1,720,957 research outputs found

    Replacing Russian gas with that of the United States: A critical analysis from the European Union energy security perspective

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    The security of gas supply is one of the main concerns for the European Union (EU), especially when considering the EU's dependence on Russian gas. The idea of importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States has recently emerged as an alternative to reduce EU dependency on Russia. However, the idea still needs to be evaluated­, especially the extent to which it is beneficial or practicable for EU gas security. Composing as it does an appropriate indicator, namely the risks to the EU gas supply, this current research attempts to evaluate the idea of substitution. The composed touchstone comprises critical elements, including political risks for gas supply and transit, the importance of natural gas imports in the gross domestic product, and fungibility of the import. This indicator has then been applied to six selected member states. The results of our analysis indicate that importing gas from the United States improves supply security in five cases. Nevertheless, the benefits of substitution should be evaluated­ considering the limitations of available infrastructures and the economic factors. This could suggest that importing the U.S. LNG can be a feasible policy for Poland and the Baltic States, however, not necessarily for Germany, Italy and, especially, France. Therefore, replacing Russian gas with the U.S. LNG entails some prerequisites before being considered a beneficial alternative for EU gas security

    The Outcome of Directive 2009/73/EC Amendment on EU’s Natural Gas Security

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    The European Commission has proposed an amendment on the Gas Directive 2009/73/EC to broaden the applicability of the Directive to all gas pipelines from/to the EU including Nord Stream 2. This research focuses on the question of whether the amendment can really boost EU’s natural gas security, by hindering Nord Stream 2. Thematic analysis has been employed as the methodology for analyzing collected data from primary and secondary sources, and relying on a legal and political analysis. The research findings show that although the amendment hinders Nord Stream 2, it also affects the operation of the existing interconnectors adversely. It also declines investors’ tendency for planned pipelines, which lowers EU’s energy security. Moreover, empowerment of the Commission in the proposed amendment curtails Member States’ plans to enhance their energy security. In addition, the security analysis of the research shows that Moscow’s ability to take advantage of its “energy weapon” is being defied because of dependence on European technology and finance, particularly under the sanction condition. Therefore, restraining Russian gas in the European market will not result in a higher level of energy security since reliable and affordable alternatives are not so available. Hence, all four elements of energy security—that is, affordability, availability, accessibility, and acceptability—are jeopardized by the proposed amendment. The current study concludes that although the amendment is expected to boost the energy security of the Union, it may now turn into a threat per se

    Legal challenges in developing a digitalised electricity market in the EU: The case of Estonia

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    Over the past decade, digitalisation has gained significant attention across various European Union (EU) policy areas, particularly in the energy sector. Along with this, digitalisation can contribute to higher energy security and sustainability of the EU energy systems especially by reducing fossil fuel dependency and distributing energy production through micro-renewable generation. However, digitalisation of electricity markets still deals with regulatory hurdles, especially within data management issues, and potential monopolies. Thus, this paper aims to address these challenges within Estonian market and focusing on prosumers' contributions to stabilising the digital electricity market through power generation or demand response. Applying document analysis of legal provisions and the multi-level perspective model of transition, the results indicate that while smart meters are pivotal in demand response and surplus electricity exchange, the current regulations create a de facto monopoly favouring Estonian suppliers, undermining prosumers' interests. Additionally, the concentration of data within a few aggregators can impede competition, while the lack of legal obligations for detailed data access hinders consumers' ability to engage in intra-day and balancing markets. The study highlights the need for legal provisions to facilitate data exchange and access for aggregators while addressing privacy concerns, thereby ensuring competition thrives. It also recommends establishing obligations for timely sharing of individual consumer consumption data and defining 'accounting points' to align with EU regulations. Additionally, clear definitions and provisions for data management, competition law compliance, and consumer rights are crucial. By implementing these recommendations, Estonia can enhance its role as a leader in digitalisation within the EU, promoting a more resilient and sustainable energy system

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Author Index

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