Non-governmental organizations (NGOs): A very broad category of organizations, either national or international, that are not directly affiliated with a government but engage with typical government concerns, including development, the environment, social issues, health issues, etc. NGOs are playing an increasingly prominent role in finding solutions to many social problems in a globalized world.

Nonproliferation: A term used to describe efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear materials and weapons to non-nuclear nations.

Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT): An international treaty created in 1970 and designed to prevent the spread of nuclear materials and technologies for use in developing nuclear weapons. The treaty rests on three pillars: nonproliferation, disarmament, and the right of peaceful use of nuclear technology. Currently, 188 countries are parties to the NPT.

Nuclear Waste Fund: A federal fund established in the early 1980s whose purpose was to save money for the eventual storage of nuclear waste. Contributions to the Fund come from a small tax on electricity generated using nuclear power.

Nuclear Waste Policy Act: A piece of U.S. legislation signed in 1982 in which the federal government acknowledged its joint responsibility with the private sector for the safe disposal and storage of nuclear waste.

Nuclear weapons states (NWS): The five countries that possessed nuclear weapons technology prior to the signing of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, sometimes also known as the “nuclear powers;” this group included: the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom and France. After the signing of the NPT, they were the only countries officially allowed to retain possession of nuclear weapons technology.

Oil shale: A type of rock found primarily in North America that could yield oil but requires expensive processing.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): A group of the world’s most advanced and wealthiest economies that is both a forum for and an active participant in debates about international economic policies. It was established in 1961 and now has 30 members, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and most members of the European Union.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): A cartel of a number of the world’s leading oil exporting nations that exerts significant control over world oil prices by limiting the supplies made available by member nations through a system of quotas. The members of OPEC are: Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC was founded in 1960.

Partial Test Ban Treaty: An international treaty signed in 1963 that banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space; it was an important first step in achieving the goal of disarmament.

Peak Oil: The theoretical point at which production from global oil reserves will begin to decline. There is an ongoing debate about when this point will be reached or whether it has already been passed.

Per capita: Per unit of population. Per capita energy consumption, for example, is the amount of energy that is used on average by each person in a given country.

Petrolist state: Defined by Thomas Friedman as, “states that are both dependent on oil production for the bulk of their exports or gross domestic product and have weak institutions or outright authoritarian governments.” See Thomas Friedman, “The First Law of Petropolitics,” Foreign Policy (154), May/June 2006.

Photosynthesis: The process by which plants transform light, water, and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen.

Photovoltaic (PV) cell: A semiconductor that converts solar energy or radiant energy from another light source into electricity.

Plutonium and Uranium Recovery by Extraction (PUREX): The standard process for uranium reprocessing; it is dangerous because it produces isolated plutonium and thus creates a proliferation risk.

Price-Anderson Act: First passed in 1957 and subsequently updated several times, this important piece of U.S. congressional legislation capped the liability of nuclear power companies for reactor accidents; it was an important and many would argue necessary protection offered by the government to encourage development of the private nuclear energy sector. It is now in force until 2025.

Proliferation: In an energy context, proliferation generally refers to the uncontrolled spread of nuclear materials and technologies, often outside the bounds of international regulations and safeguards. Many view nuclear proliferation as the greatest threat to international security.

Protocol: In the context of the Kyoto Protocol, “The records or minutes of a diplomatic conference or congress that show officially the agreements arrived at by the negotiators.” See “Protocol,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Proven reserves: Reserves whose existence and size have been confirmed by expert analysis, as opposed to unproven reserves whose existence may be mere speculation.

Public good: A good for which consumption by one person does not diminish the availability of a good for consumption by another. Classic public goods include clean air and water and national defense.

Reforming: In an energy context, the process used to isolate hydrogen by applying steam to a natural gas.

Renewable energy: Energy derived from processes naturally occurring in nature in ways that generate more usable energy than is expended in the production process. Wind power, solar power, and hydropower are all examples of renewable energy sources.

Renewable fuel standards: Standards drafted as a result of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 mandating that all fuel in the U.S. contain a renewable component.

Rent-seeking behavior: Rents are one of the three types of income identified by Adam Smith in his landmark study, The Wealth of Nations (1776). Rent is “money paid for the use of a capital asset” and is to be distinguished from other types of income such as profits and wages, both of which are directly linked to productive activity. Rent-seeking behavior focuses disproportionately on the collection of rents without consideration for whether the capital from which those rents derive is being used productively. Such behavior is often a characteristic of corrupt governments. See “Rent-Seeking, Public Choice, and the Prisoner’s Dilemma,” The Friesian School.

Reprocessing: Using advanced technology and techniques to process spent nuclear fuel for reuse.

Reserves: In an energy context, reserves refer to deposits of energy that have yet to be exploited and are thus still in storage.

Reservoir recovery rate: The share of energy that can be successfully extracted from a given deposit.

Resilience: In the context of energy, resilience refers to the presence of a “security margin” that would protect a country against the adverse effect of a supply disruption.

Resource curse: The theory that influxes of wealth from the exploitation of natural resources, including energy deposits, can be a burden as much as an opportunity to countries that lack the political, economic and social infrastructure to handle such revenues effectively.

Resource nationalism: A strategy associated with the renationalization of energy companies that seeks to hoard the benefits of energy production for the state instead of allowing foreign companies to retain and expatriate profits. Many see this as a disturbing trend that eliminates important incentives for private sector investment.

Retrofit: “To install (new or modified parts or equipment) in something previously manufactured or constructed.” See “Retrofit,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Reverse electrolysis: A technique for using electricity, often from a battery, to separate water into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen; large amounts of hydrogen must be created if fuel cell technologies are to become feasible.

Rogue: “Of or being a nation whose leaders defy international law or norms of international behavior.” See “Rogue,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Scalability: The ability to translate something from a small scale to a larger scale.

Scrubber: A device installed in smokestacks at industrial plants designed to filter out certain undesirable waste byproducts, such as carbon emissions.

Semiconductor: Man-made chips which allow for the control of electric currents; these are the building blocks of most electrical devices.

Seven Sisters: The seven largest and most powerful private oil companies in the world; these companies dominated the global oil industry for much of the twentieth century. They included: Mobil, Exxon, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Texaco and Gulf Oil.

Shock: In economic terms, a disturbance in the stability of a market.

Sluice gate: “An artificial passage for water…fitted with a valve or gate for stopping or regulating flow.” See “Sluice,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Smog: “A fog made heavier and darker by smoke and chemical fumes.” See “Smog,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Social contract: The legitimacy and accompanying responsibilities a government derives from its relationship to the citizens that have instituted it; social contract theory was popularized by the English philosopher John Locke and is a cornerstone of modern liberalism.

Soft power: Power that derives from persuasion and cooperation rather than confrontation and the exertion of force.

Solar panel: A collection of photovoltaic cells, usually encased in glass, used to generate electricity from solar energy.

Sour crude oil: Oil that has high sulfur content and thus requires more extensive refining to be usable.

Sport-utility vehicles (SUVs): Vehicles that are a hybrid between a truck and a van; these were originally used by small farmers but have become phenomenally popular among upscale urban drivers. SUVs have some of the worst fuel economy ratings of any class of vehicles.

Stabilization Fund: A fund created by Russian President Vladimir Putin safeguard the huge profits derived from sales of oil and natural gas in recent years; these funds, now totaling $60 billion, can only be used to reduce Russia’s national debt or to support the national pension system.

Standard Oil Company: The oil monopoly created by John D. Rockefeller that dominated American markets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The company was broken up into 34 parts in 1910.

Standby power: Power used by an electric device when idle.

Strategic reserves: A quantity of energy that has been stored by a country to provide supplies in case of an emergency. The existence of reserves can also serve other strategic ends.

Subsidy: “A grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public.” See “Subsidy,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Supercritical: A state of matter produced by high temperatures that is between a liquid and a gas.

Supermajors: The giant companies formed by the merger of several of the major private oil companies in recent years. Examples include ConocoPhilips and ExxonMobil, which posted the largest annual corporate profit in history in FY2005.

Sustainable: In an energy context, sustainability refers to the creation of a relationship between human activity and the environment that is not overly destructive and can be maintained over a substantial period of time.

Sweet crude oil: Oil that has low sulfur content and thus requires less refining to be usable.

Tariff: “A schedule of duties imposed by a government on imported or in some countries exported goods.” See “Tariff,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Tar sands: Vast, molasses-like deposits, mainly located in Canada’s Alberta Province, which could provide new sources of oil if the expensive technology and advanced processing techniques they require can be made economically feasible.

Tax incentives: Benefits offered by governments to decrease the tax burden faced by a company. Incentives are often employed by a government to encourage certain types of socially desirable activity.

Tidal barrage: A larger scale version of the sluice gate used in ebb generation methods of harvesting tidal power; barrages are usually major civil engineering projects that can have a significant adverse impact on the surrounding aquatic ecosystem. See “Tidal Power,” Energy Systems Research Unit, University of Strathclyde.

Tidal, or wave, farming: A method of harvesting tidal power that relies on underwater turbines.

Tipping point: A critical point in many processes at which the rate of change rapidly accelerates and the process may become irreversible.

Turbine: A device similar to a windmill or water wheel that uses a set of blades to harness flows of wind or water to power a rotary engine. Turbines are an important technology for producing clean, alternative energy.

U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): A treaty signed at the Earth Summit in 1992 that established a framework for international cooperation on preventing climate change through the reduction of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Utilization rate: Generally speaking, the share of existing capacity that is being used.

Weapons-grade: Nuclear materials that have been enriched to the point where they can be used in weapons.

West Texas Intermediate: A benchmark basket of oils used by the New York Mercantile Exchange. This is typically the price referred to by the media when reporting the price of a barrel of oil.

Windfall: “An unexpected, unearned or sudden gain or advantage.” See “Windfall,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Yellowcake: An intermediate form of processed uranium that can eventually be used to fuel a nuclear reactor or, if enriched, a nuclear weapon.

Yucca Mountain: The site, located in Nevada, selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to serve as the official federal repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. According to most estimates, the amount of waste currently stored at reactor sites across the country would already fill Yucca Mountain’s planned capacity. No waste has actually been stored at the site yet due to ongoing legal controversies.

Zero-emissions: The optimistic notion that fossil fuels can be burned in a completely clean way that does not harm the environment through emissions.