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2008 | Buch

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Energy Security

Visions from Asia and Europe

herausgegeben von: Antonio Marquina

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

A new look at the different perspectives on energy security policies of European and Asian countries. The book explains the reasons for the failure of EU common energy policies and the deficiencies in the policies towards Central Asia. It examines Chinese energy diplomacy, and the possibility of energy competition and cooperation in Northeast Asia.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. German Debates on Energy Security and Impacts on Germany’s 2007 EU Presidency

Abstract

Traditionally, energy security has been defined as adequate, affordable and reliable supplies of energy. Energy is essential for economic development and human security alike. Secure energy supply can be seen as a public good for societies, for which governments must ultimately take responsibility to minimize market supply failures. Disruptions of oil, gas and electricity can have severe consequences for societies, economies and individuals.

Frank Umbach

2. Russia as an Energy Great Power: Consequences for EU Energy Security

Abstract

In the past few years, energy security has become one of the European Union’s foremost concerns. The rise in world energy prices, the instability in the Middle East, and the challenges of reducing the environmental impact of energy production and consumption have made EU member states include the diversification of energy supply among their main priorities. The spread of a new ‘energy nationalism’ in producer countries like Russia — which has pursued increasingly assertive policies since the beginning of Putin’s presidency — has been an additional reason for this preoccupation.¹

Javier Morales

3. Perceptions and Misperceptions of Energy Supply Security in Europe and the ‘China Factor’

Abstract

Energy security has been the subject of increasing debate in the last few years. Spurred by widespread political instability in the major producing countries, the emergence of new consumers with strong demand for energy as well as inefficient consumption patterns, and the inevitable hike in prices that ensues, energy policies and politics are becoming the focus of increased attention.

Michal Meidan

4. The Southeast–Southwest European Energy Corridor

Abstract

The European Union and NATO have paid special attention to energy security since 2005. When, from December 2005 to January 2006, Russia greatly increased gas prices to Ukraine, the European governments realized the great importance of oil and gas producers in influencing the policies of consumer states. After this incident, a similar event took place between Russia and Belarus. Later on, the creation of a gas cartel was proposed, including as possible participants Russia, Algeria, Iran and Qatar.

Antonio Marquina

5. Greece’s Energy Security Policy: Between Energy Needs and Geopolitical Imperatives

Abstract

There is no doubt that, over the last few years, energy has been at the centre of global attention. Achieving energy security and diversification, combined with fighting climate change, have become the number one issue in almost every country in the world. On Wednesday, 2 January 2008, oil prices rose above the symbolic level of 100 dollars a barrel, a long-awaited milestone in an era of rapidly escalating energy demand. Oil prices, which had fallen to a low of 50 dollars a barrel at the beginning of 2007, have quadrupled since 2003. The rise has been driven by an unprecedented surge in demand from the United States, China and other Asian and Middle Eastern countries.¹ Booming economies have led to more consumption of oil-derived products like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Meanwhile, new oil supplies have struggled to catch up. Oil markets have grown increasingly unpredictable over the past few years, with large swings that have been attributed partly to financial speculation, not just market fundamentals. Political tensions in the Middle East, where more than two-thirds of the world’s proven oil reserves are located, have also fuelled the rise in prices.²

Kostas Ifantis

6. Between Continuity and Change: the Italian Approach to Energy Security

Abstract

In the last few years, academics and practitioners have provided different definitions of the multifaceted concept of energy security. For the purposes of this chapter, it will be seen — from a consumer’s perspective — as the guarantee of a reliable flow of energy, at affordable prices, plentiful in comparison to national needs, and sustainable in the mid-to-long term, also from an environmental point of view.¹ In this perspective, the concept is intimately linked on the one hand with national security in its ‘diplomatic’ and ‘geopolitical’ meaning, on the other with its individual and social dimension, pertaining to the sphere of welfare, development and economic growth.

Gianluca Pastori

7. Security of Supply: Spanish Policies in the EU Context

Abstract

The recent Green Paper on energy policy from the European Commission to the European Council and the European Parliament states that:

Europe needs to act now, together, to deliver sustainable, secure and competitive energy … The point of departure for a European energy policy is threefold: combating climate change, limiting the EU’s external vulnerability to imported hydrocarbons, and promoting growth and jobs, thereby providing secure and affordable energy to consumers.¹

Javier de Quinto, Julián López

8. Does China Have an ‘Energy Diplomacy’? Reflections on China’s Energy Security and its International Dimensions

Abstract

China’s energy security is of interest to outsiders for three principal reasons. First, China’s growing demand for oil has an immediate as well as long-term economic impact on the rest of the world. China is already becoming a major force in world energy markets. As is well known, China’s oil imports have grown markedly in the past decade or so. This raises the question of how much oil China (and India) will need to import twenty years from now and of how quickly the world’s oil reserves will be depleted if China’s economic growth and its need for imported oil continue. A mere fourteen years ago China was self-sufficient in oil; today, with imports of nearly 3 million barrels per day (mbd), it is the world’s third largest importer of crude oil after the United States (nearly 14 mbd) and Japan (over 5 mbd).² If China’s rapid economic growth continues, China will need to import 60–80 per cent of its total domestic oil consumption by 2020, anywhere from 6 to 11 million barrels per day.³ China’s increasing need for foreign oil has also been blamed for rises in oil prices and volatility in the global oil spot market .⁴

Linda Jakobson

9. China’s Energy Policy and its Development

Abstract

Despite the fact that China has yet to publish an energy policy White Paper, a study of the series of policies and steps the nation has taken since the adoption of policy reform and opening up to the outside world allows us to trace the origin and course of development in Chinese energy policy and to clarify the reasons and goals behind China’s energy policy readjustment.

Shi Dan

10. Energy Security Challenges to Asian Countries from Japan’s Viewpoint

Abstract

When I talk to energy experts in Europe, I feel that there are major differences in outlooks on energy security between European and Asian experts. The basic assumption underlying European experts’ arguments seems to be rather different. In the Atlantic market their major concern seems to be mainly with how to ensure economic and political stability within the EU in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of geopolitical risks involving the former Soviet Union, even though the geopolitical factors seem to be increasing in recent years because of the Russian government’s increasing control and involvement in the energy sector.

Shigeru Sudo

11. Energy Security in Northeast Asia: Competition and Cooperation

Abstract

This chapter explores the issues of energy competition and cooperation by analysing energy security in Northeast Asia with a special emphasis on its geopolitical dimension. With the rise of China and its rapidly growing oil demand, oil and gas supply has become a central concern of the consumer countries in Northeast Asia, including China, Japan and Korea. As high energy prices have persisted since mid-2000, a sense of crisis has arisen regarding Northeast Asian energy security. With the oil price hike reaching over 100 dollars per barrel, it is more imperative than ever before to address the energy security and energy cooperation issues in Northeast Asia. Even before the price hike, the rising dependence on foreign energy supply, especially the dependence on the Middle East, and increasing Chinese energy demands had led to Northeast Asian energy security problems.¹

Tai Hwan Lee

12. Energy Security and Investment Opportunity in ASEAN

Abstract

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

Akhmad Nidlom, Weerawat Chantanakome

13. Energy Security: an Indonesian Perspective

Abstract

The relationship between energy and security has been one of the most important issues shaping national, regional and international relations. Competition for energy and energy-related natural resources dominated history for many centuries, long before environmental aspects came to the fore. Many states and communities fought for energy resources for three main reasons: energy resources are limited, they are unevenly distributed, and they have strategic value in terms of development.

Edy Prasetyono

14. Philippine Energy Policy: Implications for Human Security and Regional Cooperation

Abstract

The search for energy security in the twenty-first century has become a key policy goal of states at the national, regional and global levels. Impacted upon by unprecedented economic growth, industrialization, urbanization, population increase and the technological revolution, the need for energy and its sustained supply have pushed energy security to the forefront of the national agenda of states in the domestic and external arenas.

Carolina G. Hernandez

15. Nuclear Energy: World Perspectives

Abstract

Nuclear energy is the technical and economic label to identify a set of activities that transform the energy contained in the atomic nucleus into a useful type of energy, particularly electricity. The potential energy of the inner components of the atomic nucleus is very large, and it conveys nuclear radiation and nuclear reactions. The main reaction exploited so far is fission, which is usually induced by a free neutron. In one fission, about 0.1 per cent of the reacting mass disappears, and it is converted into heat. This is a much higher value than the corresponding level of chemical reactions. In fact, it is about 1 million times higher. This is why nuclear energy is so powerful, but it is also a cause for concern. To minimize the risks, nuclear reactors are designed and operated so that temperature and pressure values do not exceed the allowed levels.

Eduardo González, José María Martínez-Val

16. Human Security: European and Asian Approaches

Abstract

The concept of human security has its roots in the debates on security carried out before and after the Cold War. The Independent Commission on International Development (1980), the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), the Commission on Global Governance (1995) and the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Sustainable Development (1992) were influential in broadening the concept of security and the subjects of security, not only states but also the planet as a whole and its citizens and individuals, its actors, threats, risks and security mechanisms. The internal conflicts and the civilians that were at the epicentre of conflicts in many parts of the world after the Cold War contributed to the reformulation of the concept of security. Many threats to human survival and well-being were internal threats. To this has to be added the awareness of global risks induced largely by the actions of people living in different states.

Antonio Marquina, Mely Caballero-Anthony

Backmatter

Titel: Energy Security
herausgegeben von: Antonio Marquina
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Electronic ISBN: 978-0-230-59500-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30521-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230595002