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asia 24 regional focus www.iiasa.ac.atoptions ◼ winter 2017/18 Working to improve energy security in India Further info Qi W, Abel GJ, Muttarak R, & Liu S (2017). Circular visualization of China’s internal migration flows 2010–2015. Environment and Planning A: 1-4. [pure.iiasa.ac.at/14736] Raya Muttarak muttarak@iiasa.ac.at A s countries around the globe work to improve their energy systems to meet increasing demand, they are looking to do so in the most efficient ways possible. For developing nations such as India, the goal of energy security relies heavily on improved metrics. Sustainable Energy Security (SES), a function of the aggregate energy system of a country, can be defined as “the provisioning of uninterrupted energy services in an affordable, equitable, efficient, and environmentally benign manner.” In a study published in the journal Applied Energy, IIASA researcher Shonali Pachauri and her coauthors found that the overall SES index in India increased by 10% from 2002 to 2012, indicating a gradual improvement in the performance of the energy demand sub-system in India. While the study shows that the efforts are paying off, it also shows there is much work that still needs to be done. The researchers found that the index is 30% short of the target, which underscores both the need—and opportunity—for improvement. Pachauri and her team hope that the results will inspire action from policymakers to improve the overall SES index for India. “Sustainable Energy Security can be considered an end goal of energy policy for a developing country such as India,” explains Pachauri. “This quantitative assessment reveals key characteristics of the performance of the Indian energy demand sub- system over time and identifies sectors where improvements are required.” JS Further info Narula K, Sudhakara Reddy B, & Pachauri S (2017). Sustainable Energy Security for India: An assessment of energy demand sub-system. Applied Energy 186: 126-139. [pure.iiasa.ac.at/12340] Shonali Pachauri pachauri@iiasa.ac.at Since the late 1970s, when it initiated economic reforms and began opening up the country, China has experienced rapid urbanization. This led directly to a significant redistribution of the country’s population from rural areas to urban centers. Because of a number of factors, including persistent inequalities in wages between regions, job opportunities from new growth sectors, and social services, roughly 250 million migrant workers fled the rural areas they had grown up in to the coastal regions and megacities that held economic promise. Another 100 million rural citizens are expected to migrate to cities over the next decade. In a study published in the journal Environment and Planning A, IIASA researcher Raya Muttarak and her coauthors analyzed the direction and volume of migration flows among the 31 different provinces in China, and produced a ‘chord diagram plot’ to visualize the internal migration flows within the country. The diagram incorporates a spatial component, depicting the four major regions of China (East, Center, West, Northeast) through four different color palettes. The diagram also shows both the origin and destination of migrants, which should help those less familiar with this phenomenon understand the specifics around one of the largest migration systems on the planet. “China’s massive internal migration flows are having a considerable impact on the country’s population centers,” explained Muttarak. “By visualizing these migration flows, we begin to get a better sense of where people are relocating and pinpoint some of the reasons behind their migration.” JS Visualizing internal migration in China Figure 1. Bilateral migration flows during 2010–2015 in China (unit: million). © 2017 y SAGE Publications Figure 1. Bilateral migration flows during 2010–2015 in China (unit: million). Bilateral migration flows during 2010–2015 in China (unit: million).