for human development is only now being recognised by policymakers. Nearly one quarter of humanity still lacks access to electricity. Close to one third rely on traditional fuels like firewood and cow dung for cooking, at great cost to their health and welfare. While most prevalent in parts of Africa and Asia, energy poverty is a global problem which concerns us all. This book, which brings together economists, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and other practitioners from all over the world, is dedicated to a single goal: finding a solution to this haunting problem. It is part history, part economics, part political analysis, part business case review, and part field handbook. Part One focuses on defining and measuring the problem and benchmarking progress in solving it, an obvious prerequisite to any successful energy-access policy. Part Two reviews past and current energy access programs, with an eye towards finding out what worked and what didn't and what can be replicated elsewhere. These case reviews are told as seen on the ground - China's experience by top Chinese officials and Africa's by African regulators and scholars. Based in part on those cases, the book's last, more forward-looking section aims to present practitioners with a tool kit, a menu of options to speed up their efforts. The energy access agenda is gaining traction at a time of rising concerns about climate change and resource constraints. This book shows that bringing modern energy to those who lack it not just a moral imperative, but will likely benefit the world as a whole without harming the environment or unduly stretching finite resources.

Climate change, environmental impact and declining natural resources are driving scientific research and novel technical solutions. Green Energy and Technology serves as a publishing platform for scientific and technological approaches to "green" - i.e., environmentally friendly and sustainable - technologies. While the main focus lies on energy and power supply, the series also covers green solutions in industrial engineering and engineering design. Green Energy and Technology is a monograph series addressing researchers, advanced students and technical consultants, as well as decision makers in industry and politics. The level presentation ranges from instructional to highly technical. Fossil fuels are widely used for electricity generation and heating, creating greenhouse gas emissions and other toxic pollutants, which should be minimised according to the most recent environmental legislation. The utilisation of solid fuels with biogenic origin could contribute to the minimisation of these emissions. Solid Biofuels for Energy presents the current status of the engineering disciplines in this specific area, providing an improved background on the energy exploitation options of solid biomass. Within this framework, all thematic priorities related to the solid bioenergy potential and standardisation, commercialised and emerging energy technologies, and quality of solid residues are presented. Special attention has been given to biomass co-firing with coal, since it has the highest potential for commercial application, while combustion and gasification are more promising for units of medium to small scale. This strong practical focus is evident throughout the book, particularly in discussions of: international standards for solid biofuel specifications; supply, cost and sustainability of solid biofuels; technical issues and non-technical barriers in biomass/coal co-firing; and biomass combustion and gasification characteristics.

This eagerly awaited book on natural gas policy promises to be the major work on the subject. The result of the "Harvard Study on the Future of Natural GaS," conducted under the auspices of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center at the Kennedy School of Government, it is comprised of ten articles reflecting the ideas, discussions, and debates of recognized experts in the field of energy policy. The result is an in-depth analysis of the energy debate including past regulatory policy and its effect on the consumer industry, deregulation and its current and future impact, and other topics of serious concern to the industry. Policy recommendations are also made.

Agriculture and industry are the two most important economic sectors for various countries around the globe, providing millions of jobs as well as being the main source of income for these countries. Nevertheless, with the increasing demand for agricultural and industrial produce, huge amounts of waste are also being produced. Without proper management, this waste (both liquid and solid) poses a serious threat to overall environmental quality, mainly due to its toxicity and slow degradation processes. Current approaches are effective but would normally require huge capital investments, are labour intensive and generate potential hazardous by-products. As such, there is a need for alternative approaches that are cheaper, easier-to-handle and have a minimum potential impact on environmental quality. This book presents up-to-date approaches using biological techniques to manage the abundance of waste generated from agricultural and industrial activities. It discusses techniques such as bioconversion, biodegradation, biotransformation, and biomonitoring as well as the utilization of these wastes. A number of chapters also include individual case studies to enhance readers' understanding of the topics. This comprehensive book is a useful resource for anyone involved in agricultural and industrial waste management, green chemistry or biotechnology. It is also recommended as a reference work for graduate students and all agriculture and biotechnology libraries.

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of US policy from the perspective of an analyst and scholar from the region. This volume discusses the US energy diplomacy in the Caspian Sea region since 2001. It compares the foreign policy of the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, following the changing role of energy in the behavior of the US toward states in the energy hubs of Central Asia and the Caspian Sea. The chapters employ historical analysis, regional analysis, interviews, and case studies to trace the evolution of US interests in the area and posits likely trends for future policy. Topics discussed include: China's massive Belt and Road Initiative the energy and foreign policies of the Caspian littoral states in comparison with those of China, India, the European Union, and Turkey the escalation of differences among key OPEC members during the Trump era the impact of the oil price war on the US shale industry the spread of COVID-19 and its impact on the oil market Russian and U.S. competition in the EU energy market the US-China trade war and the role of energy in the first phase of the US-China trade deal the energy policy of the incoming US President, Joe Biden Shedding light on the complex geopolitics of the US-Caspian Sea Energy diplomacy, this volume will be of interest to researchers of foreign policy, diplomacy, international relations, and energy policy as well as policymakers and analysts working in related areas.

This volume presents a collection of contributions dedicated to applied problems in the financial and energy sectors that have been formulated and solved in a stochastic optimization framework. The invited authors represent a group of scientists and practitioners, who cooperated in recent years to facilitate the growing penetration of stochastic programming techniques in real-world applications, inducing a significant advance over a large spectrum of complex decision problems.

After the recent widespread liberalization of the energy sector in Europe and the unprecedented growth of energy prices in international commodity markets, we have witnessed a significant convergence of strategic decision problems in the energy and financial sectors. This has often resulted in common open issues and has induced a remarkable effort by the industrial and scientific communities to facilitate the adoption of advanced analytical and decision tools. The main concerns of the financial community over the last decade have suddenly penetrated the energy sector inducing a remarkable scientific and practical effort to address previously unforeseeable management problems. This proposal aims to include in a unified framework for the first time an extensive set of contributions related to real-world applied problems in finance and energy, leading to a common methodological approach and in many cases having similar underlying economic and financial implications.

During the spring and the summer of 2007 the School of Stochastic Programming held in Bergamo (www.unibg.it/sps2007), and the eleventh symposium on Stochastic Programming in Vienna (http: //www.univie.ac.at/spxi), offered two venues for the presentation of the chapters included in the volume. After the two events, during the fall of 2007, all the invited contributors enthusiastically accepted the invitation to present their original work in the projected volume, from which this proposal was developed.

The volume is structured in three parts, devoted to contributions related to financial applications - Part I, with 7 chapters; energy applications - Part II, with 8 chapters; and to specific theoretical and computational issues - Part III, with 6 chapters -- recently developed in the scientific community and explicitly related to the applied problems presented.

Sustainable Biotechnology; Sources of Renewable Energy draws on the vast body of knowledge about renewable resources for biofuel research, with the aim to bridge the technology gap and focus on critical aspects of lignocellulosic biomolecules and the respective mechanisms regulating their bioconversion to liquid fuels and other value-added products. This book is a collection of outstanding research reports and reviews elucidating several broad-ranging areas of progress and challenges in the utilization of sustainable resources of renewable energy, especially in biofuels.

Margot P. C. Weijnen, Zofia Lukszo and Geert Deconinck Abstract The infrastructures for electric power and information and telecommunication services are critical enablers for all economic activity. Both of these infrastructure systems evolved over time as networks-of-networks in an institutionally fr- mented landscape. In understanding and steering the emergent behaviour of these infrastructure systems both their physical network complexity and their social n- work complexity pose a formidable challenge. On top of the socio-technical c- plexity of the electricity infrastructure and the information and telecommunication infrastructure as such, the two infrastructure systems show unprecedented mutual interdependency. Unravelling this multi-level interdependency and identifying strategies to curb the new risks and vulnerabilities it implies for the reliability of electric power services is the goal of this book. It clearly shows that technical so- tions alone will not suffice to ensure the future reliability and security of electricity infrastructure operations. Keywords Cybersecurity * infrastructure vulnerability * infrastructure depend- cies * power systems 1. 1 Infrastructures Are Critical Infrastructures are the backbone of the economy and society. Especially the network bound infrastructures operated by public utilities and network industries provide essential services that are enabling for almost every economic and social activity. M. P. C. Weijnen (*) and Z. Lukszo Technology Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P. O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands e-mail: M. P. C. Weijnen@tudelft. nl; Z. Lukszo@tudelft. nl G. Deconinck K. U.

Seeking clarity about the conflict in Ukraine and responding to the urgent need to analyze Europe's energy prospects outside of Russia, Kandiyoti links analysis of real energy infrastructure with analysis of the political and economic dynamics unfolding at local, national, regional, and global levels.

This book discusses the strategic shift in ownership of Aramco, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, and its potential impact on Aramco's role in a post- privatized world. Scheduled to become an IPO in 2018, Aramco is on the verge of becoming the largest IPO on the market. As the world's largest oil and gas company, Aramco's impending privatization has important implications for the world's petroleum market. This book, therefore, undertakes an analysis of Aramco, examining its history, its current role in Saudi Arabia's economy, and its future role as an IPO. The chapters highlight the likely outcomes for Aramco in proceeding with its planned IPO and privatization, as well as the various policy options and models available to it by drawing on the privatization of other national oil companies in Norway , Russia, Brazil, and China. The book also explores the complexities that will be involved in transforming Saudi Aramco to a privatized company-albeit with significant government oversight and control-and addresses key questions on the issues likely to be faced, such as IPO pricing, the listing, domain, and market capacity, and potential stakeholders. As such, this book will be of interest to academic researchers studying energy economics, energy policy, and the political economy of the Middle East, as well as private sector decision makers in energy related fields, international organizations, international oil companies, energy commodity traders, and public sector energy policy makers with interest in Saudi Arabia and Aramco's IPO.

This book explores effective environmental impact mitigation for petroleum-based lubricants to reduce their negative persistence during usage and upon end-of-life disposal. The book reviews the basic tribology of lubricants as well as initiatives that may enhance the environmental and economic effectiveness of lubricating oils from the composition design perspective across industries. Considering the blending, application, and disposal of petroleum lubricants in a holistic manner, the book presents and extends current best practices that minimize or eliminate adverse environmental impact throughout the product's life cycle. The book reviews methods including: raw material substitution, minimizing oil losses during and after manufacturing, raw material and energy consumption reduction, and environmentally friendly applications of oil disposal as ways forward for cleaner and more effective production. This book provides readers with strategies for incorporating cleaner production practices into their operations - a benefit to both environmental legal compliance and business competitiveness - all the while preserving the environment for sustainable development. The book is therefore of interest to both manufacturers and consumers in the lubricants industry.

Biomass is a continuously renewed source of energy formed from or by a wide variety of living organisms. Through biochemical and thermochemical processes, it is converted into gaseous, liquid or solid biofuels, which already meet a significant share of the current world energy needs. Because of their contribution to the sustainability of energy supply, reduction of green house gas emissions as well as local employment and energy self-reliance, research interest and activity in enhancing biofuel energy output, efficiency and performance remain strong. The first part of this volume comprises five articles mainly concerned with biomass resource potential and management. More specifically, the reported investigations assess grass and lawn substrates, rapeseed straw and microalgae from Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor effluents as possible sources of biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel, respectively. The emphasis in the subsequent group of eleven articles is on biomass conversion processes, aiming at assessing performance as well as output quality and diversity.Biodiesel, a fluid biofuel produced from biomass with high lipids such as rapeseed oil, sunflowers and soy beans, is the focus of two articles: the first investigates the effect of biodiesel blending with diesel fuel on diesel engine performance and emissions; the second assesses the efficiency of catalytic reforming of biodiesel into a gaseous mixture, used directly as Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) fuel. In the last three articles, the prospects of biofuels as viable sources of energy are examined within European contexts. This volume addresses a significant number of important themes and thus combines subject breadth and density with in-depth study of biomass resourcing and processing as well as the issue of biofuel and renewable energy sustainability.

Detailed and comprehensive, "Waste Management in the Oil Industry" deals with strategies required to manage wastes emanating from oil exploration, development, refining, storage, and distribution in an ecologically friendly manner. Drawing on his extensive experience in the environmental engineering industry and pollution control, Dr. Aloysius A. Aguwa takes an in-depth look at the dilemmas facing the oil industry today.

Dr. Aguwa discusses key strategies needed to effectively control and manage waste associated with the oil and gas industry. These strategies can be grouped into the following categories:

Input substitution Product reformulation Production process redesign/modernization Improved operation and maintenance of production Recovery/recycle Waste treatment Drawings, figures, and tables also help support Dr. Aguwa's research. Those responsible for implementing environmentally sound disposal activities in the oil industry will find "Waste Management in the Oil Industry" an invaluable resource.

As feedstocks to refineries change, there must be an accompanying change in refinery technology. This means a movement from conventional means of refining heavy feedstocks using (typically) coking technologies to more innovative processes that will coax the last drips of liquid fuels from the feedstock.
This book presents the evolution of refinery processes during the last century and as well as the means by which refinery processes will evolve during the next three-to-five decades. Chapters contain material relevant to (1) comparisons of current feedstocks with heavy oil and bio-feedstocks; (2) evolution of refineries since the 1950s, (3) properties and refinability of heavy oil and bio-feedstocks, (4) thermal processes vs. hydroprocesses, and (5) evolution of products to match the environmental market.
Process innovations that have influenced refinery processing over the past three decades are presented, as well as the relevant patents that have the potential for incorporation into future refineries.
Comparison of current feedstocks with heavy oil and bio-feedstocks.
Evolution of refineries over the past three decades.
Properties and refinability of heavy oil and bio-feedstocks.
Thermal processes vs. Hydroprocesses.
Evolution of products to match the environmental market.

* Investigates the engineering and plant design challenges presented by heavy oil and bio-feedstocks

* Explores the legislatory and regulatory climate, including increasingly stringent environmental requirements

* Examines the trade-offs of thermal processes vs. hydroprocesses"

This book describes green photocatalysts and their diverse applications in the fields of environmental sciences and energy. It especially takes a closer look at the removal of air and water pollutants, the generation of hydrogen, photo fuel cells, electrophotocatalysts, solar energy conversions, and green biophotocatalysts. Furthermore it also discusses on the role of catalysts along with their chemical reactions, challenges, past developments and directions for further research on photocatalysts. It includes recent developments of quantum dots (QDs) and photocatalytic applications of QDs such as carbon materials like carbon and graphene based QDs, metal, metal sulfide and metal oxide based QDs as well as a detailed review on various types of templates used for the preparation of porous g-C3N4 and its applications in detail. This is done with special reference to dye degradation, reduction of hexavalent Cr, and reduction of CO2 and for the evolution of H2 photocatalytically. This book offers an intriguing and useful guide for a broad readership in various fields of catalysis, material sciences, environment and energy.

The German abandonment of nuclear power represents one of the most successful popular revolts against technocratic thinking in modern times-the triumph of a dynamic social movement, encompassing a broad swath of West Germans as well as East German dissident circles, over political, economic, and scientific elites. Taking on Technocracy gives a brisk account of this dramatic historical moment, showing how the popularization of scientific knowledge fostered new understandings of technological risk. Combining analyses of social history, popular culture, social movement theory, and histories of science and technology, it offers a compelling narrative of a key episode in the recent history of popular resistance.

Energy insecurity is not normally associated with the Middle East. However, away from the oil-rich Persian Gulf, the countries of the eastern Mediterranean are particularly vulnerable. Their fossil fuel endowments are low, while their fractious relationships with each other have long fostered wider political insecurities. Focusing on the Jordan Basin (Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Jordan), this timely volume addresses the prospects for the adoption of renewable energy in the oil-poor Middle East. Featuring regional energy experts, it offers an invaluable survey.

After outlining the regional security context, this book first reviews renewable energy policy and practices in the Jordan Basin. It then considers options for greening energy use, including promising pilot projects in North Africa. The initiatives discussed encompass renewable energy finance, energy-efficient rural communities, and solar and wind energy. There is significant potential for an increase in the uptake of renewable energy technologies in the eastern Mediterranean. This window of opportunity has been created by high oil prices, energy infrastructure investment opportunities, and the UN climate change regime. In conclusion, the book considers the institutional conditions for collaborative decision-making on renewable energy. Such cooperation would deliver substantial security and human development benefits to the region, and indeed the world.