No abstract available

[en] Research and education results after the first 3 years of National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) investment are outlined. The history of NNI and several potential outcomes by 2015 are discussed. The views expressed here are based on the interview given for the website www.nano.gov on November 2003

[en] Grid infrastructure managers worldwide are facing demands for reinvestments in new assets with higher on-grid and off-grid functionality in order to meet new environmental targets. The roles of the current actors will change as the vertical interfaces between regulated and unregulated tasks become blurred. In this paper, we characterize some of the effects of new asset investments policy on the network tasks, assets and costs and contrast this with the assumptions of the current economic network regulation. To provide structure, we present a model of investment provision under regulation between a distribution system operator and a potential investor–generator. The results from the model confirm the hypothesis that network regulation should find a focal point, should integrate externalities in the performance assessment and should avoid wide delegation of contracting-billing for smart-grid investments. - Highlights: ► We review regulatory solutions for smart-grid and DER investments. ► What matters more than upfront incentives is organization and delegation. ► We model regulated investment under private information by a generator or a DSO. ► Highest welfare for high-powered incentives and centralized information. ► Market approaches likely to give poor outcomes for this case.

[en] Venezuela with 64 billion barrels of proven reserves estimates that 40 billion barrels of light and medium crudes are to be discovered. Petroleos de Venezuela medium term plans call for big investments and includes the establishment of associations with private enterprises which can provide capital, specialized technology and markets in order to accomplish its goals, one of which is to reach 4 MMBD of production by the end of the century. (author)

No abstract available

[en] Short communication

[en] Cameco Corporation, Canada's producer of uranium, has closed the sale of some 5.99 million special warrants, receiving a price of $14.60 for each warrant. Each special warrant entitles the holder to receive one Cameco common share, subject to certain terms and conditions but without further payment. The shares involved in the transaction are all currently held by a subsidiary of the federally-owned Canada Development Investment Corporation and when sold will reduce Ottawa's investment in Cameco to less than 30%

[en] The refineries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) need substantial investment modernisation. The investment is required to reduce the proportion of heavy fuel oil produced and to manufacture high quality gasolines and distillates that would benefit the internal market and be suitable for world trade. However the investment required in the refining sector is in effect competing with investment required in many other sectors in a period of sharp economic decline with substantial inflation. (author)

[en] Fuels account for only a modest share of the cost of nuclear energy: approximatively one-fourth whereas the capital financing charges exceed one-half. But it is necessary to take account of the combined effect of the magnitude of the needs in coming years and of the resulting acceleration due to the coming on stream of increasingly numerous nuclear power plants and to take account of the characteristics of the fuel cycle which is especially long because of technical requirements and the necessity to establish safety stocks

[en] Since the 1990s, transport concessions, including public-private partnerships (PPPs), have been increasingly adopted by governments as an alternative for financing and operations in public investments, especially in transport infrastructure. The advantage pointed out by proponents of these models lies in merging the expertise and capital of the private sector to the public interest. Several arrangements are possible and have been employed in different cases. After the duration of the first PPP contracts in transportation, many authors have analyzed the success and failure factors of partnerships. The occurrence of failures in some stages of the process can greatly encumber the public administration, incurring losses to the fiscal responsibility of the competent bodies. This article aims to propose a new commercial consolidation model applied to transport infrastructure to ensure fiscal sustainability and overcome the weaknesses of current models. Initially, a systematic review of the literature covering studies on transport concessions between 1990 and 2015 is offered, where the different approaches between various countries are compared and the critical success factors indicated in the studies are identified. In the subsequent part of the paper, an approach for the commercial consolidation of the infrastructure concessions is presented, where the concessionary is paid following a finalistic performance model, which includes the overall fiscal balance of regional growth. Finally, the papers analyses the usefulness of the model in coping with the critical success factors explained before. (Author)