Browse by: "2013"

Parce que l’innovation technologique peut permettre d’atteindre des objectifs environnementaux à moindre coût, il importe de comprendre en quoi l’élaboration des politiques de l’environnement et l’innovation technologique sont liées.

Cela est particulièrement vrai dans le domaine du changement climatique, où les coûts estimés de la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre dans l’avenir dépendent en grande partie de la trajectoire technologique empruntée par l’économie. Les politiques publiques ont sans doute le pouvoir d’accélérer le développement et la diffusion des technologies d’atténuation du changement climatique et d’adaptation à ce phénomène, mais nous disposons d’encore trop peu de données concrètes et empiriques sur le sujet.

Ce rapport présente une série d’articles qui étudient dans quelle mesure l’innovation technologique peut réduire les coûts induits par la réalisation des objectifs en matière d'atténuation des changements climatiques.

The availability of oil and gas for future generations continues to provoke international debate. In 2005, the first edition of Resources to Reserves found that the known hydrocarbon resources were sufficient to sustain likely growth for the foreseeable future. Yet the book also predicted that developing oil and gas resources – and bringing them to market – would become more technically demanding.

Resources to Reserves 2013 – a comprehensive update to the 2005 edition – confirms these earlier findings and investigates whether oil and gas resources can be produced at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner, while also protecting environmentally sensitive areas. Released amid a boom in shale gas and oil development in North America that is transforming the global energy landscape, the book surveys the cutting-edge technologies needed to find, produce and bring these reserves to the market, and it reviews the challenges on greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuel production. With renewed interest in coal as a potential source of liquid and gaseous fuels, it also looks at technology advances for this fossil fuel.

Since the IEA last reviewed Germany’s energy policies in 2007, the country has taken two fundamental policy decisions that will guide its energy policy in coming decades.  In September 2010, the federal government adopted the Energy Concept, a comprehensive new strategy for a long-term integrated energy pathway to 2050. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011, Germany decided to accelerate the phase-out of nuclear power by 2022 starting with the immediate closure of the eight oldest plants. This decision resulted in the adoption of a new suite of policy measures, determined renewable energy as the cornerstone of future energy supply, a set of policy instruments commonly known as the Energiewende.

In order to achieve the ambitious energy transformation set out in the Energiewende, by 2030 half of all electricity supply will come from renewable energy sources; Germany must continue to develop cost-effective market-based approaches which will support the forecast growth of variable renewable generation. Furthermore, the costs and benefits need to be allocated in a fair and transparent way among all market participants, especially households.

Renewable energy capacity must expand alongside the timely development of the transmission and distribution networks. In addition, a stable regulatory system is necessary to ensure long-term finance to network operators. Furthermore, close monitoring of Germany’s ability to meet electricity demand at peak times should continue in the medium term.

Energy policy decisions in Germany inevitably have an impact beyond the country’s borders and must be taken within the context of a broader European energy policy framework and in close consultation with its neighbours.

This review analyses the energy-policy challenges facing Germany and provides recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to help guide the country towards a more secure and sustainable energy future.

The global oil market faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities.  One thing seems clear: The oil market as we know it today will have transformed in five years. The IEA’s 2013 Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR) sketches out the likely changes to 2018 and what they mean for the world. Its forecasts are based on hard facts and the most likely assumptions: current expectations of economic growth, known government policies likely to affect oil supply and demand, regulatory changes that may impact oil market participation and oil price formation, oil field decline trends, and confirmed investments in the upstream, midstream and downstream.

Last year’s MTOMR challenged conventional wisdom with its analysis of the huge potential unlocked by the North American supply revolution and the Iraqi resurgence. Building on this foundation, the 2013 MTOMR turns to the formidable challenges facing the development of these new resources, while further exploring the transformation it brings to all aspects of the market. The impact of political turmoil in the Middle East and Africa is also assessed.

On the demand front, the Report examines the continuing redistribution of demand by region, fuel-on-fuel competition between oil and natural gas, the short-term prospects for efficiency gains, and the shifting composition of the demand barrel. The MTOMR also pays close attention to the entire supply chain, including changes in refining capacity, the emergence of refining ‘mega-hubs,’ and the changing role of trading houses and midstream companies in a rapidly evolving product distribution system – and how that may affect product availability and prices.

The MTOMR’s goal is not only to get the numbers right but also to spot emerging shifts that may temporarily or durably affect the market. That makes it a unique tool for anyone engaged in policy or investment decision-making in the energy sphere, and those more broadly interested in the oil market and the global economy.

The combined effects of the economic crisis and the recent popular uprisings in parts of the Middle East and North Africa have brought social and economic challenges back to the centre of attention of policy makers. For governments searching to create jobs, to satisfy the growing energy demand of their populations and to diversify their economies, the appeal of renewable energies is strong. However, the right policy framework and support need to be put in place if the region wants to attract private investment in the sector and reap the benefits of its favourable resource endowment, especially as regards solar and wind energy.

This report makes the case for a stronger deployment of renewables in the Middle East and North Africa and identifies the appropriate support policies required to stimulate the necessary private investment. An assessment of existing policy frameworks in the region and examples from OECD good practice are used as pointers to help guide policy makers in their choices.  

The analysis contained in this report suggests that support policies targeting the life cycle of renewable energy projects such as feed-in tariffs and power purchase agreements are more effective and less distortive than policies subsidising the initial investment, such as cost reductions. The optimal incentive scheme provides investors with stability through a guaranteed but declining minimum return while imposing enough market risk to foster technological progress.

Sweden has made progress in recent years towards a more secure, sustainable energy future. The Scandinavian nation already has an almost carbon-free electricity supply and has phased out oil use in residential and power sectors. It is increasingly integrated within the Nordic and Baltic electricity markets, and its joint renewable electricity certificate market with Norway offers a unique model for other countries.

Now Sweden must take concrete steps to realise its vision of a fossil-fuel-independent vehicle fleet by 2030 and no net greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. Although Sweden has decided to allow the replacement of its existing nuclear reactors, further emission reductions will come at a higher cost and require technology change. This means Sweden will need to carefully evaluate the most cost-effective pathways for its transition to a low-carbon economy.

Sweden has a high energy-intensity level, which requires greater energy efficiency in industry, buildings, heat and transport.  A decarbonisation vision should be mapped out for each industry sector. Starting with transport, Sweden must specify how it will wean its vehicle fleet from fossil fuels by 2030.

Sweden’s industry lead in smart grids is an asset. Sweden should scale up investment in clean energy technologies. As all Nordic countries decarbonise, cost-effective regional solutions can control consumers’ costs. The large-scale deployment of renewable and energy technologies in a common Northern European energy market can drive decarbonisation without comprising competitiveness, security of supply and affordability.

This review analyses the energy-policy challenges currently facing Sweden, and provides studies and recommendations for each sector.

Electricity use is growing worldwide, providing a range of energy services: lighting, heating and cooling, specific industrial uses, entertainment, information technologies, and mobility. Because its generation remains largely based on fossil fuels, electricity is also the largest and the fastest-growing source of energy-related CO₂ emissions, the primary cause of human-induced climate change. Forecasts from the IEA and others show that “decarbonising” electricity and enhancing end-use efficiency can make major contributions to the fight against climate change. 

Global and regional trends on electricity supply and demand indicate the magnitude of the decarbonisation challenge ahead. As climate concerns become an essential component of energy policy-making, the generation and use of electricity will be subject to increasingly strong policy actions by governments to reduce their associated CO₂ emissions. Despite these actions, and despite very rapid growth in renewable energy generation, significant technology and policy challenges remain if this unprecedented essential transition is to be achieved.

This book provides an authoritative resource on progress to date in this area, with statistics related to CO₂ and the electricity sector across ten regions of the world. It also presents topical analyses on meeting the challenge of rapidly curbing CO₂ emissions from electricity, from both a policy and technology perspective.

This Inventory is concerned with direct budgetary transfers and tax expenditures that relate to fossil fuels, regardless of their impact or of the purpose for which the measures were first put in place. It has been undertaken as an exercise in transparency, and to inform the international dialogue on fossil-fuel subsidy reform. For each of the 34 OECD countries covered, the Inventory provides a succinct summary of its energy economy, and of the budgetary and tax-related measures provided at the central-government level (and, in the case of federal countries, for selected sub-national units of government) relating to fossil-fuel production or consumption. The transfers associated with these measures are reported for recent years using the Producer Support Estimate (PSE) and Consumer Support Estimate (CSE) as organising frameworks. These frameworks have already been used extensively by the OECD, most notably in respect of agriculture. The Inventory covers a wide range of measures that provide a benefit or preference for a particular activity or a particular product, either in absolute terms or relative to other activities or products, against a specified baseline. Many measures listed in this inventory are relative preferences within a particular country’s tax system rather than absolute support that can be readily compared across countries, and for that reason no national totals are provided.