Energy Security and Development B
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Energy Security and Development B. Sudhakara Reddy • Sergio Ulgiati Editors Energy Security and Development The Global Context and Indian Perspectives 1 3 Editors B. Sudhakara Reddy Sergio Ulgiati Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Parthenope University of Napoli Research (IGIDR) Napoli Mumbai Italy Maharashtra India ISBN 978-81-322-2064-0 ISBN 978-81-322-2065-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2065-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014950360 Springer New Delhi Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer India 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) To our parents Pattabhirami Reddy Ramasubbamma (of B. Sudhakara Reddy) and Dante Ulgiati Vanda Folino (of Sergio Ulgiati) whose love always supported us Foreword Countries all over the world face many challenges today but few are more daunting than energy security and sustainability. This is because of their direct impact on the economy and on the environment. The present production and consumption of en- ergy is unsustainable, from the point of view of resource limits and environmental impacts, and its direct and indirect effects cast a major shadow on the humanity itself. While the nature of energy security makes it a difficult challenge to deal with, it also means that if a concerted effort made in improving energy security, can pay significant dividends in making the nation safer, its population prosperous, and more environmentally sustainable. This book “Energy Security and Development—The Changing Global Context” is edited by Sudhakara Reddy and Sergio Ulgiati and stems from the Workshop on “Advances in Energy Studies” held during October 25–27, 2012, at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India. By bringing together Northern and Southern academics and policy makers, it is a timely effort to analyse the issues pertaining energy, security and sustainability with the help of a wealth of data. Out of all the excellent papers and topics in this volume, some comments on key areas follow. While sustainability is the broadest objective, energy security is an important part of it, both on the national and social levels. The paper by Sudhakara Reddy and Balachandra presents an analytical framework for appraising the current energy security status of India using indicator-based approach (economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions). In the process it develops a four- dimensional measure to assess sustainable energy security. The study concludes with specific recommendations on policies to be adopted. The paper by Mishra ad- dresses the social issue of energy poverty to which billions of people are subjected, Tverberg describes financial aspects of energy security focusing on the risks due to decreasing energy affordability, Gasparatos describes the inter-linkages between energy security and food security as observed from diet changes in Japan, and Yang and Chen describe the status of energy security in rapidly developing and giant China. Brown and Ulgiati introduce the existence of a “Tertiary Economy” based on the financial system of trade, banking, insurance and stocks, which is additional to the primary one based on nature and to the secondary one of agricultural and vii viii Foreword industrial production. They point out that in characterizing progress by increases in wealth measured by a growing Gross Domestic Product, the tertiary economy cre- ates only an illusion of increasing wealth if the biophysical basis for the economy does not increase in like manner. Specifically focused on sustainability, Ghisellini, Ulgiati and Setti discuss energy sustainability issues in agriculture, pointing out the vital importance of agriculture in global food supply, Nallathiga points to emission reduction and environmental management as important goals for urban development, DeTombe and van Dijkum focus on the social aspects of sustainability, Ruzzenenti, Piccolo and Basosi describe a new methodology for estimating the long-term rebound effect, an effect which causes an unintended increase in energy usage due to the introduction of an energy efficient technology and the consequential lower price of the relative energy service, and thus introduces serious threats to the ongoing energy conservation and GHG-mitigating policies, and Schnitzer, Rainer and Hofbauer describe some foun- dations for the development of “smart” and thus more sustainable cities. The important topic of transportation is covered by several chapters; for ex- ample, Majumdar, Kumar Majhi and Dutta discuss the feasibility of setting up of infrastructure for electric vehicles. Jain presents a life-cycle assessment of nuclear electricity systems, and Bhat, addressing the focus on the rapidly developing BRIC countries, discusses trade and investment in renewable energy technologies in them. Methods for social, environmental and economic sustainability assessment are described in the chapter by Serrenho, Warr, Sousa, Ayres, and Domingos who ad- dress useful work accounting in Portugal in the period 1856–2009, and by Tsatsaro- nis and Morosuk who propose exergy-based methods to understand the formation of costs and environmental impacts. Dogaru presented arguments for a new joint optimum on economic analysis and energy assessment, with examples from the ef- fort to introduce zero-energy buildings. In summary, this volume covers key issues in sustainable energy and relies largely on analysis by various scholars. The book illustrates that the insecurity of a majority of countries owes to internal factors such more to do with market forc- es, inefficient technologies, lack of institutions, environmental insecurity, pricing mechanisms, etc. and less to do with the international situation. This book is an essential reader for researchers, students, and policy makers who need to be well informed of the challenges that are involved in energy security and sustainability. University of Pennsylvania Noam Lior Philadelphia, USA Preface The earth has enough for every one’s need and not for every ones greed Mahatma Gandhi Since the very beginning of human history over its evolutionary pathway, energy has been among the most important drivers, in the form of Sun, food, wood, animal work and much later fossil fuels and other sources and carriers, from the more di- luted to the more concentrated forms. Humankind efforts have always been directed towards identifying and extracting new sources of energy and using them properly. The problem of energy and its appropriate use date very far. In 1865, Sir William Stanley Jevons, Lecturer and then Professor of Economics at the Queen’s College of Liverpool, published an alarming paper titled “The Coal Question: An Inquiry concerning the progress of the Nation, and the probable exhaustion of our Coal- Mines” in which he called the attention to the future depletion of the country’s energy resources, mainly coal. His assumption, the so-called Jevon’s paradox, was that the increase of energy efficiency thanks to technological development would have likely led to increased energy consumption, not its decrease, due to the expan- sion of the technological, economic and social system and the increase of energy- consuming devices. How prophetic those words are! The rebound effect envisaged by Jevons is haunting us now! Very few scientific words and concepts had the venture to become as popular as energy did. After the oil embargo in 1973, energy became both a concern and a research topic for many, be they scientists, managers, policy makers and citizens. At that time, few were aware of the role that energy played in economic growth and its apparent scarcity gave a real shock to societies, governments and media. Many considered it a temporary aberration, largely influenced by political developments of that period and that it would be solved and forgotten very soon. Available fossil fuels, coupled with energy-conservation strategies, as well as new extraction and conversion technologies (e.g. natural gas fracking) are believed by many to be able to delay the end of the fossil fuel era, allowing for a smooth transition to the dis- covery of new energy resources. It is still debated whether the new patterns will be characterized by additional growth supported by newly discovered energy sources or a global and controlled downsizing of our economies, societies and population. ix x Preface The energy scenario worldwide