When the going gets tough...Friday, 14 November 2008 With the changes in the financial markets making us all look with fresh eyes at the mechanisms and principles we previously took for granted, expanding your reach has never been more important. The debate on whether the emerging markets of the BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India, China – and beyond have decoupled from the West have been forgotten, as business looks to see which part of the global train is still moving forward and whether it has the cash in the bank* to hitch a ride. Rio de Janeiro – the poster girl for Brazil – seems likely to be sitting in the train cab right next to the driver.With its new ports, fresh oil finds and upcoming high-profile sports events, Rio is looking more attractive than ever. Despite the question marks hanging over the general global economic prospects, the need for companies and countries to keep the lights on does not change as consumption continues unabated – and where there is a need, there is an opportunity. Although business can now develop and operate anywhere, it can do so only if there’s the power available to plug in your laptops or keep your manufacturing units running. Even if you just operate in your home market, you will still be dependent on suppliers from further afield – and a power cut in a foreign land may have a direct impact on your business.So energy is an issue we need to understand – the problems facing the energy sector, the solutions, and of course the opportunities arising from each local situation... be it new oil finds in Brazil, the development of German solar energy farms, Norwegian floating wind turbines or African hydro projects. Wherever your business might be thinking of setting up, you need to understand what the local problems and solutions are, which markets are developing which technologies in what time frames, and work out what this will mean for you.What has also been added to the power mix is the carbon emissions agenda. Increasingly, it will become less and less acceptable to grow without regard to your carbon footprint – but if the trade off is that we must accept reduced profit today for a better future tomorrow, then history tells us that both countries and companies have wrestled with this dilemma for centuries... and have tended to come down on the side of short-term self-interest.Although the ongoing debate is very heated indeed (does hot air qualify as a greenhouse gas?), there is precious little cold, clear decision-making being done by those in authority, and without such decisions there is an increased likelihood of ‘carbon leakage’ as high energy-using companies stop investing in one market and move their operations to other markets where questions are less tough and answers more appealing. As we all clamour for a greener future, our addiction to fossil fuels – the catalyst for the prosperity of today – will remain. However, innovative technologies to capture and store carbon, more efficient power generation and improved local and distributed generation could all help to power the world in the years ahead without sending climate change over a cliff-edge. Perhaps the biggest obstacle going forward, though, will be supply, technology and skills constraints. China and India alone are starting to consume vast amounts of the resources necessary to build and expand power generation and transmission. Not only has the world got to deploy research and development to find innovative and more efficient low carbon energy solutions – it must raise its manufacturing game too.As well as helping you understand the why, where and how of business in the international marketplace, we will also help you understand the topic of energy and what you need to know – so that as you develop internationally, you can make sure that when you get there the lights will be on, and will stay on. Rob Denman
Editor In Chief
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