Energy Law & Policy eJournal最新文献

{"title":"Enforcing Oil and Gas Contracts Without Courts: Reputational Constraints on Resource Nationalism in Russia and Azerbaijan","authors":"William Partlett","doi":"10.3200/DEMO.18.1.74-93","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3200/DEMO.18.1.74-93","url":null,"abstract":"Amidst the recent record-breaking spike in oil prices, many resource-rich countries have moved aggressively to increase national control over large, internationally-financed hydrocarbon projects. Commentators have sensationalized these breaches as politically-motivated moves toward resource nationalism and a reflection of a weak rule of law. This commentary, however, oversimplifies a complex phenomenon. Many countries accused of resource nationalism have selectively renegotiated contracts and have stopped far short of full-scale nationalization. Furthermore, other resource-rich countries — often with weaker systems of legal enforcement and similar political incentives to renegotiate — have reacted to the oil boom by respecting long-term contracts and encouraging additional foreign investment. Russia and Azerbaijan can help us understand the forces driving these recent developments in the hydrocarbon industry: while Russia has renegotiated long-term contracts and partially re-nationalized its hydrocarbon industry, Azerbaijan has done the opposite. Comparing these two countries, this article will propose that these differing responses are strategic reactions to the oil boom. Both countries still require access to the technology, capital, and political connections of international oil companies to pursue their interests; thus, the ex post reputational costs of contractual breach have helped insulate long-term contracts from expropriation in the absence of a strong rule of law. Thus, like in other business communities that do not have access to impartial court systems to enforce contracts, maintaining a good reputation has emerged as a key factor in ensuring the stability of existing long-term hydrocarbon contracts.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117189640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are We Addicted to Oil? Lessons from Mental Health","authors":"M. Benson","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1523381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1523381","url":null,"abstract":"Despite mounting evidence regarding global climate change and its associated impacts, the United States has not transitioned away from oil and other fossil fuels toward more sustainable sources of energy. This article examines a common cultural narrative regarding U.S. energy policy – the notion that we are – addicted to oil. While this phase is often used in discussions regarding energy policy in the United States, the term – addiction is a charged one, and it has potential implications worthy of examination. This article describes the criteria for addiction using the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). It then applies those criteria to our nation’s relationship to oil. Application of Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model (1983) then provides a basis for drawing further parallels regarding the role of addiction in diminishing human potential that may be applied on a cultural scale.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129578551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"UK Transmission Congestion Problem: Causes and Solutions","authors":"D. Perekhodtsev, G. Cervigni","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1550207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1550207","url":null,"abstract":"This paper focuses on transmission congestion issues that are currently experienced in the electricity market of the Great Britain. It analyses the nature of incentives and behavior of generators arising in presence of persistent congestion patterns due to constraint management approach employed in the GB market. Although congestion in the GB market is often related to generators exercising market power, we demonstrate that this is not necessarily so. The observed behavior of generators is consistent with rational behavior of generators having no market power when congestion patterns become persistent. Incentives for such behavior are created by the re-dispatch type of congestion management approach used in the GB electricity market. Even though such incentives could be competitive, they have adverse consequences on market outcomes. They can be mitigated by a comprehensive modification of the market organization. In particular, market designs integrating energy market with congestion management using locational clearing prices seem at this point the most efficient approach in dealing with congestion. Several electricity markets have opted for this market design after having faced congestion issues similar to those currently experienced in the GB. Modifications currently envisaged in the GB electricity market to resolve the problem, such as the introduction of Market Power License Condition, Transmission Access Review and the locational BSUoS, may not turn out to be adequate, providing at best an imperfect and temporary solution but not necessarily an integrated and robust approach.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131718140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does Global Climate Policy Promote Low-Carbon Cities? Lessons Learnt from the CDM","authors":"Maike Sippel, A. Michaelowa","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1551861","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1551861","url":null,"abstract":"An increasing proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas in industrializing and developing countries. Recent research shows that per capita emissions in cities like Bangkok, Cape Town or Shanghai have already reached the level of cities like London, New York or Toronto. Large parts of the building stock and service infrastructure in cities in rapidly developing countries is built in the coming decade or two. Decisions taken in this sector today may therefore lock in a high emissions path.\u0000Based upon a survey of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, we find that only about 1% of CDM projects have been submitted by municipalities, mostly in the waste management sector. This low participation is probably due to a lack of technical know how to develop CDM projects and an absence of motivation due to the long project cycle and the limited “visibility” of the projects for the electorate. Projects in the buildings and transport sector are rare, mainly due to heavy methodological challenges. A case study of the city network ICLEI and its experience with cities’ participation in the CDM adds insights from the practitioner side. \u0000We conclude that CDM reforms may make it easier for municipalities to engage in the CDM, and that new forms of cooperation between municipalities and project developers, potentially facilitated by ICLEI, are required to help to realize the urban CDM potential.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129822113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Analysis of Security Cost for Different Energy Sources","authors":"Wonjoon Kim, Eunju Jun, Soon-Heung Chang","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1964831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1964831","url":null,"abstract":"Global concerns for the security of energy have steadily been on the increase and are expected to become a major issue over the next few decades. Urgent policy response is thus essential. However, little attempt has been made at defining both energy security and energy metrics. In this study, we provide such metrics and apply them to four major energy sources in the Korean electricity market: coal, oil, liquefied natural gas, and nuclear. In our approach, we measure the cost of energy security in terms of supply disruption and price volatility, and we consider the degree of concentration in energy supply and demand using the Hirschman-Herfindahl index (HHI). Due to its balanced fuel supply and demand, relatively stable price, and high abundance, we find nuclear energy to be the most competitive energy source in terms of energy security in the Korean electricity market. LNG, on the other hand, was found to have the highest cost in term of energy security due to its high concentration in supply and demand, and its high price volatility. In addition, in terms of cost, we find that economic security dominates supply security, and as such, it is the main factor in the total security cost. Within the confines of concern for global energy security, our study both broadens our understanding of energy security and enables a strategic approach in the portfolio management of energy consumption.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"81 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114471983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Global Rebound Effect Versus California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard","authors":"S. Stoft","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1481556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1481556","url":null,"abstract":"Displacing gasoline with a new source of biofuel, as California’s low-carbon fuel standard proposes to do, will reduce the global demand for oil. This will reduce the world oil price, which will cause an increase in oil use outside of California - the global rebound effect. Conventional wisdom views this effect as negligible.But the global rebound effect applies to discovering and pumping new oil, just as it applies to producing new biofuel. And if rebound is negligible, this paper shows that pumping new oil harms the environment negligibly, contradicting conventional wisdom.In fact, the global rebound effect is likely to be near 25 percent or greater, and biofuels will likely reduce carbon by that much less than anticipated. Some biofuels may be credited with helping, even while they harm the climate.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129591540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electric Cars and Oil Prices","authors":"José Azar","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1474023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1474023","url":null,"abstract":"This paper studies the joint dynamics of oil prices and interest in electric cars, measured as the volume of Google searches for related phrases. Not surprisingly, I find that oil price shocks predict increases in Google searches for electric cars. Much more surprisingly, I also find that an increase in Google searches predicts declines in oil prices. The high level of public interest in electric cars between April and August of 2008 can explain approximately half of the decline in oil prices during the second half of 2008. These findings are significant because they show that oil markets respond to developments related to alternative technologies. I investigate several hypotheses explaining these results.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121154164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Future of CO2 Storage: A Comparative Analysis with the Regulatory Regime of Radioactive Waste Management","authors":"D. Rossati","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1465326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1465326","url":null,"abstract":"According to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the sector of energy supply caused more than a fourth of the global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in 2004 . In a business-as-usual scenario CO2 emissions from the energy sector are estimated to increase of 130% by 2050 and fossil fuels still to remain the main source of energy production. In order to avoid such a tendency, the new technology of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is considered the only solution to drastically cut CO2 emissions from the energy sector. It is expected to contribute to one-fifth of the emission reductions that are believed to be necessary for the stabilization of global warming at 3°C by 2050 . CCS is currently facing many developments and several Research and Development (RD their realisation presents risks and entails issues of environmental and human health protection; finally, the fact that such substances will remain stored for thousands of years imposes burdens on future generations relating to the safe management and monitoring of the storage sites. Despite the analogies, several differences can be found in the normative processes on the two activities and different approaches to the matter have been undertaken at the various levels of legislation. As those legal asymmetries in treating a similar issue are a constant in international, European and UK law, nonetheless the concrete policies at every level are towards a deployment in the medium-long term of these activities. A comparative study of the structural components of the legal frameworks in the two technologies will help to better understand at ‘what point we are’ in the proper regulation of CO2 storage in UK; what pivotal elements of environmental law at international and European level still need to be implemented; and what is the role of the current UK regulation on a technology that still needs to be fully deployed.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131676082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long Term Issues to Be Addressed by Regulators in Liberalised Electricity Systems: Generation Adequacy and Indicative Planning: Justification, Available Mechanisms, and a Simulation Study on Some Concrete Policies","authors":"Alvaro Lopez-Peña Fernandez, E. Centeno, J. Barquín","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1425090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1425090","url":null,"abstract":"For ensuring electricity security of supply in the long run, liberalised electric systems’ regulators have to worry, not only about the presence of enough installed capacity, but also about the generation mix. Hence, indicative planning must be taken into account as well, for limiting dependence upon nonindigenous fuels, for instance. This can, simultaneously, help in meeting growing environmental constraints: renewables promotion is a clear example. There exist several mechanisms for addressing the adequacy problem (having enough megawatts) and for promoting renewables (having the good megawatts). In this study, a brief review of these mechanisms is done, and some are chosen for assessing their efficacy and efficiency over a system similar to the Spanish one, concretely capacity payments and capacity markets for the first problem and renewable energy premiums for the second. A simulation study is performed, which confirms the better characteristics of capacity markets in stabilising reserve margins, but whose effects may be damaged by an inadequate renewables promotion policy.","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133258963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"International Efforts to Establish Rules on Liability for Offshore Activities","authors":"Elis Tarelli","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1619388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1619388","url":null,"abstract":"Offshore activities account for a significant and steadily growing portion of worldwide oil and gas production. According to a report by the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (“GESAMP”) in 2007, it is estimated that between 25 and 30% of global oil production comes from offshore oil and gas reservoirs, with the main production areas being located in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa. However, this is not without costs to the marine environment. Oil pollution is the main concern with respect to sources of marine pollution. Despite advancements in the technology for the construction and operation of offshore installations, which have made possible that pollution levels from such activities be considerably low, offshore operations still remain a source of marine pollution because of the processes and risks they involve. Sometimes these processes and risks have been the cause of major pollution incidents. Many pollution incidents from offshore operations tend to be and normally are domestic in character. “Domestic pollution” in this case implies the situation where damage is suffered within the coastal State which has jurisdiction over the offshore operations causing the incident. Because offshore activities are usually carried out in the continental shelf of a coastal State, in many cases it will be that same coastal State which is likely to be the victim of an oil pollution incident. However, oil pollution can cross boundaries of national jurisdictions. Some sea areas with active offshore oil operations in their continental shelves are more prone to sustaining damage from international pollution than some other. Considering this problem, can the domestic legal system of a coastal State still be sufficient and effective to provide compensation in cases of “international pollution”, i.e. when oil from the continental shelf of a coastal State floats over to the continental shelf or shore of another coastal State? Could the citizens of the coastal State sustaining pollution damage be able to successfully claim compensation in the courts of that coastal State, even though damage was caused by offshore installations under the jurisdiction of a foreign State? Pollution from offshore installations affects a limited area of the continental shelf and/or the shore of the coastal State under which jurisdiction the installations operate, and in the worst case areas of the continental shelf and/or the shore of one or more coastal States located in the vicinity of the first coastal State. Thus one may question what sort of international regulation would be more effective and provide the most efficient mechanisms for determining liability and compensation for pollution damage, namely should it be a global or a regional regulation? Should this international regulation aim the uniformity of rules at an international level, or are pollution problems better addressed by regional agreements that take into account the dif","PeriodicalId":388507,"journal":{"name":"Energy Law & Policy eJournal","volume":"200 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115577660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}