Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.4 ENERGY MARKET CHANGE AND INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS
In industrialized nations, energy has played a largely unheralded role in
wealth creation and the cultivation of military might. Energy drives the
high-tech production processes that provide industrialized nations with
technological advantage over developing nations. It also fuels machines of
war and supports military production processes that provide industrial-
ized countries with international clout and domestic defense capabilities.
Accordingly, any changes in energy market dynamics that alter the com-
parative cost structure of the nation's energy mix can potentially under-
mine national competitive advantage and destabilize national security.
Overall, there is an ineluctable connection between energy policy, envi-
ronmental policy, economic policy, national security policy, and foreign
policy.
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As the allure of fossil fuel energy technology continues to dimin-
ish, the once disparate objectives within these policy realms are exhibiting
convergence.
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1.4.1 Convergence and Alternative Energy
It can be argued that a common created competency exists for most indus-
trialized nations—efective strategic management of energy resources for
the purposes of supporting industrial mechanization.
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he top economies
have learned how to create core competencies at diferent stages in the
energy value chain. Canada (in oil and natural gas) and Australia (in coal)
have exploited abundant reserves of fossil fuels to become global suppliers.
he United Kingdom (British Petroleum), Holland (Shell), and the United
States (Exxon) created national competitive advantages in wholesaling
by nurturing the development of multinational energy irms.
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Singapore
established a core competency as an Asian hub for the reinement of fos-
sil fuels. Japan leads the world in energy utilization eiciency and nuclear
technology development.
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In short, many countries that have achieved eco-
nomic prosperity have been aided by establishing and exploiting strategic
strengths in one or more links of the energy supply chain.
As a global transition to alternative energy technologies materializes,
new opportunities will emerge for nations to establish entrenched posi-
tions of leadership throughout the stages associated with these new energy
value chains. Nations that are successful in assuming leadership roles will
develop core competencies that will facilitate national competitive advan-
tage. Viewed from a defensive perspective, industrialized nations that
fail to make the transition in a strategic manner may ind their historical
