With the next stage of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process set for November and December of this year in Paris, there has been a recent flurry of political and diplomatic activity from the European Union and its 28 member-states regarding their plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Their pledges have come alongside ambitious designs for future joint electricity generation continent-wide, given geopolitical tensions with Russia, which remains “Europe’s largest single foreign supplier of not only gas, but also oil, coal and nuclear fuel.” While there are still critical challenges to realizing the milestones set down [...]
Last month, India signed a nuclear energy deal with Sri Lanka. In an email interview, Saurav Jha, an independent energy consultant in India, discussed India’s civilian nuclear export industry. WPR: What is the extent (expertise, dollar value, market access) of India’s civil nuclear export industry, and how has that evolved since the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal? Saurav Jha: There are no Indian exports of nuclear power-generating equipment to any country at the moment, aside from a few components. The highest-value nuclear-related export by India currently is heavy water—India is the world’s top producer—to countries such as South Korea and the [...]
It has been a busy week for Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. On Monday, he had to apologize to his Gulf Arab patrons for a leaked audio recording, purportedly of him and two of his generals mocking the oil-rich monarchies and scheming how to squeeze them for billions. “Man, they have money like rice,” says a man identified as el-Sissi on the alleged recording, which revealed more than just the scorn Egypt’s junta has for its foreign backers and for everyday Egyptians. As the Egyptian blogger known as Baheyya wrote, in the “frank, relaxed banter,” Egypt’s current ruler and two of [...]
