Energy Security & Resilience
Global research and analysis on energy risks ranging from climate change to resource competition to population and demand growth to governance and infrastructure investment
Global research and analysis on energy risks ranging from climate change to resource competition to population and demand growth to governance and infrastructure investment
Nearly two billion people around the world live in areas and regions that suffer from conflict violence and instability. As we design new energy systems in the developing world, there are energy security and resilience challenges unique to each local environment. This is also true in developed nations that are now going through energy transitions and are creating infrastructure with new renewable energy options. The optimal electrification mix is sensitive to each local environment.
The Payne Institute is recognizing these sensitivities by connecting the breadth of engineering experience across the energy system at the Colorado School of Mines with the public policy world making decisions on energy infrastructure. By taking a comprehensive look at environmental, economic, political and other elements in each local environment, The Payne Institute is supporting the design and creation of secure and resilient energy systems throughout the globe.
NEWS
Satellite Imagery Used for Electricity Consumption Forecasting in Africa For the First Time in New Service 11/24/2020
Satellite Imagery Used for Electricity Consumption Forecasting in Africa For the First Time in New Service
The Payne Institute is a proud partner with the Rockefeller Foundation in providing satellite imagery from our Earth Observation Group for the Electricity Consumption Prediction service for Africa that has been launched today by the e-GUIDE Initiative. The service, which will be freely available, provides estimates of future electricity consumption at high spatial resolution, and combines satellite imagery with historic and big data sources. The service improves the planning and provision of electricity towards ending energy poverty, helping to direct investments and scale projects that support the economic recovery of communities devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The e-GUIDE Initiative is a collaboration between The Rockefeller Foundation, UMass Amherst, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Colorado School of Mines. November 24, 2020.
Shadow Warfare: Cyberwar Policy in the United States, Russia and China
Shadow Warfare: Cyberwar Policy in the United States, Russia and China
The Payne Institute would like to congratulate Faculty Fellow Elizabeth Van Wie Davis on her new book Shadow Warfare: Cyberwar Policy in the United States, Russia and China. Cyberwarfare, like the seismic shift of policy with nuclear warfare, is modifying warfare into non-war warfare. A few distinctive characteristics of cyberwar emerge. Cyberwarfare has blurred the distinction between adversary and ally. Cyber probes continuously occur between allies and enemies alike, causing cyberespionage to merge with warfare. Order book here. November 20, 2020.
7 ways the mining sector can prepare for the coming economic era 11/9/2020
7 ways the mining sector can prepare for the coming economic era
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Jordy Lee writes about how the mining and metals industry is facing an unprecedented paradigm shift as it begins to implement new technologies while also managing climate and social challenges. Through raising awareness of these issues, and by focusing on new digital solutions, growing material demand, and investor pressures, the industry can strengthen its foundational role in a rapidly evolving global economy. November 9, 2020.
The private sector can help light the way for forcibly displaced people. Here’s how 11/2/2020
The private sector can help light the way for forcibly displaced people. Here’s how
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Nicole Bouris write about how the vast majority of forcibly displaced people around the world have limited or zero access to electricity, and together, they represent a vast and untapped market for energy producers, and how the private sector can help to meet this demand. November 2, 2020.
COVID exposes chink in US metal armor 10/29/2020
COVID exposes chink in US metal armor
Payne Director Morgan Bazilian is quoted in this article on how the COVID-19 pandemic has shined a spotlight on a chink in the United States’ economic and security armor – an overreliance on foreign countries for the minerals and metals that lie at the frontend of American supply chains. October 29, 2020.
An Age of Actorless Threats: Rethinking National Security in Light of COVID and Climate 10/23/2020
An Age of Actorless Threats: Rethinking National Security in Light of COVID and Climate
Payne Institute Advisory Board member Cullen Hendrix and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how climate change and the COVID pandemic are highlighting key weaknesses in U.S. national security strategy and policy. Addressing these issues will not just require making traditional national security agencies more climate- and pandemic-aware, but a reimagining of the concept of national security itself. October 23, 2020.
Power planning in fragile and conflict-affected states 10/20/2020
Power planning in fragile and conflict-affected states
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Sarah Logan, write about traditional methods of energy planning that are likely to provide results that may be inappropriate in fragile and conflict-affected countries. The risks of violence and damage, significant delays and cancellations in infrastructure projects, or projects coming in at very high cost, are rife in these states. Security issues can significantly hamper, or make infeasible, the delivery of power system plans. We look at how traditional power system planning and expansion models could be augmented to better consider the deep uncertainty associated with development in fragile contexts. October 20, 2020.
REFRESHING GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY POLICY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION 10/6/2020
REFRESHING GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY POLICY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian was a collaborator on the T20 Saudi Arabia 2020 THINK policy briefing Refreshing Global Energy Security Policy and the Infrastructure for the Energy Transition for the G20. The Group of 20 (G20) members have discussed energy security for many years, and now have an opportunity to modernize and redefine global, regional, and national energy security frameworks to align with the transition to a lower-carbon energy system. Member countries should take steps to ensure that emerging vulnerabilities stemming from the rapid growth of new energy forms can be understood and managed both collectively and within their specific contexts. As all energy sectors transition, collective efforts toward energy security can progress by (i) developing a timely, transparent, and objective approach to data gathering and dissemination for the production, consumption, and trade of new energy forms and key mineral inputs; (ii) establishing an expert international advisory panel to the G20 on the topic of energy security in the context of energy transitions; and (iii) launching an effort on forward-looking energy security policy. October 6, 2020.
Strategic Intelligence – Mining and Metals 9/23/2020
Strategic Intelligence – Mining and Metals
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Jordy Lee has documented the paradigm shift in the mining and metals industry, as it incorporates greater sustainability, absorbs technical innovation from other sectors, and seeks a way forward in the midst of a pandemic. By focussing on modernization, digitalization, and transparency, the industry can strengthen its foundational role in a rapidly evolving global economy. However, effectively managing related changes will require greater adaptability, transformative thinking, and building stronger relationships in a global context. September 23, 2020.
Crisis Breeds Change: COVID and Heatwaves Spur Citizens to Environmental Action 8/21/2020
Crisis Breeds Change: COVID and Heatwaves Spur Citizens to Environmental Action
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Greer Gosnell writes about the brutal heatwaves in California and the rolling blackouts. Crisis—along with a stark break in routine—appeared to refocus people’s attention on their everyday actions, and a bigger picture. August 21, 2020.
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For more information about the Energy Security & Resilience Research Area at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, please contact our Strategy and Operations Manager, Gregory Clough, at gclough@mines.edu.