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This review takes an in-depth look at the energy challenges facing Japan today and provides critiques and recommendations for policy improvements to help guide the country towards a more sustainable energy future.
Declaring climate change and environment as a top priority of the 2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaido, host country Japan has demonstrated its commitment to pressing ahead in these domains. Already a world leader in advancing energy technology transfer and environmental policy, the country is determined to further improve its domestic policies, moving it towards a more sustainable and secure energy pathway for the long term. Along with other accomplishments, government support for energy R&D is very strong and policies to enhance the efficiency of appliances – both for domestic consumption and export – are models for other countries.
Yet there is still room for progress. Most importantly, a greater reliance on market forces throughout the system could lead customers to choices that enhance security, raise economic efficiency and promote environmental protection. Particularly with respect to climate change goals – Japan is the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter – strengthening the value on greenhouse gas emissions would help give consumers the appropriate signals they need to make the right choices. Enhancing energy savings through efforts aimed at particular sectors (sectoral approaches) could be a part of the overall policy mix, along with ongoing leadership in promoting energy efficiency. The government should continue to work to complement existing voluntary instruments with stronger ones, including ones that rely more on market incentives, and standards and requirements.
This review analyses the energy challenges facing Sweden and provides critiques and recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to provide input to Swedish energy policy makers to help them identify a path towards a more sustainable energy future.
Oil consumption is increasingly concentrated in transport and relatively limited fluctuations in transport demand can have increasingly significant effects on oil prices. This Round Table assesses the policy instruments available to address oil security and climate change and examines their interaction with measures to manage congestion and mitigate local air pollution. A number of incompatibilities and trade-offs are identified underlining the importance of integrated policy making. The report includes an examination of the factors that drive oil prices in the short and long term and a discussion of the outlook for oil supply.
La consommation de pétrole se concentre de plus en plus dans le secteur des transports. Ainsi, des variations relativement limitées de la demande dans ce secteur peuvent avoir des effets de plus en plus sensibles sur les cours du pétrole. Cette table ronde évalue les mesures dont disposent les pouvoirs publics pour sécuriser les approvisionnements pétroliers et freiner le changement climatique. Elle examine leur interaction avec les mesures destinées à gérer la congestion et réduire la pollution atmosphérique locale. Elle met aussi en évidence un certain nombre d’incompatibilités et d’arbitrages nécessaires, soulignant ainsi l’importance d’une approche intégrée dans l’élaboration des politiques. La table ronde examine aussi les facteurs qui déterminent les prix du pétrole à court et long terme, ainsi que les perspectives concernant les approvisionnements pétroliers.
Existing buildings are responsible for over 40% of the world’s total primary energy consumption. An impressive amount of energy could be saved simply by applying energy-efficient technologies. Yet, various market barriers inhibit energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings and result in energy savings that are significantly lower than potentials. This publication provides illustrations of policies and measures implemented in five IEA member countries and the European Union. Each case includes relevant background and contextual information, as well as a detailed evaluation of each policy according to five pre-defined criteria: relevance, effectiveness, flexibility, clarity and sustainability.
Most people support sustainable development without knowing what it is. What exactly are sustainable consumption and sustainable production, and how are these practices identified? This volume reviews the state-of-the-art in measuring sustainable production processes in industry. It includes metrics developed by business, trade unions, academics, NGOs, and the OECD and IEA. These measurement approaches cover the "triple bottom line" (economic, environmental and social dimensions) of industrial sustainability.
In the Same Series
Subsidy Reform and Sustainable Development: Political Economy Aspects
Subsidy Reform and Sustainable Development: Economic, Environmental and Social Aspects
Institutionalising Sustainable Development
Further Reading
Measuring Sustainable Development: Integrated Economic, Environmental and Social Frameworks
This book takes an in-depth look at Finland’s energy policy today and, through comparisons with good examples in other IEA countries, provides critiques and recommendations for improvements to guide the country towards a sustainable energy future. While the review provides comprehensive coverage of all topics, this thematic report highlights energy efficiency and energy R&D.
This review thoroughly analyses Austrian energy policy and identifies the key challenges that need to be addressed. With recommendations for improvements, it is an important guide for Austrian policy makers toward a safer and cleaner energy future.
La Table ronde dont ils sont issus a analysé les aspects essentiels qui doivent guider les gouvernements dans la détermination du soutien apporté aux biocarburants, notamment les émissions de gaz à effet de serre produits par ces carburants sur l’ensemble de leur cycle de vie et l’impact plus général des cultures énergétiques sur l’environnement. Sont également analysés, les progrès intervenus récemment en matière d’élaboration de systèmes de certification pour les biocarburants, sachant que ces systèmes sont un outil essentiel pour lier le soutien à l’abaissement effectif des émissions de gaz à effet de serre – qui ne saurait toutefois pas empêcher la destruction des forêts tropicales et leur remplacement par des surfaces consacrées à la production de biocarburants. En conclusion, l’ouvrage présente une courte liste de réformes préconisées pour faire en sorte que les politiques de soutien aux biocarburants contribuent véritablement à l’atténuation des émissions de gaz à effet de serre.
Biofuels received USD 15 billion in subsidies in OECD Member countries in 2007, but did they deliver benefits in terms of climate change or oil security? Present policies make no link between support for biofuels and their environmental performance, and biofuels do not all perform equally well. In fact, much of the current ethanol and biodiesel production may result in higher overall emissions of greenhouse gases than using conventional transport fuels - gasoline and diesel. The papers published in this report examine the economics of biofuels and assess the potential of conventional biofuel production in OECD countries, Brazilian ethanol exports and some second generation biofuels to supply world markets with transport fuels.
This Round Table analyses the critical issues for governments in determining support for biofuels, particularly the level of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life-cycle of these fuels and the wider environmental impacts of farming biomass. It also reviews recent progress in developing certification systems for biofuels – an essential tool for tying support to achievement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although certification cannot be expected to prevent rainforest destruction for the development of biofuel crop plantations. The report concludes with a short list of recommendations for policy reform if support for biofuels is to contribute effectively to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States is the largest economy and energy user in the world. Significant developments have taken place in its energy policy since the last IEA review in 2002. Most important is the Energy Policy Act 2005 – a comprehensive energy legislation which has set new directions, including opening the way for a nuclear renaissance. Two closely connected challenges shape all debates on the nation’s energy policy path: how to increase security by reducing the dependence on imported supplies; and how to address growing emissions of greenhouse gases. This review takes an in-depth look at these issues and provides recommendations on how the United States can do more to answer the challenges of both improving its security of energy supply and lowering its emissions intensity, demonstrating the significant improvements that can already be realised through existing technologies.
Pour faire face à un problème environnemental donné, on peut utiliser une « combinaison d'instruments », par opposition à un instrument unique. Quelles sont les répercussions de ces « combinaisons d’instruments » sur l'efficacité environnementale et l'efficience économique ? Quels sont les principaux arguments qui justifient le recours à de telles combinaisons, et les combinaisons de mesures actuellement utilisées sont-elles effectivement bien conçues en réponse à ces arguments ? Telles sont les principales questions abordées dans ce rapport, qui repose sur une série d'études de cas approfondies. Ces études de cas analysent les combinaisons d'instruments appliquées dans les pays de l'OCDE pour s’attaquer aux problèmes suivants : les déchets ménagers, les sources diffuses de pollution de l'eau en agriculture, l'efficacité énergétique dans le secteur résidentiel, la pollution atmosphérique régionale et les émissions atmosphériques de mercure.