Glossary

Acid rain: Precipitation containing dangerous levels of sulfur and/or nitrogen; acid rain is often caused by emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal. China is facing a growing acid rain problem.

Alternative energy: Generally, any source of energy that is not derived from traditional fossil fuels and thus results in less pollution.

Antitrust laws: Laws designed to promote robust competition by regulating monopolistic enterprises and outlawing unfair business practices.

Aramco: The joint venture established by several U.S. oil companies and the government of Saudi Arabia to develop Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves. Over time, the Saudi government purchased shares of Aramco until it achieved full ownership in the 1970s, renaming the company Saudi Aramco.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): A 20 million acre expanse of land in Alaska protected by the U.S. federal government as a refuge for many rare animal species. Many believe ANWR should be opened for oil exploration, but environmentalists argue the potential gains in energy independence are not worth the destruction of an important natural habitat.

Arms race: In an nuclear context, the competition between the United States and Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II to develop a superior arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Assemblies: In a nuclear energy context, a bunch of fuel rods.

Atoms for Peace: The title of a speech given by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower at the United Nations in 1953. It opened the door to the use of nuclear technology for peaceful energy generation in the wake of World War II.

Balance of trade: The difference between a country’s imports and exports. If a country imports more than it exports, as the United States currently does, it has a negative balance of trade; if, on the other hand, a country exports more than it imports, as is the case with China, it has a positive balance of trade.

Bell curve: In statistics, a bell curve represents a distribution of data or probabilities that display a single peak before and after which there are steadily declining slopes forming the shape of a bell; this distribution is often known as a “normal” distribution.

Benchmark: “Something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged.” See “Benchmark,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Berlin Mandate: The Mandate that established the framework for negotiations on reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that would eventually lead to the Kyoto Protocol; the Mandate is notable for introducing the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” between developed and developing countries.

Biomass, or biofuel: Fuels derived from organic matter, such as corn or sugar cane; biomass is one form of renewable energy that not necessarily more environmentally friendly than traditional fossil fuels.

Breeder: A type of nuclear reactors that is capable of producing more fissile material than it consumes. Several countries have developed breeder technology in the past, and India is currently working on it, to the dismay of many in the international community.

Boutique gasoline: A type of gasoline whose chemical composition has been tailored to meet specific local regulations.

Brent Crude: A benchmark basket of oils produced in the North Sea that is important in determining prices in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

British Thermal Unit (BTU): A unit used to measure energy usage. One barrel of crude oil is equivalent to 5.8 million BTU, while 1 gallon of gasoline is equivalent to about 124,000 BTU. See “Energy Calculator – Common Units and Conversions,” Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy.

Capacity: In the context of wind power, the share of wind a turbine is able to harness and translate into energy.

Capital: An economic term denoting investment-intensive goods that are used to generate income, often through the production of other goods.

Carbon capture: A clean coal process that uses new technology to capture harmful emissions before they are released into the environment.

Carbon sequestration: A process by which harmful byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels are safely stored underground.

Carbon sink: An area, such as a forest, that absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide; the role of carbon sinks was hotly debated in the negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon trading: A market-based system of permits designed to allow for flexibility in schemes aimed as reducing levels of carbon emissions; the European Emission Trading Scheme is the first practical implementation of such a system, though many feel carbon trading will be central to future efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Cartel: “A combination of independent commercial or industrial [actors] designed to limit competition or fix prices.” See “Cartel,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Cellulosic: In an energy context, types of biomass that require large amounts of energy to break down into usable constituents for fuel.

Clean coal: Coal burned used advanced processes that reduce harmful emissions and waste.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Similar to Joint Implementation, this provision of the Kyoto Protocol allows countries to claim credit for emissions reductions they help achieve in third-party developing countries.

Climate change: The broader phenomenon of which global warming is only a part; many fear that the earth’s climate may be changing in irreversible and deadly ways.

Collective action problem: “A situation in which everyone (in a given group) has a choice between two alternatives and where, if everyone involved chooses [to act selfishly], the outcome will be worse for everyone involved…than it would be if they were all to choose” to cooperate. See William Talbott, “Collective Action Problems,” University of Washington.

Commodity: A good that can be bought or sold, usually through the trading of contracts on a commodity exchange. Commodities are often agricultural or mining products, such as sugar or gold.

Commodity exchange: A market, either physical or electronic, in which contracts for the future supply of commodities are traded.

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: An international treaty signed in 1996 that banned all open testing of nuclear weapons.

Condensation: The partner process to evaporation, by which water vapor is transformed back into its liquid state.

Conference of the Parties (COP): The annual conference of parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change; the most recent COP was held in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2006.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards: First passed in 1975, these are the U.S. government’s primary fuel economy standards; many believe they are not rigorous enough, especially with respect to sport-utility vehicles. They are calculated based on the average fuel economy of a manufacturer’s entire fleet of cars or trucks in a given model year.

Cost of living: “The cost of purchasing those goods and services which are included in an accepted standard level of consumption.” The cost of living varies depending on the given location. It is more expensive to live in Manhattan than Wichita, or in Western Europe instead of India. See “Cost of Living,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Crude oil: Oil that has been extracted from the ground but not yet refined into usable form.

Decommission: “To remove (as a ship or nuclear power plant) from service.” See “Decommission,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Deep-sea oil: Oil found at depths of up to 30,000 feet below sea level. Such deposits require advanced drilling, harvesting, and processing technologies to exploit.

Delivery infrastructure: The main challenge to widespread use of hydrogen fuel cell technologies; hydrogen cannot be transported or transmitted using the same infrastructure (pipelines, etc.) used for petroleum products. The costs of building a new global infrastructure for hydrogen are thought to be enormous.

Department of Energy (DOE): The Cabinet-level department of the U.S. government, established by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, to establish American energy policy and enforce U.S. energy laws. It has important responsibilities in the oversight of the national nuclear industry and the development of alternative energy technologies.

Deterrence: A security strategy by which the mutual possession of potentially devastating weapons prevents countries on either side of a conflict from actually using those weapons; this was a cornerstone of U.S. defense policy during the Cold War.

Diesel: A denser, less refined form of oil that is widely used to fuel trucks, airplanes, and other industrial-strength machines. It is also the preferred fuel for passenger automobiles in many parts of the world, including Europe.

Disarmament: In a nuclear context, the goal of reducing a country’s arsenal of nuclear weapons. There have been many rounds of disarmament negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia.

Distillation: In an energy context, the process for raising the concentration of alcohol in a liquid.

Dutch Disease: A form of the resource curse experience by the Netherlands in the 1960s; discoveries of oil can cause the value of a country’s currency to rise, thus hurting its balance of trade with other nations and potentially crippling non-energy related sectors of the industrial economy.

Duty: In a trade context, usually a tax on imports.

E10: A fuel mixture containing 90 percent gasoline/diesel and 10 percent ethanol; also known as “gasohol,” this is the brand of ethanol used most widely in the U.S.

E25: A fuel mixture containing 75 percent gasoline/diesel and 25 percent ethanol; this is the brand of ethanol most widely used in Brazil.

E85: A fuel mixture containing 15 percent gasoline/diesel and 85 percent ethanol; while this form of ethanol is the most environmentally friendly, it is not commonly used anywhere in the world at the present time.

Earth Summit: Another name for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The main result of the Summit was the signing of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which eventually led to the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions five years later.

Ebb generation: A method of harvesting tidal power that exploits the difference between high and low tides through the use of a basin and sluice gate.

Ecology: “The totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment.” See “Ecology,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Economies of scale: “A reduction in the cost of producing something…brought about especially by increased size of production facilities.” See “Economy of Scale,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Elasticity: An economic concept that measures the responsiveness of supply or demand to changes in price. If either supply or demand for a good is significantly affected by changes in price, then they are called elastic.

Embargo: “A legal prohibition on commerce.” See “Embargo,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Emission Trading Scheme: A market for carbon trading established by the European Union in late 2005 as a means of meeting commitments made through the Kyoto Protocol; it is the first scheme of its kind. Implementation of the ETS has been plagued by early problems, including the amount of credits initially distributed, abuses resulting from “grandfathering,” and the short length of its initial timeframe.

End-user: The person who uses a good or service; as distinguished from the consumer who merely purchases a good or service.

Energy independence: The condition in which a country is not beholden to foreign nations or fluctuations of the market in meeting its energy needs. Most countries would like to have a greater degree of energy independence.

Energy intensity: The amount of energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product and is partially related to a country’s economic efficiency. High intensity indicates that a significant amount of energy is required to produce each unit of gross domestic product. See “Intensity of Energy Use,” Economic and Social Development Agency, United Nations.

Energy interdependence: The idea that oil producers and consumers are mutually dependent on one another. An appreciation of interdependence is an important component in the evolving conception of energy security.

Energy security: A complex concept meaning many things, energy security is most often used in a narrow sense to indicate the stability of a country’s supply of energy. In this sense, it can be easily confused with the idea of energy independence. Many now believe energy security has broader implications for the mutual security of supply and demand. It is dependent on such factors as resilience, security of supply and interdependence.

ENERGY STAR: A voluntary certification program designed to increase incentives for companies to develop energy efficient electrical products.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The Cabinet-level U.S. department with jurisdiction of environmental policy and enforcement of environmental laws; it was established by President Richard Nixon in 1970. It also has some responsibilities for the protection of human health and safety, notably from pollution.

Equity: In an economic sense, “The money value of a property or of an interest in a property in excess of claims or liens against it.” See “Equity,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Ethanol: A type of alcohol that can serve as the basis for fuel.

Evaporation: The process by which water in transformed from a liquid state into a gaseous state (vapor).

Externality: A hidden or indirect cost associated with an activity or the transaction of a good or service. Pollution is the classic example of an externality. The role of governments is to help “internalize” the externality so that market prices conform as closely as possible to the full costs paid by society.