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72. Energy Security An Agenda for Research
- Author:
- Michael A. Levi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- U.S. policymakers talk more today about energy security than they have at any time since the energy crises of the 1970s. Yet scholarly understanding of the challenges at the intersection of energy and national security, and of the various policy tools available to address them, is surprisingly weak. On April 12–13, 2010, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) convened a group of thirty-six scholars and practitioners to assess the current state of knowledge about oil, gas, and national security, and to identify those areas where research was most needed. Participants included experts from academia, industry, government, and international institutions, and brought backgrounds in economics, political science, international relations, science, engineering, and law to the discussion.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
73. Shale Fever: Replicating the US gas revolution in the EU?
- Author:
- Roderick Kefferpütz
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- The US natural gas industry is abuzz. Until recently the United States seemed poised to become one of the world's largest importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the development of two innovative drilling techniques – hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – has led to the emergence of new unconventional gas supplies, the majority coming from gas trapped in shale formations, transforming the American energy scene. Today, shale gas is responsible for roughly 20% of total US production with expectations that it could reach 50% by 2035 – an astounding feat given that it represented only 1% back in 2000. The increase in US shale gas production also contributed to the US displacing the Russian Federation as the largest producer of gas, with its production of 624 billion cubic meters (bcm) trumping Russia's 582 bcm. In addition, it has caused LNG demand to sink and sent prices tumbling, turning the market upside-down.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
74. U.S. Public Energy Innovation Institutions and Mechanisms: Status Deficiencies
- Author:
- Matthew Bunn, Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Laura Diaz Anadon, and Charles Jones
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The United States needs to transform the way it produces and uses energy. This will require the improvement of current technologies and the development of new ones. To achieve the maximum payoff for public investments in energy technology innovation, the United States will need to improve and better align the management and structure of existing and new energy innovation institutions, and better connect R to demonstration and deployment. In what follows, we highlight three general and important recommendations for thinking about different initiatives, and we discuss the merits and challenges of current and new institutions, and the remaining gaps in the U.S. energy innovation system.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
75. The Azerbaijan-Russia-Turkey Energy Triangle and its Impact on the Future of Nagorno-Karabakh
- Author:
- Nona Mikhelidze
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Caucasian-Caspian region has become a stage for the collision of opposing foreign security and energy policies. After 16 years of a very fragile ceasefire, the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to depend not only on the attitudes of the conflict parties, but also and perhaps even more on the re-organization of the region at the political, security and energy levels. Three main developments can affect the prospects for conflict resolution in Karabakh: the parties' growing frustration with the OSCE Minsk-Group mediation; the US-brokered Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and the deterioration in US-Azeri relations; and finally, Russia's resurgence in the region. These three inter-related factors could result in a new regional scenario marked by the emergence of an energy triangle between Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey, which in turn could impact on the destiny of Nagorno- Karabakh.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Energy Policy, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Turkey, Soviet Union, Armenia, and Azerbaijan
76. The New World of Natural Gas
- Author:
- John M. Deutch
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The development of natural gas from shale is providing new possibilities for gas use in the United States and throughout the world. The largest conventional natural gas deposits are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia, but unconventional natural gas, including shale, is spread throughout the world, potentially permitting development in many different countries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and Middle East
77. Energy Innovation: Driving Technology Competition and Cooperation Among the U.S., China, India, and Brazil
- Author:
- Adam Segal, Elizabeth C. Economy, Michael A. Levi, and Shannon K. O'Neil
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- If governments are to respond effectively to the challenge of climate change, they will need to ramp up their support for innovation in low-carbon technologies and make sure that the resulting developments are diffused and adopted quickly. Yet for the United States, there is a tension inherent in these goals: the country's interests in encouraging the spread of technology can clash with its efforts to strengthen its own economy of particular importance is the spread of low-carbon technologies from the United States to the major emerging economies—China, India, and Brazil. Washington's strategy to promote the spread of low-carbon technologies to these countries must combine efforts to grow and open markets for low-carbon technologies with active support for accelerating the innovation and diffusion of these technologies. Its strategy will also need to reflect the unique challenges presented by each of the three countries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Washington, and Brazil
78. Global Prospects for Utility-Scale Solar Power: Toward Spatially Explicit Modeling of Renewable Energy Systems
- Author:
- Kevin Ummel
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- This paper provides high-resolution estimates of the global potential and cost of utility-scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar power technologies and uses a spatially explicit model to identify deployment patterns that minimize the cost of greenhouse gas abatement. A global simulation is run with the goal of providing 2,000 TWh of solar power (-7% of total consumption) in 2030, taking into account least-cost siting of facilities and transmission lines and the effect of diurnal variation on project profitability and required subsidies. The American southwest, Tibetan Plateau, Sahel, and Middle East are identified as major supply areas. Solar power consumption concentrates in the United States over the next decade, diversifying to Europe and India by the early 2020's, and focusing in China in the second half of the decade—often relying upon long-distance, highvoltage transmission lines. Cost estimates suggest deployment on this scale is likely to be competitive with other prominent abatement options in the energy sector. Further development of spatially explicit energy models could help guide infrastructure planning and financing strategies both nationally and globally, elucidating a range of important questions related to renewable energy policy.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Globalization, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Middle East, and Sahel
79. Confronting the American Divide on Carbon Emissions Regulation
- Author:
- David Wheeler
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- The failure of carbon regulation in the U.S. Congress has undermined international negotiations to reduce carbon emissions. The global stalemate has, in turn, increased the likelihood that vulnerable developing countries will be severely damaged by climate change. This paper asks why the tragic American impasse has occurred, while the EU has succeeded in implementing carbon regulation. Both cases have involved negotiations between relatively rich “Green” regions and relatively poor “Brown” (carbon-intensive) regions, with success contingent on two factors: the interregional disparity in carbon intensity, which proxies the extra mitigation cost burden for the Brown region, and the compensating incentives provided by the Green region. The European negotiation has succeeded because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is relatively small, and the compensating incentive (EU membership for the Brown region) has been huge. In contrast, the U.S. negotiation has repeatedly failed because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is huge, and the compensating incentives have been modest at best. The unsettling implication is that an EU-style arrangement is infeasible in the United States, so the Green states will have to find another path to serious carbon mitigation. One option is mitigation within their own boundaries, through clean technology subsidies or emissions regulation. The Green states have undertaken such measures, but potential free-riding by the Brown states and international competitors seems likely to limit this approach, and it would address only the modest Green-state portion of U.S. carbon emissions in any case. The second option is mobilization of the Green states' enormous market power through a carbon added tax (CAT). Rather than taxing carbon emissions at their points of production, a CAT taxes the carbon embodied in products at their points of consumption. For Green states, a CAT has four major advantages: It can be implemented unilaterally, state-by-state; it encourages clean production everywhere, by taxing carbon from all sources equally; it creates a market advantage for local producers, by taxing transport-related carbon emissions; and it offers fiscal flexibility, since it can either offset existing taxes or raise additional revenue.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
80. Russia's Oil Exports: Economic Rationale Versus Strategic Gains
- Author:
- Adnan Vatansever
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Russia, the world's largest oil producer, is vigorously promoting the development of new outlets for oil exports. While the recent launch of a long-awaited cross-border oil pipeline between Russia and China has received most of the publicity, it is a part of a much larger Russian initiative aimed at developing new oil export infrastructure in almost every possible direction: Asia, the Baltic Sea region, the Black Sea region, and the Arctic. This export strategy will have considerable policy and economic implications for Eastern and Central Europe and even the United States.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, Markets, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe