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Energy use patterns and trends are shaped by the decisions of hundreds of millions of individuals, households, and organisations. Understanding this complex fabric of energy use, and the consequent carbon dioxide emissions, is vital to developing effective policies in support of energy security, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. This book illustrates how indicators can extract from that fabric the most important links among energy uses, behaviour, the economy, and government policy. It explains how energy use has evolved in the past and what is influencing it now, and provides insights on what could shape it in the future. This represents an important step in better understanding the link between energy use and human activity.
In preparation for their 1998 Plenary meeting, the members of the IEA’s Coal Industry Advisory Board prepared individual papers addressing the key issues facing the coal industry at this challenging time. The result is a collection of unique perceptions on the future role of coal from the leaders of the industry. They provide a valuable, first-hand insight into the views and concerns of the coal industry as it faces a rapidly changing market due to: ? uncertainties within the electricity generating industry, which in turn are a result of the continuing transition to a liberalised electricity market and of unanswered questions about the final structure, shape and regulatory framework of this market; ? increasing environmental commitments by governments, especially in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Coal, with its ample, cost-effective and geographically diverse reserves, has traditionally been a major factor in energy security and price stability. Is this important role now under threat? How does the coal industry itself see its market evolving? What are the industry’s views of the role of coal in a future where carbon emissions are strictly limited? Important questions with thought-provoking responses in this challenging collection of individual papers from the IEA’s Coal Industry Advisory Board.
More than 27% of total carbon dioxide emissions in OECD countries is produced by the transport sector, and there are still few signs that transportation energy use is peaking. Without new action, the prospects for reductions in CO2 emissions from this sector look bleak. This report reviews transport-related CO2 abatement policies in six IEA countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report focuses on past, recent and potential future policies and the policy context in each country. It provides a comprehensive description of selected key policy elements. A separate IEA report, which will be published early next year, will offer quantitative estimates of a major element in transport climate-change policy – the potential for reducing CO2 emissions by improving the fuel efficiency of passenger cars.
The manner in which we produce and consume energy is of crucial importance to sustainable development, as energy has deep relationships with each of its three dimensions -- the economy, the environment and social welfare. These relationships develop in a fast-moving and complex situation characterised by increasing globalisation, growing market liberalisation and new technologies, as well as by growing concerns about climate change and energy-supply security. In order to make energy an integral part of sustainable development, new policies need to be developed. Such policies must strike a balance among the three dimensions of sustainable development. They must reduce our exposure to large-scale risk. The IEA has synthesised a number of experiences with policies aimed to promote sustainable development. These experiences are reported in seven subject chapters on energy supply security, market reform, improving energy efficiency, renewable energies, sustainable transport, flexibility mechanisms for greenhouse gas reductions and on non-Member countries.
Appliances and other electrical equipment increasingly draw power when they are switched off or not performing their primary function. This "standby power" provides remote control capability, network sensing, digital display and other features. Often, standby power is consumed simply because power supplies remain "on" while their appliances are switched "off". Standby power consumption is about 10 per cent of OECD residential energy use or the equivalent of a 60-watt light bulb operating continuously in each OECD household. Standby power consumption can be reduced by an average of 75 per cent with cost-effective design changes and technological improvements. Savings as high as 90 per cent can be achieved in many appliances without any reduction in services. Some products have already achieved very low standby power consumption at little or no cost. But standby power consumption is normally not high enough to command consumer attention. International collaboration is essential to reduce standby power consumption, since so many products and components are traded internationally. Consistent approaches, such as test procedures, standards and voluntary efforts, could also benefit manufacturers by reducing costs and barriers to trade.
This book lays out the problem posed by growing standby power consumption, explores fully the technologies available to reduce it, and outlines how increased collaboration among industry, national governments and international organisations can help.
Highly volatile electricity prices are becoming a more frequent and unwanted characteristic of modern electricity wholesale markets. But low demand elasticity, mainly the result of a lack of incentives and consumers’ inability to control demand, means that consumer behaviour is not reflected in the cost of energy.
This study analyses the impact of price-responsive demand and shows how pricing, policy and technology can be used to inform consumer behaviour and choice.
The IEA’s basic institutional arrangements remain essentially as described in Volume I of The History, but this Supplement’s extensive treatment of budget and programme of work issues reflects significant changes in Agency practice, during a period when governments were engrossed in the management and financing of international organisations generally.
Volume II of the History of the International Energy Agency takes up the energy policies and actions of the Agency during its first twenty years, from 1974 to 1994 inclusive. While the weak institutional situation of the industrial countries in the 1973-1974 crisis period made it all but impossible for them to adopt decisive and effective responses, when the time for action came, the reasons for their vulnerability to the oil producer countries were perhaps less their underdeveloped institutions than their essentially optimistic and passive oil management policies during the years preceding the crisis. Other policy choices which might have prevented or softened the crisis were available to them, as Volume II shows.
Volume I of this History surveys at some length the institutional origins of the International Energy Agency in the 1973-1974 oil crisis, and examines the 1974 I.E.P. Agreement and other oil consumer actions which established the Agency as an operational intergovernmental institution. Volume I also considers the most important IEA relationships, the internal structure of the Agency, and the institutional arrangements which enabled the Agency to develop over the years into an effective instrument for energy policy co-operation among its Members.
The report discusses the prospects for shifting more travel to the most efficient modes and reducing travel growth rates, improving vehicle fuel efficiency by up to 50% using cost-effective, incremental technologies, and moving toward electricity, hydrogen, and advanced biofuels to achieve a more secure and sustainable transport future. If governments implement strong policies to achieve this scenario, transport can play its role and dramatically reduce CO2 emissions by 2050.
The taxation of different sources and uses of energy (particularly those that give rise to emissions of greenhouse gases) will play a key role in governments’ efforts to mitigate the scale of global warming and climate change. At present, effective tax rates vary widely across different sources and uses of energy within countries, as well as across countries. This publication provides the first systematic statistics of such effective tax rates – on a comparable basis - for each OECD country, together with ‘maps’ that illustrate graphically the wide variations in tax rates per unit of energy or per tonne of CO2 emissions. These statistics and maps should be an invaluable tool for policymakers, analysts and researchers considering both domestic fiscal reform in response to climate change and other environmental challenges (e.g. to achieve emissions reductions targets most cost-effectively) and wider international responses.
Buildings are the largest energy consuming sector in the world, and account for over one-third of total final energy consumption and an equally important source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Achieving significant energy and emissions reduction in the buildings sector is a challenging but achievable policy goal.
Transition to Sustainable Buildings presents detailed scenarios and strategies to 2050, and demonstrates how to reach deep energy and emissions reduction through a combination of best available technologies and intelligent public policy. This IEA study is an indispensible guide for decision makers, providing informative insights on:
-Cost-effective options, key technologies and opportunities in the buildings sector;
-Solutions for reducing electricity demand growth and flattening peak demand;
-Effective energy efficiency policies and lessons learned from different countries;
-Future trends and priorities for ASEAN, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States;
-Implementing a systems approach using innovative products in a cost effective manner; and
-Pursuing whole-building (e.g. zero energy buildings) and advanced-component policies to initiate a fundamental shift in the way energy is consumed.
Wind power and solar photovoltaics (PV) are crucial to meeting future energy needs while decarbonising the power sector. Deployment of both technologies has expanded rapidly in recent years, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak picture of clean energy progress. However, the inherent variability of wind power and solar PV raises unique and pressing questions. Can power systems remain reliable and cost-effective while supporting high shares of variable renewable energy (VRE)? And if so, how?
Based on a thorough review of the integration challenge, this publication gauges the economic significance of VRE integration impacts, highlights the need for a system-wide approach to integrating high shares of VRE and recommends how to achieve a cost-effective transformation of the power system.
This book summarises the results of the third phase of the Grid Integration of VRE (GIVAR) project, undertaken by the IEA over the past two years. It is rooted in a set of seven case studies, comprising 15 countries on four continents. It deepens the technical analysis of previous IEA work and lays out an analytical framework for understanding the economics of VRE integration impacts. Based on detailed modelling, the impact of high shares of VRE on total system costs is analysed. In addition, the four flexible resources which are available to facilitate VRE integration – generation, grid infrastructure, storage and demand side integration – are assessed in terms of their technical performance and cost-effectiveness.
This How2Guide for Smart Grids in Distribution Networks (Distribution SG H2G) seeks to provide decision makers with tools and steps for developing and implementing a strategic plan for smart grids at the national, regional or municipal level. It is the second in the International Energy Agency (IEA) series of How2Guides (H2Gs), concise manuals that seek to guide the reader through the key steps to developing and implementing a roadmap for a given technology, sector or system.
Energy is a critical input into the production and consumption patterns that support economic and social wellbeing. However, many forms of energy use contribute to the environmental and climate challenges societies face today. Taxation is a key tool by which governments can influence energy use to contain its environmental impacts. This report provides a systematic analysis of the structure and level of energy taxes in OECD and selected other countries; together, they cover 80% of global energy use.
This report builds on the 2013 edition of Taxing Energy Use, expanding the geographic coverage of the 2013 data set to include Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. The report describes energy use, taxation and pricing in these countries and presents detailed graphical profiles of the structure of energy use and taxation for each.
The analysis reveals large differences in the taxation of energy across countries, although common patterns emerge. Transport taxes are considerably higher than in other sectors, where fuels that cause considerable harm for the environment and human health are often taxed at very low – or zero – rates. With few exceptions, countries' energy taxes do not harness the full power of taxes to reduce pollution and combat climate change.
Current trends in energy supply and use are unsustainable – economically, environmentally and socially. Without decisive action, energy-related greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions would lead to considerable climate degradation with an average 6°C global warming. We can and must change the path we are now on; sustainable and low-carbon energy technologies will play a crucial role in the energy revolution required to make this change happen. Energy Efficiency, many types of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), nuclear power and new transport technologies will all require widespread deployment if we are to achieve a global energy-related CO2 target in 2050 of 50% below current levels and limit global temperature rise by 2050 to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Wind is the most advanced of the "new" renewable energy technologies and was the subject of one of the first roadmaps produced by the IEA, in 2009. Since then, the development and deployment of wind power has been a rare good news story in the deployment of low-carbon technology deployment.
Current trends in energy supply and use are unsustainable – economically, environmentally and socially. Without decisive action, energy-related greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions would lead to considerable climate degradation with an average 6°C global warming. We can and must change the path we are now on; sustainable and low-carbon energy technologies will play a crucial role in the energy revolution required to make this change happen. Energy Efficiency, many types of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), nuclear power and new transport technologies will all require widespread deployment if we are to achieve a global energy-related CO2 target in 2050 of 50% below current levels and limit global temperature rise by 2050 to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Thailand’s remarkable social and economic development since the 1970s has resulted in a steep and steady
increase in energy consumption and, as a consequence, a rising dependency on imported fuels and associated
exposure to international commodity prices. Electricity demand is currently concentrated in the Bangkok
metropolitan area and driven by a large industrial and manufacturing base and significant amounts of tourism.
But Thailand is a growing country with a large middle class, and a structural transition may change the nature
and shape of electricity demand.
Thai energy policy is driven by three pillars: security, affordability and environmental sustainability. Concerns
about fuel diversity underlie all three pillars and as a result are major factors in long-term plans for power
generation. Thailand’s electricity sector is at a turning point similar to that of many International Energy Agency
(IEA) member countries, as it transitions to low-carbon power sources. Thailand must decide how to finance
massive investments in new generation assets, transmission and distribution networks, as well as the steps to
improve system operations and scale up energy efficiency.
Partner Country Series – Thailand Electricity Security Assessment 2016 analyses the challenges the country faces,
including how regulatory and market arrangements can adapt to best realise the opportunities from potentially
disruptive distributed resources like wind and solar photovoltaics. This study draws on IEA member countries’
experiences as well as Agency analysis to recommend policy improvements for a more secure and sustainable
electricity sector in Thailand.