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FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 8, AUGUST 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
ENERGY POLICY AND ECONOMICS

Item #d91aug17

Energy Pol., 19(5), June 1991.

"Conservation Potential of Compact Fluorescent Lamps in India and Brazil," A.J. Gadgil (Lawrence Berkeley Lab., Univ. California, Berkeley CA 94720), G. De Martino Jannuzzi, 449-463. Analyzes the potential of CFLs from the standpoint of national economies, the consumers, and the utilities. Utility subsidies are required before consumers will install CFLs, but this will be worthwhile to the utilities. Technical and marketing barriers to large-scale introduction are identified, and various policy options for encouraging CFL use are examined.

"Facts or Values--How Do Parliamentarians and Experts See Nuclear Power?" R.P. Hämäläinen (Sys. Analysis Lab., Helsinki Univ. Technol., Otakaari 1 M, SF-02150 Espoo, Finland), 464-472. Results from a unique decision-making project in the parliament of Finland show that there are value differences concerning nuclear power as well as different opinions about facts and data, both among and between politicians and experts. This paper illustrates how decision analysis was used to elicit these differences and to structure the debate.

"Solar Hydrogen Energy Trade," C.-J. Winter (Solar/Hydrogen Energy Res. Ctr., Stuttgart/Ulm, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 7000 Stuttgart 80, Germany), 494-502. As the world comes to rely increasingly on solar power, solar hydrogen will become irreplaceable as a carrier of energy from areas with high insolation and for seasonal storage. Solar hydrogen will enhance world energy trade with a product that is pollution-free, inexhaustible, renewable and low-risk.

Item #d91aug18

"Politics of Electricity Production," T. Price (Seers Bough, Wilton Lane, Jordans, Beaconsfield HP9 2RG, UK), Nature, 351(6326), 435-436, June 6, 1991. Despite its controversial image, the nuclear industry is seriously addressing the issues of public concern, and a wave of nuclear construction is likely to begin soon after the year 2000.

Item #d91aug19

Energy Pol., 19(4), May 1991.

"Energy Analysis of Renewable Energy Sources," N.D. Mortimer (Sch. Urban & Regional Studies, Sheffield City Polytechnic, Pond St., Sheffield S1 1WB, UK), 374-385, May 1991. The value and application of energy analysis to renewable energy sources is explained in relation to concerns about global warming. Ways in which energy analysis can complement conventional economic evaluation are discussed. An extensive summary of the results of previous analyses is given, and improvements in databases needed for new studies described.

"Renewable Energy: A Technical Overview," B. Sorensen (COWIconsult, 15 Parallelvej, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark), 386-391. Outlines the fluxes of renewable energy through the environment, and various conversion tech-niques in terms of technological requirements and basic efficiency limits. The current technological development of major renewable energy forms is evaluated.

"The Third Energy R&D Programme of West Germany," H.-F. Wagner (Fed. Min. Res. & Technol., POB 200270, 5300 Bonn 2, Germany), 392-399. The new German energy research program for the first half of the 1990s will provide a broad spectrum of technical options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. Nuclear energy still receives the largest financial share, although it is less than before; both nuclear and coal technologies are ripe for development by private industry. Renewables and fusion energy will both receive emphasis with increased budgets.

"A Case for Alternative Transport Fuels," P.A. Okken (Neth. Energy Res. Foundation ECN, POB 1, 1755 ZG Petten, Neth.), 400-405. Reviews the topic in the context of greenhouse gas constraints. Fuel efficiency improvements and modal split shifts could stabilize CO₂ emissions from transport, but alternative non-oil fuels will be needed in the long run. Carefully designed biofuel schemes, hydrogen, and electric cars may be used; compressed natural gas and methanol are possible transient fuels.

Item #d91aug20

"Nuclear Power and Carbon Dioxide: The Fallacy of the Nuclear Industry's New Propaganda," N. Mortimer (address in preceding entry), The Ecologist, 21(3), 129-132, May-June 1991.

Presents an analysis of the entire nuclear fuel cycle to explain why, contrary to claims of the nuclear industry, nuclear power is responsible for much larger CO₂ emissions than several renewable options and efficiency measures. The need to mine and process progressively lower quality uranium ores resulting from any major expansion in nuclear power would lead to huge increases in CO₂ emissions.

Item #d91aug21

The Energy J., 12(2), Apr. 1991.

"The Cost of Switching Electricity Generation from Coal to Nuclear Fuel," M.R. Virdis (Mineral Econ. Prog., Univ. Arizona, Tuscon AZ 85721), M. Rieber, 109-134. The recognized cost advantage of Western European and Japanese nuclear power over coal-fired electricity generation contrasts with conditions in the U.S., where there is no apparent advantage. This analysis adopts OECD methodology for European/Japanese practice and also replaces market conditions with statist controls, for better comparison with the U.S. Little advantage of nuclear over coal is found.

"The Cost of Australian Carbon Dioxide Abatement," R.E. Marks (Australian Grad. Sch. Mgmt., Univ. New South Wales, Austr.), P.L. Swan et al., 135-152. Examines the generation of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in Australia, and analyzes means to cut emissions from electricity generation and road transport. Calculates the cost, in terms of growth foregone, of measures to attain the Toronto targets for these sectors in Australia, using the ORANI multisectoral model.

Item #d91aug22

Environment, 33(2), Mar. 1991.

"Report on Reports: `Electricity, Efficient End Use Technologies and New Generation Technologies, and Their Planning Implications,'" reviewed by W.M. Moomaw (Ctr. Environ. Mgmt., Tufts Univ., Medford, Mass.), 25-27. The book reviewed is a collection of papers from an international electricity congress convened in Sweden in 1989 (T.B. Johansson et al., Eds.; Lund Univ. Press, Lund, Swed., 1989). The reviewer recommends that the U.S. complement its energy strategy analysis with an in-depth study by each utility, corporation, and institution, to determine which combination of supply and end-use options best meets their environmental needs.

"Boosting U.S. Energy Efficiency through Federal Action," E. Hirst (Energy Div., Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Oak Ridge TN 37831), 7-11; 32-36. The U.S. will enjoy the multiple benefits of increased energy efficiency only if the federal government actively promotes energy efficiency through research, expanded state and local programs, stronger efficiency standards, improved regulation of energy utilities, and increased technology transfer to developing countries. Details of these approaches are given.