Browse by: "S"

Saving Electricity in a Hurry describes some of the recent power blackouts – from Norway to New Zealand and from Tokyo to Arizona – and the policies these regions used to quickly reduce their power consumption. It shows that countries can quickly reduce electricity consumption without harming the economy as much as blackouts or unplanned curtailments. The strategies are diverse, unique and often surprisingly cheap. They include mass media campaigns – where a good joke can save a Megawatt – improvements in equipment efficiency, and adjusting electricity prices to cut electricity demand in a hurry. This book explains how California replaced a million traffic signals with energy-saving models, how millions of Tokyo residents changed their thermostat settings, and how New Zealanders took shorter showers, all quickly enough to help avoid imminent blackouts. Finally, it connects these policies to the traditional goal of  “saving electricity slowly”.
 

Transport is the fastest-growing energy sector world-wide. Every year increasing numbers of drivers at the wheels of ever larger vehicles burn more petroleum products and emit more carbon dioxide. The danger is clear. Nations around the world have taken up the challenge to reduce oil use and the CO2 that comes with it.

This report examines the multiple policy approaches being taken by IEA Member countries to reduce transport-related carbon emissions. These include improving fuel economy in new cars and trucks, as well as reducing fuel consumption by vehicles already on the road. Also covered are the use of alternative fuel sources and ways to cut the growth in travel, such as by improving transit systems and using new technologies to reduce congestion.

Energy-saving options in freight transport are also explored, such as making trucks and trucking systems more efficient and how to move more goods by rail and water-borne transport. More than twenty different approaches are developed, including some which have been neglected by most IEA countries. The study discusses the benefits and costs of each option, as well as obstacles it faces, and quantifies the effect of each option in reducing oil use and CO2 emissions. Success stories from IEA countries are presented, as well as some stories of failure.

This book provides a new, quantitative assessment of the potential oil savings and costs of rapid oil demand restraint measures for transport. Some measures may make sense under any circumstances; others are primarily useful in emergency situations.  All can be implemented on short notice – if governments are prepared.

The report examines potential approaches for rapid uptake of telecommuting, "ecodriving”, and car-pooling, among other measures. It also provides methodologies and data that policy makers can use to decide which measures would be best adapted to their national circumstances. This “tool box” may help countries to complement other measures for coping with supply disruptions, such as use of strategic oil stocks.

A massive scaling up of investment is essential in emerging and developing economies to sustainably meet rising demand for energy, as well as to ensure that climate targets are met. Getting on track for net zero emissions by 2050 will require clean energy spending in emerging and developing economies to more than triple by 2030 – far beyond the capacity of public financing alone and therefore demanding an unprecedented mobilization of private capital.

This special report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) examines how to scale up private finance for clean energy transitions by quantifying the investments required in different regions and sectors to build modern, clean energy systems, including achieving universal access. The new global energy economy represents a huge opportunity for growth and employment in emerging and developing economies. This report’s analysis identifies key barriers and how to remove them – and sets out the policy actions and financial instruments that can deliver a major acceleration in private capital flows for the energy transition.

The OECD Secretary-General's annual report to ministers covers the OECD’s 2017 activities and some 2018 highlights. It includes the Secretary-General's activities and those of his office, the OECD’s horizontal programmes and directorate activities, as well as the activities of its agencies, special entities and advisory committees.

For more than 50 years, the OECD has sought to promote better policies for better lives in almost all areas of policy making and implementation through co-operation, dialogue, consensus and peer review. The OECD is one of the world’s largest and most trusted sources of comparable statistical data on economics, trade, employment, education, health, social issues, migration, the environment, and many other fields.

Electricity accounts for more than 40 % of global energy-related CO₂ emissions. This issue is most pressing for developing countries where growth in power demand is particularly high, fueling the risk of irreversible investment in CO₂-intensive capacity, the so-called “carbon lock-in”.

Sectoral Approaches in Electricity – Building Bridges to a Safe Climate shows how the international climate policy framework could effectively support a transition towards low-CO₂ electricity systems in developing countries. Sectoral approaches are intended to address sectors that require urgent actions, without waiting for countries to take nation-wide commitments.

Earlier IEA publications have extensively reviewed developed countries’ efforts to steer generation away from carbon-intensive production modes, from dedicated support to low-carbon technologies to, increasingly, the reliance on CO₂ pricing via emissions trading. Following the same logic, there are proposals seeking to use the international carbon market to drive changes at sectoral level in developing countries. This publication illustrates the pros and cons of such an approach in a few key emerging economies. It also asks how international climate policy could support and enhance ongoing efforts on end-use energy efficiency - an essential piece of the climate change/electricity puzzle.

Electricity shortages can paralyse our modern economies. All governments fear rolling black-outs and their economic consequences, especially in economies increasingly based on digital technologies.

Over the last two decades, the development of markets for power has produced cost reduction, technological innovation, increased cross border trade and assured a steady supply of electricity. Now, IEA countries face the challenge of maintaining security of electricity supply during the transition to low-carbon economies.

Low-carbon policies are pushing electricity markets into novel territories at a time when most of the generation and network capacity will have to be replaced. Most notably, wind and solar generation, now an integral part of electricity markets, can present new operating and investment challenges for generation, networks and the regional integration of electricity markets. In addition, the resilience of power systems facing more frequent natural disasters is also of increasing concern.

IEA ministers mandated the Secretariat to work on the Electricity Security Action Plan (ESAP), expanding to electricity the energy security mission of the IEA. This paper outlines the key conclusions and policy recommendations to "keep the lights on" while reducing CO

2 emissions and increasing the efficiency.

Secure, resilient and sustainable energy technology supply chains are central to successful clean energy transitions. The race to net zero emissions will redefine global energy security and shift the focus from the supply of fossil fuels to the supply of the minerals, materials and manufacturing capacity needed to deliver clean energy technologies. This report, Securing Clean Energy Technology Supply Chains, assesses current and future supply chain needs for key technologies – including solar PV, batteries for electric vehicles and low emissions hydrogen – and provides a framework for governments and industry to identify, assess and respond to emerging opportunities and vulnerabilities. The IEA highlights five key strategies to build secure, resilient and sustainable supply chains: Diversify, Accelerate, Innovate, Collaborate and Invest.

This report has been prepared for the Sydney Energy Forum on 12-13 July 2022. The IEA is pleased to co-host the Forum alongside the Australian Government and in partnership with the Business Council of Australia. The report is a precursor to the 2023 edition of Energy Technology Perspectives, an IEA flagship report, which will present detailed analysis on what is needed to develop and expand a range of clean energy technology supply chains to achieve net zero emissions.

Japan’s G20 presidency 2019 asked the International Energy Agency to analyse progress in G20 countries towards securing investments in low-carbon power generation. The Japan presidency, which began on 1 December 2018 and runs through 30 November 2019, has placed a strong focus on innovation, business and finance.1 In the areas of energy and the environment, Japan wishes to create a “virtuous cycle between the environment and growth”, which is the core theme of the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth in Karuizawa, Japan, 15-16 June 2019.

A first draft report was presented to the 2nd meeting of the G20 Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG), held through 18-19 April 2019. This final report incorporates feedback and comments submitted during April by the G20 membership and was shared with the ETWG members.

This final report is cited in “Proposed Documents for the Japanese Presidency of the G20” that was distributed to the G20 energy ministers, who convened in Karuizawa on 15-16 June 2019.

This report, prepared as an input for the 2019 G20 ministerial meeting, is an IEA contribution; it is not submitted for formal approval by energy ministers, nor does it reflect the G20 membership’s national or collective views. This report looks at one of the key challenges for the decarbonisation of the energy sector, notably in organised power markets. Based on insights from the IEA flagship publication, World Energy Outlook 2018, and from the recent World Energy Investment 2019, the report provides guidance to policy makers on how to accelerate the decarbonisation of the power sector.

This report examines the evolving challenges of maintaining energy security in the context of clean energy transitions on the pathway to net zero emissions. The report reflects on the security implications of the triple global crisis, the climate emergency, the global energy crisis and the social and economic implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report highlights key energy security concerns during energy transitions and provides governments, notably within the Group of Twenty (G20), with policy recommendations for maintaining and improving energy security, while accelerating clean energy transitions to address the triple crises. In the context of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources invited the International Energy Agency (IEA) to produce a second edition of its Security of Clean Energy Transitions report, the first having been published in 2021, building on the G20 Naples Principles.

In the run up to the Bali G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial in September 2022, this report is intended to support discussions among the G20 countries and further elaborate on the G20 Naples Principles, agreed at the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Naples in 2021, by providing analysis, insights and recommendations.

This report examines the evolving nature of energy security in the context of clean energy transitions in general and on the pathway to net-zero emissions in particular. It highlights emerging energy security concerns and provides recommendations to foster international collaboration, notably within the Group of Twenty (G20).

In the context of Italy’s G20 presidency, its Ministry of Economic Development requested the International Energy Agency (IEA) to undertake this Security of Clean Energy Transitions report. It aims to support discussions among the G20 countries and to provide insights and direction for the review and update of the G20 energy collaboration principles, which were endorsed at the G20 Brisbane Leaders’ Summit in 2014.

This book analyses the most recent developments in security of gas supply and reliability in all IEA regions. Reform has led to open markets, where supply and demand are balanced by the market.

In the gas sector, supply is capacity-bound and large parts of the demand side are inelastic. The study looks at how governments and other stakeholders in IEA countries respond to the need to create a framework that enables the players to deliver secure and reliable gas supply at the border and all the way down to the final customer.

This book analyses the impact of electricity market reform on investment in the power industry. It considers the implications of more open and competitive markets for the security of electricity supply. Some of electricity’s uses are essential components of modern life. Security of electricity supply is an important policy objective in virtually all modern economies because of the limited possibilities for replacing electricity by other forms of energy. Adequate investment is the basic prerequisite for a secure supply of electricity.

Despite the highly-publicized problems experienced in California, the international picture is reassuring. Large investment has taken place and OECD electricity markets are generally reliable. There are, however, major investment needs in some areas, particularly in the development of infrastructures for transmission, which remains for the most part a regulated activity. Through policies and regulations, governments continue to play a key role in determining investment and security standards in a liberalised market. Energy policies on fuel use, authorisation processes, regulatory risk, capacity mechanisms and price caps, among other instruments, play a large role in promoting adequate investment or hindering it.

In 90 minutes, enough sunlight strikes the earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year. While solar energy is abundant, it represents a tiny fraction of the world’s current energy mix. But this is changing rapidly and is being driven by global action to improve energy access and supply security, and to mitigate climate change. 

Around the world, countries and companies are investing in solar generation capacity on an unprecedented scale, and, as a consequence, costs continue to fall and technologies improve. This publication gives an authoritative view of these technologies and market trends, in both advanced and developing economies, while providing examples of the best and most advanced practices. It also provides a unique guide for policy makers, industry representatives and concerned stakeholders on how best to use, combine and successfully promote the major categories of solar energy: solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity, as well as solar fuels.  

Finally, in analysing the likely evolution of electricity and energy-consuming sectors – buildings, industry and transport – it explores the leading role solar energy could play in the long-term future of our energy system.