LATEST REPORT
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Content
- Framework for Energy Security Analysis
- Transport Energy Security
- ROK Country Analysis Brief
- APEC Report: Renewable Energy for Electricity Generation
- Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Future
- Japan-PRC Gas Exploration Conflict
- Japan-EU Agreement on International Fusion Reactor
- Decline in PRC Coal Shortage
- PRC Plant Cleanup
- New Technology – CO2 Trapping and Methane Recovery from Coal Beds
1. Framework for Energy Security Analysis
ReCOMMEND (D. VonHippel, “ENERGY SECURITY ANALYSIS: A NEW FRAMEWORK,” December 2004, Volume 1) released this article written by Nautilus Institute Senior Associate David von Hippel and based on work done as a part of the Nautilus Institute’s “Pacific Asia Regional Energy Security” project (PARES). The paper offers a new definition of Energy Security and describes an analytical framework designed to help compare the energy security characteristics of different scenarios. The results of an application of the framework to a case study of Japan are also briefly summarized.
Read the paper in the reCOMMEND newsletter here.
2. Transport Energy Security
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (D. Fisk, “TRANSPORT ENERGY SECURITY: THE UNSEEN RISK?” September 2004) released this paper from the Nota Di Lavoro Series in connection with the Insuring against Disruption of Energy Supply (INDES) Project. This paper addresses the changing significance of energy security in the 21st century in a framework of the dominance of transport within economies and the upward drift in the price inelasticity of domestic oil consumption as a geopolitical constraint. The author suggests, “taking preventative action after a security event is generally more straightforward than taking precautionary action to ensure that it never happens. The latter course may only be successful through a coincidence with other interests. The current environment agenda is such a coincident interest with transport fuel security.”
3. ROK Country Analysis Brief
The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA, DOE, “SOUTH KOREA COUNTRY ANALYSIS BRIEF,” March 2005) published this overview of the current energy situation in the Republic of Korea. Information in the report is the best available as of March, 2005 and was published as a response to ROK’s importance in world energy markets as the fifth largest oil importer, and the second largest importer of Liquefied Natural Gas. The report includes a country profile and background information as well as an update on oil, natural gas, and coal fuel sectors. The report also includes sections on electric power and environment.
4. APEC Report: Renewable Energy for Electricity Generation
Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) (“NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE APEC REGION:PROSPECTS FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION,” 2004) released this study as the second in a series of four research projects. The objective of the study in to investigate the penetration of New and Renewable Energy (NRE) technologies in the APEC Region with the aim of providing some insight for other economies that have plans to promote the further use of NRE, particularly for electricity generation. Based on scenario analysis, the study finds that APEC economies would gain substantial environmental and economic benefits if the share of NRE in electricity generation were increased.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/aperc_renewable.pdf
5. Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Future
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (“END-USE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND PROMOTION OF A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE,” Energy Resources Development Series No. 39, March 15, 2005) published this report as part of a series on energy resources development. The paper draws on discussions from the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting by the same name and focuses on contemporary issues related to energy consumption. It emphasizes the importance of the four primary energy intensive sectors – industry, road, transport, building, and construction and electrical appliances. The vital policy options for these sectors are discussed and supplemented with experiences, case studies, basic energy data and sustainability parameters.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/UN_enduse.pdf
6. Japan-PRC Gas Exploration Conflict
CNN (“JAPAN GAS MOVES ADD FUEL TO FIRE,” April 14, 2005) reported that trade and foreign ministry officials in Tokyo said on Wednesday they would award deep-sea gas exploration rights to private companies and would start reviewing applications later in the day. Tokyo’s announcement will likely be seen as a provocative one, as it comes as ties between the Asian heavyweights have plumbed new lows following massive anti-Japanese protests in PRC over the weekend on a range of issues. One of those issues is PRC’s exploration of natural gas near an area Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone. The governments disagree on the boundary and both claim the gas deposits.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/cnn_japan_gas.pdf
7. Japan-EU Agreement on International Fusion Reactor
The Associated Press (K. Hall, ” JAPAN, EU TO WORK TOWARD AGREEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL FUSION REACTOR SITE BY JULY,” April 12, 2005) reported that Japan and the European Union said Tuesday they would try to agree by July where to build an experimental fusion reactor offering the potential for clean energy, and were discussing the project’s potential commercial future as a way to resolve their main differences. Both Japan and the EU are vying to host the US$13 billion ([euro]10 billion) International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and held talks in recent months. The project is being funded by a consortium comprised of Japan, the United States, ROK, Russia, PRC and the EU. The six, however, are divided over where to locate the reactor.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AFP_China_Japan1.pdf
8. Decline in PRC Coal Shortage
Agence France Presse (“CHINA’S COAL SHORTAGE TO EASE THIS YEAR ON MACRO-ECONOMIC CONTROLS,” April 11, 2005) reported that PRC’s coal shortage is expected to ease this year due to increased production and lower industrial demand thanks to the government’s macro-economic control policies, state media said Monday. PRC’s mines produced 1.96 billion tons of coal last year but it was not enough to meet the demands of an economy that expanded 9.5 percent. As a result, blackouts were widespread in many parts of the country with output unable to keep up with demand for power generation, which accounted for half of the nation’s total coal production.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AFP_china_coal.pdf
9. PRC Plant Cleanup
Business Week (B. Bremner, J. Carey, “WASTEFUL WAYS: COLOSSALLY INEFFICIENT USE OF ENERGY PENALIZES CHINA TWICE: WITH HIGH COSTS AND THE RAVAGES OF POLLUTION,” April 11, 2005) reported that when PRC Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan swung by the Beijing headquarters of steelmaker Shougang Group on Mar. 24, it wasn’t a courtesy call. He confirmed rumors PRC’s State Council had ordered Shougang to wind down its Beijing iron-and-smelting operation by 2007 and transfer the facilities out of the city. Shougang plants, mainly fueled by coal, belch out 18,000 tons of dust and contaminants a year, and Beijing is determined to clean up in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. Shougang’s departure will do more than reduce pollution: It will take a 40-year-old mill out of circulation and force Shougang to build a far more efficient facility.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BusWeek_China.pdf
10. New Technology – CO2 Trapping and Methane Recovery from Coal Beds
Japan for Sustainability (“NEW TECHNOLOGY TO TRAP CO2 AND RECOVER METHANE FROM COAL BEDS,” April 11, 2005) reported that, in an ongoing effort to develop technology that utilize coal’s ability to adsorb carbon dioxide (CO2) in order to trap CO2 in coal beds, a field study was launched in November 2004 in Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. Technology for coal bed sequestration of carbon dioxide involves using coal to adsorb injected CO2 that has been collected from a large emission source such as power plant flue gas. When coal absorbs CO2, it releases methane, which can be recovered and used as an energy source. This cost-effective technology has two merits; CO2 emission reduction and effective use of untapped methane from coal beds.
https://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/jfs_co2.pdf
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