International Energy Agency    
Subscribe| About| Archives| IEA Energy Technology Collaboration Programme|Contact

Welcome to the archives of the IEA OPEN Energy Technology Bulletin, a free newsletter from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and its Committee on Energy Research and Technology. The OPEN Bulletin provides regular updates on activities within the IEA's energy technology and R&D community that are contributing to energy security and protection of the environment and climate worldwide.

 

No. 17 - 26 February 2004

HEADLINES IN THIS ISSUE

1. Tradable energy-efficiency certificates – putting the market on the map
2. Three new Sponsors for IEA Clean Coal Centre
3. Releasing the power of innovation in the energy sector – high-level international workshop points to catalysts
4. From the Laboratory to the Marketplace … and the Policies to Make it Happen
5. Concentrating Solar Power Global Market Initiative launched

6. Upcoming Events

7. Publications, Proceedings and websites

Energy policies of IEA countries - Energy efficiency in factories and buildings – International Conference on Coal Science – China-IEA modelling and statistics seminar - Appliances policies in Central and Eastern European Countries – New IEA website.

8. Awards - Nominations sought for IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Progamme’s 2004 Solar Award

NEWS IN BRIEF
1. Tradable energy-efficiency certificates – putting the market on the map. “Cap and trade” is likely to become increasingly widespread in future as governments integrate such market-based instruments into the mix of policies for energy security and climate protection. Trading in greenhouse gas “emissions rights” is already a reality. Energy-efficiency certificates are now drawing much interest. What potential do these “White Certificates” hold for ensuring legislation brings results in an economically efficient way? The IEA’s Demand-Side Management Programme is planning an international project to produce some answers. This international collaborative effort is still open to new participants, from both public and private sectors around the world. To learn more, consult the Draft Work-Plan or contact Antonio Capozza at the Italian Centre for Electricity Technology Research in Milan (Italy). Click for more about the IEA Demand-Site Management Programme. It is one of the Implementing Agreements within the IEA’s structure for international collaboration.
2. Three new Sponsors for IEA Clean Coal Centre (CCC). Australian, Danish and New Zealand Sponsors have recently joined forces with other participating countries in the IEA Clean Coal Centre, a collaborative programme providing information worldwide on efficient supply and use of coal. The Australian Coal Industry Consortium, the Danish Power Group and the Coal Association of New Zealand have thereby become players in the CCC’s exchange of analysis and information on furthering innovation and advanced development of coal as a clean source of energy. The Centre’s extensive Clean Coal Technologies database is accessible free of charge, as are its Newsletter, profiles of its publications, numerous links to relevant sites worldwide and much other documentation. Click here to explore the Website, and consult the Newsletter (Issue 42) for more about CCC’s three new sponsorships.
3. Releasing the power of innovation in the energy sector – high-level international workshop points to catalysts. What are the drivers of innovation? How do academia, public institutions and the private sector interact most effectively to trigger energy technology breakthroughs and deliver radically new approaches? Can we map the knowledge flows and interplay among protagonists? Can we measure return on investment? As concern mounts about the reliability and sustainability of today’s energy systems, questions such as these are becoming increasingly frequent. Some answers were identified at a high-level workshop in Washington, DC (United States), organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the IEA, the United States National Academies and the United States Department of Energy. The event gave special prominence to the case of fuel cells and hydrogen. The presentations can be accessed at the OECD’s Website.
4. From the Laboratory to the Marketplace … and the Policies to Make it Happen. The process leading a technology from basic science to ultimate market deployment is complex. It is a cyclical progression in which basic science, applied R&D, demonstration, commercialisation and deployment interact in ways that are not always easily understood. An IEA workshop in Washington last autumn enabled participants to gain a clearer picture of the linkages and feedback mechanisms that exist along the technology development pathway, and the policies that help move technologies to the marketplace. The event was organised by the IEA’s Working Party on Energy End-Use Technologies and its Working Party on Energy Efficiency. The workshop’s Summary Paper is now available. Click here to see the individual presentations.
5. Concentrating Solar Power Global Market Initiative launched. Conceived to speed the deployment of new Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants, this Global Market Initiative (GMI) is due to be presented for its mandate for implementation at the International Conference for Renewable Energies in Bonn (Germany) in June 2004. It is an international initiative that came into being at a California (United States) conference last October. That event, which brought together some 100 participants from 14 countries, as well as four international organisations, was sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, the German Development Bank (KfW), the California Energy Commission, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and IEA SolarPACES, the IEA’s international CSP collaborative programme. For a complete set of the conference proceedings and materials, click here. (The large file “05 Conference Proceedings” is best accessed by downloading to your computer.)
6. Upcoming Events
  • The Role of Carbon Sequestration and Bioenergy in National and International Greenhouse-Gas Markets - Rotorua (New Zealand), 22-23 March 2004. This conference is organised by IEA Bioenergy’s Task 38 on Greenhouse Gas Balances of Biomass and Bioenergy Systems. Discussions will focus on policies, accounting and credit trading in bioenergy and carbon sequestration projects, as well as carbon monitoring and accounting of agriculture, forestry and harvested wood products. Click here to download the programme and other information, and here for more about the IEA bionenergy collaborative programme.
  • Future Challenges for Waste Combustion and Co-combustion in Fluidized Bed Conversion - 48th Workshop organised by the IEA Implementing Agreement on Fluidized Bed Conversion - Vienna (Austria), 24 May 2004. For a preliminary announcement, consult the Implementing Agreement Website (Upcoming Events), where more detailed information will be posted early in March.
  • International Workshop on Saving Energy in Set-Top Boxes - IEA Headquarters, Paris (France), 27-28 May 2004. Design improvements in TV-connected and other set-top boxes, including converters and decoders, could generate large energy savings. Bringing together manufacturers, service providers and representatives from government energy offices, this event will seek to establish an informal agreement among the various players to ensure effective and consistent efficiency programmes. For more information, see the IEA Website, or contact alan.meier@iea.org
  • 6th International Conference on Emission Monitoring (CEM 2004) - Milan (Italy), 9-11 June, 2004. A major event for people dealing and operating with air emissions assessment and measurement, this conference is organised by the Italian Centre for Electricity Technology Research (CESI), the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the IEA Clean Coal Centre and the Source Testing Association. To access the official Website, click here. (Email: cem2004@cesi.it)
  • The Windsor Workshop, Transportation Technology and Fuels Forum - an international event on emerging transportation technologies, fuels, systems and policies - Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, Ontario (Canada), 14-17 June 2004. International experts from public and private sectors will gather to focus on all fields of research, policy, fuel supply and vehicle manufacturing. The workshop is sponsored by Natural Resources Canada and the United States Department of Energy, in co-operation with Environment Canada, Transport Canada and the IEA. Click here to learn more.
  • Cooling Buildings in a Warming Climate – A Future Buildings Forum - Sophia Antipolis (France), 21-22 June 2004. A gradually warming climate and more extreme weather conditions appear likely. This event will examine the implications for building design, energy technologies and systems, and the energy policies needed to ensure optimum energy use and comfort. It is co-hosted by the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) and the IEA. Click for a first draft of the Programme, and here for more information. See also the presentations made at IEA’s workshop Global Warming – a Challenge for Buildings, an associated expert event at IEA headquarters on 2 December 2003.
  • 7th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies - Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 September 2004 (see GHG Programme’s Website). Organised by the University of Regina and Natural Resources Canada, in co-operation with the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, this conference will provide a forum for discussion of the latest advances in the field of Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, including capture, storage and utilisation of carbon dioxide (CO2).
  • Ventilation and Retrofitting - 25th Conference of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) - Prague (Czech Republic), 15-17 September 2004. Since 1980, the AIVC conferences have been an important meeting point for presenting and discussing advances in buildings ventilation. This Silver Jubilee event will highlight retrofitting. For the call for abstracts and conference details, click here. AIVC is one of the entities within the IEA Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems Programme (ECBCS).
  • Global Advances in Heat Pump Technology, Applications, and Markets - 8th IEA Heat Pump Conference, 2005 - Las Vegas (United States), 30 May-2 June 2005. Organised under the auspices of the IEA Heat Pump Program, this conference will focus on: heat pump technologies, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, and on systems for residential, commercial, industrial and district heating/cooling applications. On the agenda will be current technology and market status, progress and trends. For the call for papers and further information, click here.
  • 2005 International Conference on Coal Science and Technology (ICCS&T) - Naha, Okinawa (Japan), 9-13 October 2005. For more information, contact Dr. O Yamada of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), the sponsor organisation for the conference. The IEA Clean Coal Centre will play an organisational role.
7. Publications, Proceedings & websites
  • Energy Policies of IEA Countries - 2003 Review. This volume presents an analysis of developments in energy policies in the IEA member countries. It contains an overview of major trends in the energy markets and discusses renewed policy-making focus on energy security. To learn more and purchase, visit the IEA's Online Bookshop.
  • Energy Policies of IEA Countries - Finland (2004) - the latest in the series of peer reviews of energy policies in individual IEA countries. To learn more and purchase, visit the IEA’s Online Bookshop.
  • Highly efficient energy utilisation in factories and buildings (proceedings) – This Tokyo (Japan) international workshop in January 2004 focused on opportunities for additional efficiency improvements in single and multiple sites, including new business models and information technology for centralised management of energy consumption in factories and buildings. For a report and an annex containing the presentations, consult the Website of the Energy Conservation Centre (ECCJ), Japan.
  • 12th International Conference on Coal Science, Cairns, Queensland (Australia) - 2-4 November 2003. The proceedings are now available for purchase on CD. The website can be accessed here.
  • China-IEA Seminar on Energy Modelling and Statistics. Papers and presentations from this Beijing (China) event, 20-21 October 2003, can be accessed by clicking here. The IEA collaborates closely with Chinese institutions on both energy modelling issues and energy statistics, notably for input to IEA’s World Energy Outlook publications. This seminar provided another opportunity to compare methods and findings.
  • Workshop on Central and Eastern European Countries Appliance Policy, Turin (Italy), 29-30 September 2003. Organised by IEA and the Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment, this workshop discussed uptake of appliance energy efficiency policies in the new EU member states and other Central and Eastern European countries. See IEA Website.
  • New IEA Website. The Agency has just launched a new website. This offers easier access to information on all the IEA's areas of work on advancing security of energy supply, economic growth and environmental sustainability through energy policy co-operation. Innovative features include a page for online access to a range of free IEA surveys and newsletters. Note also that, two calendar years after publication, pdf versions of many of IEA’s publications are downloadable free of charge.
8. Awards

IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Progamme’s 2004 Solar Award. Nominations can now be submitted for this second award from IEA’s Solar Heating and Cooling Programme. It is open to individuals, companies, and private and public institutes around the world who have shown outstanding leadership or achievements (with links to the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Progamme) in the field of solar energy at international level. To learn more, visit the programme’s Website.

The IEA's 2003 World Energy Investment Outlook recently received a Special Award for analytical excellence from the United States Department of Energy and Energy Information Administration.

 

OPEN Bulletin on the Web - http://www.iea.org/impagr/cip/index.htm

Subscriptions
If you wish to subscribe (free of charge) or cancel your subscription to the IEA OPEN Bulletin, please see: http://mailing.iea.org/

To submit items for publication
Members of the IEA community of organisations are invited to submit energy technology news items for publication in the OPEN Bulletin. To access the input form, to be found on the password-protected IMPAG website, please click on: http://www.iea.org/impag/cip/form.htm

In the event of password difficulties, please contact the Editor.

IEA international collaborative energy technology R&D programmes (also known as Implementing Agreements) function within a framework created by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Views, findings and publications of these programmes do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the IEA Secretariat or of all its individual member countries.

Copyright OECD/IEA, © 2009 www.iea.org