The book provides a comprehensive overview of the most recent and advanced research findings on energy production and management in the important Ural industrial region of Russia. The authors consider economic problems of energy development, management systems for sustainable energy, and investment mechanisms for energy. Comprised of chapters on energy efficient technologies, environmental aspects of using energy, and personnel for the power industry, the volume is ideal for a range of scientists and engineers interested in innovative approaches to generation and distribution of energy.

The challenges in Russia’s energy sector are changing. On the demand side, Europe is seeking to limit its dependence on Russian oil and gas, with the result that China and other Asian countries are likely to eventually become growing export markets for Russian energy. On the supply side, oil and gas fields in West Siberia are diminishing and in future Russia’s energy will have to come more from East Siberia and the Arctic, which will necessitate new infrastructure development and the employment of advanced technologies, which may increase Russia’s dependence on commercial partners from outside Russia. This book explores the challenges facing Russia’s energy sector and the resulting security implications. It includes a discussion of how far the Russian state is likely to continue to monopolise the energy sector, and how far competition from private and foreign companies might be allowed.

Public debate about energy relations between the EU and Russia is distorted. These distortions present considerable obstacles to the development of true partnership. At the core of the conflict is a struggle for resource rents between energy producing, energy consuming and transit countries. Supposed secondary aspects, however, are also of great importance. They comprise of geopolitics, market access, economic development and state sovereignty. The European Union, having engaged in energy market liberalisation, faces a widening gap between declining domestic resources and continuously growing energy demand. Diverse interests inside the EU prevent the definition of a coherent and respected energy policy. Russia, for its part, is no longer willing to subsidise its neighbouring economies by cheap energy exports. The Russian government engages in assertive policies pursuing Russian interests. In so far, it opts for a different globalisation approach, refusing the role of mere energy exporter. In view of the intensifying struggle for global resources, Russia, with its large energy potential, appears to be a very favourable option for European energy supplies, if not the best one. However, several outcomes of the strategic game between the two partners can be imagined. Engaging in non-cooperative strategies will in the end leave all stakeholders worse-off. The European Union should therefore concentrate on securing its partnership with Russia instead of damaging it. Stable cooperation would need the acceptance that the partner may pursue his own goals, which might be different from one’s own interests. The question is, how can a sustainable compromise be found? This thesis finds that a mix of continued dialogue, a tit for tat approach bolstered by an international institutional framework and increased integration efforts appears as a preferable solution.

This book examines Russia’s capacity to respond to a changing world through the lens of the country’s oil industry. Against a backdrop of social, political and climatic change, Indra Overland and Nina Poussenkova present a systematic analysis of how modern energy developments in the form of shale oil, offshore oil and the global energy transition are handled.

In No Standard Oil, environmental policy expert Deborah Gordon examines the widely varying climate impacts of global oils and gases, and proposes solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in this sector while making sustainable progress in transitioning to a carbon-free energy future. The next decade will be decisive in the fight against climate change. It will be impossible to hold the planet to a 1.5o C temperature rise without controlling methane and CO2 emissions from the oil and gas sector. Contrary to popular belief, the world will not run out of these resources anytime soon. Consumers will continue to demand these abundant resources to fuel their cars, heat their homes, and produce everyday goods like shampoo, pajamas, and paint. But it is becoming more environmentally damaging to supply energy using technologies like fracking oil and liquefying gas. Policymakers, financial investors, environmental advocates, and citizens need to understand what oil and gas are doing to our climate to inform decision-making. In No Standard Oil, Deborah Gordon shows that no two oils or gases are environmentally alike. Each has a distinct, quantifiable climate impact. While all oils and gases pollute, some are much worse for the climate than others. In clear, accessible language, Gordon explains the results of the Oil Climate Index Plus Gas (OCI+), an innovative, open source model that estimates global oil and gas emissions. Gordon identifies the oils and gases from every region of the globe-along with the specific production, processing, and refining activities-that are the most harmful to the planet, and proposes innovative solutions to reduce their climate footprints. Global climate stabilization cannot afford to wait for oil and gas to run out. No Standard Oil shows how we can take immediate, practical steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the crucial oil and gas sector while making sustainable progress in transitioning to a carbon-free energy future.

The Russian Federation has set out to increase and diversify its use of renewables, particularly for power generation. Under current plans and policies, renewables would reach nearly 5% of total final energy consumption by 2030. Accelerated deployment, however, could boost Russia's renewable energy share to more than 11% in the same timeframe, according to this REmap working paper from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)Achieving this potential calls for cumulative investments of USD 300 billion in renewable energy up to 2030, or on average USD 15 billion per year between 2010 and 2030. When externalities related to human health and climate change are taken into account, these investments in renewables could ultimately save up to USD 11 billion per year.Yet certain areas require further attention. These include long-term planning, integration of renewables with existing plans, opening the way for solar PV and wind development, and ensuring reliable and affordable bioenergy supplies.Hydropower - representing about a fifth of Russian power generation capacity - is currently the most prominent renewable source, along with bioenergy for heating in buildings and industry. By end of 2015, total installed renewable power generation capacity reached 53.5 gigawatts (GW) of which 51.5 GW came from hydropower., and the remainder 2 GW from bioenergy, wind, solar PV and geothermal.The country analysis forms part of REmap, IRENA's global roadmap to double renewables in the global energy mix.