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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 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.

South America is now one of the most attractive regions for investment in natural gas exploration and production, pipelines, LNG facilities and gas-fired power generation.

The continent boasts abundant and growing natural gas reserves and several cross-border gas pipelines link gas-rich countries with large energy-hungry markets in neighbouring countries.

 This study reviews current trends in South America’s gas sector and identifies the challenges ahead for the region to take advantage of its gas resources.

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 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.

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”.
 

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.

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.

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.

Power sectors around the world are undergoing significant change due to the rapid uptake of new supply- and demand-side technologies. In particular, large-scale wind and solar power as well as distributed energy resources are influencing the planning, operation and profitability of power systems. In response, policymakers, utilities and other stakeholders need to apply innovative approaches to transform the power system, with the objective to achieve sustainable, affordable and reliable electricity.

The Status of Power System Transformation 2017 report provides an overview of current trends that are ongoing across the globe, with a focus on the integration of renewables and local grid development. The report examines a broad set of recent concrete power system interventions. A framework for assessing the status of power system transformation is also introduced, and is applied to selected countries: Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.

This report can inform stakeholders of the dynamic changes that are occurring in power systems around the world and provide insight into measures that can help to overcome new challenges.

The ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are among the most dynamic parts of the global energy system and a rising force in international energy affairs. Thanks to its growing partnership with Southeast Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has conducted regular in-depth studies of the energy challenges facing this region. This new report, which was prepared as part of the IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook series, provides insights for policy makers, industry and other energy stakeholders to help address the energy sector challenges facing Southeast Asia today.

The report highlights:

• The state of play across the Southeast Asia’s energy sector, based on the latest data and announcements.
• How today’s policies shape this region’s energy demand and supply outlook to 2040, and the implications for energy security, the environment and development.
• The opportunities that broader changes in global markets and low-carbon technologies open up for Southeast Asia.
• The investment required to improve efficiency and expand energy supply infrastructure, especially in the electricity sector.
• The mix of fuels and technologies that can help Southeast Asia achieve universal electricity access.
• An alternative pathway, the Sustainable Development Scenario, to meet energy security and environmental goals.

Across the world, change is accelerating in power systems driven by the advent of low-cost, abundant wind and solar energy, the rise of distributed energy resources and increasing digitalization. These factors are leading to a structural shift in the way power systems are best planned and operated. In particular, they call for increased flexibility of power systems. Power system flexibility encompasses all relevant characteristics of a power system that facilitates the reliable and cost-effective management of variability and uncertainty in both supply and demand. A lack of system flexibility can reduce the resilience of power systems, or lead to the loss of substantial amounts of clean electricity through curtailment of VRE.

Power plants play a critical role in enhancing system flexibility. Based on a wealth of real-life case studies and data, this report provides a comprehensive overview of how power plants can contribute to making power systems more flexible, while enhancing electricity security. It summarises the findings of the Advanced Power Plant Flexibility (APPF) campaign of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). The solutions presented in this study have been collected in close collaboration with industry stakeholders, including manufacturers, expert consultancies, system operators and plant operators.

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.