Europe import dependence

The markets for natural gas are gradually expanding and natural gas accounts for about 25% of the consumption of primary energy sources (2000). Because the reserves of natural gas are unevenly distributed, some regions are more dependent on imports than others. In Europe the demand by the year 2000 was 137 bcm, and is foreseen to grow to 475/515 in 2005 and 515/586 in 2010 and 650/720 in 2020 following a low/high hypothesis. By year 2010 the estimated European import dependency on natural gas may reach 62/70%. 

As already noted, sufficient reserves exist in a range of countries within economic reach of European gas markets - Russia, North Africa, Middle East, Caspian, and a number of intercontinental TNG suppliers - to bring sufficient gas supplies to Europe to meet the projected levels of demand. But such imports, far from being seen as the solution to European gas security, are almost universally seen as the problem. A question addressed later in this chapter is whether the historical record supports the contention that increasingly import dependence should be automatically considered to be equivalent to decreasing supply security. 

Global energy demand is forecast to double by 2050. By persisting in our use of current energy technologies most of this demand will be met by the increased use of our rapidly dwindling supplies of petrochemicals. In Europe alone, the oil import dependence is set to grow from 50% currently, to 70% or more, by 2025. Even more serious, the European Community is already dependent on oil for 90 % of its transport needs. 

NR is imported from areas such as Southeast Asia to the world s most industrial regions, North America, Europe, and Japan, since it is not indigenous to these regions. The huge rubber trees require about 80 to 100 in (200 to 250 cm ) rainfall, and they flourish at an altitude of about 1000 ft (300 m). As long as NR is needed for tires, industrial regions will be import-dependent. 

The reasons for oil dependency vary considerably by nation and region. Most parts of Europe rely heavily on imports to satisfy consumption needs, that is, net imports to consumption is high for those countries. Neither are the nations of Europe economically dependent, based on oil consumption in relation to Gross Domestic Product. Countries that are economically dependent include some in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran), others in the Former Soviet Union (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) and Singapore. 

Acamprosate. Acamprosate (calcium acetylhomotaurinate), an amino acid derivative, affects both GABA and excitatory amino acid (i.e., glutamate) neurotransmission (the latter effect most likely being the one that is important for its therapeutic effects in alcoholism). Initially evaluated in a singlecenter trial in France, acamprosate was shown to be twice as effective as placebo in reducing the rate at which alcoholic patients returned to drinking (Lhuin-tre et al. 1985). The safety and efficacy of the medication have been studied most widely in Europe, and three of these studies provided the basis for the recent approval of acamprosate by the FDA for clinical use in the United States. As with naltrexone, there exist a number of meta-analytic studies that provide consistent evidence of the efficacy of the medication in the treatment of alcohol dependence. 

The fact that Germany depended on imported fertilizer more than any other country gave it a special stake in the problem, too. The industrialization of Germany s sugar beet and potato farms was intimately linked to its use of natural fertilizer, especially nitrogen compounds from marine bird manure imported from Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. Yet experts predicted that Europe would exhaust South America s guano in 30 years. 

If mercury shutdowns were to occur without replacement then Europe would be forced into importing chlorine derivatives such as EDC to compensate. The future of asbestos in diaphragm cells is also an issue, but with a much lower profile in Europe this has attracted less attention apart from in France. In the USA there are pressures on the industry too, which could be more acute depending on who occupies the White... 

There are major consequences of alcoholism, from child abuse to domestic or public violence to traffic accidents and from cirrhosis to hypertension. Mean life expectancy of alcohol abusers is around 55 years. Alcohol seems involved in several hundred thousand deaths each year in Europe, with considerable added social and health care costs. This is in clear contrast with the little attention paid to the treatment of alcohol dependence and abuse. It is important to note that there is an increasing knowledge of similar effects on driving etc. from other psychoactive substances, particularly from the seda-tive/tranquillizer drugs and antihistamines. 

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