Research Library

A series of converging trends provided political cover for reforms of long-standing energy subsidies launched by oil-exporting states in the Middle East and North Africa, but the new policies appear to be designed to update — rather than jettison — rent-based autocratic governance.

The authors conducted mobile phone surveys on energy supply, demand and quality in 12 sub-Saharan African countries, finding that current grid and off-grid electricity supply is inadequate to meet consumers' demands.

The United States appears less exposed to geopolitical risks affecting its oil supply than at any time since the early 1970s due to fracking, climate change and a more diverse energy supply, according to research by energy fellow Jim Krane and Kenneth B. Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies.

Ken Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies, explores how the Trump administration’s approach to international trade could impact energy markets in a special issue of the IEEJ Energy Journal.

This paper assesses the current operational conditions of the Mexican residential electricity sector and examines the potential effects that the massive adoption of distributed photovoltaic power generation (DPV) systems would have on household expenditure and welfare, subsidy reduction, pollution and water resource usage.

A combination of factors is encouraging Saudi Arabia to consider raising crude oil production capacity beyond the current ceiling of 12.5 million barrels per day. However, an increase in Saudi crude oil production would have consequences for markets and competing forms of energy, as well as for the kingdom's geopolitical stature, writes fellow Jim Krane in an article for Energy Policy.

The authors present a vision for enhancing the efficiency and resiliency of urban water systems and discuss ways to overcome associated implementation challenges. Environmental Science & Technology: https://bit.ly/2O2I6wD.

Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn explores the history of the electric power industry and the turn to information technologies to better process and more efficiently use utility data: Information & Culture, July 20, 2017.

The authors calculate nodal prices for Mexico's power system and analyze how the allocation of financial transmission rights can be used to mitigate resulting effects on electricity distribution. The Energy Journal: http://bit.ly/2UKrw9R

Mexico should consider expanding its 2014 energy reform legislation by further designing policies that seek to promote enhanced generation output and capacity, which could expand economic growth, the authors write in this study: http://bit.ly/2DpaDai