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Geography Compass Content Alert: Volume 5, Issue 11 (November 2011)
November 8, 2011
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Content Alert, Geography Compass | Tagged: Adam D. Dixon, economic, economics, editorial, Elizabeth Nyman, Erica Kohl-Arenas, finance, geography, international law, John Kupfer, Julie A. Silva, Mark Jayne, Mayors, Michael Bradshaw, modern piracy, morality, Pedro Marques, political, Poverty, private philanthropy, urban governance | 
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Posted by Wil Stobbart
Geopolitics Revisited
April 28, 2011
by Caitlin Douglas
April 20th marked the one year anniversary of the largest accidental oil spill into an ocean that released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Not long after the accident, I wrote a post on this website about the geopolitics of oil supply referencing Michael Bradshaw’s article on the Geopolitics of Global Energy Security. The stats Bradshaw provides on both the major suppliers of oil, and the countries with the largest reserves, still intrigues me.
The Society of Biology, on the one year anniversary, released a briefing on the spill which provided numerous links to news articles and official sites. The environmental impacts remain uncertain, with some people saying that the impact is less than anticipated, while others say that the full impacts will only be felt in the long-term.
The answer to my question of last year– will this disaster lead to a push for renewable energies, or lead to the exploration and exploitation of oil in more remote areas of the globe- remains largely unanswered.
Bradshaw, M. 2009. Geopolitics of Global Energy Security. Geography Compass, 3(5): 1920-1937.
Society of Biology, 2011. Deepwater Horizon: what does 4.9m barrels of oil mean one year on?
Leave a Comment » | Environment and Society, General, Global Issues, Hydrology and Water Resources | Tagged: crude oil, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, Michael Bradshaw, Oil spill, Society of Biology | Permalink
Posted by cdoug
Energy dilemmas
November 12, 2010I-Hsien Porter
In a paper in The Geographical Journal, Michael Bradshaw describes two pressures facing energy policy.
First, there is the need to guarantee a reliable and affordable supply of energy. Energy security can be threatened by domestic disputes (e.g. in France, recent strike action caused the country to import large amounts of electricity) and international tensions (which led Russia to restrict gas exports via a pipeline to Belarus, in June 2010).
Second, the current reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) is unsustainable. The economic and environmental costs of extracting fossil fuels, alongside the threat of climate change, means that it is increasingly difficult to match demand with carbon-based energy sources.
The Statement on Energy Policy, recently announced by the UK government, reflects these concerns. The policy envisages half the new energy capacity built in the UK between now and 2025 will come from renewable sources. Nuclear and wind power are highlighted as key areas for development.
However, as Bradshaw argues in his paper, emerging economies in the global South will cause a shift in global energy demand and production. Geographers can play a key role in informing national policies and investment, by linking changing patterns in global energy use and resource distribution, to national and local impacts.
The Guardian (18th October 2010) ‘Severn barrage ditched as new nuclear plants get green light’
Bradshaw, M. J. (2010) ‘Global energy dilemmas: a geographical perspective’, The Geographical Journal (Early view)
Leave a Comment » | Economic Geography, Environment and Society, Global Issues | Tagged: Climate change, Development, Electricity, electricity imports, emerging economies, energy, energy policy, energy security, energy supply, fossil fuels, France strikes, gas exports, global South, low carbon, Michael Bradshaw, nuclear power, power, renewable energy, renewable resources, resource distribution, scale, Statement on Energy Policy, wind power | Permalink
Posted by I-Hsien Porter
Energy security
July 9, 2010
I-Hsien Porter
Our dependence on energy is increasingly fragile. In the US, oil companies are drilling deeper and taking more risks in response to the demand for cheap oil. In April, a Transocean/BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank, resulting in a massive oil spill. Regardless of how the situation has been managed, it was the demand for oil that meant that the oil rig, with all its associated risks, was there in the first place. Energy supplied by fossil fuel is becoming more risky to obtain.
Meanwhile, on the Isle of Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, residents have been urged to use household appliances less as a lack of rain has reduced the amount of electricity generated through hydro-power schemes. Energy supplies are becoming more difficult to sustain.
In Belarus recently, piped gas supplies from Russia were reduced in response to a disagreement over payment for gas and the use of transit pipelines. Energy security is therefore not just a case of the geographical distribution of supply and demand, but is also dependant on complex social processes and international relations.
Michael Bradshaw deals with these themes in an article in Geography Compass, published in 2009. Bradshaw illustrates the multidimensional nature of energy security. For example, climate change policy is driving a reduction in reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. At the same time, China and India’s rapidly developing economies are increasing their demand for energy, reshaping the challenges of energy security as they add their voices to the debate.
Geographers are well placed to understand the interface of the physical and political drivers of changing energy supply and demand. A key challenge remains in translating this into an understanding of energy security and the policies needed to sustain affordable and sufficient energy supplies.
Bradshaw, M. J. (2009) “The Geopolitics of Global Energy Security.” Geography Compass 3 (5): 1920-1937
US Oil Spill coverage (BBC News, 30th June)
No rain puts Eigg on toast watch (BBC News, 29th June)
Russia ‘to restart’ full gas supplies after Belarus row (BBC News, 24th June)
1 Comment | Global Issues, Political Geography | Tagged: Belarus, BP, Electricity, energy security, energy supply, fossil fuel, fuel, Gulf of Mexico, hydro power, International Relations, Isle of Eigg, Michael Bradshaw, oil, oil pipeline, oil rig, Oil spill, pollitics, renewable energy, Russia, supply and demand, Transocean, US | Permalink
Posted by I-Hsien Porter
Geopolitics
May 25, 2010
By Caitlin Douglas
April’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a sobering reminder of the environmental and social implications of the USA’s dependence on oil. In 2009, Michael Bradshaw wrote an excellent and enlightening article in Geography Compass on the ‘Geopolitics of Global Energy Security’. The USA accounts for only 5% of the world’s population but consumes 25% of its oil. It is the third largest producer of oil (8%) but still imports nearly 60% of its petroleum needs. America’s domestic supply of oil peaked in the 1970s and has been declining ever since, making it ever more reliant on imported oil.
Interestingly the five major suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products to the USA are: Canada (18%), Mexico (11%), Saudi Arabia (11%), Venezuela (10%) and Nigeria (8%). Only a relatively small proportion of oil is sourced from the Persian Gulf. This balance may not, however, always be an option as the top five countries with proved oil reserves are in the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE).
Securing and maintaining a reliable oil supply has been a key element of American foreign policy for several decades. President George W. Bush recognized America’s addiction to oil, but saw the key issue as the USA’s dependence on ‘unstable parts of the world’ rather than its consumption of oil. In his inaugural address, President Obama also recognised the country’s dependence on these volatile areas but called for the use of renewable energy to ease the reliance on imported oil.
The question now is whether the devastation and resulting public outcry over the recent BP oil spill will provide the support and impetus to develop renewable forms of energy or will it merely lead to the exploration and exploitation of the untapped oil reserves in US friendly areas such as the Gulf of Guinea.
Read Michael Bradshaw’s ‘Geopolitics of Global Energy Security‘ in Geography Compass
Look at BBC’s pictures on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak, the Oil Spill Clean-up, and the Continuing Clean-Up
1 Comment | Biogeography, Climatology, Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Environment and Society, Global Issues, Hydrology and Water Resources, Political Geography, Social Geography, Urban Geography | Tagged: BP, Canada, crude oil, Geopolitics, Gulf of Guinea, Gulf of Mexico, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Mexico, Michael Bradshaw, Nigeria, Oil spill, proved reserves, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, USA, Venezuela | Permalink
Posted by cdoug
