Eurasian Energy Politics and Security Research Paper

Eurasian Energy Politics and Security - Research Paper Example The existing projects and pipelines between Russia and the EU, including the issues in these projects shall be discussed. Alternatives to Russia, especially South Caucasus and Central Asia will also be considered. The proposed pipelines, Nabucco, Transcaspian pipeline, and BP’s new project for natural gas shall be included in this discussion. Finally, China’s entrance to Eurasian energy politics shall also be considered under this discussion. This paper is being discussed in order to conceptualize a clear understanding of energy politics, including its significant points of interest which now impact on the current relations between Eurasian nations. States in the Caspian and Central Asian region have proven oil reserves numbering about 38 billion barrels and this does not include possibly undiscovered barrels of crude oil in the region (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). Kazakhstan is considered to be the largest oil producer in the region with onshore fields in the northern Caspian Sea and other regions. Turkmenistan is the largest natural gas producer in the Caspian region and is serving the energy needs of the region well. Since the Caspian oil reserves were discovered, most energy exports from the Caspian and Central Asia came from the Caspian and Central Asia came from the Russian Empire, supplying consumers in Europe and Soviet Union (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). Significant exports from the Caspian started with the establishment of the 1997 100,000 Baku-Novorossiysk pipelines transporting oil to Georgia’s Black Sea Coast (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). In 2001, Kazakhstan started pumping oil from its Tengiz oil fi eld into Novorossiysk via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium or the CPC. The CPC is shared by various oil companies from different countries. Russia lost its control of the Caspian oil exports in 2005 when the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was opened (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5).  

Cleaning up oil spills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cleaning up oil spills - Research Paper Example The most famous method is to use chemical treating agents like dispersants, surface washing agents, and bioremediation agents (â€Å"Chemical Treating Agents† par. 1). Dispersants are basically mixture of chemicals, made up mostly of surfactants and other additives. The surfactant molecules are amphiphilic in nature which can be both soluble in protic (i.e. water) and aprotic (i.e. oil) solvents. During oil spills in bodies of water, surfactants combined into aggregates called micelles which consist of hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tails. The heads are attached to the water molecules by hydrogen bonding and the tails to the oil molecules which lessens the interfacial tensions between oil-water molecules. Due to the mechanical action in the ocean, the oil molecules especially below the surface of the water break apart into smaller molecules which can stay suspended to be washed by current (Renee and Lee par. 5). The use of surface washing agents or commonly known as degreaser are usually used for surfaces or structures that have been oiled and are usually sprayed on the surface. This chemical promotes emulsification of oil and the instability causes it to flocculate and coalesce in the surface for physical recovery. The actions of the two mentioned chemical agents are usually followed either by natural means or induced biological actions. The natural means can include microbial degradation and photo-oxidation. The latter method proceeds under sunlight where the natural targets are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of the oils. The process (also known as photolysis), degrades the PAHs in the form that can be available for microbial degradation (The American Academy of Microbiology 4). In addition, bioremediation is also an effective way to clean up oil spills. The use of bioremediation  agents  includes microbiological cultures, enzyme additives or nutrient additives which can significantly increase the rate