Energy Solutions for a Livable Community

A briefing co-sponsored by the House Livable Communities Task Force, the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, and Smart Growth America examined how improved land use and building design could protect our nation's energy supplies and enhance community livability

Solar X-ray spectrum reproduced in vacuum

Desired low energy X rays are produced by modifying commercial ion tubes and combining them with standard power supplies and control circuitry. These X rays have less deviation from the solar X ray spectrum in energy and intensity

Peak oil, geopolitics and the need for relocalization: will our magnificent obsession become our obsolete obsession?

This essay will look at the peak oil question, contemporary “oil geopolitics” and their effect not only on energy supplies, but also on transportation, agriculture and food supplies, and population distribution in the United States. While the war in Iraq forms a centerpiece in the geopolitical scene, Russia, China, and other nations will be discussed as well. This essay will also examine the inevitable relocalization which appears to be a necessary result

Bringing pumps to people: giving the poor better access to groundwater irrigation: sustainable approaches and options for eastern India

Groundwater irrigation / Pumps / Tube wells / Energy / Electricity supplies / Poverty / India

Space Station technology planning

Technological requirements for Space Station design were discussed. The requirements are discussed in relation to the following areas: high voltage arrays; environmental interactions; energy management; power supplies; architecture; and modularity

Energy-irrigation nexus in South Asia: Improving groundwater conservation and power sector viability

Tube wells / Energy consumption / Costs / Electricity supplies / Groundwater irrigation / Water policy / Pumps / Water rates

European Energy Union? Caught between securitisation and ‘riskification’

Fears about the security of supplies have been central to debates about the development of an integrated EU energy policy over the past decade, leading to claims that energy has been ‘securitised’. Previous analyses have found, however, that although shared security concerns are frequently used as justification for further integration, they can also serve as a rationale for Member States to resist sharing sovereignty. Transcending this apparent paradox would require not just agreement about whether energy supplies are security concerns, but also agreement about what kind of security concern they are. In this article, we examine whether such an agreement could emerge through a comparative analysis of constructions of gas security in the UK and Poland. Utilising a framework that draws from both the philosophical and sociological wings of Securitisation Studies, we demonstrate that although gas has been elevated on the security agendas of both states, the specific logic of insecurity – securitisation or riskification – underpinning these constructions differs substantially, and is conditioned by distinct modes of governance in each Member State. This, we contend, limits the potential for further integration of EU energy policies in the context of the European Commission’s proposals for an ‘Energy Union’

European Union's Gas Supply Issue. To Securitize or not to Securitize?

This study examines the European Union (EU) gas supplies, particularly those coming from the Russian Federation. The increasing EU dependency upon Russian gas and recent gas disruptions make European leaders think about securitizing gas supplies issue. The aim of the thesis is to analyse consequences of securitization of the gas supplies in the EU through scrutinizing Russian foreign policy in the energy sphere. The following questions are posed: What are the preconditions of politicization process of the energy supply issue in the EU? What are the main features of Russian policy in the area of gas supplies to the EU? What are the possible consequences of securitization of the energy supply in the EU? The theoretical framework assumes that securitization, being a negative process, may lead to ‘energy dilemma’ a situation when an energy consumer wants to diversify its energy supplies and a supplier wants to block consumer’s diversification attempts. The study is conducted with a case study method research. The results show that politicization of energy supplies in the EU stimulated aggressive and decisive Russian foreign policy in the sphere of energy directed on depriving the EU of possibilities to diversify its energy supplies. Securitization and extraordinary measures may lead to the increase of confrontation between the EU and Russia in the sphere of energy supplies. This confirms the theory