1. Northeast Asia Energy Paths

At a recent meeting of the Asia Energy Security project held at Tsinghua University in Beijing, country teams from the region presented the latest findings from their research into the status of the energy sector and into alternative future energy paths for their respective countries.

2. Northeast Asian Energy Security

In a new policy brief from the Lowy Institute, Anthony Bubalo and Mark Thirwell argue that the G-20 should play a leading role in helping to meet the challenge of energy insecurity in the coming decades, particularly in Northeast Asia.

3. China-DPRK Energy Cooperation

The Associated Press ("China reports surge in crude oil exports to energy-starved North Korea," 11/27/06) reported that China's oil exports to North Korea in October were up nearly 70 percent over a year ago.

4. Australian Nuclear Energy

At a National Press Club speech to announce the launch of the draft report "Uranium Mining, Processing, and Nuclear Energy -- Options for Australia," Dr. Ziggy Switkowski, head of the government-appointed task force, said that further development of nuclear energy will be necessary to help Australia cut its emissions of greenhouse gasses. However, The Australian ("Scientists counter Switkowski on nukes," 11/20/06) reported that a panel of scientists has issued a series of fact sheets to counter what they claim is an unbalanced, pro-nuclear focus of the draft report of the Australia's nuclear energy task force.

5. ROK Nuclear Energy

In a presentation at the recent EASSC workshop in Beijing, Kang Jungmin discussed different scenarios for management of South Korean spent nuclear fuel, based on variants of ROK plans for nuclear energy expansion.

6. DPRK Information Technology

Paul Tija of GPI Consultancy, an independent Dutch consultancy firm in the field of IT off-shoring, describes his trip to Pyongyang and the opportunities he sees for IT outsourcing in North Korea.

7. Chinese Solar Power

OhmyNews International (Xu Zhiqiang, "China Turns to Solar Power," 11/24/06) reports that China plans to build the world's largest solar power plant to take advantage of the vast photovoltaic potential of its desert regions.

8. Bird Flu Detection

The New York Times (Donald G. McNeil, Jr., "Rapid tests for bird flu are flawed, studies show," 11/24/06) reported that new studies show that rapid tests for bird flu are rarely accurate, and blood tests are not always available.