Energy efficiency has become one of the most important aspects in the global energy outlook today. The depletion of fossil fuels as energy resources and global warming make it imperative for us to consider energy efficiency policies and measures as an important priority for policy-makers and every responsible global citizen.Japan has been a leading country in the area of energy efficiency. Since the 1970s when the oil crisis hit, Japan, which depends almost wholly on imported energy supplies from abroad, has been conducting various efforts on energy conservation and diversification of energy sources. As a result, Japan has achieved the lowest primary energy consumption per GDP in the world. Asian countries should learn from Japan’s success in this area, especially since their economic growth is predicted to be one of the primary drivers for growth in global energy demand.The chapters in this book are based on presentations on Japan’s energy efficiency and conservation at ISEAS Energy Forums.

Singapore had, by the 1980s, emerged as one of the world's great oil refining and trading centres, with the 'East of Suez' region within its sphere of influence. The city-state's policy-making went against the grain in much of its practice of economic development. It ensured that energy products were bought and sold in the domestic market at essentially global prices, in contrast to the common practice in developing countries of subsidizing energy fuels for social equity. Without a drop of oil of its own, Singapore also managed to attract large foreign investments in the capital-intensive oil refining and petrochemical manufacturing sectors in an export-oriented strategy. This was at a time when governments of most newly independent countries were busy trying to promote heavy industry by protectionist trade policies and import-substituting industrialization. The purpose of this book is two-fold. It is intended to introduce a host of energy-related discussions relevant to a wider group of readers who do not 'do energy' for a living, yet are keenly interested in understanding the many complexities of modern industrial societies which need to balance economic, environmental, and security priorities of ordinary citizens. It is also meant to serve as an introductory assessment of key energy-related issues, with a particular relevance for small advanced countries such as Singapore.

This book aims to assess multidimensional aspects of energy security in the electricity sector. There are few academic literature that assess regulation and governance, availability, technology development and efficiency, environmental sustainability, and affordability dimension comprehensively. This book demonstrates how these dimensions are interconnected.The publication of this book comes at a timely moment when the Indonesian government needs to provide electricity access to more than 60 million people, to speed up electrification ratio outside Java, to reduce electricity subsidy, and to promote green power system. Moving from "darkness to light", Indonesia needs to strengthen regulation and governance as a basis to elevate other dimensions to move forward.

In 2010, we can expect that oil and gas prices will again increase beyond the US$100 per barrel, as the global economy recovers gradually from the global recession and uses more oil and gas. It is therefore important for the general public to read and understand more about complex energy issues which affect their lives. This useful energy book, based on lectures delivered at the ISEAS Energy Forum, as well as papers written by invited experts, provides a means to access energy information. It is part of the ISEAS Energy books series which serves to educate and raise public awareness on energy issues. "As the author of The Grand Energy Transition (GET), I am naturally interested in energy books which discuss renewable energy and electric vehicles. The Grand Energy Transition shows us how to accelerate the transition to the sustainable energy gases of natural gas, wind, solar and hydrogen. What is clear is that we cannot continue with business as usual. It is imperative that energy consumption patterns should immediately begin to change dramatically. For this to happen, the public must be kept informed and mobilized. One excellent tool for public education is the ISEAS energy book with its wealth of information and which covers a wide range of energy issues. I appreciate ISEAS' good work done via the energy seminars and books, and I commend this book as an important read on energy issues." - Robert A. Hefner III, Founder, The GHK Company. "The issues of environment, climate change and energy continue to feature prominently on the international agenda. There is clearly a higher level of public awareness and debate. The Copenhagen Conference focuses global attention on global warming and the rise in sea level, and provides opportunity to take a step towards transition to a low-carbon economy. Shell is working on energy and environmental issues, and continues to contribute resources, technology and skills to these global challenges. This ISEAS energy volume is timely, and a comprehensive in-depth analysis and recounting of the facts and challenges." - Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore

This book published by ISEAS contains selected papers based on some of the lectures delivered over 2005/2006 at the ISEAS Energy Forum. The aim is to educate the public on a whole range of energy issues and trends in Singapore, Southeast Asia and the wider region. It is a timely review of an important issue which is now on top of regional and international agendas. The papers are written by various experts, who provide detailed and extensive knowledge on a wide variety of energy issues. It is meant for the general reader who wishes to update and inform himself/herself.

The Challenge of Energy Security in the 21st Century: Trends of Significance seeks to inform all those concerned about energy security, whether national, regional or international bodies, of certain factors, which must be taken into consideration in developing their energy security policies and pursuing their respective objectives. Towards that end, this book reveals certain significant trends of importance to the major energy-producing and energy-consuming regions. Through its unique analysis, it sheds light on how such trends will affect the energy security policies of all the producers and consumers of energy, large and small, in one form or another, in the foreseeable future.

The region comprising the countries around and in the proximity of the Bay of Bengal has remained relatively unexplored for energy. Following a few major discoveries of oil and natural gas, it is now becoming promising even as the energy requirements of a combined population exceeding 1.5 billion are growing exponentially. Here, the opportunities for regional cooperation are immense in a number of fields—production of oil and gas, their transportation, trading in energy, and production facilities for renewable energy. New initiatives are necessary to fully tap their potential. This region is indeed a new energy frontier which has only recently been discovered. No doubt major challenges will need to be overcome. Common stakes and growing interdependence should, however, make it possible for the countries of the region to cooperate in the plans and programmes on energy.

Energy security has become a central concern for all the countries in the Asian region and the search for sufficient sources of energy to fuel economic growth has drastically influenced relations among the South Asian countries as well as their respective relations with their neighbours China, Myanmar, Iran, and Afghanistan. The recent nuclear deal between India and the US is also indicative of how energy and power politics are linked and how these new inter-linkages underlie relations between states. This book aims to give a South Asian perspective on the geopolitics of energy, with a central focus on India. The chapters address show India's global and regional foreign policy making has changed in light of India's search for energy and how this is affecting the relationship on a global level between India and the US, as well as on a regional level between India and the other Asian countries. The book also offers views from Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as how this shifting reality is affecting relations between India and Southeast Asia.