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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Energy industries & utilities > General
Recent developments like the rising trend in crude oil price, the international economic crisis, the civil revolts in Northern Africa and the Middle East, the nuclear threat in Japan after the tsunami, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the economic growth of emerging countries like China and India have a direct relation to the security of energy supply anywhere in the world. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of energy risks, energy scenarios and energy policies with special reference to the European Union and its member states, emphasizing the economic and geopolitical dimensions of energy security. The book assesses both quantitatively and qualitatively the socioeconomic and political risks related to the European energy supply, together with the EU s energy relations with other countries. Two innovative indicators have been developed to estimate geopolitical energy risks and energy-related relations with other countries. The book also examines the process of convergence of member states energy security policies, the path towards a common European energy policy, and the process of Europeanization projected towards the energy corridors through which the EU receive energy imports. In addition, alternative strategic scenarios related to energy risk are assessed. Finally, guidelines for the EU s energy policy and new strategies using energy corridors are suggested in order to maximize EU s energy security. The book should be of interest to students and researchers across a wide range of subjects, including energy economics and policy, energy and foreign policy in the EU, energy policies in EU member states and several aspects related to international political economy."
This book is an up-to-date primer covering the most important subjects in energy economics, with particular attention paid to oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy, and without an excessive amount of mathematics. The first three survey chapters constitute an introductory (and mostly non-technical) short course in modern energy economics. Most of the technical analysis is taken up in the following four chapters, while the last chapter is a completely non-technical summation that can be read independent of the rest of the book. Written in a user-friendly tone, it is suitable as a textbook for undergraduate and/or graduate students, but most of the book should be accessible to anyone with a serious interest in energy economics.
Corporate governance has become a household term and investors across the world are demanding more transparency and accountability from controllers of listed corporations. The current resources boom that has been driven by soaring demand from China has brought China's listed resources companies into focus. Some of these companies are beginning to be known internationally, such as Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC (in the oil industry) and CHALCO (aluminium); but their governance structures are often not well known. This book explores the corporate governance of these listed companies. Compared with the governance of global companies, such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Shell, Shevron, the governance of China's resources companies has special characteristics. While the authors focus is on the governance of resources companies in China, this book also tackles contemporary issues of resource security and environmental change which are closely related to the depletion of the world's natural resources. Case studies of other international resources giants such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Shell and Chevron are provided to enhance our understanding of the differences that exist between them and Chinese resources companies. This book will be of interest to the business community and to those readers who are interested in China and its governance related issues.
In 1872 Yellowstone was established as a National Park. The name caught the public's imagination and by the close of the century, other National Parks had been declared, not only in the USA, but also in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Yet as it has spread, the concept has evolved and diversified. In the absence of any international controlling body, individual countries have been free to adapt the concept for their own physical, social and economic environments. Some have established national parks to protect scenery, others to protect ecosystems or wildlife. Tourism has also been a fundamental component of the national parks concept from the beginning and predates ecological justifications for national park establishment though it has been closely related to landscape conservation rationales at the outset. Approaches to tourism and visitor management have varied. Some have stripped their parks of signs of human settlement, while increasingly others are blending natural and cultural heritage, and reflecting national identities. This edited volume explores in detail, the origins and multiple meanings of National Parks and their relationship to tourism in a variety of national contexts. It consists of a series of introductory overview chapters followed by case study chapters from around the world including insights from the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Spain, France, Sweden, Indonesia, China and Southern Africa. Taking a global comparative approach, this book examines how and why national parks have spread and evolved, how they have been fashioned and used, and the integral role of tourism within national parks. The volume's focus on the long standing connection between tourism and national parks; and the changing concept of national parks over time and space give the book a distinct niche in the national parks and tourism literature. The volume is expected to contribute not only to tourism and national park studies at the upper level undergraduate and graduate levels but also to courses in international and comparative environmental history, conservation studies, and outdoor recreation management.
This handbook gathers state-of-the-art research on optimization problems in power distribution systems, covering classical problems as well as the challenges introduced by distributed power generation and smart grid resources. It also presents recent models, solution techniques and computational tools to solve planning problems for power distribution systems and explains how to apply them in distributed and variable energy generation resources. As such, the book therefore is a valuable tool to leverage the expansion and operation planning of electricity distribution networks.
Written by the leading expert in UK petroleum economics, this study provides a new, unique, in-depth analysis of the development of British policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Drawing on full access to the UK Government s relevant archives,
Alex Kemp examines the thinking behind the initial legislation in
1964, the early licensing arrangements and the events leading up to
the boundary delimitation agreements with Norway and other adjacent
North Sea countries. He explains the debate in the later 1960s
about the appropriate role of the state in the exploitation of the
gas and oil resources, the prolonged negotiations resulting in the
early long-term gas contracts, and the continuing debate on the
role of the state following the large oil discoveries in the first
half of the 1970s resulting in the formation of BNOC (British
National Oil Corporation). The debate leading up to the
introduction of, and subsequent increase in, the Petroleum Revenue
Tax is fully explained as is the introduction of Supplementary
Petroleum Duty. The author also outlines the debates around
interventionist depletion policies and on how the oil revenues
should best be utilised. The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas will be of much interest to students of North Sea oil and gas, energy economics, business history, and British politics, as well as to petroleum professionals and policymakers."
This is an easy-to-read textbook providing the reader with the basis to comprehend the major energy technologies from a physical and economical perspective. The journey through the book begins with some background theory on the physics and economics of energy. Major energy technologies (fossil, nuclear and renewable) are explored in-depth, explaining how they work and the costs involved. Finally, the journey ends by exploring the technical and economic feasibility of supplying the world by 2050 with sustainable energy only. Numerous examples are provided to allow the reader to relate important concepts to real-life. The reader s understanding of the material can then be tested using the exercises at the end of each chapter. This textbook is the first to thoroughly present the physics and the economics of energy. It is intended for graduate students and practitioners interested in the field of energy. It also enables the general reader to distinguish between political statement and fact."
The challenges in Russia's energy sector are changing. On the demand side, Europe is seeking to limit its dependence on Russian oil and gas, with the result that China and other Asian countries are likely to eventually become growing export markets for Russian energy. On the supply side, oil and gas fields in West Siberia are diminishing and in future Russia's energy will have to come more from East Siberia and the Arctic, which will necessitate new infrastructure development and the employment of advanced technologies, which may increase Russia's dependence on commercial partners from outside Russia. This book explores the challenges facing Russia's energy sector and the resulting security implications. It includes a discussion of how far the Russian state is likely to continue to monopolise the energy sector, and how far competition from private and foreign companies might be allowed.
This volume examines energy security in a privatized, liberalized, and increasingly global energy market, in which the concept of sustainability has developed together with a higher awareness of environmental issues, but where the potential for supply disruptions, price fluctuation, and threats to infrastructure safety must also be considered. Part I commences with an essential introductory chapter which defines energy security and sets forth the key issues and themes of the book. There then follow several cross-cutting chapters which include sceptical analysis of energy security claims from an environmental perspective and a broader geopolitical analysis of energy security. Part II examines a wide variety of international, regional, and national approaches to energy security issues. Energy security concerns differ considerably from country to country, however most of the chapters examining particular nations provide an economic and historical context of their energy security concerns, followed by a detailed analysis of the legal provisions relating to each of the main energy sectors (oil, gas, coal, electricity, nuclear, and renewable energies). This entails examination of regulation, organization, and planning for security and other purposes. In a number of cases, energy security law is shaped by other factors such as market liberalization, environmental protection, and competition policy. Part III comprises two final chapters, the first contrasting the various national and regional approaches and analysing cross-cutting issues, whilst the concluding chapter forecasts future trends in the legal regulation of energy security.
This book sheds light on how global warming has caused the ongoing environmental disaster in the Arctic, namely its melting. This development, if left unabated, will have a major negative environmental impact, not only on the Arctic itself, but on the entire planet, including the worsening of global warming and rising sea levels. The latter is a major threat to all island countries and all countries having coastlines with open seas with major environmental, social, economic, political and military/security implications. The Arctic melting is bringing about challenges while opening doors for certain opportunities. These are the accessibility of the region's large oil, gas and coal reserves and minerals, including rare earth elements. They are in demand both in the Arctic littoral states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia and USA) and the Greater Arctic countries (Iceland, Finland and Sweden) as well as in other parts of the world. In particular, major oil and gas importers (China, India, Japan and South Korea) are interested in the Arctic energy resources, the main non-regional countries with a capability to engage in the region. The obvious importance of the regional energy and mineral resources makes the division of the region among the regional countries crucial. The melting of the Arctic ice will also lead to the availability for at least a few months a year of a Northern Sea Route and a Northwest Passage connecting Europe to North America and the North-Eastern part of Asia. The importance of these northern routes and the Arctic mineral and energy resources is contributing to a growing military presence of mainly the USA and Russia in this region, which could lead to an arms race. This book offers invaluable insights on the issues that have grave implications for energy security and geopolitics in the arctic.
Attracting private investment and delivery of services to the poor majority are two of the major goals for reforming and regulating the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa. This book believes the important determinants of new investment in the electricity industry are the licensing process and the tariff regime. If the licensing process is to attract private investors, the procedures must be clear and must function efficiently and transparently, and the tariff regime reflect actual costs. The rationale for attracting private investment is straightforward -- the inadequacy of existing power systems in the region to meet demand. In many countries, frequent power cuts linked to inadequate electricity generation capacity are the norm rather than the exception. The rationale for considering the plight of the poor is based on both ethical and sustainability considerations. In ethical terms, access to energy is a fundamental human right in the context of social justice. In sustainability terms, a reformed private-investor-dominated power sector that does not recognize the plight of the poor may represent sound economics yet prove to be socially and politically unsustainable. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the recommended regulatory reforms are sensitive to the needs of the poor majority. This volume examines the extent to which the twin goals of attracting investment and providing energy to the poor are addressed by the existing legal and regulatory framework. By studying six countries in the east and southern African region, some helpful lessons worth sharing with other African countries are learned.
The revised edition of this book captures new developments in economics and finance. Turning its focus towards the application of Engle's (1982) autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) in cutting-edge research and a discussion of whether energy prices reflect long memory, this book will keep readers up-to-date with current developments in the literature. It presents twenty-one empirical studies of econometric time series analysis of crude oil, natural gas and electricity markets in face of the rapidly changing dynamics of the energy markets. Amongst them, several studies employ nonlinear time series methods, unlike the standard linear approach commonly used, to reflect the nonlinear nature of the economic system.Two new chapters are included, extending beyond the leading-edge research and innovative energy markets econometrics detailed in the first edition: Chapter 17 examines the effects of oil price changes and speculations on economic activity and Chapter 20 re-evaluates empirical evidence for random walk type behavior in energy futures prices using a statistical physics approach.
The key subjects of the book are policy imperatives, market dynamics and regional developments concerning oil and gas, as well as energy as a whole in China. In addition to national policies and issues, the objective of this book is to study China's regional oil and gas demand, supply and trade, energy balances, and economic development, with projections up till 2030. Particular emphasis will be given to challenges facing the Chinese government in ensuring future oil supplies, pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, energy security, downstream oil refining sector developments, the use of natural gas for power generation, and oil and gas related environmental issues. The impact of China's oil and gas sector developments, market dynamics, rising imports, and overseas investment on the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large are examined.Energy Economy in China also reviews current and future oil refining projects, gas pipelines, LNG import terminals, and emerging new markets in China over the next fifteen years.
The "Fisher Investments On" series is designed to provide individual investors, students, and aspiring investment professionals the tools necessary to understand and analyze investment opportunities--primarily for investing in global stocks. Each guide is an easily accessible primer to economic sectors, regions, or other components of the global stock market. While this guide is specifically on Utilities, the basic investment methodology is applicable for analyzing any global sector, regardless of the current macroeconomic environment. Following a top-down approach to investing, "Fisher Investments on Utilities" can help you make more informed decisions within the Utilities sector. It skillfully addresses how to determine optimal times to invest in Utilities stocks and which Utilities industries have the potential to perform well in various environments. Divided into three comprehensive parts--Getting Started, Utilities Details, and Thinking Like a Portfolio Manager--"Fisher Investments on Utilities" Explains some of the sector's key macro drivers--like regulation, economic cycles, and investor sentimentShows how to capitalize on a wide array of macro conditions and industry-specific features to help you form an opinion on each of the industries within the sectorTakes you through the major components of the industries within the global Utilities sector and reveals how they operateOffers investment strategies to help you determine when and how to overweight specific industries within the sectorOutlines a five-step process to help differentiate firms in this field--designed to help you identify ones with the greatest probability of outperforming Filled with in-depth insights, "Fisher Investments on Utilities" provides a framework for understanding this sector and its industries to help you make better investment decisions--now and in the future. With this book as your guide, you can gain a global perspective of the Utilities sector and discover strategies to help achieve your investing goals.
The book sheds understanding on the relations between development and global energy security by looking at China and India. It addresses the following issues: what is the new definition of energy security? How does it affect global politics and international relations? What are the energy security concerns of China and India, and what policies and approaches have they taken to deal with energy security issues? Since China and India are searching for oil and gas in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, would their acquisition efforts conflict with the interests of other energy giants such as the U.S., Japan, and would their growing overseas activities challenge U.S. policy in those energy-rich regions? The book provides insight into what the new global energy order may be and how the growth models and energy structures may shape the economic growth and energy. It analyzes both the state-centered approach and market-oriented approach in the global quest for energy resources. It also examines how China and India can adopt a cooperative approach for beneficial relations. The book will be of interest to anyone who is keen to learn how the World especially U.S.A. can accomodate and adapt to the new global energy dynamics and on China and India as new players in global energy markets.
According to recent estimates, around 6,000 people - mostly children under five - die every day from diseases caused by inappropriate water and sanitation (WS) services. Much of the academic and political debate surrounding this issue has focused on private sector participation. By shifting the attention towards the influence of governance, Krause examines the political and sectoral institutions that are essential for the provision of WS services. Utilizing data from sixty-nine developing countries, Matthias Krause demonstrates that the level of democracy has a statistically significant positive impact on access to WS services and that low-quality governance of sub-national governments compromises the internal efficiency of providers and the widespread access to services. This book makes a critical contribution to the water and sanitation research and will help academics and policy-makers to rethink the way in which they deal with water issues.
This book redefines climate protection measures and readjusts climate protection targets in line with what is scientifically necessary and economically feasible. The reader is provided with an overview of recent developments and failings in, and successful instruments for, fighting climate change and global warming. Effective climate protection measures rest on two pillars: stopping all greenhouse gas emissions and cleaning the atmosphere of spare carbon. Both are possible, if the use of fossil fuels in the energy, transport, construction and chemistry sectors is terminated and the decision is made to consistently switch to a world economy with zero emissions instead. Global Feed-in-Tariffs can provide incentives for renewable energies as the German Feed-in-Tariff has proven - a measure which has been copied by almost 70 nations around the world. At the same time agricultural practices are necessary to support an increase in biodiversity, e.g. re-greening the desert, afforestation and organic agriculture and active storage of atmospheric carbon emissions within agricultural soils. This book demonstrates that investment in renewable energies and a sustainable economy is not only a worthwhile cause but also has an economic value. The book introduces new actors such as the financial industry as an investor and political actor. If the financial industry becomes a political actor and calls for a necessary regulatory framework, more nations will follow - accompanied by an economic benefit - which will create a class of pioneer nations instead of the ever failing project of a global climate agreement. The transformation of the world economy can be accelerated through the right political measures. Active legislative support is necessary, for example the implementation of Feed-in-Tariffs for renewable energies, ending all subsidies for fossil fuels and the internalization of external damage costs such as nuclear waste management. Global warming does not have to be our inescapable fate. If mankind pursues the right climate protection strategies, the earth can be cooled down to an acceptable level in a few decades.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged rapidly as a crucial technological option for decarbonising electricity supply and mitigating climate change. Great hopes are being pinned on this new technology but it is also facing growing scepticism and criticism. This book is the first to bring together the full range of social and policy issues surrounding CCS shedding new light on this potentially vital technology and its future. The book covers many crucial topics including the roles and positions that different publics, NGOs, industry, political parties and media are taking up; the way CCS is organised, supported and regulated; how CCS is being debated and judged; how innovation, demonstration and learning are occurring and being conceptualised and promoted; and the role of CCS in the transition to a low carbon energy future. The authors draw on a variety of approaches, concepts, methods and themes and provide a new understanding of innovation in the energy and climate change fields. It tackles the many issues in a way that speaks to those concerned not only to understand these developments, but to those who are involved in the scientific and technological work itself, as well as those charged with evaluating and making decisions relevant to the future of the technology.
A Wall Street Journal besteller and a USA Today Best Book of 2020 Named Energy Writer of the Year for The New Map by the American Energy Society "A master class on how the world works." -NPR Pulitzer Prize-winning author and global energy expert, Daniel Yergin offers a revelatory new account of how energy revolutions, climate battles, and geopolitics are mapping our future The world is being shaken by the collision of energy, climate change, and the clashing power of nations in a time of global crisis. Out of this tumult is emerging a new map of energy and geopolitics. The "shale revolution" in oil and gas has transformed the American economy, ending the "era of shortage" but introducing a turbulent new era. Almost overnight, the United States has become the world's number one energy powerhouse. Yet concern about energy's role in climate change is challenging the global economy and way of life, accelerating a second energy revolution in the search for a low-carbon future. All of this has been made starker and more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic dark age that it has wrought. World politics is being upended, as a new cold war develops between the United States and China, and the rivalry grows more dangerous with Russia, which is pivoting east toward Beijing. Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are converging both on energy and on challenging American leadership, as China projects its power and influence in all directions. The South China Sea, claimed by China and the world's most critical trade route, could become the arena where the United States and China directly collide. The map of the Middle East, which was laid down after World War I, is being challenged by jihadists, revolutionary Iran, ethnic and religious clashes, and restive populations. But the region has also been shocked by the two recent oil price collapses--and by the very question of oil's future in the rest of this century. A master storyteller and global energy expert, Daniel Yergin takes the reader on an utterly riveting and timely journey across the world's new map. He illuminates the great energy and geopolitical questions in an era of rising political turbulence and points to the profound challenges that lie ahead.
Recent developments like the rising trend in crude oil price, the international economic crisis, the civil revolts in Northern Africa and the Middle East, the nuclear threat in Japan after the tsunami, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the economic growth of emerging countries like China and India have a direct relation to the security of energy supply anywhere in the world. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of energy risks, energy scenarios and energy policies with special reference to the European Union and its member states, emphasizing the economic and geopolitical dimensions of energy security. The book assesses both quantitatively and qualitatively the socioeconomic and political risks related to the European energy supply, together with the EU 's energy relations with other countries. Two innovative indicators have been developed to estimate geopolitical energy risks and energy-related relations with other countries. The book also examines the process of convergence of member states energy security policies, the path towards a common European energy policy, and the process of Europeanization projected towards the energy corridors through which the EU receive energy imports. In addition, alternative strategic scenarios related to energy risk are assessed. Finally, guidelines for the EU 's energy policy and new strategies using energy corridors are suggested in order to maximize EU 's energy security. The book should be of interest to students and researchers across a wide range of subjects, including energy economics and policy, energy and foreign policy in the EU, energy policies in EU member states and several aspects related to international political economy.
This book explores the multifaceted aspects of India's energy security concerns. Bringing together a set of opinions and analysis from experts and policymakers, it sheds light on the context of India's energy insecurity and explores its various dimensions, its nature and extent. Contributors examine the role that trade, foreign and security policy should play in enhancing India's energy security. It is argued that the key challenge for India is to increase economic growth while at the same time keeping energy demands low. This is especially challenging with the transition from biomass to fossil fuels, the growth of motorized private transport, and rising incomes, aspirations and changing lifestyles. The book suggests that at this time there are strong arguments to lessen the fossil fuel path dependence and it argues for a need to engage with all the key sources of this dependence to implement a process of energy change. India's Energy Security is a timely contribution given the national and international interest in the issue of energy security and the possibility that energy concerns have the potential of becoming the cause of serious international conflicts. It will be of interest to academics and policy makers working in the field of Asian Studies, Energy Policy, International Relations and Security Studies.
The geopolitics of oil and gas have made a spectacular return to the international political agenda. The European Union (EU) has recognized the importance of incorporating energy security more systematically into foreign policy. It has committed itself to pursuing an energy security policy based on market interdependence, European unity and long-term governance improvements in producer states. In offering the first broad, global assessment of the foreign policy dimensions of EU energy security, this book considers how far these commitments have been implemented. Examining how the EU's general approach to energy security has played out in the specific political contexts of different countries and regions, distinctive features of the book include: a thorough analysis of current EU strategies towards energy security, assessing the EU as an international actor a key focus on the governance structures of producer states including the Middle East; Russia, Central Asia and the Caspian, and Sub-Saharan Africa a major addition to debates surrounding markets and geopolitics, informing both international relations and international political economy This book will be of interest to students, scholars and policy makers in the fields of European/EU Politics, energy politics, foreign policy and International Relations.
Caspian Energy Politics analyses the role of oil and gas in the development of the three main petroleum exporters in the Caspian region - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - and how energy resources influence interactions with semi-authoritarian Russia and China. Due to volatile commodity prices and competition for the resources in and around the Caspian Sea, the governments of these petroleum-exporters face a series of difficult decisions. These governments have sought to balance short-term incentives to spend oil revenues as a means to maintain power against the need for a long-term strategy for managing these assets, choices which have further implications for how these countries align themselves internationally. By illuminating important linkages between domestic and international dynamics in these states, the book provides a fresh perspective on energy politics and the impact of petroleum on the development of the Caspian petroleum producers. Expert contributors from Central Asia and the South Caucasus and international scholars provide context-specific insights into the incentives affecting decision-makers that can provide a foundation for strategies to help the countries in the region overcome the negative effects of reliance on oil and gas. As such, the book will be a valuable tool for business actors seeking to understand the role of Chinese and Russian companies in the region, as well as local and international policymakers and non-governmental organisations.
This book examines the spectrum of risks posed to the development, financing, construction and operation of trans-boundary energy infrastructure and the tools that may be deployed to manage these risks. The book begins by examining trends in trans-boundary energy infrastructure and the nature of the risks - non-technical, technical and financing - which infrastructure development projects and existing operations must anticipate and manage. Individual categories of intergovernmental and host government risk will be viewed from the perspectives of leading international experts. These risks, and the tools applied to manage them, will also be viewed from the different viewpoints of the state and private sector counterparties, lenders, affected communities and other interested third parties, such as indigenous communities, individual landowners and the non-governmental organisations that typically represent their interests. Against a backdrop of global energy supply/demand dislocations, fragility in the global financial markets, increasing awareness of the impact of projects on individuals, communities and the environment (especially in the wake of the recent BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico), and medium to longer-term concerns about security of supply and climate change, it is increasingly clear that the bandwidth of risks which infrastructure developers, operators and their advisers now need to be aware of is becoming much broader. |
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