In The News

Energy Subsidies Don’t Work, But Don’t Try Telling the Poor

Tion Kwa December 4, 2013
Every facet of modern life requires energy. Tion Kwa, assistant editor of The National in UAE, analyzes the energy costs for struggling nations. “The dilemma for Nepal and other poor countries, including Egypt and Jordan, is that while the state can’t afford to keep underwriting the cost of fuel, citizens already can’t even afford the subsidised rates.” Economists discourage subsidies for...

UK Gives Unprecedented Support to £16 Billion Nuclear Deal

Geert De Clercq, Karolin Schaps October 23, 2013
Britain signed a deal with French firm EDF and Chinese partners to build a nuclear plant, with government guarantees – going against the grain for energy privatization in Europe. It’s the first nuclear plant for Europe since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, where leakages and cleanup continue. If approved, the plant could go online in 2023. Reuters reports: “The government will guarantee it...

Ecuador Approves Yasuni Park Oil Drilling in Amazon Rainforest

September 13, 2013
Ecuador is moving to open an Amazon national park, one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, for oil drilling. Developed nations balked at a UN-backed conservation plan that included international payments for not drilling in Yasuni National Park, reports BBC News. “Oil is Ecuador's main export,” reports the article, adding that drilling could start in weeks. President Rafael Correa...

Russia Offers Fukushima Cleanup Help as Tepco Reaches Out

Yuriy Humber, Jacob Adelman September 5, 2013
More than two years after the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Japan that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power station, the power company and government still do not have radiation under control. Russia has repeated an offer to assist in the cleanup. In the globalized nuclear industry, all accidents are international, points out Vladimir Asmolov, of Rosenergoatom, Russia’s nuclear utility. “As...

Buying Iran Oil Is Good Economics and Politics

September 4, 2013
All economies depend on a steady energy supply, but the world’s second largest oil producer, the United States, has imposed sanctions on Iran, sixth largest producer. India, ranking 23rd, plans on buying more Iranian crude oil: “Realism dictates India to turn increasingly to Tehran as it faces a major current account deficit problem on account of the burgeoning oil import bill,” suggests the New...

Shale Energy No Quick Solution

Deepak Gopinath September 3, 2013
Innovations in drilling and hydraulic fracture technologies have opened new supplies of shale oil and gas for the United States, and other countries are intrigued. The United States anticipates energy independence, but the “shale boom may be more short-lived than many had expected, and shale’s global potential may also be overstated,” writes Deepak Gopinath, an independent economist based in New...

The Decline of Renewable Energy

Bjørn Lomborg August 21, 2013
The world is stalled in developing renewable energy. Countries have invested more than $1 trillion over the last decade in developing renewable energies, which represent about 13 percent of all world energy in 2011 – about the same share as in 1971 – explains Bjørn Lomborg for Project Syndicate. “The vast majority comes from biomass, or wood and plant material – humanity’s oldest energy source,”...