Earth Wars

The global competition for scarce natural resources that pits the West against the super-hot economies of China and India, plus a clutch of other contenders including Russia, Brazil, and Indonesia, has become one of the biggest issues facing the world today. Whether it is the rare metal lithium found in salt pans in the Andes, gas from the Caspian Sea, oil off the coast of Brazil, coal from Africa's Zambezi River, or uranium from Kazakhstan, China and India are desperate to ensure the security of their future energy supplies. The same goes for food and water, as contamination and over-use take their toll, the need to provide continued access for the next generation and beyond has increased exponentially. In Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources, international business journalist Geoff Hiscock explores the problems, potential solutions, and inevitable tensions in this ongoing scramble for finite natural resources.

Going beyond "big power" politics to explore resource ownership and the use of innovative technology to get the most out of them, the book takes a forward-looking approach to this pressing issue. Written in clear, jargon-free language, it tells the global resources story in a fresh and engaging way that anyone can understand.

• Includes insightful, up-to-the-minute coverage of the most pressing debates over resource allocations
• Discusses the major Chinese and Indian businesses that are just becoming known to those in the West (Sinopec, CNOOC, CNPC, Indian Oil, ONGC, Reliance, Coal India, SAIL, and many others)
• Presents resource- and region-specific chapters to help readers view the pertinent issues from multiple angles

As the economies of China and India grow to challenge those of the West, the battle over natural resources will continue to heat up. Earth Wars looks at this very real problem in-depth, presenting a definitive look at one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Maps vii

Introduction xv

Chapter 1 The Four Essentials 1
Food, Water, Energy, Metals

Chapter 2 Geographical Flashpoints 19
The Trouble with Lines on a Map

Chapter 3 The Key Players 37
Diggers, Drillers, and Dealers

Chapter 4 Food and Water 57
Where the Rivers Run

Chapter 5 “Going Out” for Energy 73
China and India Stake Their Claims

Chapter 6 Old Coal Still Burning Brightly 91

Chapter 7 Going Nuclear in a Post-Fukushima World 105

Chapter 8 New Energy—Clean, Green, and Expensive 123

Chapter 9 Coppery Red, the Colour of Earth’s True Love 139

Chapter 10 Finding Steel’s Essential Ingredients 155

Chapter 11 U.S. Energy 173
Hail to the Shale

Chapter 12 Japan after the Deluge 189

Chapter 13 BRACQK (Brazil, Russia, Australia, Canada, Qatar, Kazakhstan) Is the New BRIC 203

Chapter 14 The Up and Comers 229
Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Mexico

Chapter 15 What Happens Next 243
A Host of Global Opportunities

Conclusion 257
A World So Changed

Bibliography 263

Acknowledgments 269

About the Author 273

Index 275

"This book... will surely achieve great success. This book is recommended." (Plasma Physics Control Fusion, Vol 42, 2000)

"... well worth having in one's collection." (Journal of Atmospheric & Solar Terrestrial Physics, Vol 62, 2000)

GEOFF HISCOCK has been writing about Asian business for major media outlets for more than thirty years, including time as Sydney bureau chief and Asia Business Editor for CNN.com and as International Business Editor of The Australian. He is the author of four books, including India’s Global Wealth Club and India’s Store Wars, both published by Wiley.

Food, water, energy, and metals are the drivers of industrial, economic, and social growth. As the world’s population rises and the clamour for higher living standards gets louder, so too the struggle for resource access intensifies. But whether it is water from the Nile, rice from the Mekong Delta, oil from the Middle East, coal from Africa, gas from Russia, rare earths from China, iron ore from the Australian Outback, uranium from Kazakhstan, or shale from North America, these resources, even those we consider “sustainable,” are limited and valuable. For centuries, the West has controlled much of the resources flow, but now China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, and a host of other nations want their share.

In Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources, journalist and Asian business expert Geoff Hiscock takes an in-depth look at our energy future. He analyzes the new technologies, the key players, escalating tensions, and possible outcomes of the ultimate theme of the twenty-first century: resource ownership.

China and India, with their combined population of 2.5 billion people, will be the engines of global growth in the next fifty years, and their drive to expand is already bringing them to the forefront of the supply–demand equation. In Earth Wars, Hiscock surveys the world at large, looking at the interconnections, exploring who has what, how they’re using what they have, and what they’re doing to protect, expand, or share their bounty.