Russia's domestic demand for gas:

- Russia's energy mix.

In thermal generation gas is now completely dominant (Matrix, 158). Figure 6.1: in 2011 the share of gas in thermal electricity generation was 71.7%. The reliance on one fossil fuel or another is determined primarily by geography. Thus, the European part of Russia and Urals are historically dependent on gas. Whereas, Siberia and the Far East are mostly dependent on coal. Because one or the other was historically much cheaper in these regions.

Regardless of the price of coal recently going up in comparison to the price of coal (165), the cost of switching from the former to the latter is much higher, and thus it would not be reasonable. Therefore, little switching from gas to coal is now expected (165).

Overall, it appears that the downward pressure on gas demand, resulting from new power station investment, will exceed any upward pressure (167).Investments are in gas-fired capacity rather than coal, therefore, gas will remain prominent. However, old gas-fired plants will be replaced by CCGTs --> increased energy efficiency --> incremental energy demand will be met by these improvements.

Demand will be affected by:

- the level of electricity demand - the effect of investment in the construction and renovation of power stations

It also depends on government legislations that will be in place.

CIS countries: whichever direction prices move in, transit diversification will will surely further diminish Russia's gas trade with the western CIS countries.

Chapter 8: Asia - China: gas consumption more than doubled in in the past five years, set to triple again by 2030.

Methodology: - analysing statistics (analyse different data sources) - secondary literature, looking at different debates

Why is this topic worth researching: - With the Ukrainian crisis, the debate about the European Energy security became the prominent topic of the debate in global media and on the diplomatic level. Indeed, because of the European dependence on the Russia gas exports, this topic is widely discussed in media. Additionally, there was a number of meetings recently between the delegates from the European country to discuss the energy future of the EU (in regards to its exports from Russia).

Why this particular research question: - Recently Russia signed a gas deal with China. Give details.

What do you want to find out: -

How does your research complement existing scholarship: - there is no existing scholarship on this particular topic, because the deal was signed fairly recently. There is only literature related to the topic, but not directly relevant. Therefore, my dissertation is the earliest academic attempt to link the existing deal with China with the European energy security. And additionally, it is unique in a way that it looks at it from the physical perspective, rather than most of the media and think tanks usually look at it from a political perspective. Additionally, my research is multidisciplinary, it encompasses the analysis of the geological data, judiciary aspect of the export relationships, economic, political and environmental.

Why is your dissertation worth reading: - analysed existing data and put together different analytical perspectives and put them in a perspective, taking into consideration current developments.