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World Energy Outlook 2017 / International Energy Agency. Paris : OECD, nov. 2017, 782 p. https://www.iea.org/weo2017/ ;  http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/energy/world-energy-outlook-2017_weo-2017-enThe global energy scene is in a state of flux. Large-scale shifts include: the rapid deployment and steep declines in the costs of major renewable energy technologies; the growing importance of electricity in energy use across the globe; profound changes in China’s economy and energy policy, moving consumption away from coal; and the continued surge in shale gas and tight oil production in the United States. These changes provide the backdrop for the World Energy Outlook-2017, which includes a full update of energy demand and supply projections to 2040 based on different scenarios. The projections are accompanied by detailed analyses of their impact on energy industries and investment, as well as implications for energy security and the environment. The report this year includes a focus on China, which examines how China’s choices could reshape the global outlook for all fuels and technologies. A second focus, on natural gas, explores how the rise of shale gas and LNG are changing the global gas market as well as the opportunities and risks for gas in the transition to a cleaner energy system. Finally, the WEO-2017 introduces a major new scenario – the Sustainable Development Scenario – that outlines an integrated approach to achieving internationally agreed objectives on climate change, air quality and universal access to modern energy.Beyond Fossil Fuels: Planning a just transition for Alaska’s economy / John Talberth and Daphne Wysham. Center for Sustainable Economy, for Northern Alaska Environmental Centerand Greenpeace USA, October 2017, 77 p. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Arctic-Report-2017-10-13.pdfAcross the state of Alaska, a post-oil future is coming into view and taking shape through the work of people, communities and organizations...Assessing Kuwaiti Energy Pricing Reforms / Manal Shehabi. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Nov. 2017, 42 p. (OIES PAPER: MEP 17) https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/assessing-kuwaiti-energy-pricing-reforms/From mid-2014 Kuwait has experienced a substantial drop in its oil export price and, consequently, government revenue, causing a severe fiscal deficit and impaired economic performance.  Cutting energy subsidies has become a policy priority.  In the face of widespread opposition, the government raised gasoline prices in August 2016, proclaiming such reform key to solving its economic problems; yet recent policy discussions have not addressed the mechanism of pricing reforms.  The paper offers a quantification and assessment of energy pricing reform in the current low oil price environment via a general equilibrium model of the Kuwaiti economy that embodies the structure of its economy and its labour market, its oligopolistic industries and their collusive pricing behaviour, and external flows associated with its sovereign wealth fund.  Simulations clarify the required adjustments, including the seldom discussed expatriate labour exit and the decline in oligopoly rents.  While necessary, subsidy reform implies tradeoffs, notably between fiscal stabilisation and cost of living sustainability.  The results confirm that successful implementation must be accompanied by carefully designed mitigation measures and associated microeconomic reforms.Towards sustainable and integrated European energy networks: final report by Commission Expert Group on 2030 electricity interconnection targets. Bruxelles : European Commission, Nov. 2017, 40 p. https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/moving-10-15-final-report-commission-expert-group-2030-electricity-interconnection-targets-2017-nov-09_enToday (November 9 2017), the European Commission's Expert Group on electricity interconnection targets presented its report to Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete. Set up in March 2016, the Expert Group's aim is to provide technical advice to the Commission on the extension of the current 10% electricity interconnection target (defined as import capacity over installed generation capacity in an EU country) to 15% by 2030, while taking into account the costs aspects and the potential of commercial exchanges in the relevant regions.SiSTEM, a model for the simulation of short-term electricity markets / Sébastien Mathieu, Marie Petitet, Marie Perrot, Damien Ernst and Yannick Phulpin. Paris : Chaire European Electricity Markets, Univ. Paris Dauphine, oct. 2017, 47 p. (Working Paper #30) http://www.ceem-dauphine.org/assets/dropbox/CEEM_Working_Paper_30_S%C3%A9bastien_Mathieu_et_al._.pdfThe aim of this document is to present SiSTEM, a multi-level simulation model of European short-term electricity markets, covering day-ahead and intraday exchanges to balancing activations in real-time, and imbalance settlement. In this model, power companies interact by making offers, nodifying their positions to the system operator and impacting the balance of the electric system. The system operator activates balancing energy to restore the balance of the system, using all balancing activation offers, including from balancing reserves. Imbalance settlement implies bidirectional transactions between the system operator and power companies depending on the direction of their imbalance. A simulation of the model is performed by sequentially considering each time step and simulating actors’ decisions. The objective of this model is to understand the problems behind decisions of the actors within the short-term electrical system operation, to provide insights on how these problems can be solved through market design and to see how the decisions are linked together to shape a coherent system. This paper presents different simulation cases of an illustrative system in order to portray main features of the model in a practical and effective manner. In particular, the results show the importance of considering steady-state constraints and notice delays of generation units when looking at short-term issues. Future works could use this model to provide quantitative assessments of short-term market designs.