For the West, the threat from Moscow was supposed to end with the collapse of the Soviet Union 15 years ago. But Russia’s growing energy clout is generating renewed cause for anxiety.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, set up in the early days of the Cold War to keep Soviet-led forces in check, has begun speaking out about the potent new energy lever the Kremlin is wielding in the international struggle for influence, Chron.com said.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said last week that energy security would be high on the agenda at its summit starting on November 27 in Riga, Latvia. He noted that there was “added value to NATO discussing energy and security policies.“

Pipelines Provide Control
Natural gas is the main concern. Russia is an oil giant, second only to the Saudis in exports, and Europe depends on it for a quarter of the crude it consumes. But oil supplies can be diversified because shipping is easy, while the most efficient way of distributing gas is through pipelines. With Russia the world’s largest gas exporter and Europe’s neighbor, European dependency has grown to the point that the EU now counts on Moscow for nearly half of its gas needs.
And Moscow’s control of pipelines that deliver not only gas from Russia but from much of central Asia is stoking Western unease.
“With gas, control over pipelines is crucial,“ says energy expert Michael Klare, author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Petroleum Dependency. “Once you put oil on a tanker you cannot control it, but gas is different; whoever controls the pipelines controls the flow.“

Warning of Dangers
Like NATO, US officials also are warning of the dangers of allowing Russia a free hand in monopolizing gas shipments. And the European Union is trying to pry open the Russian grasp on gas and gas pipelines supplying EU countries.
Just last month, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would develop the huge Shtokman gas field without foreign partners, in a fresh setback to Western oil companies looking to exploit the nation’s vast hydrocarbon riches.
At the same time, companies like BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total are fighting back-tax bills or threatened license annulments--apparently another reflection of the Kremlin’s push to ensure that the state has a major role in all key energy projects.

No Agreement in Sight
The two sides appeared to come no closer at an EU-Russia summit in Helsinki last week. Speaking to reporters Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin restated his opposition to giving foreign companies easy access to his country’s energy sources, or breaking up oil and gas state monopolies.
Western concerns reflect a growing understanding that control of energy has become more than ever before a weapon of geopolitical advantage.
Klare says the world already has entered “a new era, where energy has replaced nuclear weapons as the medium of superpower rivalry.“
“Vladimir Putin believes that,“ Klare says. “And he is moving to accumulate as much energy power as he can.“

A tower of the NECSA (Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa) in Pretoria, South Africa (AFP File Photo)

Depleting forests and coal reserves, compounded by the environmental cost of traditional energy sources, are forcing Africa to seriously consider going nuclear, experts say.
“For the sake of humanity and the environment we should accept nature’s gift,“ South African energy analyst Andrew Kenny told a conference in Cape Town of scientists, businessmen, energy watchdogs and African government officials.
But some warn that a lack of financing, a regulatory void and a dearth of specialist skills could impede Africa’s participation in the “nuclear renaissance“.
“There are good reasons for certain African countries to be considering nuclear energy, but this does not mean they will be able to do it overnight,“ Alan McDonald from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency told AFP Tuesday.
Franklin Osaisai, director-general of Nigeria’s atomic energy commission, said Africa simply had to find the money for nuclear energy.
“It is not affordable not to invest in energy. We found nuclear to be a viable option--an expensive initial investment but cheaper in the long-term,“ he said.
Nigeria planned to start generating nuclear power in the next 10 to 12 years, Osaisai said.
Several delegates mooted regional cooperation as a possible solution to many of the constraints facing the continent.
These included harnessing South Africa’s existing regulatory framework and sharing infrastructure between countries.
But McDonald said Africa did not feature strongly in IAEA projections for increased nuclear energy production.
“Most of the additional plants being foreseen are in countries with established programs and existing, big plants. It is much easier to start a new plant when you have an established program ... and a skilled workforce.“
The construction cost of a nuclear power plant averages about one million euros per megawatt it produces.
Nuclear energy was “definitely“ an affordable option for Africa, said Anne Renzi, deputy head of export finance at Areva, a global nuclear energy company.
“It is a question of comparison. Each time the barrel price of petrol is more than 45 dollars, any nuclear project is competitive,“ she said.
South Africa’s Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said Africa should tap its rich uranium resources rather than exporting them, adding that this would need “deliberate and calculated planning on the part of leaders of the continent.“
South Africa is the only African country with a nuclear power station, which produces about six percent of its electricity. It now wants to expand capacity by developing a pebble bed modular reactor.
Several speakers told the conference that nuclear energy was a safe alternative.
Kenny said there had only been one nuclear accident claiming more than five human lives, as opposed to 187 such accidents at coal-based power plants.
He also said radiation was not a major problem in countries harnessing nuclear energy while coal, wood and paraffin fires caused death, disease and disability on a massive scale in Africa.

The demand for energy has risen by 15 percent during the 21st century and some forecasts expect this to have grown by 60 percent by 2030. Demand is primarily being driven by population growth and economic development. The world’s population has doubled during my lifetime, from three billion in 1961 to more than six billion today. That is as much as it has grown since time began and it is expected to hit nine billion by 2050.
Today, the bulk of energy demand is being supplied by hydrocarbons. But what of the future? Fossil-fuel derived energy has environmental implications and people are increasingly looking for more responsible suppliers. There is growing international debate over targets for the global rise in temperature, for CO2 levels in the atmosphere and for annual emissions.
BP has been contributing to this debate for nearly a decade. John Browne, our chief executive, gave his first big speech on global climate change at Stanford when I was a student there in 1997. At the time, this was an extraordinary act for the leader of an international oil company, E4engineering.com said.
Technology will play an important role as we seek to provide alternative energy sources that are clean, local and sustainable. We support the emerging consensus that measures should be taken to stabilize CO2 levels in the atmosphere at about 500-550 parts per million this century. It is calculated this will require having emissions in 50 years time at roughly the same level they are now--about 25 billion tons of CO2 equivalent--despite a projected doubling in energy consumption.

Lower-Carbon Mix
We are not talking about eliminating carbon emissions entirely. Science implies there is a tolerable level of emissions. The challenge is to limit them and change the mix towards lower-carbon sources. Forty percent of the power plants that will supply energy in 2020 are not yet built, so the possibility of change does exist. Technology will be the key to this low-carbon future.
BP is deeply involved in most parts of this landscape. We are already a major player in biofuels--with about 10 percent of the global market. We are investing $500m (£264m) over 10 years in a biofuels institute with a major research university yet to be chosen, in the US or UK.
Biofuels are important for three reasons. The first is maturity. So far little technology has been applied to biofuels. If a step change could be made in crop yields and the conversion process, they could be economically viable in temperate climates. The second is scale; breakthroughs here would enhance the energy independence of the US. The US has vast land space which could produce crops to fuel energy needs. The third is its energy density. While other alternative energies provide power, they do not fuel our chosen mode of transport, the car. Solar, wind and nuclear cannot power a car--biofuels can.
Last year we launched our Alternative Energy business with the aim of becoming the world’s leading low-carbon power business. We will spend $8 billion over the next 10 years and expect to cut projected Greenhouse Gas emissions by 24 million tons a year by 2015. We continue to ramp up our solar production where we are already one of the world’s largest suppliers.

Hydrogen Power
We also plan to build the first hydrogen power stations, one of which is in California. These use gas or coke as a feedstock and convert it into hydrogen, from which clean power is generated. We then take the CO2 and store it underground, where it has no impact on global warming. We plan one such facility at our Carson refinery, spending about $1 billion on 500MW of power for the LA area, and we are collaborating with GE with a view to building more, maybe up to 15, over the next decade. These plants also help produce hydrocarbons because the CO2 can be used to flush out trapped remaining oil from mature oil fields.
Ellis Armstrong

New construction on a $200 million commercial scale bio-refinery, designed to use advanced corn fractionation and lignocellulosic conversion technologies to produce ethanol from corn fiber and corn stover, is slated to begin early next year. Once completed in 2009, Voyager Ethanol in Emmetsburg, Iowa, will reportedly turn out 11 percent more ethanol from one bushel of corn-- and 27 percent more ethanol from an acre of corn--while using 83 percent less energy than a traditional corn-to-ethanol plant.
Known as Project LIBERTY, which stands for Launch of an Integrated Bio-refinery with Eco-sustainable and Renewable Technologies in Y2009, the plant’s current 50 million gallon per year conventional corn dry mill infrastructure will be converted into a 125 million gallon per year cellulose-to-ethanol production plant, Solaraccess.com said.
Work on the new facility is slated to begin in February 2007 with a commercial production timeline set approximately 30 months later.
“Thanks to our commitment to renewable fuels, we are changing Iowa’s economic landscape. This new facility in Emmetsburg is a solid investment in emerging renewable fuels technology. By finding new ways to produce ethanol, we are providing new jobs to Iowans and cementing our position as the leader in renewable energy,“ said Governor Vilsack at a recent press conference in Des Moines.
Project LIBERTY is being built by Broin Companies, a dry mill ethanol producer, which has applied for matching grant funds through the US Department of Energy (DOE) to assist with the $200 million expansion.
“The need to commercialize cellulosic ethanol is apparent as the United States continues to move away from its dependency on oil. We have been working very hard at developing technologies and advancements the past several years to position Broin as a leader in this area, and the project in Emmetsburg is a major step toward reaching that goal,“ said Jeff Broin, CEO of Broin Companies.
Technology efforts for Project LIBERTY began several years ago and escalated when Broin and the DOE jointly funded a five-year research initiative to develop and improve dry mill fractionation with the assistance of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and South Dakota State University.
The project provided for the commercialization of Broin’s fractionation technology (BFrac). The results of BFrac, according to Broin, produce higher ethanol yields as well as creates additional value-added products and streams--including the intended use of fiber in the production of cellulose to ethanol.
“I want to congratulate the Broin Companies and the people of Emmetsburg for this exciting investment in Iowa’s renewable energy future,“ said Governor-Elect Culver. “This plant represents exactly the kind of advancement in the alternative fuels industry that I will make the focus of our economic development efforts. This facility will mean new jobs and millions of dollars for Iowa’s economy. In my administration, as the renewable energy economy continues to grow rapidly, we will continue the progress we have made in attracting firms like the Broin Companies to Iowa to create more opportunities.“
Voyager Ethanol began operations in March of 2005. In addition to producing an expected 125 million gallons per year of ethanol after the expansion, the Voyager facility will create 100,000 tons of Dakota Gold Corn Germ Dehydrated and 120,000 tons of Dakota Gold HP produced annually as animal feed co-products.

Asia must be fully committed to a comprehensive strategy for sustainable energy management and cooperation if the region is serious about sustaining its energy resources, said Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak Tuesday.
Citing the ASEAN initiative for energy cooperation as an example of multilateral approach towards energy sustainability, Najib said similar measures should be considered on a broader scale involving countries throughout Asia.
“We hope to see visionary aspirations such as the planned Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline and The ASEAN Power Grid becoming a reality in the near future, but of course, it would take the full commitment of all nations involved,“ he said.
The power grid and the 4,500 km gas pipeline projects are part of Asean’s ambitious plans to boost energy supplies and security. The projects have yet to take off, Bernama.com said.
Countries must be ready to make changes to their regulatory framework to allow for greater transnational cooperation on energy related matters, Najib said in his luncheon address at the 2006 International Energy Conference For A Sustainable Asia. Also present was ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong.
Bilateral power sharing models such as the arrangement between Malaysia and Singapore as well as between Malaysia and Thailand could be established for further interconnection between ASEAN countries.
“The fact is, the development of a trans power grid or gas pipeline linking member countries would require detailed planning and substantial investments by participating countries.
“Whether or not these plans succeed will depend on how far the countries are willing to commit,“ said Najib.
Noting that finding concrete and workable solutions to the issue of sustainable energy management for a region like Asia is still far from over, he said Asian countries individually and collectively, should institute long-term plans for energy sustainability.
At the same time, Asian countries should enhance their preparedness for any possible energy crisis in the future.
In addition, issues on the efficient management of energy and environmental conservation is extremely important for the region as the region moves forward with its development plans.
“Outside the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), Asian countries account for the highest energy consumption in the world, with demand projected to triple by 2030,“ he said.
At this rate and ASEAN’s limited amount of natural resources, Najib cautioned that even net exporters of oil can become net importers, thus making them vulnerable to oil price shocks.
He added that failure to institute sustainability measures could prove disastrous.
“We will encounter new challenges that would test our ability to adapt and change our policies and approaches to suit emerging circumstances.
“We must be prepared for these challenges and we must formulate plans that would see us through the most volatile of situations.“
Ultimately, Asia should work together to become a stronger and more resilient region, he added.