Multinational corporations are not merely the problem in environmental concerns, but could also be part of the solution. The oil industry and climate change provide the clearest example of how the two are linked; what is less well-known is how the industry is responding to these concerns. This volume, available for the first time in paperback, presents a detailed study of the climate strategies of ExxonMobil, Shell and Statoil. With an innovative analytical approach, the authors explain variations at three decision-making levels: within the companies themselves, in the national home-bases of the companies, and at an international level. The analysis generates policy-relevant knowledge about whether and how corporate resistance to a viable climate policy can be overcome. The analytical approach developed by the authors is also applicable to other areas of environmental degradation where multinational corporations play a central role. The book is invaluable to students, researchers and practitioners interested in national and international environmental politics and business environmental management. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, Climate action -- .

This book examines how current energy and water management processes affect Indigenous communities in North America, with a specific focus on Canada. Currently, there is no known Indigenous community-led strategic environmental assessment (ICSEA) tool for developing community-led solutions for pipeline leak management and energy resiliency. To fill this lacuna, this book draws on expertise from Indigenous Elders, Knowledge-keepers, and leaders representing communities who are highly affected by pipeline leaks. These accounts highlight the importance of providing Indigenous communities with technical information and advice, allowing them to practise community-led disaster management, and giving them direct access to lawyers and decision-makers. If implemented into current policy and practice, these tools would succeed in helping rural Indigenous communities make strategic choices for sustainable energy management and utilize their lands, traditional territories, and natural resources to develop a robust, sustainable energy future. Prioritizing Indigenous perspectives on energy management and governance, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners working in the fields of energy policy and justice, environmental sociology, and Indigenous studies.

This book investigates the role of law in enabling and addressing the barriers to the development of off-grid renewable electricity (OGRE). The limited development of OGRE is ascribed to a host of social, economic, and legal barriers, including the problem of initial capital costs, existing subsidies for conventional electricity, and lack of technological and institutional capacity. Through the analyses of selected case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America, this book discusses the typical barriers to the development of OGRE from a global perspective and examines the role of the law in addressing them. Drawing together the lessons learnt from the case studies, this book offers robust recommendations on how the development of OGRE will support the goal of achieving universal access to low carbon, reliable, and sustainable electricity globally. This volume will be of great interest to students, scholars, policy makers, investors, and practitioners in the fields of energy law and policy, climate change, and renewable energy development.

Phytoremediation of Domestic Wastewater with the Internet of Things and Machine Learning Techniques highlights the most recent advances in phytoremediation of wastewater using the latest technologies. It discusses practical applications and experiences utilizing phytoremediation methods for environmental sustainability and the remediation of wastewater. It also examines the various interrelated disciplines relating to phytoremediation technologies and plots industry's best practices to share this technology widely, as well as the latest findings and strategies. It serves as a nexus between artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability and bioremediation for advanced students and practicing professionals in the field.

Nuclear energy is contributing to the long-term solution to stave off climate change. However, current nuclear fission technology accesses only about 1-3% of the nuclear energy content of natural uranium, which is inefficient, and also creates a radioactive waste disposal problem. Combining nuclear fission technology with emerging nuclear fusion technology to create a fusion-fission hybrid would yield extra fusion neutrons to 1) convert much more of the uranium into fissionable material, which would increase efficient utilization of the nuclear fuel resource, and 2) significantly reduce (by fission) the most long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. This book describes fusion-fission hybrid physics and technology. The first parts briefly review nuclear fission principles and describe design and safety of nuclear fission reactors; then the fundamentals of nuclear fusion and fusion reactor concepts are described, together with ongoing and future challenges and anticipated developments in this not-yet matured technology. Chapters cover the scientific basis of nuclear fission and the fission fuel cycle, advanced fission reactors, safety aspects, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear fusion power, future improvements expected, and then the fusion-fission hybrid (FFH) breeder and burner reactor concept principles, with illustrative FFH design concepts, safety analyses, and examples of the use of fusion neutrons for helping to achieve burning and breeding fission fuel cycles. This concise work is essential reading for researchers and policy makers in nuclear energy research and engineering, including advanced students.

This book covers game-theoretic approaches to analyzing policies for environmental regulation in the power sector. The scope includes operational and investment decisions in imperfectly competitive electricity markets as well as transmission planning and policy design. Given this context, this book synthesizes equilibrium and bi-level modeling to address challenging research questions such as: * How are power-plant operations affected by carbon policy, such as cap-and-trade (C&T) systems? * How does market power in electricity generation affect market outcomes and CO2 emissions? * How does a strategic firm with first-mover advantage manipulate both electricity and C&T permit prices? * How does a strategic firm with first-mover advantage invest in new generation capacity under a C&T system? * How does sustainable transmission planning adapt to an imperfectly competitive power sector? * How should a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) target be revised in an imperfectly competitive power sector? This book includes plenty of illustrative examples to facilitate the concepts' comprehension. It is intended to make equilibrium and bi-level models adapted for policy assessment accessible to graduate students, academic researchers, industry practitioners, and policy analysts.

Economic and strategic power is not the exclusive province of powerful, developed countries. Kuwait has used its main resource, oil, to integrate itself into the world economy as an autonomous actor rather than as a dependent commodity exporter. This daring economic strategy enabled Kuwait to claim military support from governments hosting its direct investments overseas in 1990-91 following its invasion by Iraq. Based on five years of research, including interviews with more than 200 people, Dr. Tetreault's book analyzes the development of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation in the context of domestic, regional, and world politics. Contrary to current thinking, she argues that multinational vertical integration under state ownership can be an optimal strategy for oil-exporting, developing countries, particularly those whose resource endowments are otherwise highly limited. This book is directed toward executives in natural resource industries, economic and strategic planners in public and private institutions, and those charged with the formulation and implementation of national, international, and transnational economic policy; in addition, it is of interest to academics specializing in political economy, development, industrial organization, regional and domestic politics, and international relations.

First published in 1993, The History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881-1918 is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners' Association in 1881 through to the end of the First World War. The period covered is of considerable importance for the consolidation of the Yorkshire Miners Union, and indeed for the building of a national miners' federation and an international miners' organisation, in both of which the role of Yorkshire's leadership was central. The decades straddling the turn of the century were characterised by volatility in the mining industry, which was reflected in a number of strikes. Carolyn Baylies traces these general processes and focuses, in detail, upon a number of episodes during which union struggles and community involvement coalesced. She explores the dynamic between district and local levels of the union, and the tensions that accompanied a progressive rationalization of bargaining machinery. This book will be of interest to students of history and sociology.

Overseas Press Club Award Winner 2016 A shocking investigative journey into the way the resource trade wreaks havoc on Africa, 'The Looting Machine' explores the dark underbelly of the global economy. 'The Looting Machine' is a searing expose of the global web of traders, bankers, middlemen, despots and corporate raiders that is pillaging Africa's vast natural wealth. From the killing fields of Congo to the crude-slicked creeks of Nigeria, a great endowment of oil, diamonds, copper, iron, gold and coltan has become a curse that condemns millions to poverty, violence and oppression. That curse is no accident. This gripping investigative journey takes us into the shadows of the world economy, where secretive networks conspire with Africa's kleptocrats to bleed the continent dry. And like their victims, the beneficiaries of this grand looting have names.

Energy poverty, one of the major challenges facing the global energy system, has drawn wide attention from the international community and academia. As the largest developing country in the world, China faces a number of challenges in understanding and resolving the problem of energy poverty. Energy Economics: Understanding and Interpreting Energy Poverty in China presents a succinct overview of research on China's Energy Poverty as studied by the Center for Energy & Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). Based on the analytical framework of energy economics, the book summarizes and refines international energy assessment methods, builds China's energy poverty measurement and comprehensive evaluation criteria, and evaluates China's energy poverty from the perspective of time and space. It goes on to analyze the impact of solid fuel use on urban and rural residents' health, and review the relationship between energy poverty and economic development, clean energy development and energy poverty, as well as climate change and energy availability. Finally, it summarizes policies and actions to eliminate energy poverty. This book will provide essential scientific support for researchers and policy makers dealing with energy poverty.

This book is dedicated to the life and work of Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish pharmacist whose world-renowned achievements include construction of the world's first oil refinery and invention of the modern kerosene lamp. The authors also portray the history of the Galician oil industry and set it in the context of political, social and technological changes taking place in the 19th-century Central and Eastern Europe. "The work adds substantially to existing scholarship in English. As the author of the only English-language academic monograph devoted to a general history of the Galician oil industry, I can attest that this manuscript adds significant and important information, details, depth of investigation that is not provided in my book or any other book. It therefore makes a novel contribution that will be very valuable to anyone looking for a truly detailed account of Ignacy Lukasiewicz's contribution within the context of the Galician oil industry in general." Alison Frank Johnson Professor of History and of Germanic Languages and Literatures Harvard University, Center for European Studies "The authors sketch the profiles of two outstanding Poles, pioneers of the oil industry - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, MSc. in Pharmacy, and mining engineer and geologist Witold Zglenicki, called the Polish Nobel (...) This scientific work is an interesting and captivating read. It can be used not only by scientists and students, but also by everyone who is interested in industrial cultural heritage (...)." Krzysztof Bronski Professor and Head of Department of Economic and Social History Economic University in Krakow

- Provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging interdisciplinary field of marine studies - Provides a unique social science and humanities approach to key marine challenges, including climate change, pollution and aquaculture - Includes examples of professional or academic areas of specialization within Marine Studies such as social and environmental justice, governance, traditional ecological knowledge and management, community development, conservation, and the blue economy - provide the first cohesive resource on Marine Studies to educate students, train interdisciplinary marine leaders, and build capacity for a new generation of marine-focused professionals

The first book to look at how energy companies can develop brands as they move to more sustainable energy solutions. The world is facing climate crisis, and never before has the world been looking at the energy industry to solve the delivery of power in ways that do not damage the planet. Includes insights from energy business leaders and is therefore more than an academic thesis, but a practical guide to resolving these branding and sustainability challenges.

This book focuses on water resources and the economic, financial, social and environmental impacts (ICSDWE) of global warming and climate change. It discusses the links between these aspects and presents cutting-edge research, technology, and practice in these fields. The book is a valuable resource for students and researchers at government organizations, academic institutions, and NGOs.

Introduces fundamentals of nanomaterials from renewable resources, including processing and characterization Covers nanomaterials for applications in food and packaging, including nanocellulose, lignin- and chitosan-based nanomaterials, and nanostarch Discusses applications in energy conservation, such as supercapacitors, electrolyte membranes, energy storage devices, and insulation Describes environmental uses such as water remediation and purification and oil spill clean-ups Highlights advantages and challenges in commercialization of green nanoparticle-based materials

This Handbook examines the subject of energy security: its definition, dimensions, ways to measure and index it, and the complicating factors that are often overlooked. The volume identifies varying definitions and dimensions of energy security, including those that prioritize security of supply and affordability alongside those that emphasize availability, energy efficiency, trade, environmental quality, and social and political stewardship. It also explores the various metrics that can be used to give energy security more coherence, and also to enable it to be measured, including recent attempts to measure energy security progress at the national level, with a special emphasis placed on countries within the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), countries within Asia, and industrialized countries worldwide. This Handbook: * Broadens existing discussions of energy security that center on access to fuels, including "oil security" and "coal security." * Focuses not only on the supply side of energy but also the demand, taking a hard look at energy services and politics along with technologies and infrastructure; * Investigates energy security issues such as energy poverty, equity and access, and development; * Analyzes ways to index and measure energy security progress at the national and international level. This book will be of much interest to students of energy security, energy policy, economics, environmental studies, and IR/Security Studies in general.

This book addresses the rapidly changing citizen roles in innovation, technology adoption, intermediation, market creation, and legitimacy building for low-carbon solutions. It links research in innovation studies, sustainability transitions, and science and technology studies, and builds a new approach for the study of user contributions to innovation and sociotechnical change. Citizen Activities in Energy Transition gives detailed and empirically grounded overall appraisal of citizens' active technological engagement in the current energy transition, in an era when Internet connectivity has given rise to important new forms of citizen communities and interactions. It elaborates a new way to study users in sociotechnical change through long-term ethnographic and historical research and reports its deployment in a major, decade-long line of investigation on user activities in small-scale renewables, addressing user contributions from the early years to the late proliferation stages of small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RETs). It offers a much-needed empirical and theoretical understanding of the dynamics of the activities in which users are engaged over the course of sociotechnical change, including innovation, adoption, adjustment, intermediation, community building, digital communities, market creation, and legitimacy creation. This work is a must-read for those seeking to understand the role of users in innovation, energy systems change and the significance of new digital communities in present and future sociotechnical change. Academics, policymakers, and managers are given a new resource to understand the "demand side" of sociotechnical change beyond the patterns of investment, adoption, and social acceptance that have traditionally occupied their attention.

Building on insights from ecological economics and philosophy of technology, this book offers a novel, interdisciplinary approach to understand the contradictory nature of Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is rapidly emerging as a cost-effective option in the world economy. However, reports about miserable working conditions, environmentally deleterious mineral extraction and toxic waste dumps corrode the image of a problem-free future based on solar power. Against this backdrop, Andreas Roos explores whether 'ecologically unequal exchange' - an asymmetric transfer of labour time and natural resources - is a necessary condition for solar PV development. He demonstrates how the massive increase in solar PV installation over recent years would not have been possible without significant wage/price differences in the world economy - notably between Europe/North America and Asia- and concludes that solar PV development is currently contingent on environmental injustices in the world economy. As a solution, Roos argues that solar technology is best coupled with strategies for degrowth, which allow for a transition away from fossil fuels and towards a socially just and ecologically sustainable future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of solar power, philosophy of technology, and environmental justice.

This book helps power industry executives to systematically navigate the complex technological and organizational changes necessary to recreate power grids. This is especially pertinent in the current environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity conditions. Across the globe, the electric power sector is facing many forces of change as it transitions from a fossil-based system to cleaner sustainable resources. Leaders in the power sector face unprecedented challenges in responding to these changes while continuing to provide safe, reliable, clean, and affordable electricity. Recognizing that historical and existing ways will not work, Jagoron Mukherjee and Marco C. Janssen present a new paradigm for industry leaders to tackle some of the key questions to determine the best path forward: What will the business be like in the future? What technologies will likely prevail? How should my company respond to constant change? How expensive will the transition be? Will the customer expectations be met? How fast do we need to change? Drawing on well-known management principles, the book helps industry leaders to provide a methodology to tackle these questions and sharpen their decisions as they embrace innovation, new customer expectations and digitization in their efforts to steer the energy transition. Taking a holistic problem-solving approach, which addresses the power company as a whole, Recreating the Power Grid will be a valuable resource for all professionals working in this quickly evolving field.

Advances in Hydrology and Climate Change: Historical Trends and New Approaches in Water Resources Management highlights recent trends in the water sector that employ a variety of different innovative management and conservation approaches. The volume provides an informative overview of the issues and challenges in water resources affected by climate change conditions, such as drought, flooding, glacier changes, and overbuilt-up urban areas. Focusing on surface and groundwater related issues and sustainable solutions, the chapters present a variety of methods, including morphometric assessment, parameter estimation, long-term trend analysis, sustainability indexes, storm water management models (SWMM), entropy-based measurement of long-term precipitation, etc. The volume focuses on providing a better understanding of climatic uncertainty through hydrometeorological data sets and their application in hydrological modeling. These analyses help to serve as the basis for the design of flood-control and water-usage management policies. The chapters discuss climatic variability that depends on several factors, i.e., its erratic distribution, topography, seasonal variation, land-use change, anthropogenic activities, etc., demonstrating the overall interconnection between different parameters of hydrological cycles to design modeling approaches that include using soft-computing applications, remote sensing and GIS-based techniques, artificial neural networks, and more. This book will be a standard reference work for disciplines in water resources, soil and water engineering, engineering hydrology, groundwater hydrology, climate change, agrometeorology, agriculture, ecology and environmental science, leading to a way forward for strategy formulation for combating hydrology and climate change.

This book explores an ongoing puzzle: why don't catastrophic events, such as oil shocks and nuclear meltdowns, always trigger transitions away from the energy technologies involved? Jennifer F. Sklarew examines how two key factors - shocks and stakeholder relationships - combine to influence energy system transitions, applying a case study of Japan's trajectory from the time of the 1970s oil crises through the period following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Examining the role of diverse stakeholders' resilience priorities, she focuses on how changes in stakeholder cooperation and clout respond to and are affected by these shocks, and how this combination of shocks and relationship changes shapes energy policies and policymaking. From Japan's narrative, the book derives unique and universal lessons for cooperation on innovation and energy system resilience applicable to communities and nations around the globe, including implications for transitions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book also places energy system resilience and innovation in the broader context of the food-energy-water-climate nexus. Building Resilient Energy Systems: Lessons from Japan will appeal to all levels of readers with an interest in energy policy, energy technologies and energy transitions: experts and specialists; academics and students; practitioners and policymakers.

This book addresses the interactions between Germany's energy transition and the EU's energy policy framework. It seeks to analyze the manifold connections between the prospects of the proclaimed "Energy Union" and the future of Germany's energy transition, and identifies relevant lessons for the transformation at the EU level that can be learned from the case of Germany, as a first-mover of transforming energy systems towards renewables. The various repercussions (political, economic and systemic) from the national transition are explored within the EU context as it responds to the German transition, taking into account both existing frictions and potential synergies between predominantly national sustainability policies and the EU's push towards harmonized policies within a common market. The book's overall aim is to identify the most critical issues, in order to avoid pitfalls and capitalize on opportunities.

Africa's oil and gas industry is facing extraordinary circumstances. An ongoing energy transition and new efforts to decarbonize the world are weighing on oil demand. The shale revolution is exacerbating these pressures. And of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on markets around the world, accelerating and intensifying existing trends. External headwinds are forcing African petroleum producers to re-examine their strategies. Conventional petroleum resources here should be globally competitive, but growth has lagged because of conditions above the ground, not below. Restrictive fiscal regimes, inefficient and carbon-intensive production, and difficulties in doing business are preventing the industry from reaching its full potential. As companies delay projects and cut costs, planned capital expenditure in 2020-2021 has fallen from $90 billion pre-COVID-19, to $60 billion now. To remain competitive, African producers and governments must adapt. But how can they do it when the economic order is being remade? The Road to Recovery addresses these challenges head-on, detailing all of the major challenges facing African oil and gas stakeholders, as well as workable solutions that will keep the industry on a strong and stable growth path. Again and again, our oil and gas sector has proven its resilience and adaptability. The world still needs oil and gas, and Africa still holds enormous untapped potential. The African Energy Chamber will remain a committed partner of choice for the industry as we advance into an uncertain future.