1. IEA welcomes new Deputy Executive Director Richard H. Jones.  On 1 October, the International Energy Agency welcomed its new Deputy Executive Director, Ambassador Richard H. Jones, a career diplomat of the United States Senior Foreign Service. Succeeding Ambassador William Ramsay, another former United States career diplomat, Ambassador Jones has notably served as Ambassador in Israel, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Lebanon.  He has wide experience in the energy field from these and other strategically important postings. The OPEN Bulletin put some questions to Ambassador Jones on current energy technology hot topics. Access the interview here. Consult also the IEA’s press release on Ambassador Jones’ appointment. 

2. Fast-track policies for deploying renewables.  The potential contribution of renewables to a carbon-free, energy-secure future is huge.  All renewable energy sources will have roles to play, whether the technologies for exploiting them are mature and commercially available, or just emerging from the laboratory. But effective government policies are urgently needed to address frequently encountered non-economic barriers like difficult grid access or poor market design. Which policies work best to help speed renewables into the market mainstream?  IEA’s new study Deploying Renewables:  Principles for Effective Policies addresses these questions and comes up with plenty of answers.  Covering 35 countries (all OECD and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and a large portfolio of renewable energy technologies for electricity, heating and transport, this publication offers valuable advice to designers of policy tools all around the world. Visit the IEA’s Online Bookshop. An associated brochure can be downloaded from the IEA website. 

3. Optimising industry’s separation systems.  Industrial systems for separating materials and phases can account for up to 70% of both capital costs and operating outlay. Fuelling these processes weighs heavily on corporate balance sheets but also leaves a large environmental footprint. Are some fresh approaches to energy efficiency needed? Annex IX of the IEA  programme on Industrial Energy-Related Technology and Systems (IETS) is developing some important new perspective here. Focusing on "Energy Efficient Separations Systems:  Methodological Aspects, Demonstration and Economics", IETS Annex IX is taking stock of separation systems state of the art, with a view to shaping more suitable tools and concepts for analysing efficiency levels. Dr Alain Legault of Natural Resources Canada and Professor Ricardo Rivero of Mexico’s Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo (IMP) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México are the managers of this project. Their article for the OPEN Bulletin discusses their work. Click here to access. 

4. CCS:  from vision to reality.  Without a rapid turnabout, the world’s energy-related CO₂ emissions could grow 130% by mid-century, a far cry from the 50% reduction advocated by authoritative scientists to keep rises in global temperature below 3^o C. IEA analysis identifies CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) as the only available technology that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale use of fossil fuels by removing CO₂ and storing it in deep geological layers to prevent release into the atmosphere. In power production, fuel transformation and industry, CCS alone could achieve one-fifth of a 50% cut in emissions by 2050 against today’s levels.

But what will it take to make CCS technology an operational weapon against climate change? Valuable up-to-date insight is provided in the IEA’s comprehensive new study CO₂ Capture and Storage:  A Key Carbon Abatement Option. Drawing on worldwide expertise, this timely release presents more than 250 pages of facts, figures and analysis. It discusses technicalities, costs, ways to mobilise funding, regulatory, legal and public-awareness issues, as well as research, development, urgently needed demonstration and the implications for policy and international collaboration. The concluding detailed roadmap explains the steps to be taken if CCS is to make a difference in today’s carbon-threatened world.  Visit the IEA Online Bookshop. 

5. New IEA international R&D programmes, new participants. The portfolios of IEA Implementing Agreement collaborations evolve continuously to meet new challenges. Here are some recently created projects.

• The IEA Demand-Side Management Programme's new Task XXI on Standardisation of Energy Savings Calculations will focus on existing energy saving calculation (ESC) standards and standards under development. Visit the IEA-DSM website.

• Annex IV on transmission systems is the latest addition to the projects initiated by the IEA Implementing Agreement on Electricity Networks Analysis, Research and Development (ENARD). 

• The workplan for the recently launched IEA project on fuel and technology alternatives for buses can now be accessed on the website of the IEA Advanced Motor Fuels programme (IEA AMF). This Annex XXXVII of IEA AMF has been created jointly with IEA Bioenergy and the IEA Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Implementing Agreement. Click to learn more.

New participants in IEA programmes.

• Canada has become a Contracting Party to the Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Efficient Electrical End-Use Equipment (4E).
• The Canadian Geothermal Association (CanGEA) has become a Sponsor in the IEA Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Geothermal Energy Research and Technology (IEA-GIA).
• China has become a Contracting Party to the Implementing Agreement for a Programme of Research and Development on Advanced Materials for Transportation Applications (AMT).
• India  has become a Contracting Party to the IEA Implementing Agreement on a Co-operative Programme on Nuclear Technology of Fusion Reactors.
• Italy's Ente per le Nuove Technologie, l’Energia et l’Ambiente (ENEA) has become a Contracting Party to the IEA Implementing Agreement for a Programme of Energy Technology Systems Analysis (ETSAP).
• Malaysia has become a Contracting Party to the IEA Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Photovoltaic Power Systems (IEA-PVPS). This is Malaysia's first participation in an IEA Implementing Agreement collaborative programme.
• South Africa has become a Contracting Party in two IEA programmes: the Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE); and the Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Technologies Relating to Greenhouse Gases Derived from Fossil Fuel Use (IEA GHG).
• Spain has become a Contracting Party to the IEA Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Geothermal Energy Research and Technology (IEA-GIA) and the Geothermal Group of the Spanish Renewable Energy Association (GG-APPA) has become IEA-GIA's newest Sponsor.  
• Sweden has become a Contracting Party to the IEA Climate Technology Initiative Implementing Agreement (CTI).

6. Poland becomes 28th IEA member country.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) is pleased to welcome Poland as it 28th member country. Poland’s membership became official on 25 September 2008.  “We warmly welcome the Polish accession”, declared IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka. The country has worked hard to rapidly restructure the country’s energy policies and programme, and to transform its energy sector into a market-oriented one that is based on the principles reflected in the IEA Shared Goals.” See the IEA press release.
 

• Trends in Photovoltaic Applications - Survey Report of Selected IEA Countries Between 1992 and 2007. Drawing on results of its 11th international survey, the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) presents here an overview of PV power systems applications and markets at end-2007. Trends are analysed in implementation of PV power systems in the reporting countries between 1992 and 2007. Click to download.  IEA PVPS is one of more than 40 IEA energy technology collaborations.
Also accessible on the website of IEA PVPS:
- Analysis of PV System’s Values Beyond Energy - by Country and Stakeholder, which addresses the need to identify, evaluate and quantify the major values and benefits of urban-scale PV aside from generating electricity.
- The IEA PVPS Task 10 report Community Scale Photovoltaics: Housing and Public Development Examples, offering valuable reference material for design or planning of community-scale PV developments in urban areas.
-  The recently unveiled IEA PVPS Task 10 Visualization Tool for Photovoltaics Operating on Electric Grids (select Read Only to access). 
- Presentations on the important topic of PV power’s grid parity from the IEA PVPS programme’s international workshop Grid Parity and Beyond…, held  in Valencia (Spain) on 4 September 2008.

• Innovation in Bioenergy Business Development - in nine pages, the summary and conclusions from the IEA Bioenergy workshop on Innovations in Bioenergy Business Development, Munich (Germany), 29 October 2007.

• From the IEA Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (IEA HIA):
- Prospects for Hydrogen from Biomass – the final report from Subtask B of IEA HIA Task 16 on hydrogen production from carbon-containing materials.
- Final reports from 45 R&D projects carried out by IEA HIA Task 17 on hydrogen storage, which is a key problem in the implementation of hydrogen fuel and the creation of the hydrogen economy.  The different files can be downloaded from the IEA HIA website.   

• Outlook on Standardization of Alternative Vehicle Fuels – Global, Regional and National Level. This report from Annex XXVIII of the IEA Implementing Agreement on Advanced Motor Fuels (IEA-AMF) presents information about national and regional standards for alternative fuels, but also (when existing and reported) about standards at global level.

• Free energy technology newsletters from IEA’s international collaborative programmes:
- AMFI Newsletter - Issue 4/2008 - from the IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Implementing Agreement.
- ECBCS News – No. 47, June 2008 - from the IEA Implementing Agreement on Energy Conservation In Buildings and Community Systems (ECBCS).
- E3Light – Issue 2/2008 - from Annex 45 of the IEA ECBCS programme.
- Greenhouse Issues - No. 91, September 2008 - from the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG).
- IEA-HEV Newsletter – Volume 8, Issue 2, October 2008 - from the IEA Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Implementing Agreement (IEA-HEV).
- PV Power, Issue 28, August 2008, from the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS).

• Presentations from the IEA Demand-Side Management Programme (IEA DSM) workshop on White Certificates: the Italian Experiences Gained in Regulation, Monitoring & Verification and Electricity Market Context, Milan (Italy), 22 October, 2008.

• Also from the IEA DSM Programme, Research Report No 5:  The Role of Advanced Metering and Load Control in Supporting Electricity Networks from Task XV on Network-Driven DSM. Further new country-specific material has been added to Task XV's full suite of final reports and databases. Consult the Task XV Publications section.

• The website of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) offers numerous newly posted reports on:  Testing and Validation of Building Energy Simulation Tools (Task 34);  PV/Thermal Systems (Task 35);  Advanced Housing Renovation with Solar and Conservation (Task 37), including a description of energy-efficiency and sustainability work on a historic building in Modena (Italy). Visit the website.

• Translations of the Executive Summary from the 2008 edition of IEA's flagship publication Energy Technology Perspectives - Scenarios and Strategies to 2050 can be downloaded from the ETP web pages in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, along with the book's key graphs and a wealth of other background material.

• For Russian speakers, the recently created IEA Homepage in Russian Главная страница на русском.

• IEA's Energy Policy Review of Indonesia assesses the country’s major energy issues. Conducted by a team of IEA member country specialists this newly published review offers an analysis of Indonesia’s energy sector, with findings and recommendations that draw on experience in IEA member countries. Visit the IEA Online Bookshop.

• Marking its 50th anniversary, the OECD Nuclear Agency has recently launched its Nuclear Energy Outlook 2008, the first such publication from this OECD Agency. To order, visit the OECD Bookshop.

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• IEA Mine Methane Recovery and Utilization Workshop, Chengdu (China), March 2009 (exact date to be fixed). Organised by the IEA, by China's State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS), the National Center for International Cooperation in Work Safety (NCICS) and the Sichuan Coal Mine Safety Bureau, this workshop will cover all aspects of Coal Mine Methane (CMM) development in China. For more information, consult the IEA website.

• Fourth International Conference on Clean Coal Technologies for our Future (CCT2009) Dresden (Germany), 18-20 May 2009. Organised jointly by the IEA Clean Coal Centre (CCC) and Forschungszentrum Jülich, this fourth topical conference on clean coal technologies will be held in conjunction with the Third International Freiberg Conference on IGCC and XtL. Consult the CCC website for more details.

• International Conference on Thermal Energy Storage - EffStock 2009 – Stockholm (Sweden), 14-17 June 2009. Organised by the IEA Energy Conservation through Energy Storage Implementing Agreement (ECES) and hosted by Swedvac, the Swedish Society of HVAC Engineers, this event will aim to encourage awareness and uptake of solutions for energy conservation through energy storage, including seasonal, diurnal and short-term storage technologies.  It will bring together design professionals, government officials, manufacturers, environmental consultants, utility personnel and executives, and academic researchers. Visit the EffStock 2009 conference website.