| Asia’s Energy Security and the Middle East
by Dr. John Rutledge
April 2007
 Abstract: Strong growth and rising energy needs are increasing Asia’s reliance on
energy supplies from the troubled Middle East, making energy security an
urgent issue. Existing policies, based on orthodox demand-based
economics and an overly narrow concept of energy are unlikely to solve
the problem. This paper presents a new framework for thinking about
energy and economic growth based on the broad concept of energy used
in the natural sciences. This framework views economic activity as
transfers of both current solar energy and vintage solar energy, stored in
the form of natural resources, human capital, physical capital, and
technology, driven by the uncompromising laws of thermodynamics. It
points toward unconventional solutions to the energy security problem
including investing in communication networks, information technology,
and education; agricultural research to increase the efficiency plant
energy capture and improve the productivity of farm workers and, thereby,
release manpower for the energy-efficient services sector; and legal,
regulatory, and exchange rate policies to provide a stable environment to
attract high tech capital from global investors.
Click here to read the paper in its entirety.
John Rutledge, Ph.D., is on the GRIH
Board of Scholars. You can read Dr. Rutledge's full bio here. |
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