Energy Economics Concepts, Issues, Markets and Governance

Since its modest beginning in the 1970s, the academic and research focus on energy has grown substantially and energy has established itself as an independent, interdisciplinary subject area. It attracts attention from people in a range of different fields including engineers, scientists, geologists, environmentalists, bankers, investors, policy makers and politicians. Energy Economics introduces the basic concepts of energy economics and explains how simple economic tools can be used to analyse contemporary energy issues.

Energy Economics is organised into six parts that give the reader a thorough grounding in various key aspects of the subject:

• basic demand-related concepts and ideas used in energy economics;
• supply-side economics;
• energy markets, with specific emphasis on oil, gas and coal;
• the application of simple economic principles in analysing contemporary energy issues;
• environmental aspects of energy use; and
• regulatory and governance issues.

Energy Economics is an easily accessible reference book for students of energy economics at the postgraduate level, as well as for a wider interdisciplinary audience. It provides readers with the skills required to understand and analyse complex energy issues from an economic perspective.

Professor Subhes Bhattacharyya is an internationally respected energy specialist at De Montfort University, UK, working on global energy–environment issues. He specialises in energy, regulatory, and environmental studies from a multidisciplinary perspective, taking technoeconomic, governance, and management and policy aspects into consideration. He has been involved in the energy sector in various capacities for more than 25 years, including graduate-level teaching and research and industry experience. Subhes mainly focuses on applied, interdisciplinary research on developing economies, particularly energy and environmental issues in South and South East Asia (especially India, Thailand and Vietnam). He has worked extensively on energy sector management issues such as energy sector regulation and restructuring in developing countries, and policy matters related to reconciling energy security and climate changes, and energy access. His research involves various models, including end-use, long-range energy–environment system modelling, operations research and other decision support systems as well as regulatory and investment analysis tools.