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The Global Energy Center develops and promotes pragmatic and nonpartisan policy solutions designed to advance global energy security, enhance economic opportunity, and accelerate pathways to net-zero emissions.

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Issue Brief

Jan 9, 2020

Election 2020: What’s at stake for energy policy?

By David L. Goldwyn, Andrea Clabough

As the US presidential election in November 2020 draws nearer, the energy policy platforms—including domestic energy, climate change, foreign, and trade policies—from the Democratic candidates, as well as the energy policies of a potential second Trump Administration, have become increasingly clear.

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

Global Energy Forum

Jan 9, 2020

European energy diversification: How alternative sources, routes, and clean technologies can bolster energy security and decarbonization

By Richard L. Morningstar, András Simonyi, Olga Khakova, Irina Markina

The European Union’s efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral economy present a unique and timely opportunity to strengthen European energy security. What is the EU currently doing to meet its decarbonization goals, address the role of natural gas in Europe’s low-carbon future, and explain the potential for new gas sources, alternative gas routes, and clean energy technologies to reduce carbon emissions? And how can this be done while simultaneously increasing European energy security and opportunities for transatlantic cooperation?

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions
Manufacturing facility

Global Energy Forum

Jan 9, 2020

The Saudi Aramco-SABIC merger: How acquiring SABIC fits into Aramco’s long-term diversification strategy

By Private: Jean-François Seznec

Throughout 2019, financial markets have watched the planned Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO), which was finally launched in December. A quieter, but no less significant, story was the Saudi oil company’s acquisition of SABIC. Saudi Aramco strove to have a successful IPO, especially through increased transparency and diversification, and the SABIC acquisition was a key element of Saudi oil company’s diversification strategy. Going forward, what does the merger mean for both companies, what is the new relationship between Saudi Aramco and SABIC, and what are the merger’s implications for the intricate relationship between the various bureaucracies and leadership in Saudi Arabia?

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

Content

EnergySource

Apr 30, 2018

Eastern Kentucky: A path to revitalization

By David Livingston and Kayla Soren

Note: This blog is the third in a series examining the global energy transition through the lens of communities with a significant stake in the traditional energy economy. In examining the social, political, and economic dynamics, policy choices that are made or missed, and the approaches that seem most promising and scalable, there is the […]

Energy Transitions
Renewables & Advanced Energy

EnergySource

Apr 20, 2018

San Joaquin Valley: Strategies for a successful transition

By David Livingston and Kayla Soren

Note: This blog is the second in a series examining the global energy transition through the lens of communities with a significant stake in the traditional energy economy. In examining the social, political, and economic dynamics, policy choices that are made or missed, and the approaches that seem most promising and scalable, there is the […]

Americas
Energy Transitions

EnergySource

Apr 5, 2018

Energy communities in transition: Central California and Eastern Kentucky

By David Livingston and Kayla Soren

Note: This blog is the first in a series examining the global energy transition through the lens of communities with a significant stake in the traditional energy economy. In examining the social, political, and economic dynamics, policy choices that are made or missed, and the approaches that seem most promising and scalable, there is the […]

Energy Transitions
Oil and Gas

Timely Commentary & Analysis

Mar 30, 2018

The Saudi Public Investment Fund: The emerging financial vehicle behind Vision 2030

By Phillip Cornell

The $230 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) is emerging as the central financial vehicle to consolidate and then exercise Saudi Arabian economic power in the service of goals outlined by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). Its role in Saudi economic diversification makes the PIF the critical organ for realizing Vision 2030, and its […]

Energy & Environment
Energy Markets & Governance

EnergySource

Mar 27, 2018

Toward bipartisan climate solutions

By Kayla Soren

Climate change is increasingly on the agenda for millennial conservatives. In late February, a bipartisan coalition of thirty-four student groups from around the country—twenty-three of which are College Republican chapters—launched Students for Carbon Dividends (S4CD). S4CD advocates for the Baker-Shultz carbon dividend, a policy proposal that would impose a carbon tax of $40 per ton, […]

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

EnergySource

Mar 23, 2018

Japan’s energy crossroads

By David Livingston

Few countries have navigated as challenging an energy landscape as Japan in recent years. Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan’s dependency on energy imports has climbed to 93 percent and its energy costs have risen sharply, straining consumers and industry alike. With Japan’s forty-eight nuclear reactors offline, the country began using more coal, gas, […]

Energy Transitions
Japan

EnergySource

Mar 20, 2018

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: Key electric power decisions ahead

By Robert F. Ichord

Bilateral and global energy issues are front and center as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, arrives in the United States. While the biggest focus might be on Saudi Arabia’s vital role as the world’s largest crude oil exporter and the impact that growing US oil production and market influence are having […]

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

EnergySource

Mar 20, 2018

Go big or go home: The right diversification strategy for Saudi Arabia?

By Bina Hussein

Rarely a day goes by without a headline about Saudi Arabia and the reforms underway as part of Vision 2030, the plan intended to help Saudi Arabia pivot from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) is making his rounds internationally, including a much-heralded visit to the United States this […]

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

EnergySource

Mar 15, 2018

Finding climate solutions in nature

By Peter Dean

Natural laws, like the laws of thermodynamics, govern us all, and we ignore them at our peril. Nowhere is this more consequential, at the moment, than in dealing with climate change. Energy, in any form, is subject to the laws of thermodynamics. The First Law of Thermodynamics says energy cannot be created nor destroyed and […]

Energy Transitions
Technology & Innovation

EnergySource

Mar 12, 2018

Renewable energy marches on in 2017: Europe, the United States, and the global outlook

By Robert F. Ichord, Jr.

As technologies advance, costs fall, and policy support and public acceptance grow, the rapid commercial growth of renewable energy continues to be one of the biggest stories in global energy. As countries continue to transition to a low carbon future in the early years of Paris implementation, evidence suggests that the outlook for renewables’ growth is bright.

Energy & Environment
Energy Transitions

Experts