Crisis Looming?

Article by Nicholas Newman for Engineering & Technology magazine. Issue 2, 2009.

The gas supply from Russia has been making the news in recent weeks, and, as E&T explains, Europe is taking a big chance by relying on Russia. The media is awash with stories of the dispute between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union (EU) for the provision and payment of the supply of natural gas to Eastern European states.

What Europe has recently experienced, with Russia turning off its supplies in January 2009, could be an early preparation for a more serious supply problem when Russia simply will not have enough gas to go around. This could mean parts of Europe being cut off for months at a time.

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Offshore Advances

Article by Jeff Crook for Engineering & Technology magazine. Issue 21, 2008.

As the search for oil moves into deeper waters and harsher environments production is moving onto the seabed.

Offshore oil and gas production has seen a significant trend in recent years: the elimination of offshore surface facilities, with the entire production system for some of the more advanced fields located on the seabed and connected back to a terminal on the shore.  

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Power Shift

Article by Nicholas Newman for Engineering & Technology magazine. Issue 5, 2009.

A 'Great Game' is being played in the Central Asia republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. E&T takes a look at the region that holds 5 per cent of the world's energy supplies.

The disruptive disagreements Moscow has had with the EU, Ukraine and Georgia over gas supplies are an example of the current diplomatic campaigns being fought by the players for a piece of the action. In 2008, BP's Statistical Review of World Energy estimated that the region had reserves of 48 billion barrels of oil, impressive but certainly no Kuwait with its reserves of 101.5 billion barrels of oil.

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What's in the Pipeline?

Article by Rafael Kandiyoti for Engineering & Technology magazine. Issue 6, 2009.

We mostly take for granted the prosperity that cheap and plentiful fossil fuels provide. And those in the West rarely even think about energy transmission - until someone in Russia turns off the taps and temperatures begin to drop!

Modern society has conflicting aims when it comes to fossil fuels. We worry about pollution and possible climate drift due to human activity, yet the search is on for more and cheaper fossil fuels because we need our economies to function and our trade to grow.

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Good Cold Country

Article by Pelle Neroth for Engineering and Technology magazine. Issue 21, 2009.

E&T salutes engineering and innovation that have helped Norway achieve impressive results in oil exploration, tunnelling and construction in extremely cold climate.

Norway has always been a nation of fishermen, not traders, farmers, or burghers: the Gulf Stream, ice-free ports and the call of the sea made physical exploration more appealing. The country had the most intrepid Vikings and polar explorers, but no scientific geniuses, no Niels Bohrs (Danish) or Alfred Nobels (Swedish). The communities were tiny, roads were poor: there was a small urban middle class and no aristocracy - the class that could afford to pay for laboratories. The aristocrats were all in Denmark.

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Cuba's Power Revolution

Article by Nicholas Newman for Engineering and Technology magazine. Issue 16, 2009.

Cuba has for a long time relied on Russia to bolster its economy and electricity generation. But since the collapse of the Soviet bloc is has had to develop its own electricity market including oil and gas fired power stations and a move to renewable energy.

For tourists in Cuba, the scene of ancient American cars parked on the roadside, darkened streets and houses, and being able to see that stars clearly above old Havana may look romantic, but to the ordinary Cuban it is just another example of the deep seated energy problems that face the fiercely independent country.

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