National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Question: Using the PESTER analytical tool, critically analyse the impact of the Renewable energy policies of any developed economy on any OPEC member states energy policy. Answer: Introduction The countries in the Persian Gulf and the African nations have vast oil reserves. The first economy of these oil producing nations is driven by the export of crude oil. The European Union member countries import massive quantities of crude oil. The African oil producers and their Persian counterparts are members of the OPEC. But in the wake of global warming and climate change the entire context is about to change. The climate changes and security of energy are major concerns and challenges facing the world. The challenges need to be solved by the concerted effort from all member nations. The developed nations need to dedicate efforts to finding ways in solving the energy crisis. The renewable sources need to be explored and utilized to the maximum. The efforts in finding alternatives need to be intensified and put to immediate use. The OPEC members are required to reduce their rate of exports of conventional crude oil. Knowledge and research The scope of the project is to analyze the renewable energy policies of OPEC member nations. The selection of the countries in this project was made by specific criteria. The European Union is closely monitoring the internal situation of these oil producers because it imports huge quantities of oil every year to cater to its needs (Extradition agreement with the European Union 2006). Our study focuses on the things we can do to negate the effects of climate change. These strategies can be jointly identified by member nations of the OPEC and oil importing countries to find a feasible solution to this problem. The problem lies in the fact that OPEC member nations and other countries having vast natural resources would not put a leash on the extraction and sale of crude oil. The region is so rich with the presence of abundant natural resources that the entire economy of the region is driven by it. The countries wouldnt want to stop producing oil and impede their crazy growth (Spilsbury 2010). The EU and other importing countries have to urge the countries constantly to extract oil in a manner which is sustainable and yet suffices the need of the post generations. The African nations have ample agricultural resources which are not readily available in Middle Eastern regions. But agriculture cannot replace the effect of selling oil with agricultural produce (Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Agriculture in 2015 2016). There is a reason as to why we call crude oil black gold.' If a farmer was tilling the land in Western and Central Africa, suddenly find a jet stream of black liquid shooting out through the surface, he will be seen riding limousines and private jets for the rest of his life. So, people who advocate the policy of switching to agriculture instead of oil production, they are not sufficiently informed. The Middle East is predicted to be extracted and exhumed all its crude and natural gas resources by the end of this century. Then what happens to the economy of the nation, what will be the primary mode of income for the government and the people. The countries having huge resources of oil rely on the advanced technical know-how of other petroleum companies and do not provide required school or college level training to its citizens about the technical knowledge of oil production (Samburg 2007). Many potential solutions to the threats of climate change and sustainable renewable energy usage have been discussed here. In the context of this project, it targets the usage and advantages of using renewable energies with possible plans of phasing out conventional forms of energies. We have to mention it here that the Middle East and North African nations are viewing nuclear power as a game-changing phenomenon. The nuclear power if regulated can generate enormous energy and motivate the sale of that clean power. The atomic energy can be produced by little raw material, generally in the form of Uranium 238. The U-238 is an isotope of Uranium, which can produce significant energy with petite of the active element (ChemViews 2012). Many countries in the petroleum belt are drawing plans to integrate the use of nuclear energy into their existing energy system infrastructure. Other forms of renewable energies are also being targeted by the OPEC members as well. They are interested in exp loiting the huge solar radiation that is available in abundance in the equatorial planes. The solar power has the capability to be integrated with energy systems in place (Energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, and deployment in meeting greenhouse gas mitigation goals 2010). We will be involved in the in-depth discussion of several energy policies of OPEC member nations and their plans to phase in the use of renewable energies. Arguments and analysis The renewable energy usages of the OPEC member nations need to be studied in further detail. We have selected the nations for analysis based on their annual production and consumption of natural gas and crude oil. The countries that have been selected for the analysis are the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. The nations were selected because they have several parameters in common. Firstly, the export of crude oil makes a large percent of their annual GDP. Therefore the sale of crude is a chief financial aspect governing the formulation of policies and national interests (Holt 2008). The countries provide all efforts to keep their margin of export high, to generate national income. The second common factor is that these member nations are actively involved in the area of nuclear energy. The other commonalities that made us shortlist these three countries for analysis are also because these countries are all located in the Sunbelt, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (Raum 2008). Despite several common aspects, the countries also differ widely in various aspects of socio-cultural and economic factors like size of the population and its incremental rise, the total amount of fossil fuel in reserves and the rates of unemployment prevalent in these countries. PESTLE analysis of the selected countries The political forces of the member countries are responsible for shaping the energy policy of the nation (Societal and economic factors 2008). The political analysis of the countries selected for our study reveals that the government body frames the policy of renewable energy usage almost all of the times. In rare cases, they outsource the responsibility to specific professional bodies for the recommendation. Further research shows that the Oil and Natural Gas Ministry is the most influential decision-making body when it comes to shaping the renewable energy policy of the nations under consideration. So it's the most influential of the factors of the PESTLE analysis framework. Economic factors at play are already mentioned multiple times in the discussion. The economy of the region is crude oil driven (Ruschmann 2009). The nations earn their primary revenue from the sale of oil and natural gas. So, the implementation of renewable energy policies is motivated by the export of crude. Further, these two developed economies have global presence in on shore extraction in multiple African nations and off shore drilling platforms in multitude of crude rich oceanic beds. The social analysis reveals that the nation's people are enthusiastic about the oil industry and are oblivious to the impact of renewable energy on the nations economy. The economy is supported by the oil industry. The industry provides employment to many workers. The social culture is influenced by oil. The countries must step up their efforts in setting up professional technical colleges and institutes to train the citizens on know how of oil drilling, rather leave it to private companies driven by their financial motives to rule the oil drilling portal. The renewable energy sector has benefitted widely with the advancement of harvesting technology (Oil and natural gas 2008). The technology to harvest renewable energy has undergone radical changes. The technology policy of the nations has been simple. The nations have increased reliance on advanced machinery to harvest renewable energy. Legal conditions within the country have set the pace for implementing the use of renewable energy. There are laws relating to export of domestically produced renewable energy to other nations. The environmental analysis of the states under concern reveals that no significant policies exist to protect the environment (Johnston 2009). The framework to develop and exploit environmental sources of energy exist but are profoundly absent in the implementation phase. Evaluation of the issues It is evident from our past discussions that OPEC countries rely heavily on the export of crude oil barrels. The need to reduce carbon emissions and decrease the carbon footprint of the globe, efforts has been taken by countries other than OPEC members to reduce the reliance on petrol and gas. The efforts have been stepped up to reduce the emission from fossil fuels and coal based industries. The member nations of climate conventions have come forward to step up their efforts in finding better alternatives to conventional energy sources (Scherer 2010). The OPEC member states have since its inception spoken with a unified voice. They have voiced their dissent on the decision of other countries to reduce consumption of oil. They argued that it would adversely affect their economy and drive them to financial ruins. The other countries have since argued counter statements saying that the OPEC members need to develop alternate sources of income to support their economy. The OPEC members h ave been noncompliant in their strategy. The OPEC members have been advised well early before the onset of global warming and climate change that their economies would take a plunge into Deep Ocean when the world eventually phases out usage of oil (Haugen, Musser and Lovelace 2010). These are the primary issues that are restricting the implementation of renewable energy use policy in the OPEC states. The educational models and their uses The economic and financial strategies that the member states have undertaken can be applied to a few academic theoretical models. The theoretical models used to analyze are divided into two categories: great analysis models which comprise of the academic framework of the country to train future professionals in the field of renewable energy courses. The internal analysis also contains sub external forces which determine the result of the business decisions on academic training of renewable courses. The external academic model treats all factors other than internal to be under its ambit. The external analysis can be useful in dealing with forces that are shaping and guiding the renewable energy economy of a country. The models are in compliance with international standards which are prevalent in developed economies (Financial Growth Strategies 2008). The ongoing researches and findings indicate a trend that is shifting base from internal to external sources in the OPEC member countrie s. Elaboration of the ideas The countries of Middle East under OPEC nations have little-known prospects of biomass energy potential. The North African countries have significant potential biomass energy sources which they can exploit. The other potential sources of renewable energy of the three OPEC member nations have been quite impactful. The countries have huge geothermal energy harvesting potential (Saunders 2008). The potential of harvesting huge hydropower also exists. The countries under consideration need to gear up for producing electricity and exporting them in numbers to support their dwindling economies. The Paris climate convention had predicted that the year of 2049 the whole world would be independent of the clutches of oil trade and be self-reliant in meeting their energy needs. The OPEC countries need to understand they would be in shambles unless they implement alternate ways of generating income. The United Arab Emirates has drawn up mere suggestions on how to achieve and realize this ideolog y (Currie 2011). The practical problems that the countries would be facing after the world has rejected oil are to be considered deeply. The issue would become rampant because their entire nations would be reeling under poverty. Before the situation sets its roots deeper into the rich ground, they need to eliminate the problem altogether. Appropriate solution The ways of finding appropriate solutions to these problems would properly educate the country's youth. If the young people and the next generation is educated and capable of free thinking, they would certainly take measures to stop the exhumation of oil. The youth of today is voicing their concerns about this system. The countries economy won't suffer if oil is phased out only if the countries youth are employable in other sectors. The countries might learn eventually to do without oil. The countries need to make investments in other sectors to generate and supplement the income of the nations. The countries might step up their efforts to make universities of technical education and make the universities available for all children of the society. These steps need to be taken now since the countries have excess money and can spend lavishly on developing the education sector. Apart from renewable energy changes, the governments of OPEC member countries can apply these changes to prepa re the economy significantly for radical changes that are due any moment. Conclusion The detailed analysis of energy systems both conventional and nonconventional has shown that there cannot be a single solution to problems faced by OPEC members. The problems are varied and interdependent of other various factors. The conclusions we can draw are significantly not friendly to OPEC member interests. The OPEC members will always try to lobby its efforts in finding a solution that will not hamper its global oil trade. The world, though, has other plans to ratify joint action against the national interest of these economies. So, before that happens and the OPEC countries stare at a financial meltdown looming on the horizon, they need to understand that their free reign will not go on and on. It's about time that the countries know their value of oil and save it for a later generation to come. The future generations must be allowed to reap the benefits of natural resources. References Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Agriculture in 2015. 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