The record-setting nuclear deal inked between China and Russia earlier this month is the latest blow to America’s declining influence in commercial nuclear power across the globe. James Grant presents the issues.
With the ink barely dry on the historic Trump-Kim summit agreement, Moscow is already maneuvering itself to take advantage of rapprochement on the Korean peninsula. The first order of business: reviving a decades - old energy megaproject that would connect Russian gas and the Trans-Siberian railroad to Seoul via North Korea. As concerning as it may seem for Washington, reinvigorated ties between Moscow and Seoul may prove a strong bargaining chip for Donald Trump in his forthcoming talks... Читать дальше...
The steady decrease in the cost of wind and solar energy technologies in recent years has greatly intensified the market penetration of renewable energy. The ongoing renewable energy discussion assumes, almost by default, that wind and solar energy is converted to electricity and supplied into the existing electricity grid to be delivered to the consumers. This leaves aside nearly 80% of total energy demand that is currently satisfied by natural gas and petroleum fuels.
Integration of wind... Читать дальше...
With Canada's complex and costly extraction and high transportation costs, the enduring low oil prices have hit the country particularly hard. Furthermore, possible alleviative measures such as pipeline and LNG terminal expansion face not only domestic but also U.S. opposition. TransCanada’s recent acquisition of the US-based Columbia Pipeline Group Ltd however, should allow it to export more easily to the U.S., and hopefully represents a step towards further cooperation between the U.S. and Canada in the North American energy market. Читать дальше...
According to the US Energy Information Administration, 35 percent of gross US oil imports in 2014 came from OPEC countries. OPEC's role in supplying US oil consumption, as well as the organization's history of taking collective action to manipulate the price and supply of oil, make it a prime subject for study. Given OPEC's relevance to US energy security, how can we begin to predict how OPEC may interact with the oil markets of the future, as well as respond to shifting production and consumption trends within those markets? Читать дальше...
International attention has been focused on the military confrontation in Syria and Iraq, where a Western-Arab coalition and the Russian led Syria-Iran coalition are cutting down the infrastructure of ISIS. The Russian military operation is strengthening Assad’s overall position while bringing rebel forces and ISIS to the point of defeat. Meanwhile, a new Islamist extremist front has emerged; North Africa is on the brink of disaster. While the West and Russia have focused on Syria after initial military successes in Iraq... Читать дальше...
Japan fell into the following trilemma after the Fukushima Accident: first, without restarting nuclear reactors, reprocessing lacks enough justification; second, without having the reprocessing plant in operation, restarting nuclear reactors will only produce more spent fuel that does not have a final destination; and third, without having the MOX fuel plant and reactors using MOX fuel in operation, reprocessing alone will add more plutonium to the existing stockpile that is already overwhelming. Читать дальше...
The explosion of diplomatic warfare between Saudi Arabia and Iran, caused by the execution of 47 prisoners by Riyadh, has come for some as a surprise, but the writing has been on the wall for some years. The current diplomatic row, fueled by Riyadh’s decision to execute Saudi Shi’ite Sheikh Nimr al Nimr, together with 46 others, and the ransacking by Iranian protesters of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, is just a sign of the internal and external conflicts in both countries. Since the execution of the Shi’ite sheikh... Читать дальше...
At the crossroads of the east-west and north-south transportation corridors, Baku has succeeded in becoming the Eurasian Mecca for energy traders. Nowadays, Azerbaijan is the sole country in the region that extracts, refines, transports and negotiates its resources to the European market. In this sense, national resources have guaranteed not only economic growth and self-sufficiency, but also political independence. How will the Iran’s deal affect Azerbaijan and its oil and gas policy? Read on. Читать дальше...
Recent years have witnessed a grave deterioration in energy relations between Russia and the European Union (EU). The gas issue is an important one tied up in Russia’s ongoing attempts at recalibrating Eurasian pipeline strategy and EU’s own endeavors to open up new supply routes. The Caspian Sea region has hence become the focal point of heated discussions in the face of heavy energy disagreements between Russia and the EU. While Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are considered potentially vital partners for European energy consumers... Читать дальше...
