Like many other African countries, Mozambique has enormous potential, but there are many gaps to fill. Led by its natural resources, the economy has been booming with real GDP growth reaching 7.4 percent in 2012, seven percent in 2013 and is predicted to reach 8.5 percent between 2014–16, according to the World Bank. London based […]
East Africa is on the verge of personifying an energy transformation. New advances in natural gas, wind, geothermal, solar power and potentially oil are emerging to feed the hungry markets, while large hydro will continue to expand as well. Ethiopia, a country of 92 million and 7+ percent economic growth, has been a driver in […]
For all the talk of China and the Arctic, there’s one dark horse that definitely made itself known at the Arctic Circle: Singapore. With a speech that hit all the right notes, Sam Tan Chin Siong, Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a Member of Parliament, described the contributions Singapore can […]
The Russia Left Behind By Ellen Barry The New York Times Through a string of narratives about towns and villages stretching between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Barry captures the deterioration of small-town Russia and explores how these towns — while not very far from the Kremlin’s reach — are worryingly far from modernity. The War […]
In Norway’s elections on Monday, the Conservative party (Høyre) won the most seats, sweeping Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg from power after eight years. The Conservatives, however, did not win enough seats to form a majority government. As such, headed by new Prime Minister Erna Solberg, they will likely ally with the populist, anti-immigrant Progress […]
The world continues to watch as President Obama and his administration increase their lobbying efforts to convince the Congress and the international community to support a U.S. led military strike in Syria. President Obama went on a media blitz Monday and is expected to deliver his case to the nation today to launch a “limited” […]
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, president of the smallest oil producing and exporting member of OPEC, has committed to expanding oil drilling – from the current 513,000 barrels of oil per day. President Correa announced last week that he signed an executive decree to end the Yasuni Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tipuni (ITT) initiative. ITT are oil blocks, which house […]
As the developing world continues its economic expansion, it is predicted to leave the developed world in its dust in regards to increase in energy consumption over the next 25 plus years or so. Dominant forces of China and India will drive the trend, but other developing nations will continue to become major […]
Britain continues to hold the distinction of being home to the largest offshore wind farm in the world. And with as much offshore wind capacity already installed across the U.K. as the rest of the world combined, it will likely maintain its global industry leadership for years to come. Prime Minister David Cameron was on […]
As immigration legislation is prodded through the U.S. Senate then likely to collect mothballs in the U.S. House of Representatives, and major Supreme Court decisions are announced, the executive branch has garnered a portion of the headlines. Ready to take on another challenge, President Obama laid out his plan to combat Climate Change – a […]
The struggle for positioning in the solar energy marketplace took another turn. On June 4 Karel de Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, announced a new 11.8 percent tariff to be applied to imported Chinese made solar panels, and photovoltaic cells and polysilicon wafers, two system components. To avoid an additional increase escalating to […]
Reza Taghizadeh on Iran’s Energy Policy in Disarray Reza Taghizadeh is a senior Iran analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering Iranian geopolitical affairs and energy policy. Dr. Taghizadeh’s expertise is sought by major news organizations and foreign governments on Iran’s foreign and energy policies. He sat down with Reza Akhlaghi of Foreign Policy Association to […]
Ghana has been forced to cope with increased energy shortages as a result of damages to the West African Gas Pipeline, dating back to Aug. 28, 2012. The $1 billion, 650 kilometer long pipeline, built to carry gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana, was severely damaged during an incident between a Togolese Navy […]
Britain is suffering its worst winter in 50 years. Everyone is grumbling about their fuel bills and wondering what has happened to spring. Soccer and rugby matches and horse-racing fixtures have been canceled. The government has warned that if the weather persists like this for another couple of weeks, rationing may be necessary. While Prime […]
China, the largest energy consumer in the world, which derives more than two-thirds of its energy supply from coal, is choking. Beijing, with a population of around 20 million, increasing energy consumption and more than five million vehicles, is especially is choking. In mid-January, Beijing officials were forced to conduct an emergency response to hazardous […]