Energy

361 Items

Analysis & Opinions - Financial Times

China’s dominance of solar poses difficult choices for the west

| June 22, 2023

The geopolitical implications of solar displacing oil as the world’s major source of energy are enormous. Why has the Middle East been a central arena in the “great game” for the past century? Because countries there have been the major suppliers of the oil and gas that powered 20th-century economies. If, over the next decade, photovoltaic cells that capture energy from the sun were to replace a substantial part of the demand for oil and gas, who will the biggest losers be? And even more consequentially: who will be the biggest winner?

An Israeli soldier stands near the fence on the Israeli border with Lebanon

AP/ Tsafrir Abayov

Journal Article - Middle East Policy

Hezbollah's Coercion And the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Deal

| 2023

A textbook case of coercive diplomacy, Hezbollah's maneuver was calculated and deliberate, which reflects the group's strategic expertise. Drawing on open-source materials and public statements in Arabic and Hebrew, this article analyzes Hezbollah's coercive-diplomacy campaign and examines its implications for escalation scenarios between Israel and its central military opponent.

Video - Harvard University Center for the Environment

Video: Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China

Daniel Schrag and Henry Lee discuss the policies China could enact in the near-term to ease its transition to a low-carbon economy, the subject of their book Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China (Cambridge University Press, 2021). 

Smoke and steam rise from a coal processing plant in Hejin

AP Photo/Olivia Zhang, File

News - Harvard Crimson

Environmental Policy Experts Discuss China’s Coal Transition at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Event

    Authors:
  • Abigail Romero
  • Nathanael Tjandra
| Apr. 11, 2023

Environmental policy experts discussed China’s energy policies during an event at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs on April 10, 2023. The event featured Weila Gong, a Belfer Center postdoctoral research fellow, and Georgetown University professor Joanna I. Lewis, who discussed their joint research exploring China’s coal consumption, its pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and the political and economic factors hindering the country’s transition away from coal.

A field of manganese nodules off the coast of Hawaii

NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2015 Hohonu Moana

Analysis & Opinions - The Wire China

The Ocean Edge

| Nov. 06, 2022

The energy transition has made deep-sea mining for critical minerals cost-competitive for the first time, and Chinese companies are champing at the bit to start mining at a commercial scale. The United States and its partners, by contrast, have been caught on the back foot when it comes to China’s stranglehold on the critical mineral supply chain. With the geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States intensifying, many Western observers say the United States can’t afford to lose the scramble for the seabed. 

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Analysis & Opinions

Former Moscow chief of station Rolf Mowatt-Larssen on the state of play in Ukraine - "Intelligence Matters"

| May 18, 2022

In this episode of "Intelligence Matters," host Michael Morell speaks with former senior CIA operations officer and Moscow station chief Rolf Mowatt-Larssen about the likely trajectory of the war in Ukraine, including the possibility of a negotiated peace — or dangerous escalation. Mowatt-Larssen offers insights on Putin's options, potential rifts among his intelligence agencies, and persistent rumors about the Russian leader's health. Morell and Mowatt-Larssen also discuss Western involvement in the conflict and the lingering potential for the Kremlin to use weapons of mass destruction.