Energy Security Flashcards
(4 cards)
What factors influence energy security?
What are the 4 key aspects of energy security?
Energy security is achieved when there is an uninterrupted supply of energy at a national level at an affordable price. It is influenced by:
Physical availability of energy sources
Cost of harvesting and distributing energy
Standard of living
Environmental priorities
Climate
Public perceptions
Economic development
Availability of technology
Aspects of energy security:
Availability
Accessibility
Reliability
Affordability
France’s struggle with energy security
Since the 1970s, rising oil and gas prices, ageing nuclear reactors and delayed nuclear projects have resulted in France becoming one of Europe’s greatest sufferers of the energy crisis. As a result of this, France has had to reopen coal-powered power stations. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, less coal can be imported from Russia, and coal boats from the Rhineland coal fields only met 50% of their capacity due to heavy exploitation during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Nuclear reactors, which normally generate 70% of the country’s energy, are meeting the end of their lifespan and have to be decommissioned. Intense heat and drought have resulted in hydroelectric dams functioning at 60% of their capacity.
In response to this crisis, the French government have installed 50,000 floating solar panels on Lake Lazer in the French Alps, which is particularly sunny, thus highly productive. It is estimated that this will supply annual energy consumption to 12500 people and will increase the amount of hydroelectric power generated by reducing evaporation by up to 30%. France plans to generate 100 gigawatts of solar energy per year by 2050. They also plan to build the world’s first controlled fusion reactor aiming to be fully operational by 2060. This is estimated to cost between €25 - €30bn.
An energy efficiency campaign in Paris aims to cut energy use by 10% by reducing municipal building and swimming pool temperatures by 1℃ (18℃ to 17℃ for buildings and 27℃ to 26℃ for pools) and reducing municipal building temperatures to 12℃ at night or during holidays when they aren’t used. The French government turns off decorative lights at 10 pm and the lights of the Eiffel Tower at 11:45 pm. This has contributed to a 13% decrease in energy consumption.
The USA’s struggle with energy security
Whilst the US produces enough crude oil to meet its energy needs, most of the crude oil reserves in the US contain sweet and light crude oil. The refineries in the US, however, were built to accommodate non-sweet (meaning higher sulfur content) and heavy crude oil. Decommissioning such refineries and building new refineries to accommodate the US’s domestic crude oil would be expensive. For this reason, the US still relies on oil imports from the Middle East, however, reliance is decreasing.
In 2010, the US imported 9.4 million barrels per day. In 2022, this number decreased to 650,000.
Energy players
OPEC - the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries provides 40% of the world’s crude oil supply. They monitor stability and prices of the petroleum market and increase or decrease production accordingly. Together, they control over 80% of the world’s crude oil production. However, as countries increase their own supply, OPEC’s global importance has experienced a relative decline. This is exacerbated by the shift away from fossil fuels.
TNCs - Companies like Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are involved in extracting, transporting and refining crude oil as well as producing petrochemicals.
Energy Companies - These are involved in distributing energy to consumers and therefore can heavily influence prices and tariffs.
National governments - influence a country’s sourcing of energy. This may be influenced by geopolitical relations, economic or environmental priorities abnd thus influence price.
