Dr Elspeth THOMSON
Senior Fellow
Phone: 6516-7080
Email: esiebt@nus.edu.sg
Research Interests
Asian energy security
Energy economics
Short Biography
Dr Elspeth THOMSON is a Senior Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore. She received her PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her main research interests are Asian energy security and economics. She authored The Chinese Coal Industry: An Economic History (London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003). An edited volume, China’s Science & Technology Sector and the Forces of Globalisation, came out in 2008 (World Scientific). Others, Energy Conservation in East Asia: Towards Greater Energy Security (World Scientific) and Energy Efficiency Policy Development in Southeast Asia and Beyond (Stallion Press), will appear in 2009. She has published articles concerning various aspects of Asia’s energy sector in Applied Energy, Pacific and Asian Journal of Energy, Journal of Applied Statistics, The China Quarterly, China Review, East Asia: An International Quarterly, and Perspectives. Through the 1990s she taught at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Before joining ESI, she was a Fellow at the East Asian Institute (EAI), National University of Singapore for six years where she specialised in China’s energy economics and security. She has co-edited EAI’s internationally refereed journal, China: An International Journal since 2003.
Commentaries
Elspeth THOMSON, “Nuclear Power: Time for a Feasibility Study”, 8 February 2010.
“The Nuclear Plans of Southeast Asia”, working paper
Others (ESI Bulletin)
Elspeth THOMSON, “India and the Nuclear Suppliers Group”, 31 December 2009.
Adrian ZHOU, Elspeth THOMSON, “The Motivations for and Some Environmental Concerns Surrounding Biofuels Production in Asia”, 30 June 2009
Books
Energy Efficiency Policy Development in Southeast Asia and Beyond, edited by Elspeth Thomson, Geoffrey Pakiam and Dickson Yeo (Singapore: Stallion Press, forthcoming, 2009).
Energy Conservation in East Asia: Towards Greater Energy Security, edited by Elspeth Thomson (Singapore: World Scientific, forthcoming, 2009).
China’s Science & Technology Sector and the Forces of Globalisation, edited by Elspeth Thomson with Jon Sigurdson (Singapore: World Scientific, 2008).
The Chinese Coal Industry: An Economic History, London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, 412 pp.
Refereed Articles
E. Thomson, N. Horii, “China’s Energy Security: Challenges and Priorities”, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol. L, No. 6 (Nov-Dec 2009): 643-664.
A. Zhou, E. Thomson, “The Development of Biofuels in Asia”, Applied Energy, Volume 86, Supplement 1, November 2009, Pages S11-S20.
“ASEAN and Northeast Asian Energy Security: Cooperation or Competition?”, East Asia: An International Quarterly 23, no. 3, Winter 2006.
“The Unocal Bid and Free-market Principles”, Perspectives, vol. 6, no. 4, Dec. 2005.
“Power Shortages in China: Why?”, China: An International Journal, vol. 3, no. 1 (Mar. 2005): 155-71.
“The Demand for Gasoline in China: A Cointegration Analysis”, (co-authored with K.Y. Cheung) Journal of Applied Statistics, vol. 31, no. 5 (June 2004): 533-44.
“Nan Shui Bei Diao: Diverting Water from the South to the North”, China Review, vol. 3, no. 1 (Spring 2003), 1-35.
“Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth in China” (co-authored with K.Y. Cheung), Pacific and Asian Journal of Energy, vol. 11 (2), Dec. 2001.
“Reforming China’s Coal Industry”, The China Quarterly, no. 147 (1996): 726-50.
Review Article of Energy in China’s Modernization: Advances and Limitations, by Vaclav Smil, (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1987), The China Quarterly, no. 115 (1988): 467-72.
Book Chapters
“Energy Security: An ASEAN Perspective” in ASEAN-Australia-India Security Politics: Comparative Approaches, ed. Chin Kin Wah and William Tow (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, forthcoming, 2008).
“Southeast Asia’s Energy and Security Challenge” in Spotlight on Asia's Energy and Security Challenges - A Multilateral Response?, edited by Christopher Len and Niklas Swanstrom (Institute for Security and Development Policy [Sweden] and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, forthcoming, 2008).
“Strategic Petroleum Reserves in China and India” in The Geopolitics of Energy in South Asia, edited by Marie-Carine Lall (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, forthcoming, 2007).
“China’s Energy Outlook”, in Interpreting China’s Development, edited by Wang Gungwu and John Wong (Singapore: World Scientific, 2007), pp. 145-150.
“Synopsis of Current and Expected Energy Production and Consumption within the Bay of Bengal Region”, in Energy Security in the Bay of Bengal, edited by Devare Sudhir (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, forthcoming, 2007).
“East Asian Energy Supply and Demand Outlook” (Co-authored with Chang Youngho), in Energy Conservation in East Asia: Towards Greater Energy Security, edited by Elspeth Thomson, (Singapore: forthcoming, 2007).
“The Potential for Energy Conservation in East Asia” (Co-authored with Chang Youngho), in Energy Conservation in East Asia: Towards Greater Energy Security edited by Elspeth Thomson, (Singapore: forthcoming, 2007).
“ASEAN-China Energy Cooperation”, in ASEAN-China Economic Relations, edited by Saw Swee-Hock. (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006).
"The Hong Kong SAR Government, Civil Society and SARS" (Co-authored with Yow Cheun Hoe), in The SARS Epidemic: Challenges to China's Crisis Management, eds. John Wong and Zheng Yongnian (Singapore and London: World Scientific, 2004).
"Estimating the Growth Potential of China's Western Region Using the Gravity Model" (Co-authored with Lu Ding), in China's West Region Development: Domestic Strategies and Global Implications, eds. Lu Ding and William Neilson (Singapore and London: World Scientific, 2004).
“China’s Growing Economy”, in John Wong (ed.) et al. Analysing China. Singapore: East Asian Institute, 2002, pp. 21-39.
“Taiwan’s Internal Politics and Cross Strait Ties” in John Wong (ed.) et al. Analysing China. Singapore: East Asian Institute, 2002, pp. 110-16.
“Japanese FDI, Exports and Technology Transfer to China” in Joseph C.H. Chai, Y.Y. Kueh and Clem Tisdell (eds.), China and the Asia Pacific Economy, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 1997.
Recent Presentations
“Industrial Revolution Part II: The Role of Coal in Asia”, presented at the international workshop entitled “The Baltic Sea and South China Regions: Incomparable Models of Regional Integration?” sponsored by the Asia-Europe Foundation, European Alliance for Asian Studies, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitat Greifswald (German), the European Union Centre in Singapore and National University of Singapore held from 18-20 February 2010.
“Energy Policy Research in Singapore” at the MFA-JICA JSPP21 on “Climate Change, Energy and Environment”, 18 – 29 January 2010.
"Climate Change and Singapore”, Republic Polytechnic, Office of Technical Development, 9 November 2009.
“Climate Change and Singapore”, Singapore-Delft Water Alliance Weekly Research Meeting at NUS, 30 September 2009.
“Climate Change and Singapore”, ISEAS Seminar Series on Environment and Climate Change, 4 August 2009.
“The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review; In Focus: Climate Change and Singapore”, a Dissemination Event Co-hosted by ESI with ADB (with support of British High Commission), 3 July 2009.
“Refinery Security” at “Energy Security Conference” organized by ESI, 22 May 2009.
Discussant for Joint Workshop organised by the International Energy Agency, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, and the Energy Market Authority on “Energy Prospects in Southeast Asia”, Singapore, 26-27 March 2009.
“Energy Policy Research in Singapore” for Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Singapore Co-operation Programme Training Awards and Small Island Developing States Technical Co-operation Frameworks: "Climate Change, Energy and the Environment", Singapore, 12 November 2008.
“The Challenge of Energy Security in Our Time”, presented at the 2nd ASEAN Regional Forum, Session 1: Energy Security Risks and Strategies, Singapore, 16 Apr 2008
“China’s Energy Demand/Supply Imbalances”, presented at the APERC Annual Conference 2008, Tokyo, 20-22 February 2008
East Asian Institute Background Briefs
“China’s Current Oil Production and Consumption: The Facts”, EAI Background Brief, no. 242, 11 May 2005.
“China’s Construction of Strategic Petroleum Reserves: How Urgent?”, EAI Background Brief, no. 243, 11 May 2005.
“Power Crisis in China: Why?”, EAI Background Brief, no. 203, 12 Aug. 2004.
"Mineral Resource Requirements for China's Economic Growth: Striving for Greater Self-Reliance", EAI Background Brief, no. 193, 28 May 2004.
“Xi qi dong shu: China’s West-east Gas Pipeline Mega-Project”, EAI Background Brief, no. 149, Mar. 2003.
“Nan Shui Bei Diao: China’s Massive Water Diversion Project”, EAI Background Brief, no. 141, Dec. 2002.
“China’s Water Shortages: A Potential Crisis”, EAI Background Brief, no. 140, Dec. 2002.
“China’s Growing Dependence on Oil Imports”, EAI Background Brief, no. 87, May 2001.
East Asian Institute Working Paper
“The Reform and Restructuring of China’s Railways”, EAI Working Paper, no. 91, Aug. 2002.
East Asian Institute Bulletin
“Improving Energy Consumption Efficiency: Urgent”, EAI Bulletin, Apr. 2006.
“The Unocal Debacle”, EAI Bulletin, Nov. 2005.
“Energy and Environment in the Limelight at China’s NPC”, EAI Bulletin, Apr. 2005, p. 10.
Book Reviews
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Energy Perspectives on Singapore and the Region (Singapore: ISEAS, 2007) in The Straits Times, 19 May 2007.
Zhang Jin, Catch-up and Competitiveness in China: The Case of Large Firms in the Oil Industry (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004) in The China Journal, no, 54, July 2005, pp. 164-66.
Dorian, James P., Minerals, Energy and Economic Development in China (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994) in The China Quarterly, no. 142 (1995): 598-9.